FRIMLEY AT NIGHT.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14156, 16 March 1910, Page 7

FRIMLEY AT NIGHT.

WORKING OVERTIME

Knowing that supplies or freali fruit were literally rolling into thy i' imiluy Canning factory, and that its excellent management avill no'.v, is at an\time, ,be experiencing difficulty in clearing the receiving sheds each day, we (Hastings "Standard") expressed the wish to sec for ourselves how the enormous flood of work was being dealt i with. "Coma along to-night'' whs the > immediate reply of Mr IS. .Basil-Jone.-, the firm's energetic manager, "Vi e are working overtime and it will interest you to see the place lighted up : Here we are at the heart of a great industry. The exhibitions only give . the show side of factories. Frimley is the practical and real thing. "I am glad you have come" is tile-manager's ; welcome as we stop across the well i lighted court yard between the office j and factory buildings. The yard is largely occupied with long tents, and looking inside we could see that they were use<l by the boxmakers who have been evicted from their own quarteis by the fruit and fruit packers. Wo pass the hot furnaces of the two huge boilers; the eld engine-room in which is the poineer engine that at one time used to drive all the machines, and which is now exerting all its horsepower in pumping water to the cleva-

ted tai/fcs; through the tinsmith shop, now silent, because the tin! milkers are well ahead of their work , and have no couse to work overtime. ; and 011 into the shed where tins of raw fruit, in one continuous chain enter a, long trough of boi!ir-,r r.v.tcr and i emerge to be licreniotieally sorJat!. I 1* nrther on we pass the huge circular tanks of boilijig water into 'which the sealed cans are placed for fixed times to complete the cooking; process. Next, we enter tlie fruit count. Here

is opened before us a scene long to b? remembered. It is impossible in cold ; type to do justice to the picture. The j court is 130 ft long by 89ft wide. Elec- j trie lamps in profusion everywhere make it as light as day. TheVenne is full of animation. Along one side are eight tables placed at right angles with the wall -and extending past the middle of the court, and at each of these are standing ten girls wearing light, blue caps and blue and white aprons. Thoy

nre young girls and elderly girls. Here and there are Maori maids, occasionally one notices elderly women: one of j these we are told is n-er 60 years of i age. But all are bright and Mieorful, givi.ng evidence that their industrious hours are happy Ivm-s. There are over eighty of the?! l ;me.' extra, money by working overtime. Before them oii the tables lie huge piles of halved peaches. an<J the girls, with sharp knives are paring tho thin skin from* the luscious . fruit. Of".- r« are carefully packing the or-red "r-.it'nn-.tins. v.-bieli are trucked away into the next court.. Ot the far end of the court and thrown out on to canvas sheeting is a huge pile of Petit d'Argent prunes around which a crowd of men and boys are busily engaged nicking off the stems and sortinn- the fruit. ' ° To give some idea, of the amount of , work the girls get through in the day | we may state that 2000 cases of I peaches was the average number reI coived at the factory that week. Be-

sides this there were enormous quantities of pears, prunes and other fruits coming in daily. We crossed ajiother courtyard to the large sheds, where the canned fruitis stored, and where the labelling is done. Terrace after terrace of 21b tins of peaches stretch away from end to end, and one vast pile, the size of which appeared small owing to' the magnitude of the surroundings, was no less than 7000 tins. In other parts of the courts were 4gal tins of fruit, in walls reaching from floor to wall plate. Looking at the accumulating stocks in these rooms one realises that the ITrimley brsmd of fruit has \voy\ by itr, evcollrnce a big market. At th? end of last the courts were full, but to-day hardly a tin of last year's fruit remains. Each year the supply increase;; unci with it tiie demand grows, and will continue to grow until the Californian t-innrd i'niits, uow too nuwii seen in the 'shop windows in I.!ic cities mid t-owni. New Zcflancl, will give way to the home product. As vro rouch'dod our brk'f inspectim oS tho fnctr.-ry, v,*r hnd to rrjr.nd aside to

allow the porous thron;; of employees to pass as they cnmo sincinp: and racin'S to the doors like children leavmg school. At the gate?; Mere four-whecl-ed brakes waiting to take tiler.: to the station and to their homes, and on these they clamoured in a manner which showed thnr they were not the leant exhausted bv their long dav's work.

V. o can-not conclude this short impression without eonnno.nting on the excellent discipline and cleanliness which is observed at the factory. One would almost expect at this busy time, and in virtue of the nature of the industry, to find evidence of fruit juice on the floors, machines and benches. But we found the woodwork scrubbed white and the metal work as bright as a lookinfr-.tflass. For cleanliness' the Frimley Fncrorv rivals r. British man-of-war, and this is say!:; ; a deal.

In an article on the sit:r ping trade of Germany, a Hamburg: paper says that in view of the inereasiine; importance of Canada, it is hoped that the long existing tarifF Avar between Die two countries will soon be settled by a mutually satisfactory li ■nrn:-nt. "Unfortunately." the paper cor,eludes, "Can.",da is dorpin.a tor] hy Inineriali'-ni, . the net project of which is the so- ; ril'ed 'AP-T'ed T?onte.' In view of the present political situation it would ho nr>r-ln«s to ro<'".H this "-ehpinr.. the j realisation of which u>ir;ht inliict in- | calculable dnrpprrf; upon our shipping, ; as TTtoninn dream. That this comi ple.tely 'red' route.—thai is to say, a great shimuisp rmite, linked enti-ely witii British territory—between England and Atistr.ilia. via Canada, could only be kept alive under the auspices of a forced poli->v i= known at least to T,nnricr and bis friends. Okl TCir-buid. therefore. v,"ill hayc to throw her 'frlorioi'K principles of TVpr. Tvde' before the ca'Tvinrr out of siK-b a plan can be seriously taken in hand." i xV skipper undertook a contract to navigate a tug and' two barges from lintrhmd to Bio Janeiro. He started with then), but put into Milfnrd Haven, and declined to proceed and carry out the contract, on the ground that the tug w*is in"i!pa I,lc or towing the barges fcn Rio. The own"'", sued the skiooer for damages for brea -h of contract, and rls"> claimed for the return < f the sun, paid to h:;n in part payment. Dcfe.nd- ■ ant counterclr.nr.ed for money expond,ed by biro. It was held at" the trial , that, the tug was ineamble of carrvina; I' cut the contract, that"it was a case of , eom.mon niistnlco as to the cnpnvitv of the tup:, and that therefore the contract was void ah initio, that neither party . could recover money esinenrlecl.' but , that the money paid to defendant in •. P art consideration was reparable, as the j contract fin led. A second skipper nnI derto-ok the job, and he also rrave it , l 'P. f°r the same reason., and he. also was sued for damages. He pleaded that a. special warranty had been sriven by the plaintiffs that tlie tug was fit for the voyage. The Court,, however, held that there was no "warrant l -', and pave judgment to the same effect.'as in the first action. The ski oner took the case to the Court of Appeal, which ordered a now trial to see whether the contract had been made under such circumstances that the skipper undertook the risk knowing what "the difficulties and dangers were. The new trial was duly held, and the result was the same as the first, and the skipper had to refund.

Do you feel out of humour and think that everyone has a grudge asrainst yon because everything seems to be going wrong. It is you that is "wrong," and it is your liver that has the grudge against you—possibly because you are not treating it well. You have, given jt too much' work to do, and when it wanted a eentle laxative to set it right you neglected to attend to it. To set your liver right, to mnke things go Trell. and to make yourself reel frood nil take a co'nrpp of Chamberlain's Tablets and you will be more than pleased with the result. Chamberlain's Tablets are unsurpassed for irritability. Sold everywhere...