Zealandia Chemical Works.

Otago Witness, Issue 1582, 18 March 1882, Page 23

Zealandia Chemical Works.

The soap and candle manufacture has now become one of our most flourishing local industries, as evidenced by the extensive factories which have been established during the past few years, and which are being steadily and gradually extended. It is now about 14 years since Messrs M'Leod Bros, began the manufacture of soap on a very small scale in George street, and their progress in business since then has been so great that their premises in Cumberland street are now probably among the most extensive in the Colony. In describing the buildings and machinery at work, we shall first of all refer to the

SOAP-BOOM, which is a large iron building at the rear of. the works. This building is 66ft in length by rQOf k in width, and is 34ft in height, consisting" oft two storeys. The soap is boiled in two large perpendicular pans, each of a capacity of 20 tons, and when sufficiently prepared is run off on the ground floor into iron soap-frames. The blocks thus formed are then hoisted upstairs, cut into bars, and allowed to harden, after which the soap is packed in cases and removed to the store-room ready for sending away. In the soap-room there is also a large steam-digester for reducing under pressure the raw tallow, which is next removed to a "blower," or reservoir, capable of containing 25 tons. This blower is a part of the olcT " Platypus," and will be remembered as having been associated with the unsuccessful scheme for extracting untold wealth from the bed of the Clutha River, of which so much was heard some years ago. From the blower the tallow is forced by steam through piping to all parts of the works. The boiling-pans have been found inadequate for present requirements, and tenders are now being called for increasing the height of each of them by another 10ft.

BOILER-HOUSE.

Adjoining the soap-room is the boiler and vat-house— a fire-proof building of brick, with iron fittings all round. The dimensions are 66 feet by 60 feet, and the building contains three boilers of 20-horse power each, and two large retorts provided with all the latest improvements for the distillation of stearine. There is also a pan of five tons capacity, and in it the tallow undergoes the first process in the operation of candle-making.

CANDLE FACTORY. : The candle manufacture is carried on in another brick building extending from the streetline, and which is three storeys in height at the front and two at the back, the dimensions being 80 feet by 28 feet. On the first floor are fitted up the steam boiling- vats and machinery for pressing the stearine into cakes, and on the upper floor are the vats for the final purifying process, the whole comprising the latest improvements in this branch of the manufacture. For the accommodation of the moulding machinery, a new brick building, 70feet by 28 feet, has been erected on the opposite side of the right-of-way leading into the premises. In this building a very great quantity of candles is daily turned out and packed, the present machinery being capable of producing 2000 boxes of candles per week. The arrangements are very complete, and with trucks to transfer the cases from one part of the premises to another, very little lifting is required. Pipes for conveying steam and the other materials used in the manufacture are also fitted up all over the works.

GENERAL.

Messrs M'Leod Brothers have now undertaken, on a rising scale, the production of softsoap and glycerine for commercial purposes, and they have in use the appliances for thoroughly purifying these preparations. Work is at present carried on incessantly night and day, the men working 12 hours at a stretch. No less than nine furnaces are kept continually in operation, necessitating a monthly consumption of about 150 tons of coal, that used being chiefly from Kaitangata. Still further extensions are about to be made to the works, and in a short time additional plant and purifying apparatus will require to be employed to keep pace with a rapidly-increasing business.