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supplement, because of its fuller detail which makes it especially Suitable for teaching purposes. In recommending the adoption of two different standards for the same subject, the committee took cognizance of the fact that the British Standard sets out the basic principles in the form required by practising draughtsmen, while the Australian ■contains the detail required by students. Mechanical Sectional Committee (One meeting) Fire-extinguishers Committee .. .. .. .. Three meetings. Motor-vehicle Servicing Committee .. .. .. .. One meeting. Parent Committee. —The parent committee reviewed the work being carried out under its control, and examined 28 British standards, 7 draft British standards, 6 amendment slips, 2 Australian standards, and 1 American standard. It also considered 6 projects submitted by the United Nations Standards Co-ordinating Committee —now reconstituted on a permanent basis as the International Organization for Standardization. Tanks for Fresh Water Pressure Supply Systems. —This specification was recommended for adoption as a New Zealand standard specification, after a careful review by the Mechanical Sectional Committee, in the course of which the draft proposals were extensively amended. The necessity for a standard specification for these tanks is due to the fact that the functioning of the pressure systems depends upon airpressure, which experience has shown to involve hazards that can be eliminated only if these tanks, so widely used in rural areas, are constructed to specifications which avoid excessive pressures in relation to design and construction. Servicing of Motor-vehicles. —That the standard specification for definitions for use in motor-car cleaning and allied servicing has achieved its object of promoting' understanding and agreement concerning what is meant by the various operations in servicing motor-vehicles is evidenced by the fact that the annual conference of the Retail Motor Trade Association recommended its members to use the Standard Mark to certify their adherence to the definitions laid down in the standard specification, which is now the basis of the prices fixed by the Price Tribunal for these services. During the year minor amendments were made to the specification as a result of experience of its initial use. Fire-extinguishers.—As requests have been received for the extension of the existing standard specifications for portable chemical fire-extinguishers to cover new designs which have been evolved in Britain during the war years, the Fire-extinguishers Committee has carried out tests to ascertain the efficacy of these designs. The Committee has approved the principle of the gas-pressure-operated type of carbon-tetrachloride extinguisher, and has amended the existing standard specification accordingly. A draft British standard for the gas/water pressure type of extinguisher is under examination by the committee, and preliminary consideration had also been given to formulating standards for the air/foam and methyl-bromide types of extinguisher. Electrical Sectional Committee (One meeting) Electrical Accessories and Appliances Committee .. .. Two meetings. Parent Committee. —In addition to reviewing the work carried out under its supervision, the parent committee examined 2 draft British standards and 11 British, 4 Canadian, and 2 American standards, with a view to determining their suitability for adoption in New Zealand. Three of the British Standards were recommended for adoption as New Zealand standard specifications. Resistance-welding Apparatus. —The preparation of a standard specification for this apparatus was requested by manufacturing interests in order to dispose of the confusion caused by lack of uniformity in methods of calculating the electrical "ratings

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