APPENDIX IV
Reading edition
The following is a tabulated account of the cost of the brick kilns to the State, and the value of these convict-made bricks in the local market.
The output of bricks per month when four tables were at work was 230,000, and their value at $45.00 per 10,000 would be $1,035. The cost of manufacture was as follows:—
$
Overseer's Salary45.00
Labour of 125 Convicts, at 25cts. per diem for artizans and 9cts. for labourers 306.00
Cost of Fuel200.00
Wear and Tear17.10
Food for Cattle24.30
Contingencies16.20
Total$608.60
$
Value of 230,000 of Bricks at $45 per laksa, that being the market price for Government Bricks 1,035.00
Deduct cost of manufacture 608.60
Difference to credit of the State $426.40
Bricks were debited to Government Works at $20 per laksa. The size of a Government brick mould was 10¼ x 5¼ x 3 ins. The bricks when burnt measured 9 x 4½ x 2¾ ins., and weighed about 7 lbs. when dry, and about 7 lbs. 3 or 4 ozs. after soaking in fresh water. These were ordinary bricks, but those manufactured for hydraulic work were impervious to water.
Note.—The size of a Chinese-made brick when burnt is 10 x 5 x 1½ ins. It requires 22 Chinese-made bricks to build one cubic foot of brickwork, but of convict-made Government bricks a cubic foot of brickwork requires 13 only.