PLANT AND POWER

Evening Post, Issue 47, 24 August 1936, Page 4

PLANT AND POWER

DEMONSTRATION AT

RONGOTAI

The public demonstration of moaern excavating, levelling, and spoil transporting machinery at • the Rongotai Aeodrome on Saturday afternoon was very well attended, and to those who had not seen such plant in operation previously the capacity of the machines for work was a revelation. It was unfortunate that the demonstration could not have been given on the hill above Moa Point, where demonstrations have been given to engineers and members of local bodies during the past few weeks, for it is when this -plant is shifting rock and solid ground that it is most impressive and most efficient. A specialised elevator-excava-tor, for instance, designed for such work as swamp drain excavation, was highly impressive as it cut a canal through sand at the rate of 250 cubic yards per hour, but in heavy, puggy clay the efficiency is just double that figure. ' . ■"'.'"

During the afternoon the.Minister of Transport, the Hon. ..R. Semple, addressed the gathering, and stated that a contract was to be arranged for the testing of the plant under New Zealand conditions on a full scale. He commended those, responsible for the demonstrations upon their enterprise in bringing such plant to New Zealand. ■'.''•■■ '-

Mr. Semple spoke at some length on the theme, "Man,'the master of the machine, not the machine, master of man," and said that' though,, selfishly exploited, such plant, displacing hundreds of men from manual labour, might operate disastrously, yet applied for the common good such plant made for greater achievement, coupled with increased facilities for leisure and recreation. -. -, . -.. ■ . ..-.'■" " : '.. .'.

} In any case, said the Minister, the day of the pick and shovel had: gone. If there was anyone present who:preferred the pick, shovel, and wheelbarrow he could step forward—and : be: j photographed. ■:'•'"''■■; No one-accepted. ; ;'"- ..-..■'.■' :: ',