AN ENTERPRISING FIRM.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 9, 11 January 1908, Page 8

AN ENTERPRISING FIRM.

TIMBER-WORKING BY

MACHINERY

MODERN INSTALLATION OF

POWER

One of the most enterprising firms in Marlborough—and certainly the one showing the most rapid proportionate expansion "of business in the last decade—is that of Messrs Bytheli and Co., timber and hardware merchants, whose yards and premises are situated in Maxwell Road, Walter Street and George Street. Six years age- the1 firm employed six men; now the pay-clerk hands over weekly wages to 52 men. The firm was established by the late Mr Elijah By,.thell thirty years ago, and is now managed by Mr John Brown. Power for driving planing and other machines was first installed five years ago last month, when a Tangye gas engine was fitted up. This service has' since been found inadequate, and now a i\7 brake h.p. Hornsby-Stockport engine has been installed. The shafting has been re-arranged, and at the present moment one shaft, probably 40ft. long, runs upon concrete blocks urtder the floor of the machinery department. Attached to this shaft ,are about 12 pulleys, each driving a separate machine. Two more are to be added immediately, when the aggregate length of belting will be well over 150 ft. The most remarkable feature of the firm's career has been the absolute immunity from. accidents thab its employees operating the machines have enjoyed. Never has one of the men got even a finger taken off.

A noteworthy attachment in connection with the driving gear is the 50 h.p. friction - clutch patented by Messrs Reid and Gray, of Dunedin. By means of this device, which operates on the main pulley, every machine can bo instantaneously stopped from tthe machine-room without interference with the engine. Not only this, but a very material saving of belting is ensured through avoidance of the old system of pushing the belt from the fast pulley to the loose one. : It is also worthy of mention that every belt coming up through the floor ib boxed in and made absolutely i safe. THE POWER PLANT. | This department is, of course, the most interesting one in the large premises, for At embraces what is in, reality a f model gasworks. By its contact with incandescent coke, water is converted into explosive gas, and serves the requirements of the engine equally with ooal gas. The furnace is fed from the top, like a lime kiln, the charcoal being rendered into small even-sized pieces by means of a special crushing apparatus. The quantity of coke used per week has been found to be 13 sacks, and it is estimated that with a good charge and properly-regulated draught, the SQ-h.p. generator will produce gas sufficient to run the engine for six hours without attention. Thus, it is feasible for the head machinist to give his sole attention to the woodworking department for stretches of three of four hours. The fire is banked at night, and in the morning about 20 minutes is all the time occupied in re-charging the furnace and getting up a draught sufficient to make gas. The fact that, in contra distinction to the coal gasworks, the producer plant merely generates gas when it is required for the engine, and does not store it in a holder, makes the plant absolutely safe. Otherwise it would need constant attention, both day and night. The plant comprises the three main parts of an ordinary gasworks—the furnace, the condenser, and the scrubber column. The coke having already been through the "coal gasworks," it does not give off much tarry substance; still, what little undesirable matter passes from the furnace with the gas is com- j pletely retained, and the gas passes on into the engine in a purely vaporous state.

There is the least possible suggestion of Chinese gold miners payably working European tailings about the way good gas is made with a material that has already been thrown away as being of little further use by a manufacturing concern that is in direct competition with the second user. However, as the coke has to be paid for, and as the increasing demand will more and more raise the price, nothing derogatory of the gas producer plant can be said. Should coke become so high-priced as to be unpayable, anthracie coal, obainable in England, can be imported, and will serve the purpose even better than coke. It is really from the water that the gas is mainly derived, and coke or anthracite coal is required for the furnace because of its sniokelessness.

The pure gas is not meant for use

in the. engine, being of too explosive a nature, so air is admitted as required to dilute the vapour. The Hornsby engine is fitted with many improvements. The great flywheel weighing' about two tons, measuring 6ft. 6in. in diameter, ■ and 9. inches thick—is borne up by supports on both sides, i.e., it does not revolve at the extremity of the shaft as do some. The oiling system is a study in itself. At each bearing a leaher or rubber band revolves loosely on the shaft, being carried round merely by the friction. This band carries oil to all the dry parts as it oscillates to and fro. Another device carries the oil into, the main crank as it is required, and this obviates the necessity of stopping the engine whilst oiling this important part. The engine has a 10i-inch cylinder, with a 14-inch stroke. The maximum speed is 240 revolutions per minute. A water-cooling system keeps the cylinder from becoming heated.

A remarkable device, which enables putting the engine in motion without tugging at the flywheel, is a com-pressed-gas holder, tested to a pressure of lOOOlbs to the square inch. This is charged in the afternoon before "knock-off" time up to lOOlbs, and in the morning nothing remains to be done but to admit enough gas to the explosion chamber to give the engine a start, the crank having been set to receive the stroke to the best advantage. Then the action of the piston draws in the gas from the main source, and away goes the engine for the day. The engine-room,: is a model of neat^ ness, being nicely lined with linoleum. The firm's "enterprise is something for the community to be proud of, and it is to be hoped other large employers of labour will spring up and flourish as Messrs Bythell and Co. have done and are' doing, so that Blenheim and its attractive district will progress at a still greater rate than it ha 3 done recently. The work of installing the power plant was carried out under the supervision of Mr W. G. Cresswell, the manager of Messrs Reid and Gray's Marlborough branch.

The Timaru Magistrate's Court returns show that during 1907 608 persons were charged with various offences, compared with 529 persons in 1906. The increase was chiefly, ( in by-law cases.