GREY GAS WORKS

Greymouth Evening Star, 25 February 1928, Page 27 (Supplement)

GREY GAS WORKS

Past, Present, and Future

’T’HE following account of the Grjeyi mouth Gas Works may be of Interest. The old Gas Company !WaS established in 1870, the capital being £5,000 —later it was increased to £lO,OOO. The provisional directors were Messrs Thompson, Marfin, Gilmer, Kerr, Kennedy, Kilgour, Blackmore, Masters and Kenrick. Mr. Parkins was the solicitor to the Company and Mr. Hindmarsh was appointed secretary. The tender of Walton and Murray for brickwork was accepted- sfr. John Walton, one of .the contractors died recently in his 9.5 th year. The brick gas holder tank they built' is still in use at the works as a tgr Well. The first -manager appointed Was Mr. A. Lawrie. >. ,_ The charges to the Borough Cpuncil for public lamps were at the rate of £l5 each per annum. The price of gas fixed at 25/- per 1,000 ft.

A native of London, where he Was born in 1856. He landed in New Zealand in 1875, and served six yea'rp at the Christchurch gasworks. Mr. Kennedy then went’'to Invercargill. In 1888, he was appointed mahhgey of the Grey mouth Gas Company’s Wb’rks, which were acquired in 1900 by'Sthe / Borough Council. Mr. Kennedy ,Wi'a r , the first in New Zealand to use s-lfick coal for gas-making, resulting in, considerable economy.

The charges for meter rent we?e 10 per cent, on the cost of the met'oi. i|Wr. Brimble was the contractor fdf the supply of coal at 21/6 per ton deliv-. ered at the works. The coal tvas brought down the" river in baizes, unloaded into drays and, carted to the works. . The existence of the famous gas 'coal seam at Brunner wai ho doubt responsive for the early formation of the Gas Ccmpany at GreymOuth. Up to 1888 there had been five ffianagers?Messra Lawrie, Broadbent, Ashton, Robins and Ogle. Mr. Hindmarsh the secretary was succeeded'-by Mr. M. Corbet, who was replaced later by Mr. J. T. Skoglund, who sprvefl, the company faithfully and well u,ntilthd Borough purchased the works, when his engagement was . terminated. The present manager Mr. J. Kennedyjyas appointed, from Invdrcargill in' The company was very prosperous, dividends often reaching 20 per 'eelu. per annum. In 1900 the works wer'o. purchased by the Borough CouhbO«r f/ £15,000. Shareholders thus redelvjhk £7 10s for their £5 shares. The directors of the Company then 'were the Hon. James Kerr, Messrs Nancarrow, Lori|, Sffieedy, Thomas, Joyce, and Dr. Morice. Secretary: J. T. Skoglund; Solicitor: Mr. M. Hannah. The Auditors were: J. Hogg and A. Foote. The services of Mr. Kennedy were retained by the Borough. The prime movers in the purchase jof the • works were the late E. I. Lord and J’. Petrie, who in the face of much ppposition, were successful in acquiring this,splendid financial proposition .’for the Borough, the success of which has exceeded their most sanguine predictions.' • The old plant has been replaced byapparatus of the most modern the boiler is the only exception and ft is still doing good work. It was.purchasecl from “Tangyes,” Birmingham, in 1889. The producing capaoW* pt the works has been increased from eight millions to sixty millions feet per annum. The distribution department has made marked progress. The mains now extend from the lower end of Cobden to the Greymouth Cexpetery. This necessitated miles of mains and services being laid. The number, of consumers has increased from 400 to 1.430. All this has increased enot’BK’US" ly the work of the Department. Yet it is this? increase and the prospects of further demands that gives the management the greatest pleasure. They are out for further business and nope , to get it. . .

Son of the late Mr. and Mrs. J. T. Skoglund.

Debating has always been a popular pastime with Greymouth citlzCnS, and valuable work has been apd is being,done by elocutionary organisations. The first Debating Society whs formed on August 15, 1868. at a inerting presided‘over by Mr. W. H. Revell. The organisation was christened -.the "Greymouth Literary Association," and was, conducted upon Parliamentary procedure, Mr. Revell being elected “Speaker,” and Mr. E. Misters (Greymouth’s first Mayor) Prime Minister. 111 1871 the growth Of the Association was such that it was fdrrned from a semi-private club into a public society, and both sexes were admitted to membership. In 1907, the West Coast Competitions Society came into existence, and its name is now in the first flight of similar organisations in New Zealand.