Chambers. — New Zealand Iron sands. 



229 



of 75 per cent, oxide that is, the sand as found on the beaches. The new 

 furnaces were supplied by gas under forced draught generated by the four 

 Wilson gas-producers, and all worked well for a few days, when it was 

 found that the coal contained too much moisture, which destroyed the 

 heating properties of the gases. Again and again endeavours were made 

 to overcome this difficulty. The fires would be lit in the gas-producers, 

 and the quality of gas for the first few hours would be perfect ; but as the 

 furnaces became hot and just about ready for men to work the sand and 

 deoxidizers the heat gradually fell away, or a series of explosions took 

 place, which showed it was time to stop. This was one of the first diffi- 

 culties met with, and one that was never overcome in spite of many 

 experiments. 



By this time the shareholders were becoming impatient, for they wanted 

 to see returns. The loss of two managers, followed by the enforced retire- 

 ment of Mr. John Heskett, had a good deal to do with the company 

 breaking up. 



Mr. James McAndrew, an ironmaster, who had been on the Clyde, 

 accepted the position of manager, and did his best to produce iron from 

 sand, but none of Mr. W. H. Jones's successors could produce iron of the 

 same quality as he did. There were difficulties with the deoxidizers : air 

 seemed to leak through or get into the retorts, resulting in a portion of 

 the sand not being deoxidized, and, although it would work up into a bloom 

 which had the appearance of being good, when passed through the forge- 

 rolls the bars would fracture through the sand not being properly deoxidized 

 or cemented together. 



The directors got a rude awakening by receiving a report from Mr. John 

 Coom, which showed that the iron was brittle and could not be sold as a 

 first-class commercial article. The report reads as follows :— 



' The iron was tested for tensile strength and by bending ; the steel 

 was made into tools and used in wheel-turning and general work. 



' Three pieces of the iron (marked ' A ' in the schedule) were drawn 

 down to a sectional area of J in. ; the two pieces marked ' B ' were tested 

 as sent from the works, the section of these being about 1 square inch. 



' The apparatus used in testing is not one specially designed for the 

 purpose : the results cannot, therefore, be looked upon as strictly accurate. 



,c For your information I have shown results of some of Kirkaldy's tests 

 of Bowling and Lowmoor iron, and the specification of the iron supplied 

 for the Ohio (America) railroad bridge. 



