THE TAIERI AND PENINSULA COMPANY.

North Otago Times, 26 January 1906, Page 4

THE TAIERI AND PENINSULA COMPANY.

: ■ QAMARU FACTORY,

I It is now just over twelvo months i since thc laicri and Peninsula Milk Supply Company (Limited) took over ', the i business of the North Otago Dairy Company,. Tlio demise ol'tlie local company ! was: accomplished to ■ i- : the regret of all who .wished to sec a. strong "local, institution, but that the, change has. been. in l the interests of : t-lic-" industry,, and tor the. benefit of all .concerned there is little doubt.: Since November," 1904, the actual time when the plant of the old company was taken over, suppliers have secii their interests placed on a more " permanent fooling, and they arc now able to regard as an accomplished fact the union of all engaged in the dairy industry in North Otago. During the winter ami spring months the old factory "in Severn street has been greatly enlarged and improved, so that it is only a matter of a few weeks before all the cream produced in this district will be handled at one centre, and the North Otago butter should soon be known as equal lo any produced in the world, That may seem a good deal to say, but from tlm ■ first the directors of the T. and P, Company saw the capabilities of the district. Tiny saw that the usually dry hard feed o! the district should produce milk and cream equal to the very best, and they resolved to .erect a factory that would ei ai-le tlicm to treat properly material uf such high quality and to "turn out a ina;iii}.rturcd article in the shape of.riUUf.r-ih.il would be equally satisfactory.

When the old factory, creameries, and plant, were taken over the creameries numbered twelve, and the central factory had a capacity of just over two tons per day. Now the district boasts one o? the most perfectly equipped factories south of the line, fitted with the newest and most approved machinerv, and there arc twenty creameries in the district, of which all but live (Kaknnui, Hampden, Hillgrove, lieinfit ard Idaiieno) arc sending their cream daily to be treated. It is only a matter of a short while before the five skimming stations that arc still sending lo Dnncdin will begin to add their contributions to those dealt with in Oamafti.

Now to hricdj' describe the buildings and factory, The building lias been greatly enlarged, The factory proper is 70 feet by 30 feet, and 1!) feet in height, and is splendidly lit from the root with rolled plate glass The plant in the factory comprises four churns of about GOOlbs capacity each, two butter workers, and a most improved butter printer. The present output is four tons per day, but it is. rapidlv increasing, and when fully taxed the factory could turn out nearly eight tons per day, The machinery is driven by a twelve horsepower Pelton wheel, the power being obtained from the town supply, A packing room of 00 feet x 80 feet, cooled' by the ammonia process, adjoins the cool chamber of the same dimensions, the cooling process in this case being that known as the dry air system, Next comes the battery room, with its- six thousand feet of piping, the cooling capacity being sufficient for four times the space. The cooling chamber itself* is capable of holding and cooling as much as 40 tons of butter at a time. The cream floor is arranged on a particularly convenient and complete system. It is 32 feet xl 4 feet, and 12 feet high. The cream is lifted by Dobson's patent friction lift and emptied into a vat, .which carries it over a Lawrence cooler, This is one of the largest coolers in the colony, being one of a pair recently made for the company, From the cooler .the cream gravitates to the cream vats, five in number, with a capacity of 800 gallons each, Passing over these vats is a temperator for cooling the cream. Thence there is a direct connection with the churns, It will be seen that no handling whatever is required from the time the cream is deposited in the preliminary vat until it is turned out of the churns in the form of butter. The creamery, where the fourteen hundred gallons of milk brought by the suppliers near the town is daily treated, is 30 feet x 16 feet. The separator machine has a capacity of 500 gallons per hour, and is driven by a four horse-power Pelton wheel, and heated by one of Messrs J, Anderson and Co.'s patent heaters, In the engine room (30: feet x 48 feet) is a thirty horse-power Pelton wheel, which drives a 20-ton Hercules freezing machine, which does the whole of the cooling throughout the factory and cooling room, and also cools all requisite water, The whole building is lighted by electricity, the dynamo being capable of gencrating 100 lights of 10-candlc power eadi, and is driven by a direct coupled Pelton wheel of eight horse-power, In addition, there are the the large receiving dock, office, boiler house and workshop ..(30 feet x 18 feet),, and the condenser 'room ol '2O feet x 18 feet, while a store, stable, and cart shed arc shortly to lie added, completing a very important group of buildings. The whole of the work has been done under the supervision of Mr S, Gibbs, In all Die Company now employs 1G hands in Oamaru, all actually engaged in butter making, an indication ol the importance of the industry in more respects than one. Last month the payments for milk amounted to about £BSOO, and including wages the total disbursements in the district were nearly £9OOO, a sufficient further proof of the importance of the T. and P. Company to North Otago. Our report of the opening proceedings appears .in another column.