IRON MANUFACTURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9610, 7 September 1894, Page 3 (Supplement)

IRON MANUFACTURE.

Mr, E. Purser, Blenheim, who has invented a new mode of treating ironsand for iron making, and who was lately in Auckland in connection with his process, which he maintains is certain to work a new era in the manufacture of iron in the colony, has been examined by the Industries Tariff Committee at Wellington. The committee after hearing the evidence of Mr. Purser with regard to the merits of his invention, the cost of plant and treatment, referred tho matter to the Government with a view of making a technical enquiry into it. Mr. Purser suggested to the committee that he should be given £200 towards his expenses to London to float a company to work his patent. A few days ago a meeting of persona interested in the subject was held at Blenheim to witness Mr. Purser's practical demonstration of his patent process.

i number of elaborate drawings of the process were placed for inspection, and a rough model, "serving for illustration, was in the room. Mr. Purser Many efforts had been made to utilise the ironsand of Taranaki without success. The foreign matter, to the extent of 8 or 10 per cent., had to be contended with, and was hard to reject; when it was present a bastard material, neither iron nor steel, was turned out. Ib first struck him that if he put pure iron into a retort he would get pure iron from it, and his first work was in that direction. His simple efforts had been ! crowned with success, and he had laid the process before the most practical men of .New Zealand, and had received great encouragement—for though he - had , been sanguine of success, he was dubious of saying anything about the process at an earlier stage and until he had fully tested it. He had had an interview with the Industrial Committee set up by Parliament. Several practical ironfounders were of that body, and nob one of them could find a flaw. The iron was poured into a receptacle whence ib passed between two revolving magnetised drums, and beneath three others, placed at increasing intervals, so that the magnetism which attracted the iron from the sand might be made to operate on every grain. The residue passed away. Each magnet of the drums attracted the iron. The next business was to smelb the iron. Besides a permanent, his process contained an electro-magnetised insulator ab every quarter section, a distance which he proposed to extend to half sections. This insulation was to enable the iron, when attracted, to fall off the drum into a receptable. An analysis showed the foreign substances in the sand to be scheelite, titanium, and greenstone. These composed the residue. Pig iron could be produced locally at £1 2s lOd a ton, as against £4 17a 6d as landed in New Zealand from England. Finished iron would cost £4 4s sd, as against £8 6s landed from England. And the local material, he was assured, would be superior to that imported." It was his intention to float a liability company with : sufficient) capital to briog the industry.

There has been placed on exhibition the Chamber of Commerce Rooms,' a case, containing' various specimens of wrought iron, manufactured from Taranaki ironsand, for the Eureka Ironeand Syndicate,

by the fluxing process patented by Messrs. Minett arid Jones.' The iron was made at Huntly, and puddled ab Onehunga on the Queen's Birthday. Amongst the f:pecl-f mensare a horse shoe, smithed to a nigh finish, and different sizes of bar iron, all evidently of excellent quality and exceedingly fibrous.; One bar has- been twisted, when cold, until a perfecb thread has been formed, and others bent completely double without fracture. And where there has been q, break it bub shows up the fibre of the iron. Attached to the ease, and add* ing greatly to the value of the exhibition, are comparative analyses of argillaceous iron ores by Dr. Hector and Dr. Colquohoun. : . ■■■-- - ■ ,

New Zealand's liquor bill for 1893 includes 16,539 gallons of wine, 88,525 gallons of brandy, 62,219 gallons, of Geneva, 10,957 gallons of gin, 29,214 gallons of rum, 340,453 gallons of whisky, and 4,284,0281b of tea Among the passengers by the steamship Ruapebu from London, which arrived on August 16 was Mr. W. Courtney, of New Plymouth, who has been on a lecturing tour in Great Britain on the facilities presented by this colony for settlement. He is accompanied by 118 settlers for the Taranaki province, who are said to be specially fitted for the purpose for which they have left the mother country, and all are provided with a certain amountof money. By far the largest Maori greenstone axe which we have ever seen, has just been deposited for exhibition at the Museum. Ib was found lately- at Waipu, and is now the property of Mr. A. Rintoul. On thebeach at Waipu there had been a large mountain of sand, but lately this had become acted upon by the wind, and after a great storm ib was found to be completely swept away. Then on the ground was found this greenstone axe. Ib is well formed, bub one side has been roughened by the action of the sand. It is eighteen inches in length by five in breath at the cutting end, and an inch and a quarter in thickness.

An exceedingly interesting historical flag is now in the possession of Mr. Knight, of this city (says the Wellington Post), who has been commissioned by the Bay of Islands natives to manufacture an exact duplicate. Ib is the flag which in February, 1840, was presented to the Sovereign chiefs of New Zealand on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen on the signing of the Treaty of Waitaugi. The flag is an ordinary British ensign (red), with a star above a crescent in white close to the side of the' Jack, and beneath, in large white letters running the who\e length of the flas:, are the words, "Te Tiriti o Waitangi." The interesting relic is in a capital state of preservation. It will be remembered (writes our Thames correspondent) that several months ago a miner named Thos. Johnston was severely injured, and lost the sight of one of his eyes by a hole charged with powder exploding about him whilst employed as a tributer in the Victoria Gold Mining Company's mine. As Johnston was in rather poor circumstances steps were taken to secure him financial aid, and to secure this a strong committee was formed, and subscription lists sent oub to all the mining centres in this peninsula. The result of the efforts made is that the sum of £12912s

6d has been collected, which goes far to show the generosity of the mining population when real cases of need are broughb

before them. The weather on September Ist and 2nd was something phenomenal in its severity. In addition to -the cold, blustery breezes which on Sept. 2 strengthened into a gale, there were simply a succession of squalls, varied by hailstorms, and on Sunday the citizens witnessed the unusual spectacle of snowing, the tops of the trees in Ponsonby being clothed in white, and the hail lying in heaps on the pavements and kerbings. On both days there was a good deal pf electricity in the air, and ab intervals there were flashes of lightning and peals of thunder./ For twenty years past we have had no sucn severe weather, and although snow has fallen aa far north as Mahurangi, within the palb 40 years, many residents in Auckland never before witnessed snow in the city. The Christchurch Diocesan Synod opened on Tuesday, the 21st August. Bishop Julius gave a long address. At a special service at the Cathedral at night he referred to the changes in the diocese during the past year, to the success of the institution of deaconesses, and advocated the establishment, of a superannuation fund for the clergy. He expressed the opinion that women should be allowed to vote ab parish meetings, bub did nob think it advisable that they should take Churoh offices. He pointed out the ways by which the Church might reach the masses, and spoke ab some length on the Divorce Bill now before Parliament. He admitted that there were cases of hardship under the existing law, bub urged that ib was dangerous to allow divorce for reasons other than those recognised by the Church in the resolution of the Lambeth Conference. A Bankruptcy Court was held on Aug. 23 before Mr. Justice Conolly, a somewhat unusual application being made by Mr. C. Buddie (Whitaker and Russell). The application was made under section 162 of the

Bankruptcy Act, which provides that any person adjudicated a bankrupt in any British court, and being undischarged, may, if he be possessed of property in the colony, be declared a bankrupt in New Zealand also. Mr. Buddie applied on behalf of the sheriff of Midlothian, Scotland, that William Henry Soper, at one time carpenter on H.M. Training Ship Caledonia, might be so made a bankrupt. The man, »aid Mr. Buddie, had acquired land in the colony, and it was registered in his name. Mr. Hugh Campbell, for the defence* put in affidavits to the effect that though the land was in the name of Soper, he wts simply trustee for his housekeeper, whose property it was. Both parties were pub in the box, and deposed as to the truth of the affidavits, whereupon His Honor dismissed the application.

An entertainment and social reunion took place on Sept. 4 in St. James' Hall, entitled "An Evening with Old Ireland," under the auspices of the Irish National Federation Society (Auckland branch) in aid of the Irish Parliamentary funds. There was a large attendance, the hall being comfortably filled. The chairman explained the present position of the Home Rule question, and the amount of funds it was necessary to possess in order to keep up the Parliamentary agitation. He appealed to the generosity and patriotism of * Irishmen to respond to the appeal of the Federation, A general election might take place in Great) Britain at any moment, and funds _ were absolutely necessary in order to maintain the organisation of the Home Rule party. Mr. J. D. Connolly (American Consul) in, an [eloquent speech avowed himself a Home Ruler on the general principle that he believed in every nation working out its own destiny, and as a lover of liberty. During the evening an excellent concert programme was gone through, with great) acceptance. i v -"' The latest addition to the Union S.S. Company's fleet—the steamer Port Melbourne—arrived in harbour on August 24 from Calcutta and Singapore with a cargo ef Eastern produce. ; The steamer ia a fine type of the modern passenger and cargo class of vessels, and appears to be eminently adapted for the trade in which she has been placed. The voyage has been a very pleasant one throughout, fine weather having bean experienced ; almost all the way. The Port Melbourne is fitted in all departments with the electric light, which is available to unable - work at loading and discharging being carried on without any inconvenience. She is excellently appointed throughout, and -the saloon, cabin, officers' quarters, etc., are all handsomely fitted, and bear a very comfortable appearance. Captain H. J. Richardson, who has been connected with the ■ trade since its inception by the Union S.S. Company, is in command of the steamer, and has every reason to be proud of such a vessel. The steamer has onlj occupied 30 days in accomplishing.. the voyage from Calcutta, calling at Singapore and Townsville, . the time • being ten day: shorter than that > occupied by the ; s.s. Rotokino in 1892, and five days less than the voyage of the Maori last year, the season of the year and the stoppages at the ports visited being about the same.

The Thame* Firs Brigade visited Auckland on September 1, and a football match: and' banquet took place in connection with the {tresence of the visitors. At the latter, unction Dr. Dawson was presented with long service s medal and bars, and ; also - with' a handsome framed certificate setting forth his services to the Brigade.; C Long service medals were also presented to Firemen W. Colgan, W. Harking, and P. Moulding, and seven years' service-bars bo Firemen Towns*, end, Copleston, Fritchardj andStauntoni