BROKEN HILL WORKS

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 75, Issue 6444, 10 November 1947, Page 6

BROKEN HILL WORKS

VISIT BY NEW ZEALAND BUSINESS MAN COMMENTS ON AUSTRALIAN STOCK EXCHANGES A visit to the Broken Hill Proprietary Company in New South Wales was described by Mr Geoffrey Hamilton, chairman of the Christchurch Stock Exchange, in an interview. X The works were immense, and although he spent three hours going over them there was still much he did not see, said Mr Hamilton. He would recommend anyone who wished. to inspect the works to spend at least a week at. Broken Hill. The company had recently erected a £20,000 building for a night school for sons of its staff. One of the things that impressed him was the company’s safety campaign. Immediately inside the gates of the works was a two-storey first aid post where a resident doctor and his assistants were on duty throughout the working hours. Safety notices were posted throughout the building, and ambulance kits Were available at many corners. The works were remarkable for their cleanliness., the buildings were huge, and the setout showed clever foresight in planning. The crane drivers were doing a wonderful job, and he was told that these men could make or break the works. So specialised was their work that when crane-drivers were first employed they were imported from America.

Referring to the Stock Exchange in Australia, Mr Hamilton said he received a warm welcome at the exchanges in Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide. At .Sydney he was impressed with the speed at which the call was taken. It reminded him of a wool sale in the twenties. All voices seemed to be in chorus but the chairman ably sorted out the final buyer. While-he was there 680 calls averaging three seconds, or five seconds a line when sales were made, were put through. Solid business was done, and many lots were divided as evenly as possible among buying brokers. Wherever there were more buyers than sellers a ballot was held.

Two messengers were kept busy running up and down stairs between brokers’ desks. For the final quotation a stencil was cut and run off so that members could receive as many copies as they desired when leaving. He spent an hour and a quarter on the exchange, and when he left the calls made up to the end of the miscellaneous section still had to be read back for checking, .as well as all the mining stocks to be called. The chairman of the Melbourne Stock Exchange £yas a comparatively young man who was held in high esteem by his colleagues. Procedure there was much the’same as in Sydney. Substantial business was done at every call, and after the call buyers and sellers retired to a vestibule where they negotiated sales. All sales done on the exchange or in the vestibules were published in the papers.

The Adelaide exchange was similar to Christchurch. Adelaide was fortunate in owning its own building which. was well placed on an inland block behind the main street and consequently free from noise. The call room was excellently, lighted and the vestibule large. There were eight separate telephone lines, and a post office occupied a corner of the building to facilitate the sending of telegrams. The Adelaide Stock Exchange had also its own club and diningroom. Mining still played a big part on the Adelaide exchange, and some brokers came in to attend this part only.