GERALDINE FLAX FACTORY SITE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIX, Issue 21994, 20 June 1941, Page 3

GERALDINE FLAX FACTORY SITE

Choice Of Geraldine A Wise Decision Centre Of Fibre Growing Area “It seems a pity that the Mayor of Temuka (Mr W. H. McMillan) covets the flax industry which the Minister of Industries (the Hon. D. G. Sullivan) has announced will be established at Geraldine," said the Mayor of Geraldine (Mr D. C. McKechnie) yesterday. “It would be appropriate if rural towns joined hands and worked together for the establishment of industries in garden areas in conformity with the trend the world over. “It seems quite obvious from Mr McMillan’s statement that he has been misinformed," said Mr McKechnie. “There has been no change in the location of the factory site which has always been at the five cross roads, under a mile from the Geraldine Borough boundary, and three and a quarter miles from Orari. The site was wisely chosen by the Flax Commission at a point the shortest distance from the areas on the Geraldine County foothills where the flax fibre is grown on land ideally suited to it. Just as cheese factories are established near Temuka in the centre of the dairying land, so the flax factory will be erected in the heart of the flax growing area to avoid needless cartage costs and petrol wastage. If the factory were at Temuka —10 inlles from the site chosen —it would mean an extra twenty miles of travelling with each load of flax. “The saving of transport and local body rates was not the only reason that' decided the Flax Commission to build in a low-rated county area, however. Anyone who has a knowledge of flax retting is aware of the strong smell which accompanies the rotting of the straw in the preparation of the. fibre. I am afraid that if Mr McMillan established the industry in the heart of his town, as he suggests, he would sddn be besieged by petitions for its removal because of the nuisance it created. All this has been taken into consideration in the choice of sites, and it is situated out of Geraldine in a direction where prevailing winds will not carry any smell to the town.

Factory Will Not Be Isolated “Actually, however, the factory is not so isolated as Mr McMillan would have us to believe. It is under a mile from the Geraldine Borough boundary, 15 miles from the residential area where the workers will live, and just over two miles from the heart of the town. A committee has been appointed to cooperate in every way with the Flax Commission. I have been in touch with the Minister and was present when the site was selected just south of Geraldine. I would suggest to Mr McMillan that the progress of the rural towns in South Canterbury would be furthered more by co-operation than by the coveting of one another’s industries. Great progress could be made if the two towns joined in a common drive for industries in rural areas where living conditions are ideal for the workers." PATRIOTIC APPEAL A sum of £5/10/0 has been received by • the treasurer of the Geraldine Patriotic Zone (Mr C. L. Kirby) from the Geraldine and Temjika A. and P. Association being 50 per cent, of the takings of the recent Winchester Show. The remainder of the profits has been paid into the Temuka Inter-zone. FOOTBALL Teams to, represent .the Geraldine Football Club on Saturday are as follows: Senior v. Southern at Waimate (bus leaves 1 p.m. sharp)—F. Kettle, Fawdray (2), H. Hobbs, T. Turner, F,. Kelly, W. Kerr, K. Bell. G. Vial. T. Timblick, A. Ford, Leary (2), D. Pearce, E. Kettle, G. Metcalf, G. Vincent, B. Brenton. Fourth grade v. Zingari at Timaru— Brenton, Brown, • Wylie, G. Eathorne, Patrick, O. Neutze, A. Wood, D. Foster, B. Sherratt, K. Kelman, Grayburn, A. Coulter, I. Henderson, Bruce, Greenall, B. Lee, McNamara. HOCKEY The following teams will play Cambridge in Timaru to-morrow (cars leave Post Office 1.45 p.m.)—Senior: G. Twomey, M. Broad, M. Toomey, J. Buckley, J. Sullivan, M. Ford, C. C. Knight, K. Wallach, J. Weaver, S. Brown, L. Grant. Junior: R. Waller, F. Richards, N. Titheridge, L. Richards, B. Robertson, A. Bennett, A. Robertson, M. Bennington, P. Burmester, G. Grayburn. Women v. Albury at Albury (cars leave at 1 p.m,)—D. Waters, J. Baynes, D. Broad, I. Collins, R. Grindell, M. Eathorne, M. Timblick, P. Murphy, J. Foster, G. Simpson, L. Waller. PERSONAL As a mark of respect to the Pratt family in their bereavement, all senior and junior games in the Geraldine County Basketball Association have been postponed this week. “Procter’s,” the Premier Opticians, Christchurch, will be making a professional visit to Geraldine, on Wednesday, July 9, whei) their London trained staff may be consulted on gll defects of eyesight and the restoration of visual efficiency at the Crown Hotel, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Appointments, can now be made by ringing Mr Morris Williams, chemist,..’phone .