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On this Page 5
VII.—MANUFACTURES AND IN
DUSTRIES.
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURES.
Young communities as a general rule
are not eminent for manufactures. Pe- <*>
culiar circumstances may occasionally
stimulate what may be termed a preco-
cious development of manufactures, but
this has always been the exception, not
the rule. As in the order of nature
agriculture follows pastoral pursuits, so
manufactures follow both. An infant
community not only lacks manufacturing
genius, but lacks also the necessary facili
ties for this kind of industry. It is tnia
that, in one sense, colonies are not
" infant" communities. They are off
shoots of civilized nations, and—as ra
gards politics—spring, mature, into
separate existence. But although colo
nists, as regards personal capability,
may have manufacturing skill cqud
to that of the old nations from which
they have parted, they lack the
same opportunities and appliances. With
a limited population there cannot bs
equal mechanical facilities, nor the same
demand for productions, so that tlis
utmost skill is often inadequate to secure
a satisfactory result. Such a state or
things is necessary and inevitable, and
one might as well lament the fact th:it
it requires many years for ths child
to ripen into manhood as that
it requires many years for a young
community to measure its manufac
turing strength against an older one.
Protective duties and ether fiscal regula
tions, designed to force particalar indus
tries, are, therefore, about as sensible (or
senseless) as medical prescriptions or
culinary directions to "force" children
into maturity. Ordinarily manufactures
are growths, not creations ; but mean
while society is not idle. Communities
that are least fitted to manufacture av<3
generally best fitted to produce r;iw
material, and the various necessaries of
life. Of course this consideration will
not check enterprise, nor damp ardor;
but it will check despondency and en
courage patient perseverance. Manu
facturing industries cannot be "gazetted"'
into life and activity, and we must there
fore be content to watch their quiet and
gradual uprising.
Although South Australia lias not vvt
achieved very high distinction as a manu
facturing community, it has given, and is
still giving, indubitable proof of wl?:it it
can do ; and, therefore, of what it will &o
as population expands the market and in
creased consumption warrants increasc-d
manufacturing outlay. We have a lar<re
number of excellent artisans in our
midst; workmen in numerous branches,
who would not suffer in comparison with
the best workmen of the old countries.
We could point to specimens of

work that no English, French, or German
operative need be ashamed; and if this
is not the character of our manufactures
the fault is not so much
want of skill, as want of a market suffi
ciently large to give an adequate opportu
nity for skill to display itself. In architec-.
tare, in cabinetmaking, in coachbullding,
in iron manufactures, and in many other
trades, articles have been turned out re
flecting the utmost credit on South Aus
tralian skill; and—as already stated—an
extended market is all that is wanted to
crown that skill with profitable results.
It is our intention to devote an occa
sional column to the rising manufactures
of South Australia, and, as the old adage
assures us there is "nothing like leather,"
wo will begin with leather. And that we
have not begun at the bottom of the list
will be admitted by all who examined the
magnificent specimens of leather manu
factures exhibited at our memorable
'* Exliibition" got up in honor of
the Duke of Edinburgh. It would
be scarcely possible to produce finer
leather — of various kinds — than that
shown *n the occasion referred to. The
best judges of this description of goods,
an i those who were in no way interested
in the specimens exhibited, freely awarded
the highest eulogies, and deservedly so.
The production of leather and its subse
quent use in manufactures are now
matters of much public interest, and with
these words of introduction we invite our
readers to accompany us on an imaginary
visit of inspection.
Amongst the more important of our
South Australian industries must be
placed our leather manufactures. These
are essentially local—the bides and skins
being easily procurable, as are also the
bark, grease, and other articles required
in the preparation of the article for
market. Seeing the importance, therefore,
to which this branch of business has been
raised, a brief description of the respec
tive establishments engaged in the manu
facture of leather, and of the processes
through which the material passes, will
not be uninteresting.
We purpose in the first place to describe
briefly the various prooesses which the
raw material undergoes until it is turned
•jut ready for the saddlers, bootmakers,
ami other leather workers. Wehaveper
fcnii:illy visited several of the tanning and
currying yards in and near the city, but
if we explain the processes as conducted
in one, of course it will be needless
to detail the operations as carried
ou :it similar establishments, the processes
being alike. The oldest tannery in the
colony is that of Messrs. W. Peacock and
Smis, situated in Grenfell-street, and
vhk-h luis gradually developed from a
humble beginning to an important uianu
fiiot >vy, the buildings and premises con
neeiei with which extend now over more
th.m .in aciv of ground. It was in 1830
that the lion. \V. Peacock first com
menced tanning operations, and the first
resilience of the hon. gentleman is the
only part of the original buildings now
rim lining. This relic forms a striking
cmirast with the ideal of residences as
diaw ji by more modern conceptions. But
we :uv digressing. The skins and hides are
collected from the butchers and slaughter
houses several times a week, and on
arrival in the yard ai-e cleansed from the
l.luo I iiiul dirt attached to them. When
•try hides come in they arc soaked in
clean wa.\i'.v for a few days in order to
iiiak.: them soft and supple, and, in fact,
)>riii^ ihem to the state they were in
when stripped from the animals. They
are then steeped in a solution of
lime ;ui.l water, and in about 10 days
;ire taken from the lime-pits. The hair
is now easily taken off, the lime having
o iienj d it. This operation of scraping
is performed with blunt knives—the
skins being laid across a beam. They
are also scraped on the under side, and all
pieces of flesh adhering to them are thus
removed. The hides are then cut down
the middle or back, and from this time
they are called " sides." • Leaving the
" fleshers " they are thoroughly cleansed,
and thence the sides intended as sole
Jcather —the commoner, heavier sort of
leather—are taken to the tan-pits. The
sides which are to be made into dress
leather go through separate and distinct
processes, which we shall return to
describe, after following the sole
leather sides through the several opera
tions to which they are subjected.
The sides (for sole leather) are laid for a
month in weak liquor (water and bark) —
a layer of bark being placed between
each skin. In a month they are removed
to another pit, and immersed for a
similar time in a stronger liquid—bark
being also placed between the skins as in
the first instance. We should mention
that these skins are marked and num
bered in such a way as "to tell when they
were put iu the pit, and when and where
each skin was bought. After being two
or three months in the tan-pits the skins
are, whilst in a half dried state, thrown
across a wooden horse in the rolling shed
and struck or rubbed with a smooth iron
so as to bring out the grain of the leather.
After this they are put on the floor and
rolled with a heavy weight, so as to
make them tinn and solid. Then they
.ire hung up to dry, and having
been thoroughly seasoned, the sole leather
I'ts leady for market. The stouter descrip
tions of this leather are all sold in the
colonial market, the lighter or thinner
sorts being shipped to England. The
tanners complain very much of the injury
which brands make to the skins. The
cattle are branded in such places and so
deeply as sometimes very seriously to
deteriorate the value of the side, as it is
impossible to obliterate the marks. So
much, then, for the sole leather.
The skins which are to be converted
into what is known as " dressing leather"
—boot upper aud saddlery leather—after
having gone through the preliminary
limo soaking, as iu the case of sole
leather, are thrown into a pit of
'? pure"—water mixed with pigeons' dung
- where they are thoroughly cleansed.
Having been also reduced by the
furrier to the substance required, they
are taken to tan-pits, where they are
& >aked iu tan liquor for about two or
three months, according to circumstances.
Thtiiice they are carried to the curriers'
shop for the finishing process. They are
ih'fit shaved oil the flesh side and brought
down to a substance—according to the
growth of the hide. After being shaved
the;- are scoured and cleansed, and then
undergo a singular process, called "stuf
fing.1' A composition of tallow and oil,
termed " dubbin," is laid on the sides,
-which are then hung up until the goodness
fr-uu the "dubbin" has gone into the
•j.ither, and only a white crust is left out
side. This is scraped off and sold to soap
boilers. Then they are colored on the
ik-.-ih aide with a composition of lamp
black and cod oil, and the color is
Used by a sort of wax made of glue
aud oil, and the leather is then
ready for the shoemaker. Saddlers'
kuthiT goes through different processes
to be liuished. The dubbin is spread
on the {{rain aide —nut on the flesh aide —
of the skin, and when the strength of the
grease has been transferred to the skin,
the refuse is scraped oil' and the skin is
rubbed with a flannel, so as to bring up
a polish, and the attractive color which
bridle-leather assumes. This color is
brought up by means of Sicily shoe
muok—a vegetable substance—which is
diluted with water and rubbed over the
leather. When dry it is rubbed off, and
:i beautiful polish is easily obtained.
Skirt leather for saddle-naps undergoes a
like process. These skins have to be of
thu best quality, and of an even, smooth,
regular substance, aud it is very difficult
to obtain skins possessing all these good
qualifications. Many of the skins and
hides are ruined also by slovenly slaughter
men, who cut and hack the skins some
times iu a way which spoils them
for profitable use. The skins having
been prepared are carried to the
harness-room or saleroom, ready for
market. Iu Mr. Peacock's saleroom
we saw five prize certificates received by

that firm for exhibits of leather from the
Agricultural and Horticultural Society,
and one silver medal received at the
Duke of Edinburgh National Show. In
the saleroom we were also shown some
splendid hog, wombat, kangaroo, wallaby,
and calf skins ; also some imitation hog
skins, basils, and other descriptions of j
leather. i
Messrs. Peacock's establishment is very
complete and extensive. WaSr is laid
on to all parts of it. A 9-horse power
steam engine is erected, which has multi
farious duties to perform. There is direct
action with the bark crusher, and com
munication is had also with the stocks and
the chaffcutting house, besides which the
engine performs other work. About "10
tons of bark per day are ground and bagged
in the bark season, and an alteration is
being made by which this work will be
increased. The " stocks " which we have
referred to call for a word or two. When
the dress-leather is taken from the lime
pits and put in the " pure " it sometimes
happens that there are hard parts which
will not soften. The skins thus hard are
taken to the stocks, which are heavy
weights fixed on a beam, aud made to
rise and fall on to the skins, and thus
reduce any hardness or inequality in the
leather, and make it more tit to take the
grease in the succeeding operations.
To show the amount of work which is
done at this establishment, we may men
tion that 53 men are engaged in the yards,
exclusive of the official staff, and 250
hides are turned out per week. The
various processes occupy about four
or five months, so that a little
calculation will soon show that
an immense number of skins are
being manipulated in their various
stages. For instance, taking the whole
time of manufacture at five months, and
the weekly rate of manufacture at 250 hides,
the number of skins in various stages will
be at least 5,000. Messrs. Peacock and
Sons import 150 hides per week from
Melbourne, where the hides are of a more
uniform substance, as the cattle are not
killed so early there as here. The great
abundance of sheep, and their conse
quent cheapness, lias led to mutton being
the principal description of animal food
used. So Luge a number of cattle has
not been killed here as formerly, aud the
result lias been a considerable importa
tion by tanners of hides from the other
colonies, 'lhe export of bark is linked
with tanning operations, and Messrs.
Poaock & Sons, in the busy season,
employ 15 or 10 men for live or six
months in the ye-ar. This year they have
shipped between 4!>:t aud iillll tons
of bark to England —an evideneo
of the increase of this particular
industry. Another industry which
Messrs. Peacock ?te Sons are develop
ing is the gum trade. Wattle gum
is collected and exported to England.
Three years a?o this linn shipped only
two ur three tons. This year they have
sent away 17 tons. The total exports of
bark from all South Australia in 1867
was officially declared at £18,224 value ;
leather, £11,010; and guin, £2,699.
There was also a small export of skins
and hides, horns, bones, and hoofs, and
glue.
The other tanneries wo visited were
those of Messrs. J. Deuch Jfc Co., Bean
Brothers, and Taylor Brothers, at Hind
marsh —where a considerable quantity of
leather is manufactured, aud bark ground
and bagged for exportation. Mi". Uench's
is next in point of size to Messrs. Pea
cock & Sons. The tannery, with which
is associated a fellmongery or wool
washing and drying establishment, covers
a considerable area on the northern bank
of the Torrens, and 42 or 43 men
were being employed at the time
of our visit, . but in busy seasons
as many as 60 are kept at work. Messrs.
Bean Brothers have a very compact tan
nery situated on the southern side of the
river, near Hindiuash. Connected with
this thev have a bark-grinding establish
ment, out of which they can turn 20 tons
par day fit for shipment. The bark is
thrown into a crusher and broken into
small lengths, and then it drop3 through
into what is called a refiner, where it is
ground much smaller. Then it falls into
small tin cups fixed to an endless band,
which carries it to the end of the shed
ready to be bagged. Adjoining the tan
nery there is a boot and shoe upper
factory—which we sballsubsequently refer
to. Messrs. Taylor Brothers have also a
small tannery at Hindmarsh, and at the
time of our visit there seemed to be an
increasing business, judging from the exca
vations being made fornew tan-pits which
are about being sunk. Mr. F. Fisher also
has a tannery on the Port-road. The pi o
cesses of tanning and currying are
of course essentially the same at all
these establishments ; but having fully
described the operations as conducted
at one, it is of course unnecessary
to repeat them. It says much, how
ever, for this industry—and for its impor
tance to the colony — that our ows
market for sole and serviceable leathers
is supplied by our own manufacturers,
and that only the fancy sorts of leathers
are imported from England. Besides
this our tanners are exporters to a certain
extent, for the thinner description of sole
leather which is not saleable here is
shipped to England, where it fetches
prices remunerative to our colonial manu
facturers.
Having thus traced the hides from the
time they come into the tanyard as raw
material till the time they are turned out
as the manufactured article, we have a
few words to say about the boot and shoe
factories and the harness and saddlery
establishments, where the leather is
further manipulated and made up into
articles of use and ornament.
BOOT-UPPER FAcTORIKS.
There are only two or three boot-upper
manufacturing establishments in the
colony, and one of these is quite in
its infancy. Messrs. Beau Brothers
have au establishment at Hindiuarah,
adjoining the tannery earned on by
that firm. It is a large iron shed,
in which about a dozen men, women,
and lads were employed when we visited
it. The uppers are made from kid, wal
laby, calf, kangaroo, aud other descrip
tions of leather, all of which are made on
the premises—oldy the patent aud fancy
leathers being imported. There are three
sewing machines worked by women, who
certainly do some very elegant and fanci
ful work. There are eyeing, blocking,
and other machines and appliances
with which the various processes in
making boot uppers are carried out.
All descriptions of work are done,
from the commonest blucliei- boots to
the fancy elastic sides. A large amount
of work is turned out from thisfactory, and
Messrs. Bean Brothel's have appliances to
meetauiuchlargerdeuiaudtha.iiuow exists.
We were assured that our visit was made
at a time when the existing depression is
having a palpable effect on this branch of
industry as upon other departments.
Messrs. Bean Brothers confine themselves
in this factory to the manufacture of boot
and shoe uppers. They supply most of
the tradesmen, who feel it a great advan
tage to purchase from a market in our
midst, and at a cheaper rate than is paid
for English goods. Messrs. M. Saunders
and Co., of Bundle-street, the contractors
for most of the Government boots and
shoes, make their own boot-uppers.
About 18 men, women, and lads are em
ployed iu cutting, soleing, and closing
the boots and shoes. About 25 pairs are
turned out daily, and there are rolling
and cutting machines for stamping out
soles and heels, together with iron lasts
for the speedy rivetting on of the soles
to the uppers. Mr. J. J. Green, of
Hindley-street, has just started a boot
upper workshop, where half-a-dozen
people are kept employed, and a fair
amount of work is done. It is not
necessary to trace the final manufacture
of boots and shoes. The process is well
known, and where there are so many en
gaged in it, it would be invidious to par
ticularise one or two establishments to
the exclusion of many others. The

manufacture of boots and shoes beats an
important relation to the employment of
other labor in the colony, and is of much
importance to South Australia as a manu
facturing province.
SADDLE AN TD HAKNESS FACTOEIES.
Under this head comes a branch of in
dustry which is highly important. There
are only two -wholesale factories of sad
dlery and harness, viz., those of Messrs.
J. A. Holden & Co. and J. Colton & Co.,
although there are several tradespeople—
Mrs. Bickford, and Messrs. Scarborough,
Coombs, Burnett, Sanderson, and Bonnett
—who do more or less in the way of
manufacture for retail purposes. The
trade in this department is not at
present brisk, but is languishing under
the existing depression, and consequently
we were not particularly struck during
our visit with the magnitude of the opera
tions being carried on. At Messrs. ffol
den's factory every description of heavy
harness—spring-cart and dray harness —
is made, as also are a large number of
saddles. Experience, ire are told, has
proved the English saddles to be inferior
to the colonial article, those made in the
colony b?lsig much more durable and
strong th in those imported, although
English saddles are cheaper, and with
many people this is ihoir principal recom
mendation. About a dozen persons are
employed here, and much of the work
shown to us would bear verj favorable
comparison with the English goods,
though scarcely up to the same degree of
elegance and finish. This 13 not, how
ever, from the fact that the better
description cannot be made here, but
simply because there is not much demand
for it. Messrs. Colton & Co.'s. establish
ment is very similar in its resources to
Messrs. Holden & Co.'s, and helps
to supply the whole to the local
demand for saddlery and harness ware.
There are about eight or ten employes
kept constantly at work by this firm.
FELLMON'GEBY ESTABLISHMENTS.
Although not; directly connected with
leather manufacture, we are induced to
refer under this heading to some of the
wool-washing establishments which exist
amongst us. The principal fellmongers
are Messrs. Peacock & Sons, J. Dench
and Co., John Taylor, J. T. Sagar, and
Taylor Bros., and we have visited the
establishments of the three former lirms.
These felliuongeries are all on the banks
of the Torreus at Hindmarsh, and races
and dams are made at each establishment
by which the water is diverted and
stored for the purposes of washing
and cleansing the wool. The processes
through which the wool is passed arc
very simple. The skins when brought in
are soaked in clean water. Thonee they
are hung up in the " sweating "-room.
Heat and steam are generated from the
closeness of the room and the dampness
of the skins, which soon loosens the wool.
After being here a day or two they are
taken to the puUing-shed, where the wool
is stripped oft' the skins either by means
of the hand or a scraper. The wool is
then picked and sorted and put into large
tubs at the river side. It is next put
into floating pits or tubs in the water, and
stirred about with a long pole until clean,
when it is drained and dried, and this
completes the operations for liaudirashed
wool. The wool which is tobe scoured is
l>ut into a large copper and boiled with
soap and soda until thoroughly cleansed,
when it is dried nu large drying
doors, and when quite dry id packed,
pressed, and sent away for shipment.
All the fellmongers, with one exception,
use the screw press, by means of which
about 2 cwt. or 2^ cwt. can be got into a
bale. The exception is Messrs. Peacock
and Sons, who have a patent rack wool
press invented by their foreman, Mr.
Burneil, but patented by Messrs. Hor
wood & Ellis. The objects sought to be
gained by this press are, ejononiy of
time, easier work for the men, and the
tilling the bale at one operation—all of
which objects it achieves. The bale is
fixed at the bottom of a 12-feet column,
and the wool is thrown in from the top
of the column and stamped down by a
man. After this stamping a per
pendicular beam, with racks, which
work into cog-wheels revolving to
wards the centre, descends, and
still further compresses the -wool.
The full power is then put into gear, and
with four men working at the ropes, the
12-feet column of wool is pressed into the
bale, which is about one-fourth that
height. A bale of wool may be pressed
in about half an hour, and it is very
interesting to watch the simple yet effec
tual and easy method thus adopted.
Neatsfoot oil is manufactured at the
fellmongeries from the cow-heels. They
are boiled for 24 hours, and the oil which
is skimmed from the top is then passed
through two or three refinings until fitted
for the market. More than sufficient of
this oil is made to supply the local
demand. The horns, hoofs, and bones
are exported to England, there to be
converted into knife-handles and other
boneware, so that it will be seen to how
great an extent these various collateral
branches of colonial industry furnish em
ployment for the population, and contri
bute to the enrichment of the province.
There is, however, still a great waste of
wealth in those portions of our flocks and
herds not yet properly utilised.

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