Fire Brick & Tile Company: Australia

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

There are references to a Fire Brick & Insulator company as early as 1915 and as late as 1926 (see below). The marked insulators that have been attributed to Fire Brick are from the late 1930s into the 1940s and have been attributed to the Fire Brick and Tile Company. I would be very interested in any more information on that company - please contact me if you have any.

References for Fire Brick:

Excerpt from the Nov. 5, 1915 Box Hill, Victoria newspaper "Reporter" -- "Being called out to investigate the damage done by the late heavy rains, the writer dropped in at the works of the Fire Brick insulator and Pottery company and the Australian Stainers' and Colors' proprietary company, both of which are situate on either side of the Oxford road, midway between Ringwood and Croydon. At these places the heavy rain had made the clay swell, causing a slip or fall-in of over-burden that will cause a little extra work, and entail temporary trouble. At the insulator works the writer happened on a most courteous manager, Air. A. D. Guthrie, and en joyed a show over the premises. Such ventures are as invaluable to the (as triet as they are creditable to the shareholders. The insulator works comprise several acres of land, as also do the paint works. The insulator fac tory is 100 x 70 ft., with a kiln 88 x 36 ft., and there is in course of erection a handsome fibre cement testing shed. This must be kept at an even tempera ture to be of any practical or effective use. To listen to the manager's ex planations as to the tricks of electricity as he exhibits a finished insulator here under test is very interesting. The enamelled clay insulator produced here is equal to any in the world (including the famous porcelain article of Ger many), has been approved of by the postal department and is being used thlroughout the Commonwealth, orders leaving daily for some one or other of the states, with an overseas trade accruing. It took the company seven years experimenting to get to this happy pitch, and it is the only com pany in the land supplying the A type high tension article. The output, number of employees and size of plant has been doubled this year. All the latest machinery is installed and driven by electrical motor power under the supervision of Mr. Frank Wright. The kiln is fed with coal and wood, mostly coal, but at a reasonable price more would could be used, for although coal is quicker, half wood and half coal is an ideal fuel for this particular busi ness. This work absorbs boy us well as man labor. A glimpse at the pit or mine convinces one that some improve ments in the way could be made if it was worked by open face, using the over-burden in the manufacturo of tiles, pipes, jugs, and all earthenware. In producing insulators the following modus operandi is followed: -The clay is lifted by miners from pit, and truckled, and tipped into a puddling platlornm-puddler, passed through a mixer and sifted, leaving here for an underground storage tank. After un dergoing some expert treatment, the material is pumped into a clay press, and here the water filters away, re ducig the clay to a fine plastic pug. It is then worked through a pug-mill, which it leaves as sausages do a ma chine, but with the difference that it is out into lengths instead of being tied into strings. Those lengths are hand-rolled into insulator shape, and put through the moulds by hand and machinery; alter drying for periods up to a week they are passed on to the turner, thou to the glazer, into the suggers, on to the kiln, and thence to testing shed, which tosses rejects to the rubbish heap, and "lit" to the transport waggons. Suggers are earth enware stands that hold six insulators, 100 going to a kiln that produces 600, which after a 24 hours test in water are passed as perfect for the market; none others are allowed to leave the premises. Tho government and other purchasers are privileged to witness this testing, so that satisfactory deals are executed with expedition and fin ality on the premises. The marvel of the whole process is the very few rejects that appear."

Excerpt from "The Australian Mining Standard" Nov. 6, 1913: "In addition to accepting the tender of the Commonwealth Art Pottery and Insulator Company for the supply of a large number of telegraph insulators, as mentioned in our issue of October 16, the Postmaster-General's department has now accepted further tender of the same company for the supply of 1,768,800 insulators of the "B" type for the sum of 20,000 pounds 9s. 4d., while the Fire Brick, Insulator and Pottery Company of Victoria will supply 426,000 of the "A" type for 12,282 pounds 10s. In addition, the following contracts have been let for insulators to be imported: --513,000 "A" type, through Dalgety and Co. Ltd., for 12,508 pounds 19s. 7d. and 78,000, "A" type, through Webster and Co., for 1969 pounds 10s. The batch of insulators will cost, therefore, over 46,764 pounds and with those previously arranged for, the outlay will be close upon 50,000 pounds."

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