New Plymouth Sash and Door Factory and limber Co., Ltd.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 11828, 27 November 1901, Page 2 (Supplement)

New Plymouth Sash and Door Factory and limber Co., Ltd.

E. SNOWBALL Manager ; E. TRIBIS Secretary.

To the curious and observant visitor New Zealand commercial affairs constantly disclose surprises. In almost every centre of population ot any dimensions he meets with institutions altogether out of proportion in size to what he expected, and NewPlymouth is no exception. In the Sash & Door Factory Co., Ltd., Taranaki is possessed of an industry of imposing dimensions. Considering the population jand the fuct that none of the output of the Company is sent out of the province the amount of work it conducts is nothing less than enormous. It exemplifies at once the industrial capabilities of the ,centre, and the tkill of its management. Nature h:\s endowed the country with ample timber suitable for many commercial purposes, and the New llymouth Sash & Door Factory Co., Ltd., have taken full advantage of the opportunities at their hands. They cut down the rough material and riahufacture it to the requirements cf dairy export, or of builders, etc. Altogether employment is given directly to 184 persons, and indirectly to over 200. This is as satisfactory as utilitarian. The Company came into existence in" 1882 with a capital of £10,000, and employed in the first year onJy about fifteen * hands, with a wages Sheet totalling annually £1500. Today the capital is £20,000, the number of .employees 184, and the annual wages £15,500. There was on ginally only the one branch—situated in New Plymoutth — but the Company now have branches at Waitara, j Tariki Road, Toko, Eltham,. and Wgaire, besides three sawmills. Such facts as these require no comment, themselves telling a story of progress quite inspiriting. Further evidence of the dimensions of the institution are forthcoming. Of local timbers, embracing rimu, white pine, and matai cut from the woodlands t lying between New Plymouth and Ngaire, some 5,500,000 superficial ft. are produced every year. Besides the output of their own sawmills timber is obtained from several other mills, or is imported from Tasmania, Australia, America, and from' Auckland. The sawmills owned by them are eqipped with the best appliances to be obtained, including steam hauling gear for hauling logs out of the bush lands, instead of resorting the old-fashioned bullocK teams. Then at the bush mills twelve miles of steel tramways are laid)l supplied with locomotives. The machinery for making an effective attack on the forest ranks is thus of the best, and almost without leaving the hands of the employees of the Company the timber which has so long adorned the country is reduced to a door lintel, a sash, or other example of the woodworkers' art. All the latter work is negotiated at the factory in New Plymouth, the various branches being used merely for the exhibition and sale of whatever classes of woodwork may be required in those centres. The local factory is therefore extensive, and well repays inspection in the way of showing ingenious mechanical appliances rapidly capable of turning tho hardest woods into articles of use. The Company have spared no expense in procuring the most modern machines, and only a day or two ago received the latest addition to their plant. The factory is situated in Gill, Street, and, with the yards, covers about two acres of ground. From the offices of the clerical staff and management to tho most remote corner of the yards is evidence of the progressive character of the operations. The various departments of the factory proper present a busy scene, machines and appliances being seen for negotiating the heaviest to the lightest stamp of woodwork. Here a sturdy, solid-looking machine saws the roughly dressed timber into the sizes required for building parts ;* here another machine turns out hundreds of pickets with ornamental heads in a. few minutes ; here some delicate grooving or symmetrical decorative work is being done. On every side are large stacks of timber, the yards being heavily bur- j dened. The demand m the pro -mcc is so great that the Company can hardly cope with their large share of it. They are constantly engaged manufacturing butter boxes, and last year they produced some 60,000, about a third of the number used for exporting local butter. With the quick progress of the butter industry has come a proportionate increase in building operations, and huge quantities of building timbers, doors, sashes, etc., are manufactured. Here, unlike in butter boxes, imported timbers largely manipulated, and prodims of the factory have gone to almost every nook and corner of Taranaki. All sorts of builders' requisites are supplied. For this purpose the Company import direct builders' ironmongery of every class, and glass, embossings, etc. They are in , very general request among the builders of the province. To return to the butter industry again, the Company manufacture butter workers, butter churns, and other dairy utensils. Shortly put, the factory negotiates every description of woodwork demanded in Taranaki, and by (keeping money in the district, by largely employing labour, and turning to account the great resources of Taranaki fill a very valuable function. The sight of prosperity is always inspiriting, and this is a characterise tic of the New Plymouth Sash & Door Factory Co., Ltd., as is observed in every department of their work. Theirs is an institution which justifies a sentiment of pride in local people. The directors of the Company are Messrs Newton King 1 (chairman), J. B. Conuett, J. C. George, ' R. Cock, A. (Joldwater, James Paul, and W. F. Brooking, all of whom are prominent local business .'men. The secretory js Mr Edward Tribe, and the manager Mr E. Snowball, ' each of whom has been with; the Company since its inception and with the aid of the directors has worked zealously to secure Ihc success, of this most important adjunct of local industry and trade. The agents at the varjbus branches of the .Company are : — At Tariki Road, Mr JH. Nixon ; Ngaire, Mr James Tlob.son ; Toko, Messrs ITcnn ix. Co.; Waitara, Mr M, Jones ; and Ell ham, Mr W. Von Stunner.