NEW GLAXO FACTORY

Waikato Times, Volume 88, Issue 13469, 26 April 1917, Page 2

NEW GLAXO FACTORY

CEREMONY AT MATAMATA.

Mntamnia presented an unusually i n>k appearance yesterday, when the factory recently erected ' liy the New Zealand Dairy Association for the manufacture of Glaxo was formally opened. I' liad heen expected that the opening would if performed hy Hon \V. H. Herries, who is the representative of .Matamata in Parliament, hut a telegram from him expressed regret that lie was unable to he present owing to the crisis which had.arisen. After an inspection of the factory,

n description of which is given below, had been made. ."\lr H. E. Pacey, managing director of the Association! extended a welcome to the visitors, and called upon Mr J. A. Young. M.P. for to perform the o; suing ceremony. An important Enterprise.

Mr Young, who was received with appiruse, prefaced his remarks by regretting the circumstances which had rendered it impossible for Mr Herries to take his place in helping to launch a most important enterprise in the dis-

trict, hut he was engaged in a national duty, and the present combat of civilisation against militarism demanded the full attention of those at the head "!' affairs, and sacrifice from all who desir.'l to w'n. The particular duty of every New Zealander nt the present time was to keep production at its very highest !»<»mt. Those who i«kcl for syndicalist control and the stoppage of our essential industries committed p. crime !>gainst (Mir constitution, that could lead only to disaster. Mr Yonnc; con-

[M'-injlatod the people of Matamata upon the very fine factory they had erected, for it indicated a degree of enterprise that was commendable. They had maintained the co-operative principle, and yet their arrangement with Messrs Nathan and Co. would be profitable to themselves, and their product of Glaxo would be of benefit not only to the "honnie babies," but to many thousands of our invalided soldiers. Aftc pointing out that the factory and npr.P-rfro.w represented the highest de-

velopment of science and ingenuitv, hi;' rlct these would be useless without tb" s"nply of clean, wl|>lesome milk. Mr Young declared the'factory

e-pp>i. and wished the suppliers a profitable and successful career. Social G?thering,

An adjournment was then mode to ■l>o Matnreatn public ball, where some 400 npon|p sat down to afternoon tea. and a short toast list was honoured. Armuurips for absence were road from <h < Hon. J. Allen, Actintj Premier, the TTons. Herdman, Fraser, Roll. Fannn n-,,1 Mr TJ. F. Kollnrcl. M.P., Messrs D. J. Nathan. Weslev Rorapg, S. J. Ambnrv, fllackett. MeKVnzio, Dempster and Allen. Mr J, W. Anrhairman of Matmnnta County f 'onnr>il, proposed the toast of "o:ir T1 :"l ; ;iniont." nnd ronoratnlatod n ,m. i-n.-c ,> n doinrr their to stand hv f he boys at the front. In reolvina, Mr Vomipr took oeea.sion to refer fo tl o linttpr. f 'it tax .and expressed a hope that wTicn Parliament met the taxwould he removed, lint,,.he Pointed out to those assembled that while our wf.r expenditure approximated €1.000,000 per month, interest must l>o found and faxes levied, and that the man who tried to dodtre bis taxes was even- lit as threat a shirker as nnv yonnp fellow "Mo to eo to the front who failed to do his dutv.

Mr H. K. Pacev. in proposing the toast of the ''"Dairy Industry," briefly reviewed the history of the new Glaxo factory, which, he said, had cost £20,000. The guarantee of an assured mm-

imum price for a number of years bad appreciably increased tbe value of land in too Matamata district, and nrtrked another stop forward in the Lury industry of the Dominion. For Puny venrs the butter sent from New Zealand failed to command the same price as Danish butter, but latterly there had been a very small difference, and this was a tribute to the whole <.f the dairy division, but tbe managers and suppliers of the Dominion were given an added responsibility to nnir.tain this standard. Referring to •.e but-ter-fat levy, Mr Pacey said there had been <ome bint of this being; rcpUted bv an export tax, but in such an event tbe remedy would be much worse than tbe disease. Mr Pacey also spoke of the difficulties of shipping produce to our markets, but said Mr Massey had given an assurance that the whole of the present season's produce would be lifted before tbe commencement of the new season, and this, coupled with the provision for storage made by the dairy companies, in co-oneration with the Farmers' Freezing Co., gave the Auckland province less need for anxietv than any other portion of the Dominion. Butter-fat for 1918, 2s per !b. Mr P. J. Nathan, in responding, recalled his first visit to Matamata 12 months ago in connection with the Gla::o project, when one of tbe essential renditions of supply was that milk should be delivered to the factory twice daily. Improvements in the method of manufacture seemed to promise satisfactory results with a delivery of firsttrade milk once a day. and in consequence the area from which milk could be drawn bad be<»n greatly enlarged. Tbe demand for Cllaxo bad also increased greatly, and only last week bis firm had received from the Imperial authorities that Hlaxn must not bo exrvir+ed °ver> to British possessions. This wps due to +b" great do. mand for f!la::n For hospital n«-<\ and to make som" of!V"t to rwt tl""s do. mand thev desired an increased supply. Pubieot to r l ' ,, ain : nfT 25 per oent. more milk at Matamntji for tbe IPI7-1S season, eom-aro-i with +liP 191617 >oa:o;i. M"«<rs Jnso'.b Nathan and Co. '''ore prepared f o offer a payment of 3d per lb more t'*an the price paid for butter, 2d ner 11) more than the price paid for cheese, with a minimum of ?s per lb. The applau'o wbiob <rvooto-l th.is announeement indionted that the audience was ;.v,, rr -,«l to carry out their part of the baro-ain. Mr Nathan s^ro ( ] that the export of dairv produep this vcar would probablv totn! f-10,000,0! 10. ond contrasted this with tbe figures of only a few years igo. Seventeen yenrs ago bis firm hn/1 commev-cd d d-vinc operations W'th •-: separator of ron_rr a l. ranac'tv. while to-day thev were the t'"'rd largest manufacturers of dairv produce in +!•" Dominion. n , n ] ■;., P ddition they handle- 1 other outputs that made the;"!! second onlv to tbe Npw /en'riml Da ; vy Association in tbe V~?p of their dairv bnsi n e«.s. Matamata now had the largest ri'nv,, factory in the world, and it rosto'l with the suppliers tbemsplrps just hfcw ]op« thev retain. 1 th's position, for ot'<er similar factories were proposed in the South Auckland district. Mr MoNair, chairman of the committee, congratulated the district upon the success attained, and contrasted tbe offer r,f 2s per Hi lyith the price of pj-d paid when tbe M->*a"iat.-crenmerv was fir;- ovened bv Mr S J Anbury. Other toasts proposed !•*■ F. Wft«r<staff. P. T. Maisov, F. J. Vospcr and Lee-Ma rtr>. lironaht to a close a very pleasant function.

Description of the Factory. Our representative was kindly given nn opportunity to see the. factory at work. 'I lie factory is situated on a site of seven acres immediately adjoining tlie Matamata Railway Station, and connected to it with a railway siding, while tliere arc also five residences of a substantial character, all connected with the main drainage and water supply system, while electric light will l>e installed as soon as current is available. The property is owned by the Now Zealand Dairy Association, Ltd., who are manufacturing Glaxo under contract with Messrs Joseph Nathan and Co. The business is purely cooperative, and local government is in the hands of a committee of the suppliers, the present committee being Messrs McNair (chairman), Green and Wilson. Mr J. Robertson, late of Palmorston North, is in charge of manufacturing operations. The factory building is a substantial structure with roadways, floors, walls and stages of reinforced concrete, while t'tio roof is covered will] Marseilles tiles. The power plant consists of one double-drum Babcock boiler, having 17(H) square feet of he&ting surface, and two single-drum boilers, each of 1200 feet capacity. The coal bin has a capacity of 400 tons, and the smoke is taken through a tunnel into an 80ft. high smoke stack, 6ft in diameter, and made of reinforced concrete. The engine is a 70-b.p. jet condensing engine made by Marshall and Sons, of England, and this provides motive Dower for eight drying machines, three ToO-gallon Facta separators, two pasteurisers, and sundry pumps, testing machines, etc. The main building includes the receiving stage, washing floor, office, laboratory, pasteurising and separating stage, milk stages, drying room, packing room, plumbers' shop, boiler-bouse, engine-room i fitters' shop, oil store, gas-engine House, store-room, gild's cloak-room, lavatories ,etc. Tbe whole is connected to a substantial drainage system, while the water supply has a storage capacity of 10,000 gallons. The exterior of the buildings is of pleasing appearance, being rough cast and coloured cream, with piers and beams cement-faced.

The 'nooses are also rough caster! on (he exterior, nn'l are fitted with hot and cold water services, lavatories, wardrobes, larder, cupboards, etc., and when Irid out with lawns, etc., should provide a model settlement, which is at present without parallel in tip's dominion. Method of Manufacturo.

The process of manufacture is a most interesting (me, purity and cleanliness being a specially marked feature. Milk is received from the suppliers and discharged into a weieh machine, which automatically indicates the weight unon a large dial scale visible to the supplier as well as to the operator. The cans are washed in warm water, sterilised by steam and returned to the supplier. For tbe convenience of those desiring skim milk for rearing calves or for other purposes provision is made for weighing out skim milk to them, and everything possible is done to ensure prompt despatch of the supplier from the factory, so as to give more time for nrpn. oral farm work. From the weighing machines the milk is discharged into receiving vats and then nromptly pumped into 'finalising vats. From this point the milk' gravitates through a heater to the separating plant, where the whole of the milk is separated, and the skim milk and cream are separately pasteurised, before being delivered into 1000 r-nllon vats, where ihev are held .it a. high temperature before going to the. drying rollers. Glaxo is used chiefly as a food to "build bonnie babies," or as an invalid food, and for this reason extreme care is exereised to keep an even fat content in the nulk and by keeping the milk hot to maintain an even distribution of fat immediately before the drving operation. Careful tests are made in the laboratory to ensure that this is done, and to check anv signs of acidity which may tend to develop. From the holding vats the milk is conducted to the drying rollers. These rollers are filled with superheated steam, and there are various ingenious contrivances for maintaining a constant pressure and getting rid of the condensed steam. The milk remains on the rollers onlv some three to four seconds, and is then seen coming from them as from a lathe in the form of very thin tissue paner, vdiieh erumhles at the slightest touch. From the rollprs the powder is taken to the naoV-ig room, where it is sifted and nut up in 561 h tins, manufactured on the "remises. From the time that' the milk enters the factory until it is racked in the Hns it is not touched bv hand, machinery is non* on order "bieh "ill remove the r>owder direct from th« machines to the sifters, and automatic weighers will paek it in "o-ulinoss for expert with a minimum of habour. The railway siding comes rP. rectly into the packing room, to facilitate the handling of the prepared article. Fleetricty has not yet been installed, but provision is everywhere made for eleetric motors and lighting, so soon as war conditions permit the import of the necessary machinery. The buildings were designed by Messrs Darnell and Cray, of Hamilton, and were erected by Mr Robert Sanders, under the supervision of Mr Joseph Sykes, as clerk of works.