INSPECTION OF MACHINERY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 263, 30 July 1908, Page 11

INSPECTION OF MACHINERY.

EXTRACTS FROM ANNUAL REPORT. , The- report presented to:,.the"House of Representatives • Uf, , > ,tho. rl . Inspection; : 'of Machinery \for ; tho year •; is. a • :;.volummous one - of;-- one hundred pages, and,give,s a good idea of tho excellent work, done'by this .Department in safeguarding .tho,'public from accident ■ with boilers, and also in seeing that those who go down to sea ill'ships should sail in seaworthy vessels only. - : V .' . _' No fewer than 596Sland steam boilers were ' inspected I during tho year, 1760 defe'cts.were discovered in connection with these boilers, of which 74 iwere very dangerous. .. .... . .Tour • hundred arid . sixty-fiVe now . steam i, boilers 'we're' put -.into use during .the year, • 231;; of- 8002 horse-power,' were made- in. the Dominion, and 214, .totalling' 3710 horse- • : No boiler explosion 'took place during the year. j '. :THe:.'mimber. of complete annual surveys '■made of steam vessels was 390;., .12 .'inter-' "• colonial sailing; vessels: wero surveyed; 71 ' special surveys:wero niado of vessels.that had been, severely, damaged. The defects that ne--1 cessitiited these surveys included defective steering''gear and rudders, defects in'shaft- ; ing", fires iii holds, defects in stern tubes, defects .in furnaces, collisions, vessels grounding, and defective main steam pipes. ■ "' ':Th'o .following Government' steamers were surveyed: during the/yearthe Antrim, : Ben Loniondi'Countess' of Raufurly, Hirtemoa, Jahie Seddon,; Lady Roberts, 'Mountaineer, arid Tutanekai. ' The Hinemoa received a fairly .cxthnsivo overhaul during the year at Lyttelton.;' " ' , ,' ' Noifewer than 3880 machinery inspections were; made during the year. These inspections, include gas engines, oil engines, hydraulic and st'eam hoists and electric motors.'''.The - fencing ,of tliis machinery in motion to see ' that.'.all'was safe for those employed about itiwas qspecially seen to.' : •' ' Candidate', to ithe riugjber of 906 presented • theiiiSelvqs fbr tlie examination, for. certificates -.' : for. : .land-.engineering and engine drivers, of • which iiumber"6o2 were successful. The es-aMihatiohs-''were for extra first-class . engineers, first-class eugine-drivers,' second-class engirifc-drivers, winding engine-drivers, and locomotive and traction-engine drivers. •At i' tho 'examination of marine engineers for the.mercantilo marine, 273 candidates presented themselves for Of this . number 216 passed successfully, and fiftyseven failed. The examinations wero for firstclass marine engineer, second-class marine engineer, third-class marine engineer, river engirieer, aiid marine engine-driver, and for engineers of vessels driven by oil engines, firstclass engineer, second-class engineer, and restricted limits engineer. Examinations, wero held at Auckland, Napier, "Wellington, Nelson,'Christchurch, Timaru, Diincdin, Invercargill, Port Chalmers, Tauranga, Gisborne, Reefton, Grcymouth, and other .places. . ... ... . '