SMELLIE'S IRON AND STEEL WORKS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1866, 26 August 1887, Page 21

SMELLIE'S IRON AND STEEL WORKS.

On Saturday last the formal opening of anew and highly important branch of local industry took plape at Burnside. Messrs Smellie Brothers' works have been in operation for' some time, but, they have only recently been completed by the] erection jof the plant for the manufacture of steel, and the public opening of the works was postponed until all the plant was in working order and specimens of the products of the works could be exhibited. " Nearly, 200 per ? sons responded to the invitations issued, and left, .by special train for Burnside on Saturday afternoon, and a number of residents in the 'district

were also at the opening of the works so that altogether there must have been an attendance of fully 300 persons. Amongst those 'present were, the Premier (Sir Robert Stout), the Colonial Treasurer Julius Vogel), ; Messrs Barron, Ross, Gore (members of the late Parliament), his Worship the Mayor of Dunedin (Mr R. H. -Leary), the Hon. T. Dick, Dr Coughtrey, andlfessrs A. Burt, Butterworth, John Mill, R. Wilson, K. Ramsay, Wilkinson, J. Dutbje, G. Esther, Sparrow, Shacklock, N. Y. A. Wal*s, J. Robin; Anderson, Morrison, M'Queen, Barningham, A. Mollison, A. J. Burns, and Rev.'iMr Watt. . .. THE WORKS. f A full description of the 'works requires more time' and space than is at present at our disposal, but we may indicate generally what. the visitors on Saturday saw and became greatly interested in. • The works are unpretentious, having been designed for practical work and not for display. There are no showy buildings, though the buildings are commodious and suitable. I The plant, we understand is of the' best and most modern description. Part of it 'was purchased in Sunderland (England),' and the remainder was manufactured to the order of Messrs Smellie in Glasgow. Some idea' of the substantial 'character of the machinery erected" at these works may be gathered from the fact that the steam hammer (which is Messrs Stevenson and Smellie's patent) is the largest and most powerful in the colony. It weighs fully 30 tons, the hammerhead is three tons in weight, and itjwill strike a blow of 40 tons. The other plant is in proportion, and is of course of a very substantial character. It consists 'mainly of a large forge mill, a finishing mill, furnaces, shears; an extensive apparatus for the manufacture of B«wseijaer steel, aHd the machinery for providing the necessary motive power, one very large engine for the rolling mills and other plant, and seven smaller engines for other purposes. The engine that drives the milling machinery is very powerful. It is a horizontal high-pressure engine' of about 50-horse power * nominal, and it is geared up by a helecon-teethed wheel, a new class of wheel, with remarkablelooking zigzag teeth. This is a kind of driving gear which is now held in high • favour by mechanical engineers, as it gives strength, steadness, and reliability to the' working of the machinery. The flywheel of the engine weighs 12 tons and the driving wheel eight tons. The rolling mills are massive pieces of machinery and very effective, being fitted, with the necessary parts to produce all descriptions of bar iron, flat, square, oval, T,or angle iron, of all the sizes required. The process of manufacture, which was viewed with much interest, may be briefly 'described: — The process of manufacture is from scrap or waste iron, which is useless, if not absolutely worthless, into finely finished bars of first-class iron of sizes and shapes required for innumerable purposes. In fact, from being an encumbrance, of no value save perhaps for exportation as ballast, the iron is made into a very marketable commodity, in the various forms in which bar iron is imported. The scrap iron is first pUed" into squares and charged into a furnace, where it is kept till it reaches 'welding heat. It is then taken to the steam hammer, and from' this point the process was witnessed by the visitors at the works on' Saturday. • Under the persuasion of the steam* 'hammer it soon, i becomes a compact mass, • an oblong, square in shape. This- is 1 taken at once to the rollers and run through several sets of rolls and made into a long rough 'bar, or as it is termed a"scvap bar," an iron rail about 4in in width, 2^in in depth, and 14ft or 15ft in length, and while still glowing red-hot it ia run out in I the direotion of the shears and left to cool, what may be said to be the first half of th process, being completed. Afterwards these tcrap bars or rails, are taken up and placed under shears, which cut them up as easily as scissors; cut a bit of thread. The length of these pieces depends upon the character of bars' to be produced. They are then taken to the little mill furnace, brought again to a welding heat, and passed under another set of rollers until' they assume the required shape. Afterwards they are straightened with a large wooden mallet, the ends are (according to the shape of the bars) either sawn or sheared off, and the iron is then finished ready for the market and for use. : The steel mill plant is of a first class character, and the specimens of steel castings on view were highly creditable. The two cupulas, one a very large one, are supplied with blasts by a powerful fan, and the large cupula is charged with ordi- ' nary iron and the smaller one with what is known as " speigal license " — a very highly carbonised iron. When the ordinary iron is melted it is run down a shoot or trough into a large converter, which works on axles, and the speigal license is then amalgamated with it to carbonise the whole. It is then subjected to a bias! so powerful that the molten mass is suspended by it in the converter, and all impurities and a certain amount of carbon are discharged, more carbon being put in than is required to be 'retained. , This process is oontinued until only the. uantity of carbon for the temper of the steel to be produced is left, and this is determined by the appearance of the flame which issues from' the top of the converter. After this the converter is turned down by means of a donUi-y engine, and the metal is cast into moulds, n»ui ?p \t is to be made into bars it is cast in square ingots and subjected to the same prooesses as are followed in the manufacture of bar iron.

On Saturday last the steel mill was not in operation, but some of its products were inspected, and, as we have mentioned, the process of the manufacture of bar from scrap iron was witnessed by the visitors. Refreshments were provided, and after the works -had been inspected these were discussed, and in ordinary course there followed THE TOABTS. Sir Robeet Stout said : Gentlemen, Ido not think we should separate without wishing success to the 'Messrs Smellie and their' undeVtalung which we have witnessed this afternoon. I would say first that no doubt to many of us present, certainly to myself, what we have seen to-day is newi I hope it is a farther testimony to the fact that we are now entering in New Zealand on what may be termed an industrial era. At one time we thonght that the only thing New Zealand was fit for was the export of whale oil. — (Laughter.) We passed that stage many years ago. Then we relied on the export of wool, and we have relied since that on the export of wheat and frozen meat ; hat I believe.we shall in the future have to rely, more' upon industrial enterprises than upon these things.' I'have'mentioned this not 'to discredit those exports ; on .the contrary, I believe as the colony goes on the production of 1 those things will be further developed, ' 5 but : if we are to have a great country, we most have diversified' industries, , and along with the development of our- agricultural and pastoral ' interest we must also have, our manufacture's 1 developed. I am exceedingly pleased to have been present to-day for another reason. ; This is pot only the starting of, a new iritlnstry, which must be, I think, ; of immense service to New Zeal.'s^f but it is'an industry for using up whatf has befe n hitherto waste material in this" colony. '' I believe- , that there are a great many waste, products in our midst that with: attention could bo converted mtowhat jwonWb© of immense service ; in fact, a gentlematfiniWellingtori told me he had "calculated that there -were waste products of the

value of at least from £5000 to £6000 to every | 20,000 people, leaving out of consideration this scrap iron, and that it only required attention , to make those products useful for manufacturing purposes in what might be termed a small way. I am glad to hear from men engaged in ironwork that the iron turned out here is better than the best that is imported, and they all agree that that is so, and I trust that our other manufacturers will try to give a helping hand to this new industry, for it is those who are finengaged in ironwork here, who use iron in their factories, that can help this new industry. It is only by this kind of mutual help that we can hope to see manufactures progress. In addition to that; we all need a feeling created to influence the colonists in favour of local manufactures. The converse of that feeling is one of the things every manufacturer will tell you he is struggling with, and it is hard to overcome the prejudice. We have been so long accustomed to rely upon imported articles that we begin to think nothing that is manufactured in the colony can be as good as what is imported. In this way every new industry has considerable prejudice to meet ; but I hope that not only here, but throughout the colony, that prejudice is dying out, and that we shall do everything we can to encourage the starting of industries. I cannot see any hope for our young men who have .been well trained and equipped for life unless we found some industries for them. Of course a great many of them ought to, and will, take to farming, and become excellent farmers ; but those who would be skilled mechanics must be drafted to the other colonies unless we found industries for them in our midst. Sir Robert concluded, his speech by asking those present to join him in wishing Messrs Smellie great success m this their spirited and plucky undertaking,

The toast met with a general and hearty response. Mr Smellie (sen.) in returning thanks said he had been told by many that the starting of these works was a daring step, and he admitted that it was a daring thing for one family to start an industry of this nature. Of course, before coming out they had perused New Zealand pamphlets, and had seen from the quantity of iron which was going into the colony that there musk be a great deal of scrap iron here) and that there was no outlet for it. They had started the industry in a small way, and hoped to be able as a family to keep the pot boiliner.

Sir Julius Vogel, in response to calls for a speech, said : lam afraid it is impossible for me to add anything to what has been already said, but I am as warm a supporter of local industries as anyone here can be, because I have come to think that the future success of New Zealand veill depend not upon its being solely an agricultural or pastoral country, but upon its being a manufacturing country. — (Applause.) It appears to me there is a great deal of misapprehension upon the subject of local production. I have looked into it very closely lately, and I find that while importing and exporting is looked upon as the main feature in a country's prosperity, the real factor in the prosperity of a country is its home market — the supply of the home market. Take for instance an allied industry to the one we have had so much pleasure in seeing to-day, that of iron. ■ I find that the production of hardware, which covers machinery and metal work, in Great Britain in round figures amounts to about £130,000,000 annually, and that of that some £80,000,000 are consumed within Great Britain itself, and something less than £50,000,000 are exported. We want to grow to feel here that the home market is of more importance to us than a foreign market, whether for the purpose of supplying ourselves or of supplying others. Mr Smellie told me to-day what I think may be of interest to you to learn. He was kind enough to say to me that it was owing to a pamphlet which I circulated in England that he was out here.— (Hear, hear.) Now that pamphlet was prepared by Mr Macandrew when he was in office, and he sent it to me as Agent-general. It was a pamphlet showing the capabilities of this country, first in the way of producing iron, and secondly in the way of consuming articles made from iron. Mr Smellie tells me that it was owing to that pamphlet that he is here amongst us. I may say that the proceedings of this day bear additional interest to me in that their original germ, if I may so, owes its origin to Mr Macandrew. — (Applause.) The speaker concluded by proposing the toast oE " The Industries of the Colony," coupled with the name of Mr A. Burt, who responded in suitable terras.

Mr A. J. Buhns, having dwelt on the difficulty of overcoming prejudice against local manufactures, said he was assured by blacksmiths that the iron from these mills was superior to the imported iron. In connection with this manufacture he would say it deserved encouragement at the hands of the Government, and was sure there would scarcely be a dissentient voice if the Government reduced the cost of railway carriage on scrap iron to almost nothing, or to what would barely cover working expenses. At the present time they were sending stuff to Dunedin from the works by road at a cheaper rate than they could do by rail, and he would say most solemnly that whoever had initiated the existing system of railway rates had done a great wrong to the country. The material for the natfll, be thought, should be .carried at the lowest possible rates that would cover working expenses. After a few remarks from Mr Wm. Barron,

SSjr Robert Stout safch I wish to say one or two words respecting what Mr Burns has said. Of eou*se, if it had not been, as it ie, close upon election time, it would have been improper for jrae to say anything upon Mr Burns' suggestion, excepting in the words which a Scotch judge uses at the conclusion of argument, " to take it avizatidum "{" { and that is what I say about it £ow. I would, however, point out this, that the Government have been pressed continually by industries all round to give them assistance. Q? course you mil understand that rtskicutg railway rates is Bimply a form of giving assistance to industries. We have given assistance to the agricultural industry to a large extent in that way, and losfb about £75,000 a year. That reduces the returns of the railways, an-1 we have to make it up in some other way, jro that it really amounts to giving assistance to i.hti industry. As to what has been stated, it «(*ems very peculiar to me that the railways cannot compete with carts. The matter will rc<qilire consideration, and will be submitted to the Minister of Public Works, who I know is exceedingly desirous to assist every local industry in our midst.

Mr Smellie sen. said that there was a difference of Is 6d per ton between sending iron to Dunedin by railway^ or by dray. The charge by i rail was 4s, and delivery from the station cost j another Is 2d, making 5s 2d ; and it could be j cent in by dray from the works and delivered in Dunediu for 3s 6d. He might say that for every 20 tons of iron manufactured at least 22 tons of scraps and 20 tons of coal had to be taken to the works, and then the 20 tons of iron taken t. away again. All that he wanted was that the material should be carried at a reasonable rate so that they might be able to make both ends meet. Mr John Smellie, the manager of the works, thanked the gentleman present for the countenance they had given to the undertaking, and

the interest they had displayed in it. Every 100 tons of scrap iron that went out of the colony he looked upon as fully £1000 leaving the country, and the Chinamen who sent it got little or nothing for it, and what they did get in a short time they took away with them. He was not a Protectionist, but he thought there should be a prohibitive duty put on the exportation of 'scrap iron. They were quite willing to stand or fall upon the quality of the iron they produced : it was as good as the imported when they got it, and they made it still better, because the more iron was worked, if worked properly, the better it must beconfe. In concluding he called upon the mayor of Dunedin to make a few remarks.

Mr R. H. Leary having complied with the request,

Mr J. M'Donald spoke with considerable fervour upon the railway tariff; complained bitterly of it as being injurious to local industry, and .said that two days after it was reported that he would stand for Bruce two shillings a ton had been taken off the carriage of cement. — (Laughter.) He was sure it would pay the Government to carry local productions at a lower rate, and expressed confidence that Messrs Smellie's ironworks would prove successful.

Sir Julius Vogel said : lamat a great disadvantage speaking after such an eloquent speaker, and nothing makes one so eloquent as the feeling that one is speaking on one's own behalf, I will, however, first refer to Mr Burns' remarks. The suggestions about the carriage of scrap iron do not seem altogether consistent. The first was that it should be carried at a nominal rate, which I understand was not a payable' rate, and later on Mr Burns said he meant a payable rate. There I can join him ; but if it comes to be a question of a nominal rate, I ask you 'gentlemen if the Government were to propose an extra tax upon something and say it was to enable us to carry Mr Smellie's scrap iron for nothing, would you acquiesce ? I hardly think you would. My friend , Mr Barron declared that all that Mr Smellie wanted was a fair field and no favour. Now, if I understand Mr Smellie rightly, he does want some favour — (dissent); — and what is more, I think he is entitled to it, and I think that those who do for manufactures what farmers do for agriculture, in making two blades of grass grow where only one grew before, are entitled to consideration, and I for one go all the. way with Mr JM'Donald, Mr Smellie, and Mr Burns in saying that it is the duty of the Government to give consideration to manufactures and as far as they can to reduce the rates to the greatest extent that will not leave a loss — that we can afford to carry them a* rates which will give a minimum profit. I also agree with what has been stated by Mr Smellie that you should take into consideration not only the question of the profit made by taking over the manufactured article, but the fact that in order to manufacture the article so much coal and other things must be carried by the railways. I admit that that is a fair consideration. I believe that nothing would be of more good to this country than low rates on the railways, but I must say on this subject that you should recollect that in carrying goods for long distances or for short distances there is the same charge for loading and for unloading, and therefore it makes the expense of carriage for a short distance appear relatively greater than for a longer distance. You must also recollect that it costs money to move goods by rail, so much for every mile, and the Government have to take that into consideration. I have asked Mr M'Donald to put his complaints, which I have heard of before, in writing, and I think I may, say the, Government will look into them without his coming forward to contest Caversham with Mr Barron. I go further, and I say that when the Government proposes taxation for the purpose of adjusting the finances, if I were one of those who believe, as I do, thoroughly in the -importance of encouraging local manufactures, I should say, supposing there is a high tariff of customs duties, and supposing the time .arrives when it is politic it should be reduced, I should say sooner than the customs tariff should be reduced, it would be far better for the encouragement of local industry to reduce the rates of the railway tariff. I say that in reducing the railway tariff lies the very best hope of encouraging local manufactures. I think I may say for Sir Robert Stout and our colleagues that we all believe New Zealand will earn its way to prosperity by becoming more self-reliant and self-supplying, and 1 by depending more upon the labour of its own inhabitants and less upon the labour of those in distant countries.

Mr Smellie called for three cheers for Sir Robert Stout and Sir Julius Vogel, which were cordially given. Cheers were then given for the Messrs Smellie, and the visitors returned to town, the train arriving at the Dunedin station at 5.30 p.m.