LOCAL INDUSTRY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21803, 18 May 1934, Page 11

LOCAL INDUSTRY

AUCKLAND - FACTORIES INSPECTION MADE BY M.P.'S A SECOND BUSY DAY WIDE RANGE OF TRADES .. A second day was spent yesterday by a party of local members of Parliament in visiting Auckland manufacturing industries at the invitation of the Auckland Manufacturers' Association. Five factories were inspected, making a total of 11 in two days. Yesterday's list comprised:—Heards, Limited, confectionery manufacturers, Parnell; Alexander Harvey and Sons, Limited, makers of dairy utensils, Mechanics' Bay; Wlrittome, Stevenson Company, Limited, condiment makers, and Abel's, Limited, margarine manufacturers, Cnrlton Gore Road; and Radio, Limited, makers of radio receivers, Dominion Road.

Mr. A. W. Parker and Mr. A. G. Menzies, vice-presidents of the Manufacturers' Association, acted as hosts. The members of Parliament present were Messrs. M. J. Savage, Leader of the Opposition, A. Harris, A. J. Stallworthy, J. A. Lee and H. G. R. Mason. Two hundred hands were seen at work in the factory of Heards, Limited, where the party had an opportunity of watching the operation of a variety of ultra-modern machinery making? all kinds of confectionery. The visiters were particularly interested in the mills in which chocolate is ground day and night for long periods to bring out its full flavour and reduce it to the proper consistencv.

Cheap Japanese Sweets Mr. L. Heard, who received the party, stated that last week the factory had used 30 tons of raw material, a large part of which was of New Zealand origin. The chocolate plant was capable of turnii\g out four tons weekly. Mr. Heard mentioned that in New Zealand there was an increasing demand for high quality in confectionery. To show that Japan threatened to become a serious competitor in this'field or manufacture, Mr Heard produced a small bottle of Japanese sweets, which, he said, could be landed and sold "for about the New Zealand cost of the bottle.

in Harvey and Sons' plant, the canister and tin-printing section of which, the party had visited the day before, milk-cans, vats, coolers and milking machine parts were seen in all stages of manufacture, from the original British steel sheets to the finished article in its gleaming coat of tin. It was explained that the factory was capable of meeting the entire New Zealand demand for. milk-cans.- The visitors were most interested to see the component parts of these "spun" from the flat in ingenious rotary machines or taking shape in the maw of powerful presses. Another process was the electrical welding of seams in such a way as to make them almost invisible after plating, which was carried out by dipping four times in baths of molten tin—British like the steel —until a resistant coating had been obtained. Pickles and Margarine

In the afternoon the party saw the making of pickles, sauces and vinegar by Wliittome, Stevenson Company. In the cellars were found rows of barrels containing onions, cauliflower, gherkins and other vegetables maturing for weeks in brine before pickling. Batches were cooking in large steam-jacketed pans on the floor above, and ingenious machines filled and labelled bottles and jars of all sizes. Mr. J. P. Stevenson explained the process of making vinegar from either sugar or malt, with the addition of yeast, the final conversion into acetic acid being achieved by exposure to the air while the liquid was passed through beech-wood shavings. Two industries being carried on under free trade conditions, without any protective duty, were demonstrated by Mr. G. Handson Abel in his company's factory. The margarine made there, Mr. Abel said, was not intended for table use, but as a much-improved substitute in the kitchen for beef dripping, from which it was made. The dripping, which the company purchased from freezing works in all parts of New Zealand, would otherwise go to Britain for making into .table margarine. Thus, he claimed, the company's business helped the New Zealand dairy farmer.

The dripping was first treated with soda to neutralise and remove the free fatty acids, after which it was kept for four or five days in vats in a room at a temperature of 98 degrees. This caused the fats with melting-points above that temperature to granulate out, leaving oil which was milled under vacuum and packed* for the market at the consistency of butter. The hard fats, known collectively as stearine, were exported to Britain. Largest Radio Factory The other process, carried out in a small but costly plant, was the conversion of coconut oil, imported from Australia, into "confectionery fat" by . hydrogenation. Mr. Abel • explained that there was a large demand for coconut fat in the making of caramels and soft toffees, and no substitute existed. By exposing the oil to hydrogen gas it was rendered stable and proof against becoming rancid. The hydrogen was made in the plant by the electrolysis of water, current being obtained at a low rate during the night hours. Mr. Abel stated that no protection was desired for either industry. In the course of the tour it was mentioned tiiat the process of milling margarine in a vacuum, which Mr. Abel had patented, was being most successfully applied to butter for export by the , Kiwi Dairy Company, of ChristcUurch. The last factory visited was that of Radio, Limited. This was stated by the managing-director, Mr. W. J. Truscott, to. be by far the largest of its kind in New Zealand, with an output of 11)00 receiving sets last month. Mr. Truscott said there were altogether 170 employees, including those engaged in making cabinets, and more accommodation was being sought to relieve the present congestion. Exchange and Tariff In reply to a question by Mr. A. Harris, M.P., about the future of the youths and boys who comprised most of the employees, Mr. Truscott stated that it was open to them to become expert radio servicemen. There were now 130,000 receiving sets in use in New Zealand, and it was expected that by the end of the year the number would be 160,000. Thus there was plenty of scope for maintenance men. Mr. Truscott said the present duties on complete sets were considered satisfactory, but if the exchange rato . were lowered some compensating pro-' tection should be given against American sets. In thanking the Manufacturers' Association for arranging the round ot visits, Mr. Savage remarked that it; would be a good thing if members or Parliament sought m/.re ffrst-hand knowledge of the work that was going on in the Dominion. He was sure that all the members present would be be tor enabled by what they had sepn to give ah intelligent vote on the coming T \ r ir Tg. SImH <m MM association, thanked pe "nmbnra £?r the interest they had shown. > .