BENHAR POTTERY WORKS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19066, 11 January 1924, Page 12

BENHAR POTTERY WORKS

A Flourishing Industry. Great Possibilities. The little railway siding at Beniw is somewhat inconspicuous, but no doubc many travellers by the railway have formed mental pictures of the operations carried on at the works of Messrs M‘Ski aiming and Sons in tho vicinity of the railway station. It is extremely doubtful, however, if the impressions formed regarding the magnitude of the business have come anywhere near tho mark. To-day the Benhar works stand out as one of the most prominent of their Rind in New Zealand. Tho following particulars are taken from a report made by a representative of the Clutha Leader, and published in that journal on October 23:

There is an area of about 500 acres available for the supply of clay and coal for the operations, and of the clay it may be said that every variety required is to be found on the property. The actual work of forming the pipes is an interesting process. There are two kinds of pipe-making machines—-the screw and the plunger, and tho latter is the more favoured. The pipes, once made, are sent up on cradles on an endless belt to another room to dry them, use being made of the heat from the kilns to do this, which is a necessary process before the pipes are places in the ovens. In the moulding room the work is done by band—three men at pipe work and five at pottery ware. The work includes the manufacture of junction traps, chimney pots, and all necessary sanitary fittings.

Standing in the centre of the moulding room is a cleverly designed'chimney pot; one of the latest designs, which is known by the name of the “Ixmdou pot.” It would certainly seem that this article, supplies a long-felt want, for it is guaranteed to improve weak draught, prevent ‘’blowdown,’’ and keep out rain. Four uprights are bevelled in such a way as to divert any wind through the open spaces between them and prevent it from going down the chimney. The firm has, lor some years, been supplying the Railway Department and other public services with sanitary ware of all kinds; also jugs, basins, etc.

A rather wonderful feature of the work is the new method of making sanitary ware and general pottery ware. The present method is by “pressing,” in which the article is moulded in halves which are pressed together, bait the new method is vastly superior. In it the clay, in liquid form, is poured into moulds, precisely as liquid iron is poured into moulds for the production of cast iron. The moulds are as those used in Staffordshire, of world pottery lame, and the firm intends to work extensively in this new direction.

At the time of the pressman’s visit, workmen were just commencing to fill one of the kilns with a very special type of brick of rather curious conformation, to “build” without anything between them. These are known as “acid bricks” ; they are made of a special clay and burnt until sufficiently vitrified to withstand the action of sulphuric acid. These bricks were made to the order of a firm for use in the manufacture of sulphuric acid at Auckland. The Benhar firm is the only one in New Zealand which has turned out this class of brick and it has produced and distributed many thousands of them with gratifying result. When there is a market for them in this country, the firm will be able to produce and quantity of the famous “blue” bricks; bricks of abnormal durability, and every extensively used for paving work at railway stations and similar places in England. There is an abundant supply of the necessary clay, samples of which, sent Home for analysis by experts, have been found to fulfil requirements in every way. The pottery branch of the establishment has been in existence for about six years and will, before very long, be removed into a new building on the other side of the railway line at the northern end of the works. The operations will be conducted all on one floor and there will be three main divisions, completely equipped for clay working. The clay has been submitted to Dr Mellon, of the Pottery School, Stoke (England), and reported upon as being eminently suitable for the use to which it is to be pus. An interesting point in connection with the new pottery is the proposed installation of a “steam floor.’’ In this the steam pours through the bottom of the floor in a flow sufficient to ensure the even and steady drying of the ware stacked above. This also is a quite up-to-date idea and a remarkable improvement on the old-fashioned drying stoves which merelv stood in the middle of the floor and had the ware packed round them as well as it could. These old-time stoves are still to be found in use in a great many of the potteries in England. The machinery for the new pottery is to be driven by steam, but it is the ardent hope of the firm that in the days to come this motive power will be replaced by electricity. All the machinery has been imported from the leading manufacturers in Staffordshire, and awaits the completion of the buildng. Rambling on, the visitor came across the mine from which the very well-known Benhar coal is produced. Eight miners are employed, and the output is, appioiimately, 10,000 tons per annum. Of this output, onc-third is consumed in the company’s operations and two-thirds sold, the product going fair afield, A casual glance at the order book showed communications from Beaumont, Oamaru, Ranfurly,, and Hook (Canterbury). The coal is very extensively used also by the farming community throughout the Clutha district.

In connection with the mine there are very extensive deposits of silica, used in the manufacture of silica bricks for the construction of steel furnaces. So, when New Zealand becomes a steel-manufactur-ing country Benhar -will bo able to suwia need. Samples of this substance have already passed expert analytical tests m England.