South Australian Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1858 - 1889), Saturday 23 May 1868, page 5


VII.—MANUFACTURES AND INDUSTRIES.

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 facilities for this kind of industry. It is tnia that, in one sense, colonies are not " infant" communities. They are offshoots of civilized nations, and—as ragards politics—spring, mature, into separate existence. But although colonists, 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 manufacturing strength against an older one. Protective duties and ether fiscal regulations, designed to force particalar industries, 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 meanwhile 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 encourage patient perseverance. Manufacturing industries cannot be "gazetted"' into life and activity, and we must therefore be content to watch their quiet and gradual uprising. Although South Australia lias not vvt achieved very high distinction as a manufacturing 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 increased 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 sufficiently large to give an adequate opportunity 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 reflecting the utmost credit on South Australian 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 occasional 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 manufactures 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 subsequent 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 respective establishments engaged in the manufacture 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. Wehaveperfcnii: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 uianufiiot >vy, the buildings and premises conneeiei with which extend now over more th.m .in aciv of ground. It was in 1830 that the lion. \V. Peacock first commenced 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 slaughterhouses 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 operations 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 numbered 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 descriptions 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 "stuffing.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 outside. 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 shoemuok—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 slaughtermen, who cut and hack the skins sometimes 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 hogskins, 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 multifarious duties to perform. There is direct action with the bark crusher, and communication 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 limepits 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 mention 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 consequent 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 importation 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 developing 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 Hindmarsh —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. Peacock & Sons. The tannery, with which is associated a fellmongery or woolwashing 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 tannery situated on the southern side of the river, near Hindiuash. Connected with this thev have a bark-grinding establishment, 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 tannery 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 excavations being made fornew tan-pits which are about being sunk. Mr. F. Fisher also has a tannery on the Port-road. The pi ocesses 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, however, for this industry—and for its importance 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 manufacturers. 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, wallaby, calf, kangaroo, aud other descriptions 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 fanciful 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 advantage 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 employed 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 bootupper 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 engaged in it, it would be invidious to particularise 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 manufacturing province.SADDLE SADDLE AN TD HAKNESS FACTOEIES. Under this head comes a branch of industry which is highly important. There are only two -wholesale factories of saddlery 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 operations being carried on. At Messrs. ffolden'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 recommendation. 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, however, 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. establishment 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 woolpress invented by their foreman, Mr. Burneil, but patented by Messrs. Horwood & 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 perpendicular beam, with racks, which work into cog-wheels revolving towards 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 effectual 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 employment for the population, and contribute 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.