58 T. H. HOUGHTON. 



a plant for the manufacture of galvanized corrugated and 

 plain sheets. 



Much of the machinery used at Lithgow has been con- 

 structed by the firm, and the remainder imported from 

 England. Economy in working has been studied, with the 

 result that what was formerly a languishing industry is 

 now flourishing, and the source of employment to a large 

 body of men. 



The steel works of the Broken Hill Proprietary Company 

 are at Newcastle on the bank of the river Hunter. The site 

 although most suitable, required very extensive piling to 

 carry the heavy weight of the furnaces and machinery, 

 225 piles being driven for the foundation of the blast furnace. 

 The works have been laid out so that they can be readily 

 extended, and still maintain the proper sequence from the 

 receipt of the raw material to the delivery of the finished 

 product. 



To fully describe these works would require more time 

 than is at my disposal; in them is embodied every means to 

 economise labour and to perform by machinery those 

 laborious duties previously carried on by human exertion, 

 in close proximity to white hot metal. One of the most 

 interesting sights is to see huge machinery, requiring some 

 thousands of horse power to drive, it being instantly started, 

 stopped and reversed in direction by the movement of a 

 small lever. 



The molten iron from the blast furnace is not allowed to 

 cool, but delivered directly to the steel melting furnace, and 

 waste heat from the furnaces is used to heat the blast, and 

 to raise steam in the boilers so that the cost of fuel is 

 reduced as far as possible. 



The machinery was imported from America, and at the 

 present time comprises blast furnace with a daily capacity 

 of 500 to 600 tons, seven steel furnaces of 60 to 70 tons per 



