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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

Craig, Joseph James

Craig, Joseph James, Shipping and Forwarding Agent and General Carrier, Coal Merchant and Coal Mine Owner; Lime Merchant and Lime Manufacturer; Brick, Tile and Pottery Manufacturer; Shipowner, etc. Head Office and Shipping Department, Victoria Arcade, Fort Street, Auckland; Receiving and Forwarding Office, Queen Street Wharf; Stores and Branches at Customs Street East, Breakwater Road, Beach Road and Newmarket; Dumping Stores, Quay Street and Breakwater Road; Brick and Pottery Works, Avondale; Lime Works, Mahurangi and Whangarei Heads; Coal Mines, Hikurangi; Wool Dumping Stores and Coal Yards, Breakwater Road and Railway Wharf; Stables, Beach Road; Seoria Pits, Mount Eden; Telephones, Head Office, Fort Street, 644; Queen Street Wharf, 362; Breakwater Road, 435; Beach Road, 797; Brick and Pottery Works, 205; Newmarket, 306; Symonds Street, 238; Grafton Road, 796; Customs Street, 794. Bankers, Bank of New Zealand. Private residence of the proprietor, Beach Road. Mr J. J. Craig's business is probably for variety, colossal proportions and industrial enterprise, the champion concern of the Colony. The fleet includes the four-masted barque, “Falls of Garry,” 3,300 tons; “Helene,” barque, 1,050 tons; “Jessie Craig,” barque, 100 Al., 1000 tons; “Leon,” barque, 1050 tons, the “Royal Tar,” a barque of 1000 tons; steel barquentine “Margarita,” 100 Al., 850 tons; iron barque, “Quathlamba,” 100 Al., 750 tons; “Alecstis,” iron barque, 650 tons; the barquentine, “Lark,” 200 tons; “Waitemata,” a barquentine of 500 tons; the “Clio,” a ketch of 130 tons; “Empreza,” barque, 350 tons; the “Norval,” a schooner of 100 tons; the “Saucy Kate,” a schooner of 70 tons; scow “Pukapuka,” 40 tons; “Flora,” cutter, 30 tons; the “Huon Belle,” a ketch of 70 tons; “Lizette,” a ketch
Hanna, photo.Mr. J. J. Craig.

Hanna, photo.Mr. J. J. Craig.

page 311 of 75 tons; “Leo,” cutter, 50 tons; the “Spitfire,” a cutter of 55 tons; and the “Four Sisters,” a cutter of 35 tons; not to mention shares in vessels and a chartered fleet of 2000 tons. The carrying business, the nucleus of the vast concern, which includes a most complete plant, was established in 1866 by the late Mr Joseph Craig, who successfully conducted it until his death in 1885, when it came into the possession of his son, the present proprietor, who has extended and improved its scope with astonishing rapidity. Some idea of Mr Craig's carrying trade may be gathered from the fact that 160 draught horses are kept going in town alone. They are splendid animals, and are stabled at the Beach Road stables. A blacksmith's shop and a wheelWright's shop are attached to the stables, for horse shoeing and repairs. The brick and pottery works are situated at Avondale, about seven miles from Auckland, on the Kaipara line. They are said to be the largest in the Colony, with a capacity of 90,000 bricks per day, besides fire-bricks, fire clay blocks, oven tiles, stove linings, drain pipes, chimney pots, roofing tiles, ridgings, sanitary appliances, filters, jam jars, acid jars, cornices and ornamental work, flower pots, etc., all of which were awarded a special gold medal at the Auckland Exhibition. The lime industry is equally extensive and must become still more important as the value of lime to the clay lands of Auckland becomes better understood. Of the hydraulic lime nothing need be said beyond quoting the testimony of Mr C. R. Vickerman, the Resident Engineer of the Public Works Department, who, in a letter to Mr Craig, said:— “I have much pleasure in stating that I have used your hydraulic lime for several years…. and in all cases with very satisfactory results. I would strongly recommend it to anyone requiring a good all-round hydraulic building lime. Several public buildings here have been erected of it, and the last one—the new
Karangahape Road.

Karangahape Road.

auxiliary asylum at Avondale—is a fair specimen for reference.” It was used also for that splendid specimen of solid brickwork—the six-storey building of the “New Zealand Herald”—and Mr James Heron, the builder, unreservedly recommends it. Many other branches of this truly wonderful business deserve special mention; but space cannot be given for all, and a few general remarks must suffice. Mr Craig pays about £150 per day in Wages, and his total turnover is about £130,000 per annum. Nearly 400 men are already employed, and the number increases almost daily. The recent acquisition of a freehold estate of 120 acres at Whangarei, in the North of Auckland, containing an enormous deposit of kaolin, promises well for a large increase in Mr Craig's demand for labour. Kaolin makes the finest china, and a fair proportion of it can can be used in the manufacture of paper. A granite quarry is also being opened on the same estate. Mr Craig, who, in enterprise and business capacity, has few if any equals, was born in Auckland on the 22nd of January, 1860, and was educated at the Carlton Academy and at Mr McVey Baird's (now Prince Albert) College, Queen Street. At the conclusion of his schooldays, Mr Craig entered his father's office and soon showed that he possessed in a rare degree the faculty for managing large concerns. Notwithstanding the multiplicity of business matters that must for ever be calling for his attention, Mr Craig has found a fair share of time for attending to public affairs. For ten years he was a member of the Licensing Bench, and for several years he has been a useful member of the Harbour Board. He is a director of the Waihi Consols Gold Mining Company, and of many other important mining companies. He is also a Master Mason and a member of the Oddfellows. Mr. Craig was married in 1888 to Miss J. Campbell, daughter of Captain Alex. Campbell, of Prince Edward Island, and has two sons and three daughters. Auckland has indeed reason to be proud of Mr J. J. Craig, for he is playing a prominent part in the development of the province. He is still quite a young man, and with a continuance of health, strength and prosperity, his power for usefulness must increase. Meanwhile the people of Auckland should emulate the example set by Mr Craig in developing the natural resources of their district and should also patronise him in every one of his enterprises. For the first both caution and capital are needed, for the second all that is required is a determination to appreciate and encourage the citizen who is perhaps doing more for Auckland than any other man in the province. The Southern Coal Mines of Auckland Province have been all amalgamated by Mr Craig. These mines have an output of between 80,000 and 90,000 tons per annum, and have a reserve fund of about £10,000 cash and £13,000 reserve shares. Under the new regime this amalgamation promises good returns to the shareholders, as there has been a saving in management alone of about £4000 a year. New warehouses, covering two acres of land near the Freezing Company's Railway Wharf, have just been erected for Mr Craig to enable him to concentrate all his varions businesses where there is a railway siding and water frontage.