* Up to the turn of the century, Dispatch manufactured 8000 feet of water pipes for Humphrey's Gully Company, 100 tonnes of girders for the Otira Gorge Bridge, ten-head stamper batteries, sets of joints and crossings for the Govt. railings, besides the abundance of orders for the sawmills, etc. In the late 1890's, Dispatch employed on average, 60 persons.
* Early 1898 Percy Hambleton travelled from Greymouth to Lyttleton, took 55 hours.
* 4th June 1900 - Electric light installed in the foundry.
* August 12, 1901 - William Rae and Percy Hambleton did a holiday trip to England and Canada.
* May 23, 1902 - New foundry offices opened
* March 1903 - Rivetting done by the foundry was heated in a big oven at the shop - 17,318 at a time.
* Nov 18 1904 - New motor cars arrived - Percy bought the first motor car and shortly after took it for a spin down to Paroa.
* 29 Sept 1906 - Telephones installed at the foundry (cost = 1 pound, 7 shillings, 6 dimes)
* 1909-1910 - Dispatch contributed towards the running of an Engineering Class which was established at the Technical School.
* In 1910 the foundry employed 12 moulders, 23 fitters, 12 blacksmiths, 20 boilersmakers, 2 patternmakers, 8 labourers and 4 office staff. Of the workshop staff there was 29 apprentices.
* Oct 1910 - New building erected with overhead crane. Dispatch's manager (Percy) supervised the construction, no architech was employed.
* 6 July 1911 - Mr Ellison, an employee, was killed in a foundry accident.
* July 1912 - Percy, the manager of dispatch donated 2/6 to Titanic Memorial
* Nov 5, 1912 - 80 employees, & 9000 pounds per year paid out in wages.
* Saturday, Aug 4, 1914 - War declared in Europe. A number of employees left to serve with the forces. Three were killed in action.
* 1915 - Foundry employing 66 staff.
* March 31, 1916 - Bill Hamilton (foreman moulder) died in harness.
* During the influenza epidemic in 1918, one day only 7 of the 80 men turned up for work, so the foundry closed until things improved.
* Feb 27, 1922 - Jack H. injured - burnt eyes with sulphuric acid.
* April 24, 1922 - Felix Campbell died - shop closed.
* April 21-30, 1924 - Railway strike.
* August 31, 1925 - Store lit up with electric light.
* June 17/18, 1926 - Bad earthquakes, centered at Murchison
* Foundry almost unaffected at beginning of depression due to the success of gold in the region.
* June 22, 1933 - Football team from foundry went to Haupiri to play a local side.
* March 22, 1934 - Mr Lewis, patternmaker, met with a fatal accident at the Patternshop.
* Sunday, 3 Sept, 1939 - Britain declared war on Germany.
* In the middle of WW2 the foundry hosted its own "Nigger Minstrel Show", to raise money for patriotic funds. The overhead crane was put to use to move heavy equipment like the piano. The shows were very popular, one night the audience exceeded 1000 people. The show even did a tour around other West Coast towns.
* May 27, 1942 - Wages increased to 1000 pounds per year.
* William Rae, one of the founders of Dispatch and secretary for a number of years, was also one of the founding members of the borough council.