I was surprised to see this method of packing when I first joined ICI, having seen automatic bagging systems working elsewhere. In this packing shed which had a loading dock below the elevated shed there were six to eight lines and when all were manned it was a hive of activity. At the end of each line there was a chute that delivered the sack onto the shoulder of a man who then delivered the filled bag into a closed rail wagon and stacked it until the wagon was full. There would be a train of them on each side of the platform with a shunter moving the wagons along as they were filled, this was to give the men loading the shortest walk from chute to wagon, it was labour intensive. The men and women worked very hard and got very good bonuses which was probably why ICI did not install auto systems. China bags were two hundred weight and double bagged against spillage, if one came off the line as they often did, a girl would give it a heave and into the chute it would go, one or two of the maintenence men being chivalrous would attempt to drop the bags in the chute for the girls and then stand blushing when they failed and the girls with a nudge of the knee and a heave sent the bag down the chute. The product came by a belt system from the 100,000 ton Silo, a beehive as we called them, some special runs came straight from the WG3 plant next door to the packing sheds. A dirty dusty job that left men loading the trucks with permanent injury to shoulder and spine and the women with chest problems. I once asked why they did it and the answer was ‘where would a labourer earn this kind of money’. They must have thought it worth the risk. One New Years Eve I got a call on the radio to go see what was wrong on one of the belts and get a crew there as the work was urgent. Heading up the stairs on the loading dock to the packing floor I was hit by a flying fur coat full of woman and knocked back onto the loading dock with the lady on top of me. It appeared she had come in to wish the girls Happy New Year on her day off and had one or two before hand. Winded and sore on my back I got a big sloppy kiss from the girl entangled in the fur coat who did not seem to know she had just been flying. One thing about working for ICI you never knew what experience the next minute would hold, I did enjoy my job.
These women are working on Packing Lines very similar to the ones I knew in the Nitro-Chalk Packing Shed. The type of sewing machine I maintained as an apprentice is clearly visible with the large wheel to tension the sewing-yarn. In the background a woman is seen operating the weighing-station where the fertlizer is delivered from the Hopper and automatically weighed into the sacks. When the jute sacks were replaced by plastic, the Republic of China refused to accept the plastic and the whole Packing Lines had to be converted back to sacking to fulfill the massive Chinese order. Money talks.
I was surprised to see this method of packing when I first joined ICI, having seen automatic bagging systems working elsewhere. In this packing shed which had a loading dock below the elevated shed there were six to eight lines and when all were manned it was a hive of activity. At the end of each line there was a chute that delivered the sack onto the shoulder of a man who then delivered the filled bag into a closed rail wagon and stacked it until the wagon was full. There would be a train of them on each side of the platform with a shunter moving the wagons along as they were filled, this was to give the men loading the shortest walk from chute to wagon, it was labour intensive. The men and women worked very hard and got very good bonuses which was probably why ICI did not install auto systems. China bags were two hundred weight and double bagged against spillage, if one came off the line as they often did, a girl would give it a heave and into the chute it would go, one or two of the maintenence men being chivalrous would attempt to drop the bags in the chute for the girls and then stand blushing when they failed and the girls with a nudge of the knee and a heave sent the bag down the chute. The product came by a belt system from the 100,000 ton Silo, a beehive as we called them, some special runs came straight from the WG3 plant next door to the packing sheds. A dirty dusty job that left men loading the trucks with permanent injury to shoulder and spine and the women with chest problems. I once asked why they did it and the answer was ‘where would a labourer earn this kind of money’. They must have thought it worth the risk. One New Years Eve I got a call on the radio to go see what was wrong on one of the belts and get a crew there as the work was urgent. Heading up the stairs on the loading dock to the packing floor I was hit by a flying fur coat full of woman and knocked back onto the loading dock with the lady on top of me. It appeared she had come in to wish the girls Happy New Year on her day off and had one or two before hand. Winded and sore on my back I got a big sloppy kiss from the girl entangled in the fur coat who did not seem to know she had just been flying. One thing about working for ICI you never knew what experience the next minute would hold, I did enjoy my job.
These women are working on Packing Lines very similar to the ones I knew in the Nitro-Chalk Packing Shed. The type of sewing machine I maintained as an apprentice is clearly visible with the large wheel to tension the sewing-yarn. In the background a woman is seen operating the weighing-station where the fertlizer is delivered from the Hopper and automatically weighed into the sacks. When the jute sacks were replaced by plastic, the Republic of China refused to accept the plastic and the whole Packing Lines had to be converted back to sacking to fulfill the massive Chinese order. Money talks.