ACETYLENE GAS COMPANY.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 10060, 11 June 1898, Page 5

ACETYLENE GAS COMPANY.

to the editor of the press. StH.—Your correspondent, Mr James Henderson, like a skilful general, has now retired upon his second lines of defence ; having admitted that the question of danger is a matter of little importance, he proceeds to*attack the prospectus of the Company. This, of course, was the object of his first letter, and before replying to ibis criticism I must draw the reader's attention to the fact that he does not reply to my question —Is tliis the same James Henderson whose name appears as the broker for the Sunlight Generator Company? By his silence I presume it must be the same man, and I therefore propose to show the public on wibat terms they were invited to subscribe, and how Mr Henderson's views alter, as circumstances differ. After describing the beauties of acetylene, its absolute safety, economy, and brilliancy, and the wonderful future before this marvellous light, it proposed to distribute the capital, £5000 (which is very small for a company with such a wonderful future), as follows: —To securing future patents £400, cash to vendors £600, materials (say) £100, preliminary expenses £100; total, £1200. Thu3 leaving £1300 for future exploiting, whilst the promoters grab £600, in cash, out of the £1200 raised. Mr Henderson's views have considerably altered now that he looks at the acetylene business as an outsider. Tho lookers-on see most of the game, and although Mr Henderson does not like the part of looker-on where there is any money to be. made, still he is willing to give his knowledge away merely for the public good. And now in reference to Mr Henderson's attack on the prospectus of the Manufacturing Company. He says the capital of the Company is to be £100,000. The promoters ask the Company to give them £55,000. This it not true. The promoters ask foi £40,000 fully paid-up shares for the monopoly of manufacturing carbide of calcium for the patent. With the whole of New Zealand as a field to exploit the business in, surely the investor can be given no better proof of the promoters' idea of the value of tihe patent, when they offer to take the whole of the payment in fully paidup shares. Mr Henderson has skilfully tacked the purchase price of the five generator patents on to the" price of tibe Wilson patent. Mr Henderson knows very well that these patents are only under offer to tho Company. They can decline to. buy them without injury to the Company, as there are thousands of generator patents in the market. I am the owner of four of these patents, ahd shall be just as well satisfied to keep t_iem_ as they are already paying handsomely. To compare the value of the Christchurch gas shares with acetylene gas shares is simply throwing dust in the eyes of the public. Possibly Air Henderson or those who inspire him own a few Christchurch gas shares, and are anxious as to its future. Mr Henderson affects to treat one part of the prospectus as having no connection with the other part. This is a very transparent insinuation. Mr Henderson is too old a hand in company promotion to affect ignorance of the laws of the colony. The prospectus has to be taken as a whole. In Uhe fifth paragraph of his letter Mr Henderson affects to doubt whether acetylene has really become very popular during the last two years. For an answer to this gdily question I refer the {reader to any scientific paper published in Europe or America, to any gas journal published in any language, to any hardware or plumbers' journal; in fact, I will undertake to go into any library and give Mr Henderson more articles to read on the advance of acetylene than he will get through in a day. 4 He affects to doubt that any town is lit up with acetylene. The "Insurance and Banking Record" states: — " Totis in Hungary is the first European town to light up throughout with acetylene gas. The whole of the principal streets, squares, and suburbs are brilliantly illuminated, to the entire satisfaction of" the irihabitants. To quote the various acetylene installations that have been put in during the last year would take up considerable space and more time than I have to spare, if Mr Henderson or any of his friends care to come round to my office they can be provided with printed matter occupying a space of about 8 cubic feet, tlirough which they can search for further information. Mr Henderson states that the manufacture at Loch Ness, Scotland, has been in existence for many years. This is absolutely false. The Loch Kess factory started operations last year, and owing to *he enormous demand for carbide the same company are erecting large works in Wales.

Mr Henderson then inquires how could Mr Green, of New York, solicitor, acquire any patent righto? Evidently Mr Henderson knows nothing about patents or the transactions connected with f hem. Mr Green is one of - a wealthy syndicate who have bought Wilson's Australian patents. They are quite prepared to erect works in New Zealand themselves. Therefore Mr Henderson may satisfy himself on this point, that his attempts to stop the manufacture of carbide in New Zealand will not avail. Our object in forming this Company is to allot

the shares all over New Zealand, so that we' attain two objects. We Juitercst the invest." in the gas, and get local support for its introduction. Mr Henderson admits that the light is a perfect one. This admission will, no doubt, stamp our efforts with success. It will also carry large weight with the public in other parts ot the colony. Mi Henderson's expert opinion ot the" light is very valuable, and I shall use it in future as . testimonial: Mr Henderson states that crystalline carbide of calcium ha.s been manufactured for msnv years in America, France, Germany. Scotland, and England. This is another false stitement. Crystalline carbide of calcium is a new product, and was entirely unknown until Wilson discovered it at Spray. in North Carolina. Mr Henderson falls , into the error that a large number ot other know-alls have already tumbled into. They imagine that because acetylene gas was discovered by Edmund Day in 1822, that it is impossible to obtain a patent for the use of it now. I may inform Mr Henderson that he is at perfect liberty to make acetylene gas in the same way that Edmund Day did, without paying a royalty on any patents. But to make acetylene gas from crystalline carbide of calcium is infringing the Wilson patent. He may also make acetylene pas from amorphous carbide of calcium, without infringing the Wilson patent. But he will find it a very expensive proceeding to do so. What Wilson claims is a new product, crystalline carbide of calcium, which can be turned out in quantities for about £3 per ton in America. We undertake in our prospectus to turn it out for £8, which is a very .'iberal allowance; and, further, we are quite prepared to take over the works from the company and manufacture it for £3, and will undertake to sell it all for £20. Mr Henderson affects to wonder why there have not Veen numerous companies floated to ensure its general introduction. Mr Henderson knows that this industry is quite in its infancy, and therefore there has been no time to do as he suggests. Possibly, if he would take his gigantic brain to i_urop.. lie might get a cut in at the acetylene business, a_ there will undoubtedly be large numbers of companies on the market in tlie very near future. Mr Henderson, in his concluding paragraph, states that several carbide companies have been in existence for years. This is another untruth. The Wilson Company only commenced operations eighteen I months ago. Mr Henderson states again j that the present market price of oai-bide is 8d per lb. That is so, if you buy it one pound at a time; if you take 1001b it is 6d; if you take a ton it is sd. We propose to retail it at 4d by the pouud. 1 leave Mr Henderson to imagine what we shall be able to do wh.n we manufacture it in the colony. We guarantee that it shall cost less than Id per lb. We are quite prepared to give the whole of ou • paid-up shares as security for this guarantee. If that is not sufficient to convince Mr Henderson he evidently will not be convinced. We are quite prepared to postpone the issue of our paid-up shares for a reasonable period to enable Mr Henderson to contest the patent. My own opinion of the validity of th-. patent is shown by the fact that I have applied for 50.0 contributing shares —Yours, &c, W. Tyree. TO THE EDITOR OF THE PRESS. Sir, —I am one oi many who would be glad to know ii the correspondence in wliich Messrs Tyree an_ Henderson and their friends join is paid for as a species of advertisement? Its object is, apparently, to boom the proposed company. I should like also to ask how many companies have been formed in Christchurch in connection with patents within the last two years, and whether any of them were ever known to come to any good?— Yours, &c, ' Lvquirer, to the editor of the press. i Sir, —I think I can give "Old Colonist" some of the information he requires, and possibly the interest many of lyour readers have in the matter at present will allow you to publish the following: —Re the Queen versus Tame case, I will leave Mr Tyree to explain that to him. Re the Scotch makes of carbide working under Wilson's patent, I enclose an extract from the "Mechanical World Journal" which will answer that question. I also enclose an extract from the "Ironmongery Journal," which will answer No. 5 question and also No. 6. I have spent a little time looking over the prospectus of this proposed company, and like "Old Colonist" have been much interested, and feel quite envious of the gentlemen promoters, provided, of course, it goes off. Of course it may not go off, and then they may lose something, but all they may lose is very small compared with what they may gain, for it seems to mc from a glance over the prospectus that out of the £100,000 capital of the Company, £65,000 goes to promoters and agents, and what have they done for it? They are not the inventors. They have not even proved satisfactorily to the public that they have a legal right to the invention; but they expect the individuals who subscribe the working capital tcj .take all the risk and bear all the expenses, and should there be any profits they will get the largest share. The prospectus says that selling carbide at 4d per lb will return a dividend of 22£ per cent., but when you compare the statement that carbide at 4d will make acetylene gas equal to coal gas at 3s 6d per thousand with the statement in the "Ironmongery Journal," that carbide at 2d is equal to coal gas at 3s Id, you can reduce the dividend in proportion down to about 12£ per cent. Ana then, if you consider that the latest and leading authorities state that carbide made in Scotland, under the most favourable circumstances, with the cheapest of motive power (natural water-fall), cheap coal and labour, and a company riot loaded as this one is or would be with an enormous amount of dead capital, and with no royalties or patent right fees to pay, cannot produce carbide for less than £10 per ton net cost, is it reasonable to expect that carbide can be made in New Zealand cheaper than in Scotland under above circumstances? Now, sir, £13 or £14 at least would be more like the money, and then where is any dividend to come from? I notice another little item of £15,000, which is evidently set aside to purchase their other patents. Well, sii, if that does not make the Christchurch inventors hurry up nothing will. Where are the f**as engine, annealed iron, or numerous bicycle inventors now who have been in such evidence here for the past few years? From what I know ot carbide of calcium and acetylene gas I am quite convinced it has come to stay. There is a place for it, but it is not going to put coal gas or electricity to one side by a very long way. I don't think I will apply for any shares in the N.Z.A.G. and CM. Company at present. —Yours, &c, New Colonist. (Extracts.) The interest which has been taken during the past two years in the use of acetylene gas as an illuminant, and as a formidable rival to gas and electricity, will not in any way flag by reason of the decision just rendered by a Committee of the House of Lords, and which appears to throw open to the public the manufacture of acetylene gas from carbide of calcium. It appears that a Frenchman named M. Bullier claims to have | been the first to have discovered the process resulting in the production of carbide

of calcium, but ho did not apply for an English patent. Some three weeks later, on February 28th, 1894, Mr T. L. Wilson applied for protection tor a similar method at the United States Patent Office at Washington, and in August and September of the same yeai Mr Wilson applied for a patent for the invention in Great Britain, but not under the International Convention. Henco the protection issued dated from those two m °n- In the Mean-time the details ot the l-ulhe. process wero published in this country; tliis prior publication rendered the Wilson patent invalid. But Mr Wilson promoted a, bill requiring the* ControllerGeneral of Patents to ante-date his patent, so as to make it effective from February 28th, 1894. Tho Committee of the Houso ot Lords have, however, decided that the preamble of tho bill has been proved, and that it could not proceed. It would appea. from this decision that tho manufacture of acetylene gas from carbide of calcium is now common proper!}, in this country at any rate.—From "The Mechanical * World, Friday, April 10th, 1896. At the present time carbide costs, tor small quantities, £20 per ton. Each pound evolves on treatment with water 5 cubic feet of acetylene gas, which has practically an illuminating power of 40 candles "per foot. Compared with the incandescent system of gas lighting, therefore, acetylene 'is equal to coal gas at 10s per 1000 cub*ic feet, but for ono reason or another many people still prefer to employ the old-fashioned flat flame burner, and in such cases it is equivalent to coal gas nt 3s Id, which is almost the figure now charged by the Gas Light and Coke Company to tho unfortunate*"inhabitants of the greater part of London.—From the "Ironmongery Journal," April 9th, 1898. TO TUE EDITOR OF THE PRESS. Sm,—Tho frequent allusion to this subject in your columns may havo the effect of nauseating the public, whether the relative merits of tho invention aro proved or not. I notice that tho danger of liability to explosion is urged as one of the objections, and this is not to be wondered at seeing that in the circular re-printed from the "New Zealand Wheelman,' headed "Acetylene Gas Cycle Lamps," the Company states, referring to the lamp "Helios," "it is 200 yards ahead of tho ridei, easily charged,*' &c. | This, I think, may be fairly taken as an admission of the danger arising irom the us« of the lamp and vie material with which it is charged; and, therefore, I think that Mr Henderson did the right and correct tiling in writing as ho did, notwithstanding Mi- J? Bickerton Fisher's questionable taste in suggesting interested motives, especially as the firm of which he is a member has the good fortune, or otherwise, to appear on the prospectus as solicitors to the proposed company. j —Yours, &c, Charles Ward.