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See also Kandos Town
1914
5 March 1914
THE FOUNDER OF CANDOS.
It is now admitted that the mining industry at Candos is an established fact, and that its final competition as a great industry right at our very doors will give to this district an immense value all round. For all this we have largely to thank Mr. Albert Holland, a Rylstone native. Mr. Holland put all his capital into the first venture to secure the footing for what is now tho N.S.W. Lime, Coal and Cement Coy. It. was his persistency and energy that worked the project in actual action. He had all to lose and he is now none the worse off. which, of course, is a small fortune to those who engineered the initiatory stages of the company's life. We know what the mining industry menus to Rylstone town. We all admit it is the one thing which has saved and lifted the district out of bondage into life and given a development to the town and district which will place it amongst the foremost of the State. What then do we owe to Mr. Holland's perseverance and pluck in sticking to the concern until it was successfully floated? Why, a public recognition. r. Holland doesn't want any financial consideration, but I am sure he would appreciate a public token of the district's appreciation for having been largely instrumental in bringing into its midst the capita that is sunk in Candos. Surely the leading men of Rylstone do not require any more than this notice to get iamove on, and do the correct thing towards one of its own reared boys1 .
2 October 1914
A New Town - Candos.
Tho big depot of cement-producing stone which has been discovered close to Rtylstone, on the Mudgea line, has had the effect of a prosperous town springing into existence, which promises to outdo the present cement centre of Portland. The town has been named Candos, and the cement works are being pushed ahead with great vigor, the whole scene being one of intense activity.
Large reservoirs are being excavated with ploughs and scoops, and one reservoir adjoining the company's new lines has been completed. A gang of men is also employed boring for water, and is making good progress. The towers, for the aerial tramway are being erected, and about 20 of these towers are now in position at a distance of about 5 chains apart. It, will be some time before this work is completed, as the aerial tramway will extend from the works at Candos to Carwell Creek, a distance of 3 1/2 miles, where an inexhaustible supply of limestone is available, and which has already been tested, and turns out to be of first-class quality, which is very important as limestone is the chief product from which cement is made.
About seven new buildings, offices and sheds, have been erected, and the staff is now comfortably housed on the site of the new. works.
A large gang of men is employed putting in the foundations. They are concrete for the main buildings, which are of huge dimensions, and no pains have been spared to get a good foundation, as some of the trenches for the foundations of the buildings are fully 10 feet deep. A stone crush or has been erected in a convenient position, and ail the stone required for the concrete mixing is crushed within a few yards of where it is required. All the foundations of the very large power house have been taken out, and the boilers are being fixed in position.
A travelling crane has been erected, and is being used to fix the immense steel kilns in position. These kilns resemble a huge boiler, and are about 8 feet in diameter.
An Elgin gas plant has been installed, and is used to light up at night the buildings that have been erected. A new double line of tramway leading from the coal mine to the railway, distant about 15 chains, is almost completed, the platelaying being done up to the entrance of the coal pit from the railway line, where bins and screens are being erected to receive the coal after it has been taken from the pit. A new tramway is also being laid down in a northerly direction from the works to a shale mine, where there is an unlimited supply of the above mineral.
A site for a town has been laid out, half a mile from the works on a beautiful slope, and it is an ideal spot for n town. A few weeks ago this place was a dense scrub, but clearing and burning off have been going on apace, and now the alignments of the new streets are easily discernible, and it is expected that building and business sites are to be shortly made available to teo public.
On the railway line a. passenger platform and a loop for goods trains have been marked out directly in front of the new town site, and when this has been approved of by the Railway Department a start will be made with the new railway station and loop.
Superintendent Griffin (Eskbank), Inspector Engineer Moore (Sydney), and Inspectors Cook and Drummond (Mudgee), inspected the new site last week, but the result of the inspection is unknown. There, is some little difficulty, from a railway view, about the position for a station, as all the points and loops leading into Candos works are 3/4 of a mile away from the passenger station, and would necessitate two station masters and night officers instead of one station master and one night officer were the points and railway stations close together.
Altogether there are over 100 men employed on the spot, and the different works are apparently being carried out in an up-to-date manner2 .