PROGRESSIVE MOVE

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 11382, 6 December 1930, Page 6

PROGRESSIVE MOVE

•;NEW : PLANT AT. GAS WORKS

WORK HANDED OVER BY ' ' ENGLISH FIRM.

‘ N Z. REPRESENTATIVE ‘ ENTERTAINS DIRECTORS.

:> INSTRUCTIVE -ADDRESSES

Congratulations on the • enterprise of ‘the Gisborne Gas Company, ant beat '.wishes..for: its- future, and l an optimistic outlook for the gas md istry .in New .Zealand, were the ke>nbte of addresses delivered at a complibentary -luncheon Itendered t<r the directors of the; Gisborne Gas Com nariv arid invited guests, by tn proprietors . of, the Gas Improvement Co. Ltd., to maik Conclusion of • their work m Gisborne. . The .firm has just .concluded the.erection of a new cas producing plant, jvhicli \ ‘ v Icially taken over by the company the luncheon an inspection made oCtho plant, and an adjijumment was then made to the r ro i and welcomed Mr C j nP Kennedy, general manager a&riJfeVS wishes for the' new. .riant. He - wisnes 1 nnrreciatiou felt bv ms pressed tlm appiec resllUs they company of tho rixee En2 p s b firm theS^t lington Oas, ' tl,e inquiries yere m.. Cnsts comZealand and elsewhere. ••> . r^ ia ' o finaW'dSdecf°t n o C ins?al‘ the that proud. The Spita C aecm.nt» of many cpminmes So subject to great capansmn horn time .to tin ' e A < ’"." lg ! , l J., n „ c eontemfifti be’ carefully considered S'studied Wore..t «»**»** sver’e 1 handicapped in regard to CO. rSlies. . pips the.more import ant view- however, was that they nHshed to give their CTStomew the very best' service possible, and this desire was. he felt sure, the deciding factor. Messrs. West and Co a. a verv 'big firm working in all paits of the world, and were m an exceptional position to advise every case on its merits.' They advised the Gisborne Gas Go who decided to go on with the work. Messis. AA est arid Co. liked to. deal with cnteiprising companies, and are always willing to do the best they can to make' a success of their work even after it is completed. That was the reason that the speaker was stationed as their manager in New Zealand. He was pleased to he associated with an installation m which such confidence was reposed, and ho sincerely hoped the results would prove satisfactory to the Gi - Wne Gas Company and its clients. &pa?y!” coupled with the «< “SfF CwterSll, on responding to tW TiharSe I’GiTbor'nfGae 1 ’GiTbor'nfGae CpmSv was nearing to jubilee, havmg If it—ol°s s^^ W? 3 being done notwithstanding opsitSo?f! "b“nt th th bv its opponents. In Chi lstclnn c St month Mr. Reed, secretary m the Christchurch Gas Company, m the course of an address on the occasion of a new' industry, the manufacture. o£ gas meters, said that- despite ‘the financial position ot the Dominion the market prices.of gas company shares were about th„ only ones that had not dropped, and gas companies would come mto their own in. an industrial era The.present prospects, Air. Reed had stated, wore very good. The speaker expressed ,'the utmost confidence in tlie future. In regard to the Gisborne 'Gas Company,, continued Mr. Cederwall, it was interesting to note, as showing the rapid strides m this ■ town, that the hire purchase business'of the Gas Company m 192, was £351, but to-day u was £ll, <OO.

INITIATION OF THE PROJECT

.'Mr • Cederwall then proposed the health .of “The AA 7 est Gas Improvement Company, Ltd.” T.n 19-8, said Mr: Cederwall, Air. Prince and the speaker-went to Dunedin to see the taking • over of one. of the . Glover West plants by the Dunedin City Council. There they met Air. West, and on their return put in a report on their ; visit. They had also interviewed managers. and engineers at Dunedin, AVellington, and Napier. At the’time of his visit to Dunedin he hrid. Jio authority from his fellow directors to discuss the. matter with Air. AVest. • His discussions were with the’idea that anything he could lentm would prove, valuable later. Afterwards however, it was decided to improve the plant, and the compahy’s bankers suggested that additional- preference shares should he floated' to ' supply the capital. He might add that there was never at any, time, any question of the ability.. .of ■ the company to finance the contract. On June 1, 1929, the company signed the contract with Messrs. AVest and Co., arid the plant was .ordered. The contract allowed

for ..twenty months to complete the work. On September 17 last the • new - plant had been started up, fifteen : months after signing the con- " tract, and. now they were celebrating the taking over of the plant ■• r from, the company. The results •• . fully justified' the. expenditure and ■ • : the..company had done all they claimK ;- r -' ed. V The Gisborne plant was the only 4d-inch /retorts in the Dominion to-- ■ daj&4 Every small gas company operating in New Zealand was eagerly looking forward to see what the ' Gisborne plont did. He commended th.e- work done hy the contractors, and : in: that- connection desired to * draw special attention to the work /' : of. Mr. :J ! . . Clegg,e working supervisor ' ‘ ■ for. the contractors, and his confrere J 1 Mr.VT. Crooks, contractor for the brickwork' of the retorts, who had done splendid service watching both ■: the contractor’s interest and the interest'of the company. The' old ,plant had'at times been taxed to capacity in the production of gas, and' the: improvement had not come too soon, for the- company - would have had to adopt some new method .-••, of. carrying on. With the. iraprove'meats-, now in force, however, they r should be able to carry on for years

to come. The new • plant need not be discarded for further, improve* ments, for 'it could be added to as much, as five times. lie desired to compliment Mr. Rabbidge on liis business relations with the com* panv. Mr. Rabbidge had done all ho could to meet them in every way, and had done everything possible on behalf of, the Gisborne Gas Company.

ALL GAS SHARES HOLDING THEIR OWN. .

Mr. Rabbidge. in .responding, said ho liad had a lifelong experience in gas work. In New Zealand he had seen a lot of changes. He had been told that the gas industry was doomed, but to-day it. was more than holding its own. Despite the depression, if they looked into the matter they would find : that the ga3 industry ..was carrying oil arid continuing to progress. If things were only normal the gas companies could look forward to even greater progress. If they consulted the share market lists they would find that all the gas companies in' New Zealand were holding their own, and wore in a good financial position. With regard to the work in Gisborne some gas engineers might say it was a small plant. It might be a small building, but- there was a*lot inside. The Gisborne retort was the first of its dimensions in the Dominion, perhaps the first overseas. The works would do all that AVest’s had claimed for it. His firm did much detailed research work, and do not throw any idea or system away until it had been thoroughly tested. At the present time the firm were experimenting in coke, and can now produce coke of various quality, having designed a retort to make either. West's had had great experience with gas plants, arid several were placed in New Zealand; especially at Wellington, and ho had no doubt they would give the same good results as at Gisborne. In regard to fcho work at Gisborne, Mr. Clegg had been sent out from Home, and had been joined by bis confrere.

PRESENTATION TO AIR. O

PRINCE

Continuing, Mr. Rabbidge said that the chairman of the company (Mr. Cederwall) and the engineer (Mr. 0. Prince) had assisted the contractors in every possible manner, and it was largely due to them that the job was finished so early. Mr. Prince, as perhaps they knew, was well associated with gas making. His father, Mr. AVilliam Prince, who was known amongst gas plants all over England, was one of the first to adont the A\ r est Glover plant. He knew AVest Bros, would be glad to hear of Mr. Prince’s association with their work in Gisborne. As a token of appreciation be asked Air. Prince to accept for Airs. Prince and himself a silver salver, on behalf of the company, coupled with the .best wishes for Air. Prince's speedy return to the best of health.

Air. Prince suitably responded. He sttid he felt a proud man that day on taking over the plant, and lie was sure in his own mind the Gisborne Gas Company would benefit by it. He sincerely trusted that the gas industry would progress, and that the time would come in Gisborno when their now up-to-date plant would be merely an experimental plant for a much larger one.

Air. H. D. Chrisp proposed “The Gas Industry of New Zealand,” coupled with the name of Air. Pickering, manager and engineer at Napier. The gas companies of . New Zealand had their beginning in a small way, but bad survived their difficulties, and thought the initiative of those at the head of affairs was responsible for companies being now in a position to instal new plants. In connection with the Gisborne contract he was pleased to see that the work bad been done by a British firm.

GAS v. ELECTRICITY.

Air. Pickering, in the course of his response, said that in the past the gas companies had been told they were doing to be dropped out by their competitors, but that had not eventuated yet. First they had the old flame,, which was followed by the incandescent light, and then came other improvements, thanks largely to the AVest Company and others. The time was when they could get only 12,000 ft. to 13,000 ft. ‘to the ton'. His firm had sorted out the Glover-AVcst firm from all others in the Old Country. One reason was that they did a good job, and then saw it was well attended to. Radiation later came into being, which gave fresh life to the industry, and they were then in a better position to face their competiors. Gas companies now were in a better position than they had been for years. The balance sheets were as good as ever they had been. AVellington hoped, and.Gisborne also hoped that the new plant would soon be paid oil from the saving in cost. They should now be able to get 23,000 ft. of gas to the ton. He felt sure the new plant would render good service to the consumers. The gas companies were content to let tlio electric supply authorities cater for the lighting because they could do it better than the gas companies, but the companies could supply cooking heat on much better terms, and he looked to that fact largely to maintain the prosperity of the gas industry. Millions had been spent in New, Zealand on hydro-electricity schemes ,and mistakes had been made, but the gas industry had plodded steadily along. On behalt of the gas companies of New Zealand he hoped the Gisborne Gas Company would continue, to progress even more in tho future than it had done in the past.

HIGH TRIBUTE TO GISBORNE

The chairman said there was another gentleman whose health he would like to propose and that was Air. L. Clare, of Clare and Clare. In ’installation work there was always a certain amount of trouble with the Customs, but in Gisborne they had had no trouble whatever. He said without hesitation that he bad met no better service in New Zealand than that- rendered by Messrs; Clare and Clare. He felt he could not allow the occasion to pass without comp]imentmg the firm. In Gisborne his firm had got quite cleared _ut> in regard to Customs work within a month of. the last shipment. That was highly creditable. lie might show them how different it was in other places by stating that in -another town the Customs work had only been cleared up a few months ago, when the work had been concluded nearly three years previously. AG*. L. Clare suitablv replied. The health of Mr. Clegg and Mr. Crooks was also honored. Mr.. Cleeg in reply,. stated that it was exactly a year ago since he left Home, and row he was to hand over control to the Gas Company. He endorsed Mr Rabbidge’s remarks as to the splendid assistance given by the staff in Gisborne. He had spent a happy time not only at the works but also socially. 'He felt sure that in years 'to come he would look for wan’d - with pride to the fact that he had been associated with the progressive polf iev of the Gisborne Gas Company. 'On behalf of those present Air. (Pickering returned , hearty thanks to Mr. Babbidge for his hospitality, and the latter suitably responded.