MESSRS R. S. SPARROW AND COS FOUNDRY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1584, 1 April 1882, Page 22

MESSRS R. S. SPARROW AND COS FOUNDRY.

A considerable amount of heavy work has of late been turned out by Messrs R. S. Sparrow and Co., especially in connection with the new three-storey grain-stores erected at Oamaru by the N.Z.L. and M.A. Company, and Messrs Bruce and 1 Co.'s large flour mills at Timarti, said to be the largest in the Colony. • The first of the grain-elevators for the Oamaru stores was tested on Saturday, with most satisfactory results, and three others ' are in process of manufacture — one to be supplied almost immediately, and the others as necessity requires. The elevators extend to the third floor of the building, and each will be driven by a four-horse power water-engine. They are each capable of delivering 400 bags per hour to any floor of the building^ and the convenience and economy attending their use must shortly bring them into general favour for the removal of grain in large stores.' • For Messrs Bruce and Co.'s flourmill about' loo pulleys, varying from 44 inches to 16 inches in diameter, together with over 600 feet of powerful shafting, have been manufactured. The firm have also madefor Messrs Keast andM'Carthy's brewery a large vat, of a capacity 'of 2800 gallons ; and they have increased the height of the two large boilers in' 'use ,at Messrs M'Leod Bros', soapworks by 10 feet, thus making the additirinal capacity equal' to about 8500 gallons. Messrs Sparrow ancl'Co. ' have also just completed ,a large turntable 1 for the Dunedin Gasworks ; and Mr ■ Roberts, the manager, 1 who has had' considerable experience' in the' manufacture 1 of heavy mining machinery at Sandhurst, is at present engaged in fitting up one of Mitchell's patent rock drills to the order of the Waitahuna" Coppermining Company. The drill is driven by air forced ' from a compressor known as ' Ford's patent, and of a diameter of ' 9 inches,' with 2 feet 6 inches stroke. From the compressor the air passes to a receiver of a working capacity of 1001b to the square inch', but which' will be tested up to 1501b. It is 24 feet in le'ngih, by 5 feet 6 inches in diameter, ' and is made of §-inch boiler-plate, double-riveted ' throughout. The air is conveyed from the' receiver by wrought-ironpipes down the shaftj'and is immediately led to the drill from the iron piping by strong flexible hose. The' drill' 'itself is a 4-inch one, and with ' an ordinary air-pressure is capable of striking about 300 "blows, 1 and driving in the hard rock at the rate of one foot per minute. ' It is attached to 'a wrought-iron spreader, which can be* securelyfasteried horizontally across a shaft, or vertically in a tunnel, by. means of a screw, while by r the 'simple adjustment of another small screw th 6; drill may be set at any angle whatever. '"'After a sufficient number of holes have been' drilled in the stone the blasts are put in and fired, and the machine set to work again. • As a laboursaving appliance it is invaluable, and its use in the Victorian mines, and indeed in- every kind of rock-boring in that Colony, istiow Universal, while it acts as a great aid in the 'development of those mineral lodes which, by the tedious and costly process of manual labour, must otherwise have remained unnoticed, as affording no encouragement to the speculator. The waste air from the machine is also valuable in the ventilation of mines," the steady, powerful current keeping up a constant circulation and carrying off the foul gases which usually accumulate underground. Mr Buchan, who has seen the machine extensively at work in Australia, speaks in the highest .terms of its capabilities, and although it is the first of the kind introduced here, the example of the directors of the Waitahuna Company in this respect will doubtless be quickly followed by others who may be interested in the development of the mineral resources of the Colony.