AUCKLAND STEAM BUCKET,TUB, AND CHAIR FACTORY.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVII, Issue 1742, 19 July 1862, Page 5

AUCKLAND STEAM BUCKET, TUB, AND CHAIR FACTORY.

Foil many reasons this is an establishment to which we refer with peculiar satisfaction. Ils erection was the first real effort made to supply the want of a useful manufacture of New Zealand produce lilted for an export trade. Ephemeral schemes had hitherto been undertaken, and failed in achieving any good result ; and even at this day, although the guvertunen t propose to pay a handsome reward for the construction of machinery to manufacture our indigenous flax, the most perfect piece of mechanism will be in vain to create a supply of the fibre. If the reward in question be ever'awarded, it will be so much useful capital hopelessly wasted ou a toy, which might bave been much better used. But in our forests there is an all but exhaustless supply of the most valuable woods, Tiiere is wealth for the development; aud we rejoice that we have in this community, men who, shaking themselves free from the depressing influence of govermenlal patronage aud assistance, have set themselves energetically to woik to develope our timber trade. Among these men Mr. Bleazard, the proprietor of the Auckland Steam Bucket, Tub, aud Chair Factory, deservedly takes a first place. To him is due the creation of an article ol manufacture fitted lo compete with any similar article iv the markets of the world. Those who have seen the New Zealand buckets, which were in the market some months ago, need not be told how creditably they were turned out; aud the fact that with the exception of the steam engiue and boiler, aud circular saws, all the fixed and running machinery was made au the premises at Mount Eden, by Mr. Bleazard and his skilful engineer, Mr. Joues, added to the satisfaction with which they were received.

The history of this establishment is rather remarkable, however. On November 19th, 1861, we announced the opening of the Factory, and detailed the progress of manufacture, aud the difficulties that had been overcome by the skill and labour of the two gentlemen named A short tune after that period the buckets came into the market, and were eagerly sought for as decidedly preferable to the American buckets to which we had been so long accustomed. They were cleaner and better finished, withoul paint insi de, and haudsomely hooped and varnished on the outside. The varnish was manufactured by a peculiar process kuown only to Mr. Bleazard, from Kauri gum, thus adding to the value of the buckets as articles of New Zealaua manufacture. But the spirited proprietor of this infant business was not long to enjoy the fruits of his industry. Misfortune, which tries men, was to overtake him, aud develope those sterling qualities which distinguish the man ofactiou and intelligent self-reliance from the mere creature of circumstance. Starting on November I9lh, 18<J1, or thereabouts, the Factory was kept more tnuu busy executing orders for Auckhnd customers up to the night of March 12th, 1862. Ou the morning of March 13th, Mr. Bleazard was awoke from his sleep to find the Factory in flames, and the machiuery which he had created with so much skill aud outlay hopelessly destroyed. Everything in the Factory was burned or rendered valueless except the steam-engine and boiler. The stack of seasoned timber, and the staves and blocks iv process of manufacture, were burned ; and the lathe, by means of which so much had been made, was likewise destroyed. To crown the evil, the Factory was not insured.

Now, aft.r such a calamity, many men would Uave folded their arms and looked upon themselves as monuments of misfortune ; others would have directed their attention to something else, and thought no more of turning our indigenous woods to account iv the same way. But not so with Mr. Bleazard. The day after the lire he was busy at work, contriving the recreatiou of his plain and Factory -. and on the 13th of June, just three months after ths burning, the machinery was started in the new establishment.

We visited the new Factory yesterday, and weregteatly pleased with what has already been done. The site is on a line with the old lactjry,I actjry, but on more elevated ground, and is decidedly easier of access. It may be seen irom the Mount Eden and Karangahape roads. Ihe new Factory is considerably larger thau

I j the first structure, aud is mure compact. The i saw bench and drying house, which were ortginally outside the main building, are now on the ground floor, as are also the steam engine and boiler. The building is two stories high, roofed with galvanised tiles, being a vast improvement on the old roof, which was made of ICuilcetea shingles split on the premises. The chimney displays considerable ingenuity. ! It is made of nail kegs securely hooped to- i gether, and forming- a slack 60 feet high from ' the ground. This flue is securely stayed on all . sides, and has stood out the 1; te heavy gales without disturbing its equilibrium. The engine was to some extent injured by the fire ; but these defects have been repaired, and it was driving a 32-inch saw when we ! were there. The steam engine and boiler have been put up in such a way at present as to tio the work, hut they may be at any lime removed and their place supplied with a larger engine and boiler without inconvenience. The new iron shafting has beeu turned by Mr. Jones, and ; will run the entire length of the building; the Vbiocks have been made to suit the shafting. At piese-.H the factory is not fully at work, but a fair start has beeu mule. Mr. Bleaaard is busily engaged completing his first contract of supplying seals for Mr. Stmnus Jones' new music hall, Brunswick Buildings. A start can also be made in the manufacture of buckets, and we believe* our Auckland friends will again see them in the maiket about the end of the next month (July). With regard to the buckets and tubs, we may say that the result of experiments has convinced Mr. Bleazard that kaikatea is not the best wood to use in their manufacture, and he has decided on using kauri in future, which will wear out without spotting. This improvement in the material used will tell in favour of the Auckland buckets I in the neighbouring colonies. But the manufacture is in its infancy. The trade is capable of great extension, and we are in a position tv "stale that steps have already been taken to extend it far beyond its present | proportions. Orders have gone to England for , a pair of 20 horse boilers and a pair of 12 horse j engines, and on their arrival, machinery in proportion to the driving power will be erected. Up to this time the orders received point out the principal direction in which the manuf'ac ture will extend. Besides the large order for hall seats already mentioned, Messrs. Seccombe and Son ol the Great Northern Brewery, Kyber-Pass road, have given orders for storage casks aud vats to hold upwards of 60,000 gallons ; and _the machinery to execute this hrge order is now being mide. Inasmuch as kauri will in future be the chief wood nsed at this Factory, it may easily be perceived that I the consumption of that description of timber must be considerably mci eased. Already Mr. Bleazaid has contracted for 1,000 tons, which is calculated to lust from 12 to 18 months ; but it is evident that with a more rapid extension of the business this supply will be inadequate. A home market is thus created for our Auckland timber on which no one speculated twelve months since. In addition to the manufacture of buckets— tubs, butter kegs, and churns, will be turned out on an extensive scale, and every exertion will be made to supplant similat American manufactured articles in our colonial maikets. A branch will also be set apart for tlie manufacture uf chairs, for which purpose the lighter kinds of New Zealaud woods are so well adapted.

The lower story of the building- is exclusively devoted to the machinery ; the upper story will be used as a paint and finishing room, aud also for packing the goods previous lo delivery. For the last fourteen mouths Mr. Bleazard has had two Cornish miners employed in sinking a well for water, and after penetrating to the depth of 95 feet through a solid rock, water in plentiful supply was found on the clay stratum ou which the lava had baen piled. The miners, Messrs. Dabin and James, deserves mention for their untiriug labour in cutting through the hard concrete lava, ln a country like this, where work is plentiful and wages good, it is rare to find men so steady at an unpleasant and apparently hopeless task. In conclusion we should say that the present structure was built by Mr. Bleazard, while Mr. Jones was working at the powerful irou turning lathe pi teed at their disposal by Messrs. Thornton, Smith, and Firth, Indeed it is not too much to add that but for the kindness of tbis linn the Steam Bucket, Tub, and Chair Factory could not have been opened for many months to come. However, it is a proof ol what ore willing and skilful machinist can do in a few weeks, when his heart is in his work ; and this second building and furnishing of the new Factory ought tv be a lesson to those on whom the public at the present depend for the construction of buildings and erection of machinery. Mr. Bleazard was not disheartened iv his undertaking by those causless delays and purposeless excuses to which most business men are now accustomed. He enjoyed the sympathy of his fellow-colonists, and through the kindness and a.isisiance of a few of them he has attained in three months to a degree of excellence superior to his first undertaking. It lo such men we look for the key-note of colonial progress ; aud tbey are sure to distance competition, in whatever line of business they undertake. — Daily Southern Cross, June 17.