STEEL INDUSTRY

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLII, Issue 20514, 4 September 1936, Page 14

STEEL INDUSTRY

NEWCASTLE WORKS INTERESTING LECTURE Under the auspices of the South Canterbury Junior Chamber of Commerce, Mr H. M. Chrystall, of Christchurch, who is a member of the Lyttelton Harbour Board, delivered an illustrated lecture entitled "The Inspiring Example of the Broken Hill Proprietary Steel Works at Newcastle.” For nearly two hours, by word, lantern clide and motion picture, Mr Chrystall held his audience fascinated as he transported them through one of the largest steel works in the world, passing from department to department, from process to process; imparting as he went a wonderful insight into an industry which produces goods each month to the value of £85,000, employs 5000 men working in three shifts, and turns out monthly a sufficient length of wire, of all sizes, to encircle the earth. These are but a few of the facts brought to light in the course

of an evening which was both profitable and interesting. The speaker was introduced by the president of the Junior Chamber, Mr J. Satterthwaite, who expressed thanks to Mr Chrystall for having acceded to the request of the Junior Chamber to visit Timaru and give the address. Mr Chi-ystall acknowledged the welcome and said that it gave him great pleasure to visit Timaru. His visit was a gesture of reciprocity from one port in New Zealand to another, which was in friendly competition. In recent years he had been greatly Interested in the young men of New Zealand, and lie was glad to be able to come to Timaru at the request of the Junior Chamber to give the people the benefit of the lesson learned by those who had visited Australia at the invitation ox the Broken Hill Proprietary Steel Works Co. The general manager of that company admitted that a good deal of the success achieved had been due to assistance received from the Government, and having achieved success, the company was doing its best to give others the benefit of the lessons it had learned. Huge Works Giving a few general facts concerning the works, Mr Chrystall said that they covered an area of 340 acres.

There were no fewer than 45 miles of railway tracks, and the company owned 20 locomotives in addition to a number of ships. The party which left New Zealand to go over the work had a definite programme mapped out for them, and they were accorded the utmost hospitality, being shown everything there was to be seen. They were shown every process, from the arrival and smelting of the ore to the finished article, whether it was a nail, a piece cf wire, or a huge girder. The speaker detailed the procedure, referring firstly to the blast furnaces, secondly to the open hearth furnaces and finally to the mills. He said that since the works were started in 1913 , 20,000,000 tons of products had been produced and £22,000,000 had been paid in wages. The value of the material used was £32,000,000. The company controlled several subsidiary companies, bringing the total number of employees up to 12,500, and the monthly wage bill to £70,000. In the main works at Newcastle there were huge coke ovens, which consumed 17,000 tons of coal each week, and this quantity produced 190,000,000 cubic feet of gas. For every 15 tons of coal consumed, 105 tons of coke was produced. The coke ovens to 1 s mind were the most majestic things about the whole works, being 300 yards long and 200 feet high. From these

ovens the coke was discharged red hot, into trucks, which were hauled away to a position underneath a concrete water tower, where 5500 gallons of water quenched the coke in one minute. The volume of gas produced daily was 27,000,000 cubic feet, enough to serve a city of 1,000,000 people. The manner in which the molten metal was tapped in the open hearth furnaces was a most inspiring sight. When the metal was tapped, it was poured into moulds, making ingots of steel, and these were then taken to the mills, where they were manufactured into various articles. The direct metal foundry could make up to 60-ton castings. Examples of all work were tested, the company having thoroughly up-to-date laboratories. Safety Campaign Apart from the actual manufacturing side, Mr Chrystall detailed numerous other features associated with the woiks, by means of which efficiency was obtained. They had instituted a safety campaign, bonuses being granted to the department in which fewest accidents were recorded. Some of the slogans adopted were “two legs are better than one,” “we care less for the careless,” "hook your sling properly, or you might sling your hook.” No effort was spared to protect the employees, who worshipped the operatives, because they endeavoured to lift the men up to their own level. No rubbish of any sort was to be seen lying around any part of the works, the company paying a man £2OOO a year to see to the general cleanliness of the place. The speaker said that the lesson to be learned from the industry was faith in the future. It was impossible to spend £3,000,000 in one town in New Zealand, but they could do something. The spirit In Australia w’as not “shall we do it” but “how shall we do it?” There were three outstanding features, firstly security; secondly, reasonable profits to shareholders; and thirdly, reduced cost to the public. New Zealand took only two per cent, of the products of the company, which was all British, but that did not deter them from endeavouring to give New Zealand the benefit of their experience and success. Mr Chrystall completed his lecture by showing 50 slides taken in various parts of the works, the views conveying a splendid Idea of the immensity of the plant and the nature of the work Motion films were also shown, depicting the New Z- aland party being escorted over the works; views of Sydney harbour and the construction of the harbour bridge, and scenes in and around Newcastle and Brisbane. On the motion of the Mayor (Mr P. n. Vinnell) Mr Chrystall was accorded' « vote of thanks