PORT CRAIG.

Otago Witness, Issue 3525, 4 October 1921, Page 7

PORT CRAIG.

GE EAT SAWMILLING VENTURE. UP-TO-DATE AMERICAN PLANT. AN AUSPICIOUS OPENING. Far cut towards the extreme western point of Te Was Wae Bay, on the coast of Southland, lies a tiny patch of sand, protected by a headland, and figuring on the maps as Muscle Beach. Before the sixties it was one of the few spots bearing a name ill an unknown land, the reason being that it was noted by Captain Cook, and that here was established a shore whaling station at the time when operations were active at Preservation Inlet and Stewart Island. Forest-clad hills, dominated by the ; lump (3500 ft and the snow-capped Princess Mountains beyond, together with a rough and almost inaccessible coast, securely protected the adjoining areas from the hand of man. After the whaling days were over it was only a rare visitor that landed at the spot., and it almost seemed as if the beach were to sink back into the oblivion from which it had sprung. But this was not to be. The bush was known to abound in excellent rimu, and during later years attracted the attention of many millers; but the obstacles seemed insuperable. 'To open tin the way an immense outlay of capital was required, and ike rugged nature of the country precl**ded all thought of logging by prevailing methods. Five years ago, however, the late Mr .John Craig, manager of the Marlborough j irnber Company, of Christchurch, looking round for a new field of operations, made a careful investigation, and decided that, given courageous support, it was possible to open up a plant on a large scale. He put ! he proposition before the directors and paid a special mission to America to personally inquire into the most approved and up-to-date of lumber methods. He returned full of enthusiasm, and suggested to his company the immediate establishment of an almost automatic plant, callable of delivering 40,000 ft of sawn timber every day. '1 he mill was o- tiy; but a greater problem than that of its cost was how it was to be fed and how the timber was to he got av. ly. Mr Craig was thoroughly ’prepared. .: f e proposed the erection of a breakwater to create a p rt, and ext lined the working of the great Lidger Wood overhead hawler. a massive piece of machinery, eigliing 80 tons, and capable of dealing with, a radius of half a mile all round without shifting. The company decided to go ahead, the plant was o> dered. and today if u in complete running order and employing nearly 100 hands. The breakwater has been built, wharves erected, and the company's three steamers Orepuki, Opua, and Opihi—can be loaded under ordinary noimal conditions by punts as required. 'I he port is by no means complete, a great deal of development work yet having to be done, as it is the intention of the company to secure some means <if k ading direct, for which purpose a new wharf is being carried right out into the sea at a point where vessels may ride head on to the swell. Muscle Beach, however, is no longer Muscle Beach; it is Port Craig. The place was inaccessible except in fine weather, and the too-daring spirit of Mr Craig cost him his life. lie was drowned at Waikouai, five miles away, when landing in a surf lam! just when the initial work and layout of the plant had been completed (November. 1917). II is death was a gre at blow to the company, which suffered an irreparable loss, and if \.a<= not iill the present manager, Mr Peter Daly, was appointed two yens ago that the original project v as te-organised and put oil the sound footing on which it stands today. Mr Craig v. ■ a man who claimed the 1OSP" t a. 1 0510., n if all aim worked under him. md after his death the men approach it the compile\ with a request that the D-j'.err. nt dumb! he asked to acceed to their vu-ii and 1 ■ non;- hi- mime perpetually hv calling Ihe place P rt Craig. The <hang ■ was n ide and dub g izelted. The present manager, Mr D .ly, vo n! to Southland with there] station ofbeing one of the ft 11 i <iti the \\ e l Cl and Ills cork 1 ins justified the confidence the company placed in him. The company has been operating at Nylin Day, Pelorous Bound, since 1307. the plant there being equal to the best standard type in the dominion. A feature ot the operations 1 t imher from the O t r n ev over a hill 15CK ’ll high ! n the bay, and the two mills are cutting 5,'J 30,000 ft yearly, and employing (in the

bush, in tlio mills, and on the wharves) a total of between &3 and 70 hands. These operations are indicative of the sterling qualities of the late Mr Craig and the enterprise of the company, and when it was decided to open up Muscle Beach a complete departure was made from existing methods. The plant ordered was a big American mill, the product of the Sunnier Iron Works, of Everett, Washington, U.S.A., together with an overhead hawler by the Lidger Wood Company, this being, Mr Craig considered, the type of plant most suited to New Zealand to-day. The original erection of the mill was commenced under the superintendence of an American, Mr Wright, who decided the actual site and laic! the foundations. Mr Craig's death result ed in a long cessation of the work* but after Mr Daly took charge it was resumed, the Sumner Works sending over Air D. Wilder as superintendent, an officer who has been responsible for the erection of huge plants in all parts of the world, including South America, China, and the teak forests of the Indo-Dhina Peninsula. Mr Craig’s death was not the only set back the company suffered. j lie launchman, Mr Fred Parry, of in.vcrton, perished with him, and just 11 months later Air Craig's brother was killed by ail explosion in olio ot the clunogs oil i io niiuii brumline. A little later another fatality occurred. a young man, Air Basil Cox, losing his life through being thrown into the water while wearing gum boots. The main tramline has been already laid over a mile into the bom, and here the Lidger Wood (already familiarly termed the letlgerwood) is hard at work. Formation work is being actively carried on for a considerable distance ahead, a costly business owing to the weight of the hawler and the rough nittuic ot the country to be travers'd, heavy cuttings requiring to he blasted a great part e! the way. The work ib L ;■ us tho coinpuny estimates that tho timber supply m sight will supph even die huge capacity of ilia plant for 50 or 60 years. V> erect the mill and biold the setilemout anti port a stand ml typo plant capable of cutting 10,000 ft per day was erected ot the outset, and this has been ill constant operation. i he company is dealing with its employees on a modern scheme of housing, and the camp is remarkable for the number ami quality of its buildings. '1 hero is a line dining room and social hall, a echo il, billiard room, library, store, .and po-t and telogvap.i office.. The men me in no way herded together, and all tee liwng arrangements are excellent. Needless to say the capita! expenditure iiatured has been very heavy. The development work is by no meant complete, but already a ruin much in ex cess of .-■ 1 has 1 icon meat. The mil and equipment is t ite most- modern ir New Zealand anti certainly by fill* the best yet seen in southern parts. The populiUi .n is : ready numerous, numbering somewhere a out icC. I here are many farp.Tes. and 53 children are in ai tendance at the school. The whole population with the exception of the schoolmaster is dit fitly connected with the ci-.npnt*.; . which is responsible for <■-,orythiiisr iu t*i- place from the bush te the wharves. ’tig re is no other settlement, and as the land is Crown land and the company lias only licenses to cut the timber it will probably be many year' before other settlements can penetrate. Permission was tocur-.-d to clear an area arouni the spot, and this had already been done. The existing licenses apply only to some 4CCO acres, sufficient to supply the mil for three or four years, but the timber ir i sight is almost limitless, and outside Pori Craig* itself there seems to he do access. 1 The usual route lo get to the spot if by way of Tuatnpero and along the beach the last five miles being accomplished b\ launch from Blner'ifT. where a landing stage has been swung on the susp-. nsioi: principle high above the roach of the waves. "When the weal her is rough anc the launches cannot run there is no alter native hut to traverse a rough bush trai sev( n miles round. This follows the trad cut many years ago to carry the telegrap] line to the Tuysegur lighthouse. The roac from Tnatapere is metalled for seven 01 eight miles almost to ihe beach (Thskine’s) and then it ceases. A mere raid track end; in a precipitous descent down a rubble face, tic re are several miles of loose, lie;iv\ shimad* along the beach, and then, whet ■ fii ■ rot< 1 of level s md hr-Amu •mlv by occasional streams and th< ho *';’•.ii Kivcr. for 15 miles. The bead can Id* i " ni ed pleaomily <nly for ; fc'.v h tcr- !■ 1 d fid -s, f■»l* it is very Rat and ei ”0 the tide Jem well turn'd there i.> no option 1 1 ’’ ■ : •> ! dm In the loose shingk piled unde - tji : . < I;IV- ;,M i.]io way along No one who hi.- had this expeiicnce i likrdy to win) to repeat the ordeal, and ; close ao.qua intance with Gm slate of th« tide is a natural dliiir.u let is! ie of the du e? 1 r c at Port Craig. One of il" l.iMix-he? is {lie Seabird, : otfifi eD]):d)!e of doiim Ift knots per hour and well known in Auckland as the boa

that caught the Motuihi escapees during the war, the captain of the .See Adler and bis companions. The other is the launch Venus. Four miles beyond Port Craig is Sandhill Point, and nearby once stood a Maori pa, whore, it is believed, the last battle between the native races was fought. .An ample water supply exists, and sufficient pressure can he obtained to deal with any outbreak of fire. As regards accidents to the men, or sickness in the camp, the launch can reach Riverton (the nearest hospital) in about a couple of hours. The camp is connected by telephone with Tuatapere, and there i also the telegraph. The mail is can lt d twice a week. TTIS PLANT. The plant is entirely the product of the Stunner Iron Works. The p-.v.er is derived from a double cylinder engine of 375 horsepower, and the main driving Kelt is no less than 24- inches in width, double sole leather, the cost of whi'di is £1 per fool. Its life, however, is a long one. Mr Wilder stating that it should he still in perfect order 21 years lienee. He does not regard it as anything cut of the ordinary; in America, as <a matter of fact, it would bo regarded a.s quite a small one. plants of four and five times the capacity of that at Port Pvaig being by no means unknown, with belts of corresponding greatness and strength. T lie steam is derived from two 150 horse-power boilers, and provision is mode for the installation of another. Tills will probably be nc-cessary as the demands on the boilers when tho mill is in full going are very heavy. There is no firing, the fuel being merely green sawdust fed direct by conveyors from the saws. Only ono attendant, is needed, controlling traps on the sawdust currier so I : regul ue rlie amount being f 1 to the f : : rnaecs. T-tp are on the il ■ hut tho dust ; G -o ; :it ( ; : ‘. r dire- ? into them •" 1 ■ dan 15 feet. The\ . quite ' cept? nal d i . ; ,. tho eon Mi netion ‘* u -•* all just W ; pb.sh i'heir purpose of c onsu-ning the fuel, •Ctrl !he res:;i< ant five i ■ : revelai ion to eve ~!!'* aerj ;ai:.ted cmv witli older method.' Thevo are no ashes to worry about, ihe >n:a:i 'U'nuwy of waste falling i hrou gh 1* clew the fms being carried off bv a constant flow of water to a race outaide. TM, actual possibility of tho special form or fur;i:::*e is well imlitv.fed by tho faef. that before the tall* chimneys were erected the plant v:a= given a trial run and perfect combustion obtained despite the apparent want of draught, Slabs are necessary only to -in at the tire when it is actually '‘d so; I,"' but- this should never occur while tlr* plan' is in op*-ration, ns it is part of ihe inyht watchman's duty tc throw .sawdust in fw.in time to time, a Large quantity being- dropped at hand for this sj eoial purpi e. Being* otcr the fur-iia-es this snv. diut is dry, and (ho draught b ing shut off it merely smolders quietly in the furnace until the attendant comes along in the morning and sets all going once more. To understand the plant, it is best tc start at ice skids, whore the tree barrels are delivered. The first operation is identical with that of nine-tenths of Die mills in this country, oon-isiing merely of connecting a rope with the end cl one of the logs and drawing it forward, a wind: being installed for the purpose. In the ease of tho Port- Craig plant this wind: is driven by a friction clutch, instantly reversible. But here begins the first ot the marvels of this wonderful machinery. A series ot powerful spiked rollers mechanically driven extends along* the front of the skids leading to the breakdown and for a short distance outside the mill to meet the incoming logs The first roller (every one is concave so that the log lies securely ir it) catches the end and draws it forward, releasing the winch of further duty. Frou one roller it is passed on to another til 1 the logman finds he has the right length. Then he pulls a lever, a great steam-driven cross-cut saw descends and < moment later is ripping off whatever length may have been decided upon. Thi.operation is quickly performed, the original lever is again pulled, and the spiked rollers carry the log into position to be tunibli d on to the skid, to roll down towards the breakdown bench There is no "jacking.’ Tho mill is great two-saried affair with all tho driving gear beneath, and under the skids is a huge piston resting in a great steam cylinder A press with the foot on the part of the logman i : eu- a valve, tue sic 'll drive: the piston up. oi.-esui itnr three pov. ei fu under and raue:* siyo, casting it ignominiously forth from it upp-iivt-tly seeing resting !>hi"e nod Jeuvit-g it no option hut to go its de.-titled wav. The log-mar lias an a-si-t.ini. and except in very ex cep! in nal circumsi auces has not the slight iwt occasion to leave the platform froti which he has complete control of cun operation without, shifting his stand. Tin assistant’s duty is to connect the wire rope with each tree as it is required am occasionally to take a cant hook and giv< a twitch to a-n unruly log* not round

enough in the barrel to cause it to roll down the skids of its own accord. A particularly ugly log may sometimes give trouble in the rolls through the ejection levers being unable to connect vitally, but- such an occurrence is very rare. There is no danger at the breakdown. The first: log* to reach it is securely caught in the ‘'kinder,” three massive half circles of steel beyond which it cannot, travel. Here the head sawyer, indeed the “key” ro the whole mill, has his stand and takes charge. Underneath are several wonders of mechanical ingenuity. The first causes the loader to* turn a complete circle, throwing its burden on to the bench, at tho same time retarding any movement of the press of logs behind, and then catching the next, in order just as if it had accomplished nothing at all, though the whole thing was tire work of a second. Then a new wonder appears on the scene. This is the “nigger.” At the sawyer's hand is a simple lever with a joggle four ways, a single inch each way. Each joggle controls a movement. One causes the nigger to rise, a powerful steel beam with ugly notches whose merciless grip the log cannot resist. By joggling hir. control the sawyer may roll the log over, crowd it up on the carriage, throw it hack or “put it down.” It cannot avoid tho nigger, as on the far side it is securely prevented from effecting escape by straight sturdy uprights of steel, the outposts of a powerful mechanism controlling the distance of the log when scr- out to tho saw. As soon as the nigger has performed its task and the log* lies in position for tho. first facing the sawyer gives a sign, an assistant on the carriage pulls a lever, and the log is secured by the Reliance dog. Another sign and a second assistant brings into operation the mechanical vet works driven by cable rope power, this being necessary owing to the fact that the bench has to travel down the saws. The set works are a substantial contrivance, but the control is of the simplest description, the assistant merely turning a handle round a dial face to a given number of feet or inches and the machinery doing the rest. The whole of these operations take only a minute and the log is then si nt on its way through the saws, the two assistants remaining on the bench and never leaving their posts, while the siwver himself remains at his controls. Talking is impossible owing to noise, and everything is worked by sawyers’ signs. The breakdown saws are the customary “twins.” the lower saw 6Si.o and the upper 60in, driven by 2-1-inch belting similar to that u-vd in i he main drive from the engine. 'This belt, like all tho other important belts in tho mill, has a “tightener,” a wheel pressure controlled by a weighted lever arrangement. The rutting i- done at remarkable speed. Once the log is brought to a- face the “nigger” may lie again brought into requisition and the log turned any wav de- ! I rod. generally either down on the flat or with the flat against the set works, running a new face on the side next, the saws. The slabs uml flitches all fall on mechanic-ally-driven rollers controlled by the “tailerout.” The slabs he diverts, causing them to travel clear of an automatic trip, and be cast later on to the floor, where they are seized by a live chain dragging arrangement and passed through a set of saws which out them ud into short sections. They then drop into a, traveller and are earned* off. This part of tiro equipment is not yet complete. The carrier will eventual!'.* pass the slabs into a huge fire in the gully a hundred yards below the mill, or deliver them by means of a gate or trap at- a spot where they may be automatically loaded for use on the locomotives and about the camp. In the meantime all are he ing saved, but the method is the old rough and ready otic of hands. The treatment of the flitches themselves is just as automatic. There are two routes along which the tailer-out may send them. One is direct forward, towards the trip ihe slabs must clear; the other is a diversion across the mill to the “pony rig.” This latter is a remarkable contrivance, built partly for speed and partly to save timber, the saw gauge being considerably less than that of the breakdown. Thus a double economy is effected, an economy of time and an economy of timber. The carriage is worked direct by steam, an Bin steam cylinder 50fl long operating an equally long piston 3in in diameter, connected with the front of the traveller. Otherwise the equipment is precisely ihe same as that on the breakdown carrier. There are tho same two assistants, the same dogging arrarraemont, and the same mechanic al set works; also the same “nigger.” Ihe bench is capable of taking a feed from one to lb inches wide, and will deal with three 6itl flitches or two Sin flitches, sawing both at ihe same time. All is under the control of the pony “sawyer,” who, like everyone else in the mill, need never leave his allotted post. The tailer-out merely brings ihe clutch to bear" by a foot-trip, a set of live chains rises above the level of the rollers, and the flitch travels across at right towards the pony rig. Halfway over it falls dead. The other side is

controlled by the pony sawyer. He has a similar trip working his end. 'When he wants the flitch he causes it to come across; another trip and tho nigger promptly casts up his head and performs his duty, pitching the timber on to the traveller and crowding it against the set works. A sign to the dogman and another to the gaugeman and everything is right, the saw screaming through a moment later, with never a word said and not a moment lest. The sawn timber falls on the roller way and proceeds to its destination, of which more hereafter. And now appears the advantage of the steam drive. Fast as the carriage has passed down the saw it is as nothing to the return. It darts back under a full steam pressure, and with the gain of many seconds is again on its way down the cut, delivering an almost uninterrupted supply of sawn planks till another set of flitches is required. Tn the centre of the mill stands the “edger.” There is no necessity to dwell upon it. The principle is one in common application in every up-to-date mill, a set of saws capable of adjustment at any desired di-a m-e one from the ether to cut a series of planks or boards at the same time. There are four saws in this particular machine, on a four-inch arbor (snindle). Tho machine opens to take in a flitch eight inches thick and 48 inches in width, and is operated by the edgerman and his assistant. The saws can be placed at any distance by scale from three inch's to 40 inches apart, thus cutting from 3 x 1 to 40 x 1, or 8 x 3 to 40 x 8. The setting is the work only of a moment. A.s with tho pony breakdown the flitches need not bo dealt with separately, but placed on top of one another so long as they come within tlio machine’ o limits, and are clean enough to cut alike. The stacking, however, is dma at the saws as the flitches fall, not at tho edger. The feeding of the timber across to too edger. however, is another matter. Tho travelling roller way from the breakdown benches passes some distance to the left hand side, and the way from the pony bench a similar distance on the other. Tho flitches coming- direct down from the twin A'iws reach the trip that the slabs are diverted to clear, and automatically brinsr into ntay a similar diverting arrangement to that operated by ihe tailer-out when lie wishes to pass timber across to the ‘"pony.” In this case also the iiniber falls “ dead ” half v.ay; the rest of the distance is in the control of tile edgerman’s assistant. The pc my bench timber docs not diveit itself automatically: the diversion is under tho control of the sawyer, the reason being that some of the lumber from the pony is finished, and docs not need ihe edger, being passed straight on beyond it. Most of ir. however, i° diverted, and also falls dead half wav o* or. The edger is thus fed fre m both sides, and it will rcadilv bo gathered is a pretty busy machine, both the edgerman and his assistant being kept fully employed. Everything that, passes through, however, is quite finished except for ihe “docking.” A great deal of sawdust is being created by all these oneratioiis. but the two boilers are greedy of fuel, and the supply must be augmented.. It is here at the edger that this is achieved. The waste pieces are not large, and instead of finding their way on to a live floor they are dropped into a. hopper and there chewed up as in a bone mill, joining the sawdust to onab’e operations to continue. A similar fate befals the slabs from the pony rig, these also being of a sort amenable to such treatment. The powerful knives beneath, like the insignificant. boy who blows the organ, really perform a signal service in the mill, for should they go on strike the whole plant would quickly find itself at a standstill. The pony delivery, edger delivery, and breakdown delivery, for even the automatic diversion of this last can ho stopped at will, all end in a straight line across the lower end of the building, and each finished plank or board falls down on to a live floor, a set of constantly moving chains travelling at: right angles to ihe mill and carrying the timber across to tho left. Here it is delivered to the decker and his assistant. The docking is quite a. simple matter. There is a rising platform similar to that of "he slab -a* o , hut in this case the saws are ,-ci at correct two feet intervals, and ea h is <b ■■ . ■: > aru.g. The docker, or trirnrneiman 0 he D called, lias complete control. ITe m * v cause any saw or any set, of saws to vise at will, tie can dock the ; *.vu ends of a still: at the same time, at d if ueci ssary ob bad piece out i f the mid lie. u * * r saws iri all. There is a litile handling hero, just a push a few inches cither way to start a stick in the rit-ihf position. The saws are worked by friction clutches; no manual power is necessary here any more than elsewhere, and the handling is simplified by tho l.i- t that the assistant is always at tho lar end of the moving timber. The traveller is irresistible, every few links of the chains having a steel upright drawing the slicks along. This, ai d the rising nature of the platforms ensures a steady, square passing over the

saws. The chains of the traveller are eight feet apart, the consequence being that nothing jjnder eight feet in length remains upon it, the waste dropping into the slabway and being carried off to destruction. Everything over eight feet long tumbles on to a long, independent traveller passing down the hillside 150 ft to the wharf. Here handcarts await it, two men at either side loading these up and passing them over to the yardmen—classers, tallymen, and shippers. Within a few minutes of a log being first tumbled on to the breakdown the complete operation has been concluded, and were a ship ready in tile port performances might be accomplished that would delight the heart of any American. One point omitted, it may be as well to mention. It has been pointed out that the traveller from the breakdown is continued also to the delivery floor, despite the self trip to the edger. This is to enable extra heavy lumber to be cut direct on the breakdown. The automatic trip is thrown out of action, and an extra size docking saw o&n be brought into play before the junk leaves the traveller. The route to the wharf is then the same as that taken by the other timber. Any section and any piece of the machinery can be started or stopped without interference with the rest of the mill, this being accomplished by paper friction face to face with cast iron wheels. At the skids things might require attention, but the mill goes on. The breakdown can stop temporarily, the “pony” be thrown out of acnon, the edger or any of the live ways, and nothing worse happen than a temporary piling up of timber at the particular spot. The traveller to the wharf is controlled at the wharf, just as the traveller to the trimmerman is controlled by that, employee. It is a fine plant, but as Mr Wilder pointed out, it wants brains. Given these and an adequate supply cf timber, the mill should prove an object lesson throughout the dominion; it is certainly a revolution in the milling methods of Southland. The whole plant, inclusive of the engine room, and excluding the wharves, can be operated by 20 men, and little more is required of them than that they should keep their heads and stick closely to the job on hand. The pace, however, demands the best of sawyers. men who can size up the exact possibilities of a log without hesitation or serious error. THE LIDGER WOOD. The Lidger Wood overhead hauler, a remarkable contrivance, has already become famous throughout the milling districts of Southland. Its speed in action is wonderful. Not only does it do the hauling. but without any interruption of this work it loads the trollies, so that, given a sufficiency of these, the bank can always be kept quite clear, while the locomotive pursues steady, uninterrupted journeys back and forwards from the mill. A track is cut through the bush for half a mile, and all the timber to come that way is felled in advance. There is no cutting into logs, the tops only being removed and the barrel brought in whole. The overhead rope >’s a heavy steel cable anchored securely at either end, after passing through a block on a mast 120 ft high. It is not directly secured at the harder end, a block and tackle strainer being interposed to apply any tension that may be desired. This tackle is connected with a drum on the hauler, and _ like every other drum on the machine, this has one function, and one only, to discharge. It is stationary always, except- when required either to release the tension or to tighten up tilt? suspension cable. The result is that should anything go wrong with the cable or with the travelling blocks suspended on it the whole can be lowered to the ground or raised again without any effort other than the movement of a clutch on the machine. Two other drums have charge of the travelling blocks—one for the haul, the other for the return. Wet other drums have charge of a further gear by which another cable reeved through a small block on the side on the travelling block gives two chains of slack on the main haul. This can be man-hauled to any spot within the limits of that distance. It serves a further purpose in that the idea is not to carry the whole weight of the logs on the suspension cable, hut to trail them, easing the dead weight by allowing one end to rest on the ground. This is accomplished by the “slack,” which is under perfect control, being lengthened or shortened at a moment’s notice as desired. The mast carries four blocks —two for the haul rope going and returning, and two for tho rope controlling the slack, going and returning. The power of the plant may be gauged from the fact that three great trees can be brought along at one time, travelling the whole length of. half a mile in a few minutes. The only hands in the vicinity are those on the hauler and those at the logging end, communication between tho parties being by electric whistle, all signals, of course, coining from the bush end. The logs are secured merely by having a wire rope passed over them at the butt, the work of a moment. No other bush work is carried on in the vicinity, and accidents are practically impossible, apart from gross carelessness, as the machinery is “dead" till the sigral is received. Should anything go wrong with the whistle, the machinery is still “dead,” as no whistle to haul can bo given. \ The loading is done by a drum on the front end of the hauler. It is quite simple, and docs away entirely with skids. All that is necessary is to place a couple of grapnels at either end of the log, the signal to hoist is given, and tbe log comes directly over the trucks and is steadied into place. A ground hauler is to lie installed as an auxiliary, working out corners where the Lidger 'A ood could not be operated profitably, and generally assisting its mightier brother to perform service worthy of its powers. OFFICTAL OPENING. '1 he plant was officially opened on Thursday, September 22, the ceremony taking place at the bottom end of the mill at the bench deliveries. An official party was ■ e “lit from < flu isieliureh, these being Me- -r.-i I!. L. Scott (chairman of directors). It I!"' 1 - (managing direct mi. and Vv . 11. Banks (director). Present by invitation were Messrs 11. t rain- (son of ih« late Mr Craig), T. O’Bynip (president of the Southland Sawmills Workers’ Union), Captain Ellis (Director of Forest rv). Macpherson State Forests), ( M. Mai (Forestry Department, Wellington). Norman Ih-ath (representing Cooke's Wire Ropes, Sheffield). .Ins. Mac-kin (Atkins Saw.. U.S.A.), and others. The whole settlement was on its best behaviour. the day being gloriously fine, and the proceedings were of happy augury for the future. Mr Scott, in declaring trie mill open, Said that when Mr Wright rame over from America tho deep giillv over which tho

plant was erected immediately caught his eye, and he declared emphatically that “God had made it for a sawmill,” and that there the mill should be erected. He congratulated Mr Wilder and his assistants on the successful accomplishment of their work. He was pleased to say that they were in a position to demonstrate what the plant could do, and he trusted that,in future they would have a good run, with benefit and profit both to the employees and to the company. Mr Reece, in a short address, recounted the history of the undertaking, making special reference to the regrettable loss of Mr Craig, whose death had been such a blow, not only to the company itself, but to all the men who worked under him. Mr Reece made fitting reference also to the other valuable lives lost, and expressed the hope that now the plant was to commence operations there would be an end to such misfortunes. He paid a tribute to the loyalty and enthusiasm of the workers engaged at the mill, and hoped that these good relations would continue in the days to come. Captain Ellis congratulated the company on the enterprise it had displayed. He wished it the success due to the courage and imagination the late Mr Craig had displayed, and expressed the hope that a happy community would exist at Port Craig for many years. The company had done a great deal'for the welfare of the workers and deserved well at their hands. Mr O’Byrne, in opening, remarked that four vears ago there was not a person in the place; to-day it was a centre of great activity. They had had a look at the Lidger Wood hauler at work, and it was a revelation to every bushman. The plant, too, offered marvellous surprises. He shared the feelings of -Captain Ellis, and wished the company, on behalf of all the workers, the success that was its due. The company had done the best it could for the workers, and the workers had done the best they could for the company. He hoped that these conditions would continue in the future as in the. past, and that the same happy relationship would he maintained. At a" time when every enterprise was curtailing expenditure the company had gone boldly forward with the erection of the mill, the building of the tramway, and tho construction of the port and camp, providing work for a hundred people, and doing more for Southland in the time of stress than the Power Board, which had ceased its operations. He hoped that the men would put their shoulders to the wheel and make the mill pay, giving a good return for the capital invested. The children were ordered to the visitors’ gallery, the rest of the company warned not to pass beyond conspicuous danger boards, and Mrs'Daly, wife of the manager, was conducted to the engine-room to turn on the steam. In a few moments everything was in full swing. The first log was thrown ignominiously on to the breakdown traveller, bundled about like a fretful child in an angry mother’s arms, and in less than a minute was passing down the saws, showing a clean face, while the first slabs passed "to their allotted doom. Flitch by flitch the log quickly disappeared; the edgerman was fully occupied, and the finished boards were passing over the trim-mer-man’s saws and on their way to the lumber buggies at the foot of the traveller leading down to the wharf yards. The pony breakdown was not at first set in action, and advantage was taken of this to pass down the “dead” side of the mill and see what was going forward. Half an hour later this saw also was in operation, and the capacity of the plant was. fully revealed, not a moment passing in which every man was not engaged in the divert production of the finished article. As Mr Wilder said late that evening, when accepting a handsome cheque from the men, there was the mill guaranteed to produce 40,000 f- of sawn timber a day; the Sumne* - Company had provided the plant—it .was for the Marlborough Company to feed it Operations were continued till t-lie visitors had had time to inspect everything, and then a halt was callqfj “to celebrate.” A dance and social was lield in the evening, a thoroughly enjoyable entertainment in" which a considerable amount of musical and elocutionary talent was revealed. The men were, of course, in great preponderance, but the number of wsmenfolk already settled at Port Craig was evidenced in the fact that the floor was always fairly full. A happy feature was the attitude of the great, bushmen to the children, several girls well under the teens being constantly in request as partners, and kept going throughout the evening. During an interval towards the close Mr O’Byrne, on behalf of the workers, presented Mr Wilder with a substantial cheque in token of their appreciation and esteem. lie had, lie said, nothing but admiration for the manner in which Mr Wilder had carried out- his task, and for the manner in which he had taught the men to do their work. He assured Mr Wilder that the men deeply appreciated his kindness to them, and he asked him to accept tile gift not for its itself but for the spirit in which it was given. Messrs J. M'Corrnack and R. Wells bore testimony to the splendid manner in which the machinery had been installed, and expressed the deep sense of indebtedness felt bv all the hands to Mr Wilder for his patience with them and the genuine desire he had always evinced that they should fully understand and master its intracicies. They congratulated Mr Wilder on the successful accomplishment of his work at Port Craig, and expressed the regret of all that he was about to leave them. Mr Reece assured Mr Wilder that the directors were thoroughly pleased with the manner in which the plant had been operated arid the manner in which it had been erected. They had already despatched a cablegram to the Sumner works to say that it had bad a successful run. Mr Wilder, in the course of his reply, thanked “ the boys ” who had worked with him. and assured them that their gift was accepted for the spirit that prompted it and not for itself. His purpose at Port Craig was to creel the plant, not to receive bouquets. Now his task was complete. and in a few days he would he saying farewell, hut he extended to one and j all a hearty invitation to look him un in America if ever they were there, and he would do hi- ties! to show them round He had enioved himself at Port Craig, and although the New Zealanders there might have learned something about lumber plants he could assure them that he a's o had learned a great deal that he did mu know before. He. had travelled three times round tile globe, and had creel, d plants in unite n number of places, but he had never met. “ a more jolly hunch of fellows than in the city of Port Craig.” The mill, when fully equipped would produce .at least 40,000 ft of lumher f. w every eight working hours, There was not a

man engaged in it who was not eligible to become a sawyer if he had the will and set himself to learn. It was a plant that all of them should be proud of, and he would urge every one of tho crew to seek to become proficient in it. It was only tile forerunner of similar plants in the dominion, and men with a thorough knowledge of it would be in great request. He hoped that they would make a success of it, both for their own salves and for tho company.