EARLY OPERATIONS
Early operational history
The following notes were prepared by volunteer colleague, educator, researcher and author, Bill Cowan. This site recognises Bill, when invited, happily gave unhesitating agreement to publish his notes, and, along with the site author, hopes to entertain and educate the general Otago audience.
Along with the bricks and mortar record, Bill's notes contain anecdotes and workers experiences, and fits well with the aim of this web site to record and highlight as many personal and "human" stories as possible.
- Editor, 2 June 2014
In July 2014 Bill completed a Gasworks timeline record for the period. Bill's timeline is addend-ed to this page and can be viewed by simply scrolling down. - Editor, 3 July 2014
The following notes were prepared by volunteer colleague, educator, researcher and author, Bill Cowan. This site recognises Bill, when invited, happily gave unhesitating agreement to publish his notes, and, along with the site author, hopes to entertain and educate the general Otago audience.
Along with the bricks and mortar record, Bill's notes contain anecdotes and workers experiences, and fits well with the aim of this web site to record and highlight as many personal and "human" stories as possible.
- Editor, 2 June 2014
In July 2014 Bill completed a Gasworks timeline record for the period. Bill's timeline is addend-ed to this page and can be viewed by simply scrolling down. - Editor, 3 July 2014
Notes on the early operational history of the Dunedin Gasworks compiled from the Otago Witness and Otago Daily Times Newspapers 1862 – 1920. Edited by Bill Cowan, May 2014
N.B For a general history of the Dunedin Gasworks see K.C. McDonald’s City of Dunedin; A Century of Civic Enterprise, 1965. Another valuable resource is Plant History of Dunedin City Council Gasworks Hillside Road Site, 1863-1997 compiled by Peter Robinson, July 1997. This history contains excellent plans of the site’s development over the years.
During May 1862 the Dunedin Gas and Coke Company was formed with Stephen Stamp Hutchison as its engineer and promoter. Hutchison had recently been engineer of a similar company in Melbourne. In August the Company, yet to be registered, applied to the Dunedin Town Board for the exclusive rights to open up the streets of Dunedin for the laying of gas mains. It was given permission to lay these gas mains but was refused any exclusive rights. In mid-October the Company was duly registered with the following specific objectives:
1. Supply gas within the town and suburbs of Dunedin.
2. Sell coal, coke, tar and other residual products from the distillation of coal or any other material used in the manufacture of gas.
At the 28 October Town Board Meeting a letter from the Gas Company Secretary stated that gas mains were being laid and that the Company intended to be in a position to supply gas within four months. The question then arose as to where the pipes should be laid: under the roadway or under the footpath? Mr Hutchison, who was present, stated that it would be more expensive to lay pipes in the road. However, if the footpaths were already asphalted, the Company would be prepared to lay pipes in the road. To avoid contamination of any water supplies by leaking gas, it was decided to prohibit the laying of water-pipes within three feet of gas pipes and vice versa.
There were some dangers to townspeople caused by the installation of these mains. Ditches of considerable length were allowed to be left open and unprotected without adequate lighting or fencing by the Company. In May Martin Sholl the Gas Company Secretary, was summoned by Inspector Nimon for having, on a recent Saturday evening, left a dangerous excavation unfenced and unlit. The Inspector had found on George Street, near the corner of Hanover Street, a 33 yd long and 18 in deep trench without any lighting. The Company Engineer asserted that certain ‘evil-disposed’ persons made it a practice to steal the candles from the lanterns leaving the place in darkness. The Town Board finally stipulated that not more than 66 ft of trenching be left open in any one street and that this portion be properly fenced-in or lighted.
In late November the Town Board entered into an agreement with the Gas Company. whereby the Company would supply gas, and light, extinguish and repair150 lamps within the town at a yearly charge of £17.10.0 per lamp. This arrangement was for a term of seven years with the Board providing the lamps and lighting columns. A hundred lamps were to be erected within six months with fifty more the following half year. A slightly curious feature of this arrangement provided for the lamps not to be lit on the five days surrounding a full moon.
There was considerable drama over the design and delivery of the lighting columns. The Board invited designs and tenders for these but their Engineer John Millar FSA, in February 1863, subsequently condemned the whole ten designs as submitted. He then proceeded to design a column himself complete with fluted iron pillars rising to lotus-shaped arms for the gas-lighter’s ladder, near the top. The base of each column prominently bore the Board’s motto and the designer’s name.
All well and good but then arose an early difficulty. The contract for the manufacture of these lighting standards was let in Melbourne to a Mr Steele. Unfortunately Millar’s ego encouraged him to allow the standards to be exhibited in that city delaying their arrival in Dunedin. Thus the Board was several months late in fulfilling their part of the contract. The Gasworks Co. having been obliged to borrow heavily to complete their Works was not in any mood to see their plant lying idle. Compensation from the Town Board was subsequently claimed with £907 being granted the Company through arbitration.
Meanwhile considerable progress with the Gasworks was proceeding on the site, a site which would be occupied by various coal-gas plants until closure in mid-1987. By May gas had already been generated and the gas holder with a capacity of some 160 000 cu ft was about half full. Also completed were the condenser and double set of purifiers. It was intended to use the best quality Newcastle coal from New South Wales. Five groups of three fire-clay retorts were expected to produce up to 33 000 cu ft of gas within 24 hours. The small chimney in present use was only a temporary fitting; the permanent chimney was to be 150 ft high. Caversham stone was to be used for the first 30 ft with the remainder of the chimney being constructed from brick to an octagonal design.
It should be noted that in J W Allen’s photo, c. 1875, of the South Dunedin area, the Gaswork’s chimney is quite a truncated affair not at all reaching the dizzy heights of the one depicted in George O’Brien’s 1865 painting of the original Works. Allen’s photo also shows the chimney at the south end of the retort house not in the centre as O’Brien portrayed. Twenty-five stout piles were driven into the ground overlaid by a network of transverse piles and timber to form the chimney’s foundation. Mindful of the fact that the Melbourne Gaswork’s chimney settled seven feet into the ground upon completion it was decided to incorporate a lower and upper chamber into the lower stone work so that smoke could be directed through either into the flue!
To facilitate the handling of in-coming coal supplies there was a suggestion that a light tramway be run half a mile out on the beach from the Works so that coal barges could be emptied into trucks and their contents brought directly into the yard.
At the 13 May Town Board meeting there was some consternation caused by irregularities regarding the tendering for the permanent light columns. Both Mr Millar, and his son were involved in what appeared to be a breakdown of communication. Suffice it to say that this further delayed the arrival of these columns. As a consequence the Gas Co. was anxious for the Town Board to erect temporary fittings as the Company would be ready, in a few days, to supply gas. During this month it was reported that gas mains had been laid ‘all over the place’.
With some gas present in parts of the system there was the danger of fire caused by either accident or negligence. There was a fire during May, which required the assistance of both the Police and Fire Brigade to extinguish. According to a letter in the Times from Stephen Hutchison someone had culpably applied a lighted candle to the end of the service pipe from which a tap had been removed.
Hutchison made these points regarding a gas flame:
1. Water will not extinguish gas light; the object is to reach the point of ignition.
2. A wet rag, cork or a little white lead will suffice to put out the flame. If the heat is too great to approach sufficiently near then a quantity of earth, wet blankets or some such simple appliances will suffice to extinguish the gas flame.
By early August gas pipes were being laid in Stuart Street and 25 temporary gas lamp posts, ‘sorry looking things of wood’, were being erected at a cost to the Town Board of £10 each. In the last week of August the Gas Co. was requested by the Town Board to light the lamps ‘forthwith’. This was accomplished on the evening of Tuesday, 1 September replacing the ten kerosene-powered street lamps which the Town Board had installed the previous June. From now on Dunedin Streets would become safer places to frequent after dark.
The Otago Witness in late September was strongly urging the Town Board to extend the new lighting into George Street which had dangerous stretches of footpath where a false step could cause a twelve or fifteen feet fall for an unwary pedestrian. King Street was another area urgently needing lights. Here the metalled part of the road was very narrow and vehicles were often driven along it late into the night at considerable speed. Even the Police Station was unlit and stood in a region of intense darkness.
By 1869 the Gasworks had been in operation for nearly seven years. During this period there had been a steady litany of complaints to the Town Council about the quality and pressure of the Gas Co’s supply. The price to consumers was also regarded as exorbitant. As the time approached for the renewal of the Company’s seven-year contract there were demands for an improvement. In June the Council decided that it should take over the gas supply and asked Mr A K Smith of Melbourne to report on the situation.
Smith presented his report, which was highly critical of the existing plant, some two months later. A major problem was that the mains were too small and this factor severely restricted supply of gas to outlying areas. Smith was not in favour of the Council buying the existing plant but suggested instead that the Council should build its own Gasworks at the east end of St Andrew Street.
By early 1870 the Council had decided, after calling tenders for the new works, not to proceed along this course but instead to buy the existing plant. A valuation of the Gasworks was requested from Mr W.N. Blair C.E. He presented his report to the Council in April. His description of the Plant is of interest and is included here in an edited form:
1. Land: The section on which the Works stand is well drained and there is a good garden attached to the manager’s cottage.
2. Cottage, stable and office: These buildings are constructed of timber and corrugated iron and are in good repair. The cottage has four rooms, well finished and the stable has a hayloft, six stalls, feed bin, etc.
3. Purifying House, Governor House, Store and Smithy: Timber and iron. Framing of the purifying house chiefly blue gum. The store is covered with iron imported for the curved roof of the retort house.
4. Store, Fowl Houses and Water Closet: Constructed of old materials and in bad repair.
5. Retort House: This is the principal building on the Works. It is 68 ft long, 65 ft wide, 24 ft high at the eaves and 36 ft to the highest part of the roof. The original intention was to have it twice its present length so as to contain four retort beds and an iron roof was imported for that purpose. The unused materials for the roof are still lying at the Works. The base of a large chimney-stack to accommodate the four retort beds was built at the unfinished end of the retort house but it has never been used. A temporary brick chimney at the other end is being used to carry off smoke from the present furnaces. There appears to have been considerable difficulty in getting a good foundation for the stone buildings. They are all founded on a bed of concrete supported on timber framing. Several cracks are visible on the retort house walls. They are attributed to the pressure of a large quantity of coal once stored in the house; I believe, however, that irregular subsidence has something to do with the fractures. The retort house is built of Andersons Bay stone with a heavy cornice of Caversham or Lookout Point stone. The masonry is ashlar, well laid but the mortar used is of a very inferior quality with scarcely any traces of lime being visible. The Caversham stone is almost completely worn away and the other is rapidly approaching the same state. Large masses have already fallen from the projecting surfaces of the stones.
6. Chimney Base, Temporary Chimney and Retort Bed: The masonry shaft at the south end of the retort house is merely the foundation of a large brick chimney designed to accommodate extended works. Considerable care has obviously been bestowed on the foundations of this chimney as it is still quite straight and solid notwithstanding its great weight. The foundation consists of piles, beams and planking supporting and enclosing a layer of concrete three feet thick. The whole is severely bound together with heavy iron straps and bolts. Unfortunately the superstructure is not of such a substantial character. It is composed of Caversham stone of the most friable kind and is decaying quickly. The base cannot now sustain the load intended to be put on it. The temporary chimney is built of brick; its foundation has sunk on one side throwing it considerably off the perpendicular. This has been rectified to some extent. The retort bed is well built and bound together.
7. Bridge and sundry plant: The bridge is in tolerably good preservation. The plant consists chiefly of tanks, a crabwinch, etc.
8. Gasholder Tank and Syphon Well: The gas holder is full of water so I couldn’t examine its bottom. Judging from the drawings it has been designed with great care with every precaution apparently taken to ensure its stability. The brickwork on view is very good. I think, however, that the foundations must have given way to some extent as the counterforts have become detached from the walls and the holder inclines to one side in a most unaccountable manner proving that there is something wrong underground. The siphon well appears to be quite solid throughout.
9. Retorts, Hydraulic Main, Condenser, Purifier, Holder and Governor: There are 35 fire-clay retorts provided with double mouthpieces and doors all complete and in good order. The Hydraulic main, condenser, purifier and governor with their connecting pipes and valves are also quite good beyond the usual wear and tear. The gas holder was once upset by the wind and considerably damaged. Without getting inside to examine the stays and flanges I cannot give a decided opinion to the general condition of the holder but from external appearances it seems to be in tolerably good repair.
10. Mains: I have opened-up the streets at various points and examined the mains. The cast-iron pipes appear to be as good as new but the malleable iron ones are very much corroded. A paper main extends from the Works to Princes Street south; externally it seems fresh and tight but as the durability of this material did not come up to the expectations of the inventors we may safely expect that it will not last very long here.
11. Services and Meters: I have taken these at 350.
McDonald covers, from 1870 onwards, the politics surrounding the purchase of the existing Gas Works. By February 1875 the latest contract for gas supply was near its expiry date and municipal control became, once again, a live topic. After yet another report to the Council on the state of the Works, this time by Henry Courtis of Melbourne, the Council offered the proprietors £45 000 for the Works as they stood. This was accepted and the Gasworks passed into Council ownership on New Year’s Day 1876.
Just prior to the takeover the Council invited applications for the following positions at the Works:
1. Gas Engineer in general charge of the Works, etc; salary £400 per annum with house, fuel and lighting.
2. Clerk and Accountant for the gas supply business; Town Clerk’s department; salary £200 per annum
3. Collee [sic] or and Clerk for the gas supply business; Town Clerk’s department; salary £200 per annum
4. Office Youth for the same department; salary £50 per annum
In spite of the city (so-called since 1860) now owning the Gasworks, complaints about the quality of the gas supply continued unabated. Mr T S Cleminshaw, gas engineer of Christchurch was asked by the Council to report on the Dunedin Gaswork’s capacity and systems. His report was received in November 1878 and concluded that:
1. The retort house was in a very shaky condition owing to the friable stone used in construction. The retorts should have been placed along its length rather than across the ends of the house.
2. The retort house when completed should be able to carbonize 346 000 cu ft in 21 hours. He suggested using a mix of Grey (West Coast) coal and Newcastle.
3. The gas holders’ capacities were too small; the recognized rule being that the holders’ capacity should be equal to 24 hours’ maximum winter make. He recommended that a new holder 120 ft in diameter and 25 ft deep with a capacity of 306 000 cu ft be built forthwith.
4. After numerous tests he found the gases’ illuminating power to be ‘ample’.
5. The mains in various parts of the city were large enough but some of the earlier mains needed overhauling.(One main was severed and had been ‘repaired’ with rags and white lead).
6. The quality of gas-fitting varied and he suggested all gas-fitters should be licensed by the Corporation and be compelled to adhere to a few simple rules.
7. Gas burners, were a contentious topic among consumers. He suggested three suitable types: the Argand, batswing and fishtail. ‘Gas was spoiled by bad burners’.
8. Cleminshaw, in closing, believed that the Gasworks were not judiciously laid out for the economical production of gas.
By June 1880 a start had been made on a series of additions and improvements to the Gasworks under the leadership of the Engineer Mr Genever and prompted by the increased use of coal gas within the City, five times greater than that used in 1872. These included:
1. A portion of a second retort house was to be erected next summer 120 ft wide and covered by a three span roof. The retorts would occupy the central span of 60 ft with two outer spans covering coal stores, etc.
2. The retorts would be ‘through’ retorts each 20 ft long served by coal supplies from an elevated railway.
3. Walker’s annular condensers had been ordered along with a second large exhauster of 30 000 cu ft per hour capacity. A set of Walker’s patent purifiers was on order to deal with the increasing quantity of Greymouth coal being used.
4. The largest extension was the excavation contract for the foundations of the new gasholder tank. The ground was unstable having been reclaimed naturally from the seabed. Extensive layers of shells had been found to a depth of 28 ft. This holder, which would increase the storage capacity of the Works to 400 000 cu ft, had been made by the Horsley Co. of Tipton, Staffordshire.
However the steadily increasing consumption of gas required further additions to the Works. An extensive report in the Otago Witness of 18 February 1882 described in detail the existing Gasworks and also the various improvements in hand:
A. Old Plant:
1. This consisted of twelve benches containing altogether 68 single retorts arranged in eight benches of six retorts each and four benches of five each. The retort building was old and not substantial having suffered from the weather. To prevent it crumbling away the stone was coated with tar.
2. On the building’s west side were two coal stores with rails running into each. There was also a line of rails between the retort benches so that coal could be thrown where required from the truck.
3. The condensers were at the building’s south end and consisted of four double rows of cast iron mains laid in a horizontal position. The original set of condensers consisted of ten vertical rows of pipes.
4. After leaving the condensers the gas entered the scrubbers of which there were two, one at each end of the building. These were brick and were six ft square by thirty ft high. The gas then passed through the exhausters to the purifying house.
5. In the purifying house were three purifiers each twelve ft square built of brick with wrought iron cups and lids. (These were proved to be unfit to cope with the demands of last winter). The gas then passed through the station meter which registered all the gas produced before it was received into the gas holder.
6. There were two gas holders. One was a single-lift holder 60 ft in diameter with a brick tank and capacity of 50 000 cu ft. The other was a double-lift telescopic holder, 80 ft in diameter and capable of holding 160 000 cu ft. The smaller holder had been in use for about eighteen years and the larger about eight years.
7. The governor, had been in service for eight years and with an outlet pipe of nine inches diameter, took gas from the holders and regulated the pressure in the city mains.
B. New Works:
1. The new buildings are all in brick. The retort house measures 126 ft by 76 ft and is erected on heavy concrete foundations seven feet in width. The roof, yet to be placed, is of corrugated galvanized iron fitted on a powerful iron framework with a span of 66 ft. There will be a lofty raised ventilator running from end to end. The building is capable of unlimited extension by the removal of the temporary walls. Accommodation is provided for seven benches of ‘through’ retorts each twenty feet long. The benches contain six retorts each or 42 altogether capable of producing 420 000 cu ft of gas daily. Probably no more than 300 000 cu ft daily will be used during the coming winter. On either side of the new retort house and extending its full length is a coal store 30 ft wide each of which can store 2 200 tons of coal. Four lines of railway will enable the coal to be placed wherever required in the retort house. Malvern Hills and Greymouth supplied the retort bench firebricks.
2. The chimney shaft is of octagonal shape and rises from a square pedestal resting on a concrete block 22 ft square and 11 ft in thickness underlaid, diagonally, with two rows of bluegum. It is lined with firebricks to a depth of nine inches and stands 62 ft high though it is intended to raise it to 125 ft. The flue is of a uniform diameter of five ft from bottom to top. There is an iron ladder built in the interior brickwork extending the entire length. The chimney is provided with a half-inch copper rod lightning conductor.
3. Walker’s patent annular condensers are being adopted capable of condensing 600 000 cu ft of gas daily. At the end of the condensers are screening columns designed to eliminate all vestiges of tar. Each column is 30 ft in height and 3.5 ft in diameter.
4. The purifying house is 120 ft long and has four cast-iron purifiers each 20 ft square with iron covers. These purifiers are supplied with four layers of sieves each, on which to place the purifying materials. A travelling crane is used to raise the lids.
5. The engine house is 40 ft square with an iron roof and is plastered and corniced. It contains two exhausters by George Wallace [sic] and Co of London which are capable of exhausting 30 000 and 20 000 cu ft per hour. They are fitted with Laidlaw’s compensating by-pass valves and can be worked singly or together. Two six horse power, high pressure, pump engines supply the motive power. The exhausters and set of pumps for raising the tar from the underground tanks are driven by overhead shafting. The floor is raised to allow for piping and valves to pass underneath. Steam is supplied by two Cornish boilers made locally by Sparrow and Co.
6. The new meter, capable of registering a flow of 30 000 cu ft of gas per hour was supplied by Braddock and Co. of Oldham. It is placed in an ornamental square cast-iron case. In the meter and valve-house the various currents of gas are directed and regulated by Walker’s patent valves having polished iron columns standing on a raised floor. After the gas leaves the purifiers its measurement, testing of illuminating power and regulation of supply is in the control of one man stationed in this house.
7. The large gas holder, nearly completed, will store 200 000 cu ft of gas. This is the first of its type in New Zealand and was built by the Horsley Company of Tipton to the designs of Mr Genever. The holder is 100 ft in diameter with the annular wrought-iron tank 102 ft in diameter [sic] by 25 ft in depth. There are sixteen, cast-iron columns located on square cast-iron pedestals. The inlet and outlet pipes are two feet in diameter.
8. All the planning for the new buildings and plant was prepared by Mr Genever with Messrs Anderson and Godso responsible for constructing the principal buildings. A new 18 in main has been laid to the City and the 14 in main has been extended from the Railway Station [in the Queens Gardens] to George Street via Cumberland Street. Greymouth coal is used almost exclusively. The original sum paid for the Gasworks in 1876 was £49 658.6.7 and with the cost of about £50 000 for the recent improvements the total expenditure on the gas supply amounts to very little short of £100 000.
9. During 1882 the Works was employing around 27 men: 21 stokers and 6 men in the ,including a blacksmith.
From time to time the Otago Witness reported on visits to various industries and enterprises within the area under the title ‘Otago Hands and Hearts’. On 7 July 1883 it reported on a visit to the local Gasworks. Written in the typical ‘flowery’ style of the day, where five words were used when one would have sufficed, nevertheless it gave the reader some idea of the atmosphere of the Works and its working conditions. The following is a heavily edited version of the reporter’s experiences:
“If ever there was a spot calculated to arouse in the mind the fancies of the supernatural then surely in this place at the dead of night may be found excuse for any lingering belief in ghouls and suchlike spirits of the dark. In front of him who enters are row on row of grim and blackened pipes whose music is set forth in periods by dull and sullen ‘booms’ and by the ‘clink’ of some falling tool. The eye is attracted to the lambent flames that play around the crevices of these tubes when a new glamour is added to the scene by the appearance of several grimy giants. These are the stokers whose duty, every three hours or so, is to ‘draw the charges’ and refill the retorts.
“From below each one of these upright pipes there extends rearward a cylinder constructed of fireclay to receive the coal which furnishes our gas. Now these cylinders may be either single (or ‘half-throughs) or ‘through-retorts’. This means they have a door or mouthpiece at each end of a tube some eighteen feet long or may be but half that length in which case a substantial brick wall will close up the farther end. In the Dunedin Gasworks both kinds are in use.
“ One man whose hands are usually encased in leather gloves loosens the bolt that fastens the furnace door and swiftly applies a live cinder to the gap which kindles escaping gas and then passes on to the next furnace in the row. Into the opened tube is thrust an iron instrument which looks like a toothpick magnified 10 000 times the crook at the end of which grips a load of coke and draws it swiftly to the mouth where it tumbles, more than red hot, onto the floor or into barrows placed under the retort mouths. Water is dashed onto these barrows which are then wheeled out into the yard where their contents are tipped onto heaps.
“Immediately after the clearing of the retorts the new coal charges are put in by means of iron scoops that strongly resemble enormous cheese tasters. One man takes hold of the scoop’s cross-handle and the other two insert beneath it a rod curved in the middle which supports the weight. Then with a quick step they advance to the open door and thrust their burden in, a quick turn of the wrists and the scoop is reversed and as speedily withdrawn leaving the fuel behind. So dexterously is this feat performed that it looks almost easy; but one must not judge by appearances in this case for the streaming brows of the workers show, as does their scanty attire, the difficulty of their labour.
“Once within these glowing receptacles the coal is fast deprived of its gas and tar. The former product passes up the tubes at the front of the furnaces into what is called the ‘hydraulic main’ which serves to shut off the gas from all chance of escape. Hence the gas, still in a very crude state, is taken to the condenser where the tarry and ammoniacal vapours, which seriously affect the illuminating power, are reduced to a liquid form. The condenser, as originally constructed, consisted of a number of tubes of considerable height connected by smaller tubes running at an angle.
“Our gas next passes into the washer where water performs the first of the cleansing actions. From here it moves to the scrubber which was, in its old-fashioned form, a towering cylinder filled with layers of ammonia, short lengths of wood and brushwood. By means of recent improvements the scrubber has been reduced considerably in size. The final cleansing operation is the purifiers, about four in number and containing lime, iron oxide or similar agents which remove the particles of sulphur, and carbonic acid, etc.
From the purifiers the gas finally emerges and is stored in the gigantic holder ready for distribution via the governor along the various mains into our streets and highways.
“The meter room now claims our attention and here we take the opportunity of testing the illuminating power of our newly-manufactured gas which we find to give the ‘very fairly’ satisfactory result of 18.5 candlepower. The neatly kept engine and boilers are not without their interest nor are the various yard operations such as the screening of coke for making asphalt and the bagging of coke for private use.
“However, there seems to be a tremendous waste of space in the Dunedin Works and surely the retort houses might, with regard to economy of labour, been placed in closer juxtaposition. It cannot be said that the Works are convenient in structure. The floors, for instance, are terribly irregular and surely at a level that brings them too much under the influence of the damp vapours which arise from the morass below.
“The directors, however, appear to be aware of this and a few new retorts are now being ‘set’ by a skilful workman who was recently engaged on a similar job at the works in Ramsgate, England and which have since proved themselves one of the most profitable concerns of the sort. These new retorts are known as the ‘D’ shape. It is hoped that these new retorts will cause a reduction in the quantity of naphthaline deposited in them. This most unprofitable compound known as C10 H8 lowers the gas’ carbon content.
“And now let us home and to bed, but not ‘by the struggling moonbeams’ misty light’; we will turn up the gas”!
During July 1883 the Town Council’s Gas Committee recommended that a contract to supply gas to the Borough of South Dunedin be actioned. At the same time an approach from a Mr W.C. Roberts acting on behalf of a ‘syndicate of gentlemen of this town’ to purchase or lease the Gas works was rejected.
A year later it was reported by the gas engineer that two of the four new settings were now in use. The settings consisted of five retorts in an oven. These retorts were made in Greymouth and were ‘D’ shaped at 22 in width (internally) and 15 ft depth with Oin [sic] ascension pipes and 30 in hydraulic mains. The iron mouthpieces were made by R.S. Sparrow and Co. in Dunedin. The remainder of the equipment was imported. The floor of the retort house had been raised three feet above ground level. This would help the work of those stoking the new-style retorts which themselves would result in a saving of coal.
Mr D.A. Graham, Gaswork’s engineer, presented his annual report for the year ending on the 31 March 1885. Published in the Otago Daily Times for 4 May 1885, this report was naturally very lengthy but there were some operational features which need mentioning:
1. Four new retort settings had been erected. New condensers would be required soon and these could be fabricated in Dunedin. The present two boilers together are just able to cope with the load. A spare boiler to enable the two in use to be cleaned will soon be needed.
2. The engines in use at present are too small and have to be used together. The crankshafts are small and, during the winter, the engines have to be worked at full power. Though they both require repairs nothing can be done until summer. They are still required to drive the water and tar pumps both of which should be driven by donkey engines similar to the recently-imported liquor pump.
3. The annular condenser has been shifted from the middle of the yard nearer to the exhauster outlets. I have plans prepared for a new engine room for two exhausters; one of these is presently in use. This new room will also accommodate two, coupled, horizontal, 12 h.p., high-pressure engines.
4. Another set of purifiers will soon be required as New Zealand coals contain a much higher percentage of sulphur compounds than either British or Australian coals. A new washer, built by Kirkham, Hullet [sic] and Chandler, has been erected.
5. The telescopic gas holder has been painted and caulked and the smaller holder will soon receive similar treatment. The gas holder storage is just sufficient for present needs; another holder will be required soon. The present governor is in a dangerous position. Soon I will submit plans for a new, isolated governor house containing three governors which will enable the town to be lit with much lower pressure.
6. The quantity of coal now carbonized is 862 tons less than that used three years ago; with the new settings in full use I believe it will be possible to use 1 000 tons less. This has also resulted in a reduction in the number of stokers from 21 to 16.
7. The storage for tar was much too small until the smaller gas holder tank was converted into a tar and liquor tank. A considerable quantity of tar is mixed with the coke breeze used to fire the boilers. The manufacture of creosote and carbolic oils has commenced through the provision of a new still.
8. The make of gas per ton of coal carbonized during the last six months equals 11 691 cu ft. NZ Greymouth coal produces 1 328 lb of coke per ton of carbonized coal. The gas is of much better quality than was formerly the case and less is used.
There is now a gap in this narrative which extends to October 1900 when mention is made of a presentation being made at the Gas works to a Mr George Newman, Winstanley’s N.Z.representative. Mr R. B. Coutris, the gas engineer, mentioned that the Dunedin Gas works were the first in New Zealand to be fitted with Winstanley’s regenerator furnaces. Benches, featuring these new furnaces, had recently been installed here.
The explosion at the water-gas, purifying house at the Dunedin Gasworks on 31 March 1903 was given considerable press coverage at the time. However there are one or two operational aspects, as they affected the Gasworks, which need mentioning:
1. There were three rooms to this house: exhausting, purifying and water [sic]. There was also provision for a meter. The purifying room was totally wrecked while the exhauster and meter rooms were both badly damaged. The windows in the engine room, 30 yards away, were broken.
2. The purifying room contained three purifiers each five feet deep and sixteen feet square. A careful examination lead to the conclusion that a faulty hydraulic seal in a purifier allowed gas to escape under the floors and pass through into the meter room where it was ignited by a small light maintained for various purposes. Between 1 700 and 2 000 cu ft of gas would be passing through the plant at the time of the explosion.
3. The water gas plant was installed about 1901 and supplied from 15 to 25% of the mixed gas as supplied to the public.
The Otago Daily Times for 20 July 1904 printed a long and comprehensive report on the City Gasworks which had been prepared for the Council by Mr Chenery Suggate, present engineer to the Auckland City Gas works. The report’s main conclusions were:
1. The cost of producing 1 000 cu ft of water gas was 6d more than the equivalent volume of coal gas and he recommended the stopping of water gas production as soon as possible. The present water gas plant could be retained as a stand-by plant when required.
2. Suggate recommended the construction of a direct railway line from the steamer basin to the Gasworks. He also recommended the installation of a new holder and tank.
3. The mains were sufficient for present requirements and the degree of leakage from the reticulation at 4.99% of manufacture was below average for New Zealand works.
4. The purchase of the Caversham Gas Works was recommended. In Suggate’s opinion this plant was obsolete and, apart from the telescopic gas holder with 200 000 cu ft capacity, quite useless for any extension of the main works.
5. To bring the Works up to a standard where 20 000 tons of coal are carbonized annually to meet the growing demand for gas, the following items of lant would need extended:
*Retorts: These require seven new settings of eight on the regenerative principle. The retort house will need lengthened to about 140 feet. The walls of the old building will need to be raised.
*Coke conveyor and elevator: The Works will need a conveyor to convey coke into the yard and automatically quench it en route. A coal charging machine to fill the 20 feet long retorts needs to be considered.
*Condensers, etc.: A second row of condensers will be necessary and the smaller Burton, Waller and Co. exhauster needs replaced by one of double the capacity.
*A rotary washer is required and also another station meter. The boiler capacity may need increasing though gas engines could be used instead of steam engines.
*Four new purifiers will be needed each measuring 30 ft x 25 ft and placed along the western boundary.
*Gas holders: A slightly larger gas holder and wrought iron tank will be needed. The tank will be a one-lift, 150 ft diameter model.
6. General:
*Cooking Stoves: There could be an opening for a larger trade in cookers, rings, fires (especially in bedrooms), laundry work, brazing, soldering, boot finishing, shoemakers’ tools, blow-pipe, annealing, jewellers and a number of other trades using gas.
*Ravensbourne Supply: This district should be supplied as soon as possible.
*Make of Gas: At present only Newcastle coal is being used. It was recommended that a sample of Westport be tried as better results would be obtained.
*Chain of Command, etc: It is usual for the gas engineer to have absolute control of everything up to the meter outlet. In the Dunedin Works from main to meter outlet is under the control of a person who is not responsible to the engineer. This shouldn’t be permitted because it can pave the way for a large amount of friction. The engineer is much hampered by the employment of unsuitable labour. It is a well known law in gasworks that the yard labourers must be qualified stokers awaiting their turn to ‘go in’ as required or relieve a sick worker. (One afternoon, when Suggate was present, a stoker was unable to continue work and not one of the eight men in the yard could take his place and a stoker had to be sent for from town). Some workers were over 70 years old. It is impossible to work economically under such conditions
In September 1904 it was noted that the Dunedin City Gasworks supplied gas not only to the City but also to the Boroughs of North East Valley, South Dunedin and Maori Hill. St Kilda Borough was supplied to only a limited extent. The Caversham Gasworks, owned by an English Company, supplied gas to the suburbs of Mornington, Roslyn and Caversham.
By March 1906 the Gasworks had switched to the use of New South Wales coal, namely that supplied by the East Greta Coal Mining Company. This East Greta coal had a faster carbonizing rate than New Zealand coals. Although other NZ Gasworks were using local coals they had a larger storage capacity whereas Dunedin had a limited coal storage capacity of only twelve hours compared to the three days or so of other works.
Five tenders were received for coal supply for the coming year. These comprised West Maitland coals, (East Greta, Pelaw Main and Abermain) and New Zealand coals, (Westport and Brunner). The contract was for 10 000 tons.
By the end of 1906 the Council’s Gas Committee had announced a record gas yield per ton of coal of 13 238 cu ft and was congratulating the new Gaswork’s engineer, Mr Hungerford on the result. A start had been made on the construction of the new retort house and Australasian hardwood had been sourced for the piles. Bluegum of the required thickness couldn’t be obtained locally. Driving the piles would take all of four months, it was estimated.
At the end of December 1907 a group of City Councillors and other prominent citizens made a tour of the extensions now in progress on the Andersons Bay road site. According to the Otago Witness the group noted the following developments:
1. The Retort House: The brick walls were nearly finished. Seven settings of horizontal ‘through’ retorts, operated from a steel stage floor will be accommodated. On this floor will be installed a De Brower charging and discharging machine of the most modern design. Two gas engines, each of 30 h.p. will drive generators to supply electricity to power this labour-saving machine. On the discharge side of the retort house will be installed a push-plate conveyor to receive the coke discharged from the retorts. The conveyor will carry the coke to elevated gantries from where it can be loaded directly into railway trucks or carts. The new coal-handling plant will consist of a coal hopper and pit at the rear of the coal store. The railway trucks will be emptied into this hopper from which the coal will be elevated either into the coal store or into the retort house. Here it will be conveyed by a push-plate conveyor and discharged into a series of twelve ton capacity hoppers. From these hoppers the coal moves first into the measuring chamber of the charging machines which project the coal straight into the retorts. The retort house is 38 ft high to the roof line, 66 ft wide and 112 ft long. The coal stores, which are included in the retort building, will be 112 ft long, 40 ft wide and capable of holding a six weeks supply of coal. The retort house should be in full operation in a year’s time. When this happens the old works will be entirely pulled down.
2. The Old Plant: On visiting the existing plant it was quite obvious that the extensions were not being undertaken a moment too soon. The plant was ‘dilapidated in every direction’ and the signs of extensive repairs were obvious.
3. Other Aspects: The new exhausting machine is nearly assembled. This machine is a Beale type with four blades and fitted with automatic steam and gas governors constructed by Messrs Wallace [sic] and Sons of Gloucester England. The Works laboratory gave a demonstration of coals testing to determine their-gas producing capabilities.. The laboratory is equipped with a photometer and a calorimeter for determining the gas’ heating value. Mr Hungerford explained the methods used for testing sulphurous properties and other impurities contained in the gas.
The huge derrick for pile-driving on the new holder site was next inspected. The piles had arrived in New Zealand and a start was to be made on driving them almost immediately. The English contractors would make a start on erecting the holder about the end of March. The capacity of the new holder would be 1 000 000 cu ft. It would be 430 ft in diameter and 120 ft high or about 30 ft higher than the Gaswork’s chimney. (Last winter the demand was equal to 700 000 cu ft per day).
Later in 1908 the Mayor of Dunedin decided to establish an inquiry into the management of the Gas Works and to hear the alleged grievances of the workmen. The inquiry and its findings were published in full in the Otago Daily Times of 4 September. Though somewhat outside the scope of these notes, the inquiry did provide an insight into plant management and governance and the working conditions of the era.
By early January 1909 a start was to be made of the Maori Hill gas reticulation using a mile and a half of piping. At the new retort house, of the six beds of 48 ‘through’ retorts, one bed was completed while the generators and the bottoms of the retort beds are in position. Extending out from the second floor in the front of the house is a huge steel structure called a hot coke conveyor running to a height of 45 ft. In front of the retort beds is a set of rails along which the coke emptied from the retorts is conveyed and then discharged along the elevator. The coke is then screened allowing the breeze to be separated. The coke is then discharged into one of four hoppers. Carts can then draw in underneath where by the pulling of a lever the cart is filled, The elevator is of the De Brower type.
During the Dunedin City Council’s appeal for one of its leading stokers not to be called up for war service in August 1918 one or two facts of the Gaswork’s operation were revealed. At that time the Works was carbonizing 13 000 tons of coal annually and the staffing was considerably ‘shortened’ because of the War. Mr Hungerford, the gas engineer, had held his position for the last twelve years and during that time there had been a complete change in the handling of coal. All the machinery was stated to be electrically driven. The work was divided into three eight-hour shifts under the control of a leading stoker.
In early-June, 1920 Dunedin and other areas suffered a serious shortage of bituminous coal. The local Coal Trade Committee, which seemed to enjoy some sort of official status, had done the rounds of the local coal yards and had found only about 135 tons of this coal available. Orders were given that every shovelful of bituminous coal should be sent to the Gas Works. This coal was shifted to the Works on a Tuesday afternoon when it was expected to last until the following Friday. On this day the Flora was expected from Greymouth with between 300 and 600 tons of coal for the Gas Works. As a precaution the Gaswork’s manager was warning consumers that the gas pressure had been reduced as a precaution and that they should use the strictest economy.
There was even a suggestion that inspectors disconnect the gas supply to those houses which also had a coal range. Central authorities, alleged the Otago Daily Times of 3 June, were easing up on the supply of hard coal to Dunedin because of the nearby abundance of soft coals. The Gas Committee pointed out that in the last four years the Works had been under-supplied by suitable coal. The storage capacity for coal at the Gasworks was over 4 000 tons, yet on two occasions during the last two months these stores have contained less than five tons with the daily output of gas being equivalent to a consumption of 60 tons.
The immediate position gave cause for grave anxiety. On 8 May the Rakahoa [sic] arrived with 640 tons of coal and on that day the stores were empty as the vessel had been delayed. (640 tons represented less than two week’s supply). The Works were promised further shipments during the following week but this didn’t happen as the boat was diverted. The Flora was substituted but was then late in arriving here. The Works were kept going by the use of some Stockton coal which was received from the Kaituna which enabled them to keep going until last Monday. During this period the supply of coal was certainly ‘hand to mouth’!
DUNEDIN GASWORKS TIMELINE; 1863 – 1920
Compiled by W.J. Cowan
This timeline was compiled from newspaper files accessed through the National Library programme ‘Papers Past’. From this site the various reports, etc. mentioned below can be read, in full.
Scources:
‘R’ – Dunedin City Council Gaswork Committee Reports, etc. as reported in The Otago Daily Times of that date
‘ODT’ The Otago Daily Times local news
‘OW’ The Otago Witness local news
‘McD’ City of Dunedin by K.C. McDonald, 1965
1862
May: Dunedin Gas and Coke Co. formed with Stephen Stamp its engineer and promoter. ODT
October: Company registered with these objectives: 1.Supply gas within the town and suburbs of Dunedin; 2. Sell coke, tar and other residual products from the distillation of coal or any other material used in the manufacture of gas. ODT
November: Gas Co. entered into agreement with Town Board to supply gas to and maintain 150 lamps in the town. ODT
1863
28 February: John Millar, Town Board engineer, vetoes designs of proposed gas lamp pillars, designs his own. OW
9 May: Gas being generated at the Andersons Bay Road site; holder contains some 80 000 cu. ft. OW
13 May: Controversy over lamp post tendering. ODT
August: Gas mains being laid in Stuart Street along with 25 temporary, wooden gas-lamp posts. ODT
1 September: Gas lamps lit for first time soon replacing ten kerosene-powered street lamps provided by the Town Board in June 1862. ODT
25 September: Dangers of unlit streets. OW
1869
Gas Co’s seven year contract due for renewal; steady litany of complaints re the quantity and quality of the gas supply. McD
June: Mr A.K. Smith of Melbourne requested by Council to report on the gas supply and manufacture. McD
3 June: Council debate on quality, etc. of gas supply. ODT
5 August: Smith’s report highly critical of the existing plant ;suggested Council should build its own plant at the east end of St Andrew Street. McD
18 November: A.K. Smith’s design for new Gasworks presented to Council. ODT
1870
15 January: ODT Editorial on Gaswork’s sale.
27 January: Tenders received for new Gasworks: J. Millar FSA £20 932, E. Chambers £22 109, Walkem and Peyman £21 495,
A.K. Smith £19 275 ODT
2 May: Mr W.N. Blair presented his valuation report on the existing Gasworks to the Council. ODT
5 May: Council meeting on Gaswork’s purchase. ODT
23 May: ODT Editorial – Gaswork’s Question
1871
17 March: Bricklayers needed to set retorts, benches, etc at Gasworks. R
22 June: Joseph W. Hutchison took over lease of Gasworks from his brother in February, 1868; fourteen men employed.
1872
14 February: Tenders invited for erection of meter house, experimental room and offices at Gasworks. R
1873
W.B. Taylor appointed accountant and collector at Gasworks; in 1887 appointed Gaswork’s secretary. ODT
1875
Henry Courtis of Melbourne presented his report on the state of the Gasworks to the Council. In October the Council finally offered to buy the Gasworks for £45 000 as they stood and this offer was accepted by H.A. Hankey owners’ representative. McD
13 December: Job vacancies in Gasworks advertised. ODT
1876
1 January: Gasworks pass into Council ownership. McD
1877
30 May: Special Council meeting to consider gas supply complaints; reports considered. ODT
6 June: Order to bright Bros. for 36 fourteen-inch retorts; daily coal consumption c. seven cwt. of cannel [sic] coal; old gasholder repaired by Burts. R
1878
10 April: D.C.C. to order 100 lamp posts from U.K. @ £5.17.0. R
6 July: D. Proudfoot to construct loop line and to fix a turntable at Gasworks. R
29 July: Mr Marryat, Gaswork’s foreman. R
28 September: ODT Editorial on street lighting.
3 October: Sparrow and Co. supply new Cornish boiler @ £206 to Gasworks; other tenderers: Cutten and Co. and Blackadder. R
1879
13 January: Mr T.S. Cleminson’s report on the Dunedin Gasworks published. ODT
11 February: Grey River coal tending to choke-up ascension pipes; gasfitter regulations adopted. R
27 March: Gasworks advertising for new gas engine. R
4 June: Engineer experimenting with a mixture of Greymouth and Kaitangata coals. R
6 December: Martin and Watson to supply West Coast coal @ 39/5 and 36/5 per ton. R
1880
19 May: Two new gas purifiers to be bought @ £1 000; necessary because of increased use of Greymouth coal. R
18 June: Report on series of additions and improvements to the Gasworks under leadership of E. Genever, engineer. ODT
1881
7 April: Production for week ending 7 April: 44 retorts working, 111 tons of coal carbonized, 1 164 300 cu. ft. gas made, 18 tons coke sold, 1 242 gal. tar sold. (illuminating power of gas = 18 candle power). R
22 April: Gasworks now using N.Z. coal exclusively. R
1882
18 February: Extensive report on improvements to Gasworks. ODT
1883
16 February: Suggs No. 4 or 5 flat-flame, steatite burners used in street lights. R
7 July: Visit to Gasworks by Otago Witness rep. as part of Otago Hands and Hearts series.; South Dunedin Borough to be supplied with gas. ODT
22 October: Caledonian Bowling Club began play on their new green at the rear of the Gasworks. R
1884
2 June: Two of the four new settings are in use. R
1885
4 May: Mr D.A. Graham, Gaswork’s engineer, presented his annual report. [This contained numerous points of operational interest]. ODT
1886
6 April: Mr D.A. Graham, engineer, presented lengthy report to Council. R
21 May: ODT Editorial on Gaswork’s profitability.
27 August: ODT Editorial on state of Gasworks
7 September: Strong need by Council to push gas sales espec. for motive and cooking power; increase of only 50 consumers during last three years. R
13 October: Two new governors connected to the mains followed by a third and larger one; pressure in mains to be reduced. R
28 October: Report on Gaswork’s proposals for improvement. ODT
2 November: Report on proposed new governor house. R
16 November: Recommended that a room be fitted-up to demonstrate the advantages of gas as an illuminant and for heating and motive power. R
1887
30 May: Gaswork’s engineer responds to D.C.C. complaints over gas quality, etc. R
4 June: Report on dispute over aspects of Gaswork’s management and governance. ODT
16 June: N.Z.R. to stop propelling coal trucks across Andersons Bay Road because of accident potential; A & T Burt to supply 24 cast iron lamp frames; Suburban Gas Co. to stop supplying gas to South Dunedin Borough; greater demand for gas for heating and cooking, 31 new applications for supply during last fortnight. R
25 August: Sulphate of ammonia sold to Kempthorne Prosser @ £10 per ton.
3 September: Gaswork’s engineer endorses Westport coal in advertisement. R
1888
19 April: Two new engines needed at Gasworks. R
6 September: Gas supplied to 18 gas engines in town with average gas consumption per engine of 90 633 cu.ft.; 61 gas stoves in use. R
1890
18 September: Report on coals used. R
4 October: Special Gaswork’s report. R
1891
17 January: Invercargill Town Clerk, Mr Scandrett, publishes report on N.Z. Gaswork’s operations. ODT
1892
21 January: Gaswork’s engines to be fitted with new cylinders @ £60; two gasholders are to be cleaned and repainted. R
4 April: £200 to be spent on new Gaswork’s engines; start of a large order with ultimate intention to build new works. R
28 April: Quality of gas to be improved; the small exhauster is to be altered to operate faster. R
9 November: Two new retort settings @ £180 ordered from Auckland Gas Co. for next winter’s demands. R
8 December: 100 tons of Hetton coal (NSW) to be supplied @ 22/6 per ton. R
1893
15 February: New gas engines for Gasworks completed by NZ Engineering and Electrical Co. R
15 March: Tender of Grey Valley Coal Co. accepted to supply Coal Pit Heath coal @ 27/6 per ton for next year. R
24 May: H.B. Courtis appointed as Gaswork’s engineer; ex Timaru Gasworks; all hands to be dismissed after one month and then re-engaged at engineer’s discretion. R.
5 July 1893: Preliminary report on Gaswork’s operations by H.B. Courtis. R
1894
5 February: Gaswork’s fumes affecting Braemar Street properties; paint damaged; family ill; Council had lost four actions brought against it. R
14 February: Mayor’s memo on Gaswork’s engineer’s report. ODT
17 February: ODT Editorial on engineer’s report.
25 April: Mrs E.B. Miller’s request for free gas for her Technical School cooking lessons refused. R
10 May: List of Gaswork’s staff: positions held and wages. R
1895
23 May: 56 applicants for position of Gaswork’s cadet. R
1896
3 June: Purchase of gas engine authorized; 5 110 tons of East Greta coal ordered, (E.G. coal gasifies rapidly). R
23 September: New horizontal engines at Gasworks up for sale with £180 reserve. R
1898
28 July: Wall at end of retort house unsafe; suggested that retort house be enlarged in that direction. R
14 December: Two gasholders to be painted using oxide paint. R
1899
8 March: Tender of Greymouth-Point Elizabeth Railway and Coal Co. to supply West Brunner gas coal for next year accepted; screened @ 24/- per ton, unscreened 22/- and nuts 23/-. R
27 April: Christchurch Press reports ‘The Dunedin Gasworks has succeeded in turning a very beautiful harbour into an evil smelling pool’. R
29 June: Report by engineer on water gas; ODT editorial on 1 July
20 September: John Lunn’s tender of £999 for retort house extension accepted.100 ton sample of East Greta coal to be paid for according to results. R
28 November: Letter to ODT on the use of coal gas as motive power for tramcars.
1900
18 April: £1 611 tender of McKechnie and Fleming for erection of brick buildings with iron and slate roofs accepted. R
13 June: J. Lunn’s tender of £918 for constructing concrete foundations for new gasholder accepted. R
25 October: Winstanley retort benches being erected at Gasworks. ODT
1901
3 April: Sale of Gaswork’s engines; Milburn Lime and Cement to supply lime for purification. R
1902
5 February: NZ Coal and Oil Co. supplied 15 000 gal oil @ 6d per gallon; 10 000 tons of East Greta coal ordered. R
16 April: Open shed to be built at Gasworks for coal protection; £21 set aside to buy second locomotive. R
6 August: Alterations to railway in Gaswork’s yard; four tons of rails bought (17 September). R
15 September: Hugh Kitto, 11 years, fatally injured when playing with railway wagons on the Gaswork’s siding at Andersons Bay Road. R
15 October: Experimental apparatus delivered. R
10 December: Supply of gas to 5 h.p. engines limited to their location being no more than 100 ft from building line. R
1903
1 April: Water gas plant partially destroyed by explosion. ODT
2 April: New residence built by Robert Baskett for Gaswork’s manager; old house 40 years old. R
8 April: OW report on explosion.
1904
28 April: Mr Chenery Suggate of Auckland Gas Co. asked by D.C.C. to report on the Dunedin Gasworks and how the plant could be modernized and extended. R
22 June: 27 500 cases of kerosene @ 6d per gallon delivered to gasworks. R
20 July: Mr Suggate’s report on Gasworks published. ODT
17 August: Duplicate ammonia concentration plant to be bought @ £450. R
19 August: Letter to ODT re Suggate’s report.
14 October: Use of Ocean Beach Railway for coal cartage. R
26 October: Gaswork’s locomotive plus £125 to be given to John Murdoch and Co. in exchange for larger engine. R
9 November: Tenders invited for the supply of a gas engine and exhauster. R
1905
12 April: Gas engine bought for £20 to power workshop equipment; superphosphate bought to improve water gas output. R
10 May: All gas lamps in South Dunedin to be fitted with auto lighters; Gasworks using unscreened East Greta (N.S.W.) coal till March 1906. R
1 June: Westport v. East Greta coals report. ODT
20 July: Gasworkers’ Union met with Council to state grievances. Reply to Mr Suggate’s report by Gaswork’s engineer; ODT
22 September: Proposal to raise loan of £50 000 for Gaswork’s improvements. ODT
22 November: Number of gas lamps reducing. R
1906
1 February: Question of gas v. electricity, etc. R
14 February: Concentrated ammoniacal liquors produced by Gasworks to be sold to Ammonia Co. of Australia for next five years. R
28 March: Order for 10 000 tons of East Greta coal; £5 compensation offered to Mr Applegarth, suffered facial burns after small gas explosion at A. Moritzson’s premises; D.C.C. workmen at fault. R
29 March: ODT Editorial on coal for Gasworks.
3 July: Punching and shearing machine supplied to Gasworks. R
13 July: Mr Hungerford begins duties as Gaswork’s manager. R
28 August: Two Gaswork employees to be retired after 40 years service each. R
11 September: Exhauster and gas engine surplus. R
23 October: Tenders called for Gasworks extension machinery. R
1907
26 February: Twelve tons of finely-ground fireclay to be bought from the Christchurch Gas Co. R
23 April: George Waller and Son to supply exhausting machinery @ £728. R
7 May: Two pressure registers and one exhauster vacuum register to be bought. R
21 May: 620 ft of retorts needed @ £470. R
1 June: 38 gasworks in N.Z.- 10 in Auckland, 9 in Wellington and 6 in Otago provinces. R
18 June: Thomas Cole appointed in England to be inspecting engineer for Gaswork’s extension. R
16 July: Acceptance of tenders for Gasworks extensions. R
23 November: Large wooden derrick erected for pile driving the foundations of the new gasholder; iron bark piles. R
1908
1 January: Inspection of Gaswork’s extension’s progress by Councillors, etc. OW
14 March: Extensions progress. ODT
6 April: Gaswork’s staff erecting coal store and retort house roof. R
18 April: 66 street lights to be erected in Caversham Ward; fitted with incandescent burners. R
27 April: Town Clerk’s Report. [comprehensive]. ODT
23 May: Distance between reticulation of the two Gasworks is 20 chains [sic]; connection being made using Mannesman pipes
9 June: Gasworks using about1 000 tons of coal per month; new gasholder tank under construction; Marseilles tiles to be used on new retort roof; new retort benches being built. R
27 June: Letter to ODT by H.B. Courtis re gas quality.
30 July: Alterations necessary to water-gas engine room to accommodate new exhausters. R
7 August: Inspection of larger of two ammonia plants by rep. of the Australasian Ammoniacal Liquor Co; plant there since 1905. R
4 September: Gasworks Inquiry Report. ODT
5 September: Gasworks now connected to Caversham plant which is still in production but will soon shut down. R
3 December: Difficulty with the alignment of old and new gasholders, (being erected by Messrs. Westwood and Wright). R
1909
8 January: New gasholder nearly finished; capacity 1 000 000 cu. ft., 120 ft high when fully extended; retort house progress. R
22 March: Gasworks Committee to arrange the manufacture and sale of essential parts of gas cookers; up to date cooking and heating appliances to be promoted. R
24 May: New gasholder sits on reinforced concrete slab; 130 ft in diameter. R
14 June: Fencing to be erected around Works. R
18 October: Disposal of old cart weighbridge at Gasworks. R
1 November: Cash sales re-introduced at Gasworks; coke to be sold from Gasworks now by weight. R
1910
3 February: Inquiry into the construction of the new gasholder and retort houses. ODT
4 October: W.J. Jenkins and Co. Retford, England to supply duplicate parts, etc. for retort house machinery; suitable breeze furnaces to work under forced-draught for Gaswork’s boiler. R
31 October: Ross and Glendinning to loan Council their Straker steam wagon to cart metal from quarry to Gasworks. R
21 November: ‘Kaituna’ said to be the name of creek which once flowed down from the Glen and entered the Harbour at the Gasworks. R
1911
6 February: Messrs. Newton, Chambers and Co. of Sheffield to supply one set of purifiers. R
10 February: Kerosene bond to be built in Andersons Bay Road opposite Gasworks; will hold 60 000 cases of kerosene and petrol. R
9 March: Concern over high wharfage charges on coal @ 3/- per ton, highest in N.Z.; on a year’s supply of 15 000 tons = £2 250. R
23 March: C & W Gore successful, (only), tenderer for supply of 50 000 red bricks. R
31 March: Report on defects in new gasholder’s foundations; [see also 6 April]. ODT
3 April: C.W. Walkers of London to supply one set of purifiers. R
18 April: Electric street lamps being erected. R
8 November: Purchase of ground at west end of Percy Street for new gasholder or re-erection of present holder. R
1912
14 October: Damaged gasholder to be removed and re-erected on the Percy Street site. R
1913
17 March: Dismantling and re-erection of gasholder begun. R
17 April: Solid rock for base of new gasholder found at depth of seven feet. R
28 April: Bulk of coal orders for the following year sourced from Pelaw Main and Aberdare fields in N.S.W. R
16 October: Different forms of Gaswork’s motive power. R
27 October: D.C.C. Works Dept. to buy tar from Gasworks @ 6d per gal.; to take not less than 50 000 gallons per year. R
17 November: Coal consumption is 250 tons per week. R
1914
20 May: Waronui Coal Co. to supply 4 000 tons of Bellbird and 2 000 tons of Aberdare coals. R
7 December: Recent death of H.B. Courtis, aged 63. (Obituary). R
1916
6 March: 13 000 tons of coal required for y.e. 31.3.17.
1917
8 March: John McKewen contracted to cart coal from wharf to Gasworks for 1/10 per ton; State Coal mines to supply 10 000 tons of coal @ 25/- per ton; Bruce Railway and Coal Co. to supply 3 000 tons of Westport-Stockton coal @ 25/6 per ton. R
1918
21 August: Gas stoker’s appeal re active service. ODT
1920
21 February: Gaswork’s locomotive on loan to the Harbour Board; overhauled and returned on 6 June 1919. R
15 March: New Gasworks plant ordered from England: condensers, rotary scrubber, Livesay washer. R
26 March: Coal shortage. ODT
3. June: Coal shortage report. ODT
19 June: City Gasworks by-products report. ODT
14 October: New motor-generator, ex Sydney, bought for £1 000. R
28 October: Petrous Tile Co. leasing Caversham Gaswork’s site. R
N.B For a general history of the Dunedin Gasworks see K.C. McDonald’s City of Dunedin; A Century of Civic Enterprise, 1965. Another valuable resource is Plant History of Dunedin City Council Gasworks Hillside Road Site, 1863-1997 compiled by Peter Robinson, July 1997. This history contains excellent plans of the site’s development over the years.
During May 1862 the Dunedin Gas and Coke Company was formed with Stephen Stamp Hutchison as its engineer and promoter. Hutchison had recently been engineer of a similar company in Melbourne. In August the Company, yet to be registered, applied to the Dunedin Town Board for the exclusive rights to open up the streets of Dunedin for the laying of gas mains. It was given permission to lay these gas mains but was refused any exclusive rights. In mid-October the Company was duly registered with the following specific objectives:
1. Supply gas within the town and suburbs of Dunedin.
2. Sell coal, coke, tar and other residual products from the distillation of coal or any other material used in the manufacture of gas.
At the 28 October Town Board Meeting a letter from the Gas Company Secretary stated that gas mains were being laid and that the Company intended to be in a position to supply gas within four months. The question then arose as to where the pipes should be laid: under the roadway or under the footpath? Mr Hutchison, who was present, stated that it would be more expensive to lay pipes in the road. However, if the footpaths were already asphalted, the Company would be prepared to lay pipes in the road. To avoid contamination of any water supplies by leaking gas, it was decided to prohibit the laying of water-pipes within three feet of gas pipes and vice versa.
There were some dangers to townspeople caused by the installation of these mains. Ditches of considerable length were allowed to be left open and unprotected without adequate lighting or fencing by the Company. In May Martin Sholl the Gas Company Secretary, was summoned by Inspector Nimon for having, on a recent Saturday evening, left a dangerous excavation unfenced and unlit. The Inspector had found on George Street, near the corner of Hanover Street, a 33 yd long and 18 in deep trench without any lighting. The Company Engineer asserted that certain ‘evil-disposed’ persons made it a practice to steal the candles from the lanterns leaving the place in darkness. The Town Board finally stipulated that not more than 66 ft of trenching be left open in any one street and that this portion be properly fenced-in or lighted.
In late November the Town Board entered into an agreement with the Gas Company. whereby the Company would supply gas, and light, extinguish and repair150 lamps within the town at a yearly charge of £17.10.0 per lamp. This arrangement was for a term of seven years with the Board providing the lamps and lighting columns. A hundred lamps were to be erected within six months with fifty more the following half year. A slightly curious feature of this arrangement provided for the lamps not to be lit on the five days surrounding a full moon.
There was considerable drama over the design and delivery of the lighting columns. The Board invited designs and tenders for these but their Engineer John Millar FSA, in February 1863, subsequently condemned the whole ten designs as submitted. He then proceeded to design a column himself complete with fluted iron pillars rising to lotus-shaped arms for the gas-lighter’s ladder, near the top. The base of each column prominently bore the Board’s motto and the designer’s name.
All well and good but then arose an early difficulty. The contract for the manufacture of these lighting standards was let in Melbourne to a Mr Steele. Unfortunately Millar’s ego encouraged him to allow the standards to be exhibited in that city delaying their arrival in Dunedin. Thus the Board was several months late in fulfilling their part of the contract. The Gasworks Co. having been obliged to borrow heavily to complete their Works was not in any mood to see their plant lying idle. Compensation from the Town Board was subsequently claimed with £907 being granted the Company through arbitration.
Meanwhile considerable progress with the Gasworks was proceeding on the site, a site which would be occupied by various coal-gas plants until closure in mid-1987. By May gas had already been generated and the gas holder with a capacity of some 160 000 cu ft was about half full. Also completed were the condenser and double set of purifiers. It was intended to use the best quality Newcastle coal from New South Wales. Five groups of three fire-clay retorts were expected to produce up to 33 000 cu ft of gas within 24 hours. The small chimney in present use was only a temporary fitting; the permanent chimney was to be 150 ft high. Caversham stone was to be used for the first 30 ft with the remainder of the chimney being constructed from brick to an octagonal design.
It should be noted that in J W Allen’s photo, c. 1875, of the South Dunedin area, the Gaswork’s chimney is quite a truncated affair not at all reaching the dizzy heights of the one depicted in George O’Brien’s 1865 painting of the original Works. Allen’s photo also shows the chimney at the south end of the retort house not in the centre as O’Brien portrayed. Twenty-five stout piles were driven into the ground overlaid by a network of transverse piles and timber to form the chimney’s foundation. Mindful of the fact that the Melbourne Gaswork’s chimney settled seven feet into the ground upon completion it was decided to incorporate a lower and upper chamber into the lower stone work so that smoke could be directed through either into the flue!
To facilitate the handling of in-coming coal supplies there was a suggestion that a light tramway be run half a mile out on the beach from the Works so that coal barges could be emptied into trucks and their contents brought directly into the yard.
At the 13 May Town Board meeting there was some consternation caused by irregularities regarding the tendering for the permanent light columns. Both Mr Millar, and his son were involved in what appeared to be a breakdown of communication. Suffice it to say that this further delayed the arrival of these columns. As a consequence the Gas Co. was anxious for the Town Board to erect temporary fittings as the Company would be ready, in a few days, to supply gas. During this month it was reported that gas mains had been laid ‘all over the place’.
With some gas present in parts of the system there was the danger of fire caused by either accident or negligence. There was a fire during May, which required the assistance of both the Police and Fire Brigade to extinguish. According to a letter in the Times from Stephen Hutchison someone had culpably applied a lighted candle to the end of the service pipe from which a tap had been removed.
Hutchison made these points regarding a gas flame:
1. Water will not extinguish gas light; the object is to reach the point of ignition.
2. A wet rag, cork or a little white lead will suffice to put out the flame. If the heat is too great to approach sufficiently near then a quantity of earth, wet blankets or some such simple appliances will suffice to extinguish the gas flame.
By early August gas pipes were being laid in Stuart Street and 25 temporary gas lamp posts, ‘sorry looking things of wood’, were being erected at a cost to the Town Board of £10 each. In the last week of August the Gas Co. was requested by the Town Board to light the lamps ‘forthwith’. This was accomplished on the evening of Tuesday, 1 September replacing the ten kerosene-powered street lamps which the Town Board had installed the previous June. From now on Dunedin Streets would become safer places to frequent after dark.
The Otago Witness in late September was strongly urging the Town Board to extend the new lighting into George Street which had dangerous stretches of footpath where a false step could cause a twelve or fifteen feet fall for an unwary pedestrian. King Street was another area urgently needing lights. Here the metalled part of the road was very narrow and vehicles were often driven along it late into the night at considerable speed. Even the Police Station was unlit and stood in a region of intense darkness.
By 1869 the Gasworks had been in operation for nearly seven years. During this period there had been a steady litany of complaints to the Town Council about the quality and pressure of the Gas Co’s supply. The price to consumers was also regarded as exorbitant. As the time approached for the renewal of the Company’s seven-year contract there were demands for an improvement. In June the Council decided that it should take over the gas supply and asked Mr A K Smith of Melbourne to report on the situation.
Smith presented his report, which was highly critical of the existing plant, some two months later. A major problem was that the mains were too small and this factor severely restricted supply of gas to outlying areas. Smith was not in favour of the Council buying the existing plant but suggested instead that the Council should build its own Gasworks at the east end of St Andrew Street.
By early 1870 the Council had decided, after calling tenders for the new works, not to proceed along this course but instead to buy the existing plant. A valuation of the Gasworks was requested from Mr W.N. Blair C.E. He presented his report to the Council in April. His description of the Plant is of interest and is included here in an edited form:
1. Land: The section on which the Works stand is well drained and there is a good garden attached to the manager’s cottage.
2. Cottage, stable and office: These buildings are constructed of timber and corrugated iron and are in good repair. The cottage has four rooms, well finished and the stable has a hayloft, six stalls, feed bin, etc.
3. Purifying House, Governor House, Store and Smithy: Timber and iron. Framing of the purifying house chiefly blue gum. The store is covered with iron imported for the curved roof of the retort house.
4. Store, Fowl Houses and Water Closet: Constructed of old materials and in bad repair.
5. Retort House: This is the principal building on the Works. It is 68 ft long, 65 ft wide, 24 ft high at the eaves and 36 ft to the highest part of the roof. The original intention was to have it twice its present length so as to contain four retort beds and an iron roof was imported for that purpose. The unused materials for the roof are still lying at the Works. The base of a large chimney-stack to accommodate the four retort beds was built at the unfinished end of the retort house but it has never been used. A temporary brick chimney at the other end is being used to carry off smoke from the present furnaces. There appears to have been considerable difficulty in getting a good foundation for the stone buildings. They are all founded on a bed of concrete supported on timber framing. Several cracks are visible on the retort house walls. They are attributed to the pressure of a large quantity of coal once stored in the house; I believe, however, that irregular subsidence has something to do with the fractures. The retort house is built of Andersons Bay stone with a heavy cornice of Caversham or Lookout Point stone. The masonry is ashlar, well laid but the mortar used is of a very inferior quality with scarcely any traces of lime being visible. The Caversham stone is almost completely worn away and the other is rapidly approaching the same state. Large masses have already fallen from the projecting surfaces of the stones.
6. Chimney Base, Temporary Chimney and Retort Bed: The masonry shaft at the south end of the retort house is merely the foundation of a large brick chimney designed to accommodate extended works. Considerable care has obviously been bestowed on the foundations of this chimney as it is still quite straight and solid notwithstanding its great weight. The foundation consists of piles, beams and planking supporting and enclosing a layer of concrete three feet thick. The whole is severely bound together with heavy iron straps and bolts. Unfortunately the superstructure is not of such a substantial character. It is composed of Caversham stone of the most friable kind and is decaying quickly. The base cannot now sustain the load intended to be put on it. The temporary chimney is built of brick; its foundation has sunk on one side throwing it considerably off the perpendicular. This has been rectified to some extent. The retort bed is well built and bound together.
7. Bridge and sundry plant: The bridge is in tolerably good preservation. The plant consists chiefly of tanks, a crabwinch, etc.
8. Gasholder Tank and Syphon Well: The gas holder is full of water so I couldn’t examine its bottom. Judging from the drawings it has been designed with great care with every precaution apparently taken to ensure its stability. The brickwork on view is very good. I think, however, that the foundations must have given way to some extent as the counterforts have become detached from the walls and the holder inclines to one side in a most unaccountable manner proving that there is something wrong underground. The siphon well appears to be quite solid throughout.
9. Retorts, Hydraulic Main, Condenser, Purifier, Holder and Governor: There are 35 fire-clay retorts provided with double mouthpieces and doors all complete and in good order. The Hydraulic main, condenser, purifier and governor with their connecting pipes and valves are also quite good beyond the usual wear and tear. The gas holder was once upset by the wind and considerably damaged. Without getting inside to examine the stays and flanges I cannot give a decided opinion to the general condition of the holder but from external appearances it seems to be in tolerably good repair.
10. Mains: I have opened-up the streets at various points and examined the mains. The cast-iron pipes appear to be as good as new but the malleable iron ones are very much corroded. A paper main extends from the Works to Princes Street south; externally it seems fresh and tight but as the durability of this material did not come up to the expectations of the inventors we may safely expect that it will not last very long here.
11. Services and Meters: I have taken these at 350.
McDonald covers, from 1870 onwards, the politics surrounding the purchase of the existing Gas Works. By February 1875 the latest contract for gas supply was near its expiry date and municipal control became, once again, a live topic. After yet another report to the Council on the state of the Works, this time by Henry Courtis of Melbourne, the Council offered the proprietors £45 000 for the Works as they stood. This was accepted and the Gasworks passed into Council ownership on New Year’s Day 1876.
Just prior to the takeover the Council invited applications for the following positions at the Works:
1. Gas Engineer in general charge of the Works, etc; salary £400 per annum with house, fuel and lighting.
2. Clerk and Accountant for the gas supply business; Town Clerk’s department; salary £200 per annum
3. Collee [sic] or and Clerk for the gas supply business; Town Clerk’s department; salary £200 per annum
4. Office Youth for the same department; salary £50 per annum
In spite of the city (so-called since 1860) now owning the Gasworks, complaints about the quality of the gas supply continued unabated. Mr T S Cleminshaw, gas engineer of Christchurch was asked by the Council to report on the Dunedin Gaswork’s capacity and systems. His report was received in November 1878 and concluded that:
1. The retort house was in a very shaky condition owing to the friable stone used in construction. The retorts should have been placed along its length rather than across the ends of the house.
2. The retort house when completed should be able to carbonize 346 000 cu ft in 21 hours. He suggested using a mix of Grey (West Coast) coal and Newcastle.
3. The gas holders’ capacities were too small; the recognized rule being that the holders’ capacity should be equal to 24 hours’ maximum winter make. He recommended that a new holder 120 ft in diameter and 25 ft deep with a capacity of 306 000 cu ft be built forthwith.
4. After numerous tests he found the gases’ illuminating power to be ‘ample’.
5. The mains in various parts of the city were large enough but some of the earlier mains needed overhauling.(One main was severed and had been ‘repaired’ with rags and white lead).
6. The quality of gas-fitting varied and he suggested all gas-fitters should be licensed by the Corporation and be compelled to adhere to a few simple rules.
7. Gas burners, were a contentious topic among consumers. He suggested three suitable types: the Argand, batswing and fishtail. ‘Gas was spoiled by bad burners’.
8. Cleminshaw, in closing, believed that the Gasworks were not judiciously laid out for the economical production of gas.
By June 1880 a start had been made on a series of additions and improvements to the Gasworks under the leadership of the Engineer Mr Genever and prompted by the increased use of coal gas within the City, five times greater than that used in 1872. These included:
1. A portion of a second retort house was to be erected next summer 120 ft wide and covered by a three span roof. The retorts would occupy the central span of 60 ft with two outer spans covering coal stores, etc.
2. The retorts would be ‘through’ retorts each 20 ft long served by coal supplies from an elevated railway.
3. Walker’s annular condensers had been ordered along with a second large exhauster of 30 000 cu ft per hour capacity. A set of Walker’s patent purifiers was on order to deal with the increasing quantity of Greymouth coal being used.
4. The largest extension was the excavation contract for the foundations of the new gasholder tank. The ground was unstable having been reclaimed naturally from the seabed. Extensive layers of shells had been found to a depth of 28 ft. This holder, which would increase the storage capacity of the Works to 400 000 cu ft, had been made by the Horsley Co. of Tipton, Staffordshire.
However the steadily increasing consumption of gas required further additions to the Works. An extensive report in the Otago Witness of 18 February 1882 described in detail the existing Gasworks and also the various improvements in hand:
A. Old Plant:
1. This consisted of twelve benches containing altogether 68 single retorts arranged in eight benches of six retorts each and four benches of five each. The retort building was old and not substantial having suffered from the weather. To prevent it crumbling away the stone was coated with tar.
2. On the building’s west side were two coal stores with rails running into each. There was also a line of rails between the retort benches so that coal could be thrown where required from the truck.
3. The condensers were at the building’s south end and consisted of four double rows of cast iron mains laid in a horizontal position. The original set of condensers consisted of ten vertical rows of pipes.
4. After leaving the condensers the gas entered the scrubbers of which there were two, one at each end of the building. These were brick and were six ft square by thirty ft high. The gas then passed through the exhausters to the purifying house.
5. In the purifying house were three purifiers each twelve ft square built of brick with wrought iron cups and lids. (These were proved to be unfit to cope with the demands of last winter). The gas then passed through the station meter which registered all the gas produced before it was received into the gas holder.
6. There were two gas holders. One was a single-lift holder 60 ft in diameter with a brick tank and capacity of 50 000 cu ft. The other was a double-lift telescopic holder, 80 ft in diameter and capable of holding 160 000 cu ft. The smaller holder had been in use for about eighteen years and the larger about eight years.
7. The governor, had been in service for eight years and with an outlet pipe of nine inches diameter, took gas from the holders and regulated the pressure in the city mains.
B. New Works:
1. The new buildings are all in brick. The retort house measures 126 ft by 76 ft and is erected on heavy concrete foundations seven feet in width. The roof, yet to be placed, is of corrugated galvanized iron fitted on a powerful iron framework with a span of 66 ft. There will be a lofty raised ventilator running from end to end. The building is capable of unlimited extension by the removal of the temporary walls. Accommodation is provided for seven benches of ‘through’ retorts each twenty feet long. The benches contain six retorts each or 42 altogether capable of producing 420 000 cu ft of gas daily. Probably no more than 300 000 cu ft daily will be used during the coming winter. On either side of the new retort house and extending its full length is a coal store 30 ft wide each of which can store 2 200 tons of coal. Four lines of railway will enable the coal to be placed wherever required in the retort house. Malvern Hills and Greymouth supplied the retort bench firebricks.
2. The chimney shaft is of octagonal shape and rises from a square pedestal resting on a concrete block 22 ft square and 11 ft in thickness underlaid, diagonally, with two rows of bluegum. It is lined with firebricks to a depth of nine inches and stands 62 ft high though it is intended to raise it to 125 ft. The flue is of a uniform diameter of five ft from bottom to top. There is an iron ladder built in the interior brickwork extending the entire length. The chimney is provided with a half-inch copper rod lightning conductor.
3. Walker’s patent annular condensers are being adopted capable of condensing 600 000 cu ft of gas daily. At the end of the condensers are screening columns designed to eliminate all vestiges of tar. Each column is 30 ft in height and 3.5 ft in diameter.
4. The purifying house is 120 ft long and has four cast-iron purifiers each 20 ft square with iron covers. These purifiers are supplied with four layers of sieves each, on which to place the purifying materials. A travelling crane is used to raise the lids.
5. The engine house is 40 ft square with an iron roof and is plastered and corniced. It contains two exhausters by George Wallace [sic] and Co of London which are capable of exhausting 30 000 and 20 000 cu ft per hour. They are fitted with Laidlaw’s compensating by-pass valves and can be worked singly or together. Two six horse power, high pressure, pump engines supply the motive power. The exhausters and set of pumps for raising the tar from the underground tanks are driven by overhead shafting. The floor is raised to allow for piping and valves to pass underneath. Steam is supplied by two Cornish boilers made locally by Sparrow and Co.
6. The new meter, capable of registering a flow of 30 000 cu ft of gas per hour was supplied by Braddock and Co. of Oldham. It is placed in an ornamental square cast-iron case. In the meter and valve-house the various currents of gas are directed and regulated by Walker’s patent valves having polished iron columns standing on a raised floor. After the gas leaves the purifiers its measurement, testing of illuminating power and regulation of supply is in the control of one man stationed in this house.
7. The large gas holder, nearly completed, will store 200 000 cu ft of gas. This is the first of its type in New Zealand and was built by the Horsley Company of Tipton to the designs of Mr Genever. The holder is 100 ft in diameter with the annular wrought-iron tank 102 ft in diameter [sic] by 25 ft in depth. There are sixteen, cast-iron columns located on square cast-iron pedestals. The inlet and outlet pipes are two feet in diameter.
8. All the planning for the new buildings and plant was prepared by Mr Genever with Messrs Anderson and Godso responsible for constructing the principal buildings. A new 18 in main has been laid to the City and the 14 in main has been extended from the Railway Station [in the Queens Gardens] to George Street via Cumberland Street. Greymouth coal is used almost exclusively. The original sum paid for the Gasworks in 1876 was £49 658.6.7 and with the cost of about £50 000 for the recent improvements the total expenditure on the gas supply amounts to very little short of £100 000.
9. During 1882 the Works was employing around 27 men: 21 stokers and 6 men in the ,including a blacksmith.
From time to time the Otago Witness reported on visits to various industries and enterprises within the area under the title ‘Otago Hands and Hearts’. On 7 July 1883 it reported on a visit to the local Gasworks. Written in the typical ‘flowery’ style of the day, where five words were used when one would have sufficed, nevertheless it gave the reader some idea of the atmosphere of the Works and its working conditions. The following is a heavily edited version of the reporter’s experiences:
“If ever there was a spot calculated to arouse in the mind the fancies of the supernatural then surely in this place at the dead of night may be found excuse for any lingering belief in ghouls and suchlike spirits of the dark. In front of him who enters are row on row of grim and blackened pipes whose music is set forth in periods by dull and sullen ‘booms’ and by the ‘clink’ of some falling tool. The eye is attracted to the lambent flames that play around the crevices of these tubes when a new glamour is added to the scene by the appearance of several grimy giants. These are the stokers whose duty, every three hours or so, is to ‘draw the charges’ and refill the retorts.
“From below each one of these upright pipes there extends rearward a cylinder constructed of fireclay to receive the coal which furnishes our gas. Now these cylinders may be either single (or ‘half-throughs) or ‘through-retorts’. This means they have a door or mouthpiece at each end of a tube some eighteen feet long or may be but half that length in which case a substantial brick wall will close up the farther end. In the Dunedin Gasworks both kinds are in use.
“ One man whose hands are usually encased in leather gloves loosens the bolt that fastens the furnace door and swiftly applies a live cinder to the gap which kindles escaping gas and then passes on to the next furnace in the row. Into the opened tube is thrust an iron instrument which looks like a toothpick magnified 10 000 times the crook at the end of which grips a load of coke and draws it swiftly to the mouth where it tumbles, more than red hot, onto the floor or into barrows placed under the retort mouths. Water is dashed onto these barrows which are then wheeled out into the yard where their contents are tipped onto heaps.
“Immediately after the clearing of the retorts the new coal charges are put in by means of iron scoops that strongly resemble enormous cheese tasters. One man takes hold of the scoop’s cross-handle and the other two insert beneath it a rod curved in the middle which supports the weight. Then with a quick step they advance to the open door and thrust their burden in, a quick turn of the wrists and the scoop is reversed and as speedily withdrawn leaving the fuel behind. So dexterously is this feat performed that it looks almost easy; but one must not judge by appearances in this case for the streaming brows of the workers show, as does their scanty attire, the difficulty of their labour.
“Once within these glowing receptacles the coal is fast deprived of its gas and tar. The former product passes up the tubes at the front of the furnaces into what is called the ‘hydraulic main’ which serves to shut off the gas from all chance of escape. Hence the gas, still in a very crude state, is taken to the condenser where the tarry and ammoniacal vapours, which seriously affect the illuminating power, are reduced to a liquid form. The condenser, as originally constructed, consisted of a number of tubes of considerable height connected by smaller tubes running at an angle.
“Our gas next passes into the washer where water performs the first of the cleansing actions. From here it moves to the scrubber which was, in its old-fashioned form, a towering cylinder filled with layers of ammonia, short lengths of wood and brushwood. By means of recent improvements the scrubber has been reduced considerably in size. The final cleansing operation is the purifiers, about four in number and containing lime, iron oxide or similar agents which remove the particles of sulphur, and carbonic acid, etc.
From the purifiers the gas finally emerges and is stored in the gigantic holder ready for distribution via the governor along the various mains into our streets and highways.
“The meter room now claims our attention and here we take the opportunity of testing the illuminating power of our newly-manufactured gas which we find to give the ‘very fairly’ satisfactory result of 18.5 candlepower. The neatly kept engine and boilers are not without their interest nor are the various yard operations such as the screening of coke for making asphalt and the bagging of coke for private use.
“However, there seems to be a tremendous waste of space in the Dunedin Works and surely the retort houses might, with regard to economy of labour, been placed in closer juxtaposition. It cannot be said that the Works are convenient in structure. The floors, for instance, are terribly irregular and surely at a level that brings them too much under the influence of the damp vapours which arise from the morass below.
“The directors, however, appear to be aware of this and a few new retorts are now being ‘set’ by a skilful workman who was recently engaged on a similar job at the works in Ramsgate, England and which have since proved themselves one of the most profitable concerns of the sort. These new retorts are known as the ‘D’ shape. It is hoped that these new retorts will cause a reduction in the quantity of naphthaline deposited in them. This most unprofitable compound known as C10 H8 lowers the gas’ carbon content.
“And now let us home and to bed, but not ‘by the struggling moonbeams’ misty light’; we will turn up the gas”!
During July 1883 the Town Council’s Gas Committee recommended that a contract to supply gas to the Borough of South Dunedin be actioned. At the same time an approach from a Mr W.C. Roberts acting on behalf of a ‘syndicate of gentlemen of this town’ to purchase or lease the Gas works was rejected.
A year later it was reported by the gas engineer that two of the four new settings were now in use. The settings consisted of five retorts in an oven. These retorts were made in Greymouth and were ‘D’ shaped at 22 in width (internally) and 15 ft depth with Oin [sic] ascension pipes and 30 in hydraulic mains. The iron mouthpieces were made by R.S. Sparrow and Co. in Dunedin. The remainder of the equipment was imported. The floor of the retort house had been raised three feet above ground level. This would help the work of those stoking the new-style retorts which themselves would result in a saving of coal.
Mr D.A. Graham, Gaswork’s engineer, presented his annual report for the year ending on the 31 March 1885. Published in the Otago Daily Times for 4 May 1885, this report was naturally very lengthy but there were some operational features which need mentioning:
1. Four new retort settings had been erected. New condensers would be required soon and these could be fabricated in Dunedin. The present two boilers together are just able to cope with the load. A spare boiler to enable the two in use to be cleaned will soon be needed.
2. The engines in use at present are too small and have to be used together. The crankshafts are small and, during the winter, the engines have to be worked at full power. Though they both require repairs nothing can be done until summer. They are still required to drive the water and tar pumps both of which should be driven by donkey engines similar to the recently-imported liquor pump.
3. The annular condenser has been shifted from the middle of the yard nearer to the exhauster outlets. I have plans prepared for a new engine room for two exhausters; one of these is presently in use. This new room will also accommodate two, coupled, horizontal, 12 h.p., high-pressure engines.
4. Another set of purifiers will soon be required as New Zealand coals contain a much higher percentage of sulphur compounds than either British or Australian coals. A new washer, built by Kirkham, Hullet [sic] and Chandler, has been erected.
5. The telescopic gas holder has been painted and caulked and the smaller holder will soon receive similar treatment. The gas holder storage is just sufficient for present needs; another holder will be required soon. The present governor is in a dangerous position. Soon I will submit plans for a new, isolated governor house containing three governors which will enable the town to be lit with much lower pressure.
6. The quantity of coal now carbonized is 862 tons less than that used three years ago; with the new settings in full use I believe it will be possible to use 1 000 tons less. This has also resulted in a reduction in the number of stokers from 21 to 16.
7. The storage for tar was much too small until the smaller gas holder tank was converted into a tar and liquor tank. A considerable quantity of tar is mixed with the coke breeze used to fire the boilers. The manufacture of creosote and carbolic oils has commenced through the provision of a new still.
8. The make of gas per ton of coal carbonized during the last six months equals 11 691 cu ft. NZ Greymouth coal produces 1 328 lb of coke per ton of carbonized coal. The gas is of much better quality than was formerly the case and less is used.
There is now a gap in this narrative which extends to October 1900 when mention is made of a presentation being made at the Gas works to a Mr George Newman, Winstanley’s N.Z.representative. Mr R. B. Coutris, the gas engineer, mentioned that the Dunedin Gas works were the first in New Zealand to be fitted with Winstanley’s regenerator furnaces. Benches, featuring these new furnaces, had recently been installed here.
The explosion at the water-gas, purifying house at the Dunedin Gasworks on 31 March 1903 was given considerable press coverage at the time. However there are one or two operational aspects, as they affected the Gasworks, which need mentioning:
1. There were three rooms to this house: exhausting, purifying and water [sic]. There was also provision for a meter. The purifying room was totally wrecked while the exhauster and meter rooms were both badly damaged. The windows in the engine room, 30 yards away, were broken.
2. The purifying room contained three purifiers each five feet deep and sixteen feet square. A careful examination lead to the conclusion that a faulty hydraulic seal in a purifier allowed gas to escape under the floors and pass through into the meter room where it was ignited by a small light maintained for various purposes. Between 1 700 and 2 000 cu ft of gas would be passing through the plant at the time of the explosion.
3. The water gas plant was installed about 1901 and supplied from 15 to 25% of the mixed gas as supplied to the public.
The Otago Daily Times for 20 July 1904 printed a long and comprehensive report on the City Gasworks which had been prepared for the Council by Mr Chenery Suggate, present engineer to the Auckland City Gas works. The report’s main conclusions were:
1. The cost of producing 1 000 cu ft of water gas was 6d more than the equivalent volume of coal gas and he recommended the stopping of water gas production as soon as possible. The present water gas plant could be retained as a stand-by plant when required.
2. Suggate recommended the construction of a direct railway line from the steamer basin to the Gasworks. He also recommended the installation of a new holder and tank.
3. The mains were sufficient for present requirements and the degree of leakage from the reticulation at 4.99% of manufacture was below average for New Zealand works.
4. The purchase of the Caversham Gas Works was recommended. In Suggate’s opinion this plant was obsolete and, apart from the telescopic gas holder with 200 000 cu ft capacity, quite useless for any extension of the main works.
5. To bring the Works up to a standard where 20 000 tons of coal are carbonized annually to meet the growing demand for gas, the following items of lant would need extended:
*Retorts: These require seven new settings of eight on the regenerative principle. The retort house will need lengthened to about 140 feet. The walls of the old building will need to be raised.
*Coke conveyor and elevator: The Works will need a conveyor to convey coke into the yard and automatically quench it en route. A coal charging machine to fill the 20 feet long retorts needs to be considered.
*Condensers, etc.: A second row of condensers will be necessary and the smaller Burton, Waller and Co. exhauster needs replaced by one of double the capacity.
*A rotary washer is required and also another station meter. The boiler capacity may need increasing though gas engines could be used instead of steam engines.
*Four new purifiers will be needed each measuring 30 ft x 25 ft and placed along the western boundary.
*Gas holders: A slightly larger gas holder and wrought iron tank will be needed. The tank will be a one-lift, 150 ft diameter model.
6. General:
*Cooking Stoves: There could be an opening for a larger trade in cookers, rings, fires (especially in bedrooms), laundry work, brazing, soldering, boot finishing, shoemakers’ tools, blow-pipe, annealing, jewellers and a number of other trades using gas.
*Ravensbourne Supply: This district should be supplied as soon as possible.
*Make of Gas: At present only Newcastle coal is being used. It was recommended that a sample of Westport be tried as better results would be obtained.
*Chain of Command, etc: It is usual for the gas engineer to have absolute control of everything up to the meter outlet. In the Dunedin Works from main to meter outlet is under the control of a person who is not responsible to the engineer. This shouldn’t be permitted because it can pave the way for a large amount of friction. The engineer is much hampered by the employment of unsuitable labour. It is a well known law in gasworks that the yard labourers must be qualified stokers awaiting their turn to ‘go in’ as required or relieve a sick worker. (One afternoon, when Suggate was present, a stoker was unable to continue work and not one of the eight men in the yard could take his place and a stoker had to be sent for from town). Some workers were over 70 years old. It is impossible to work economically under such conditions
In September 1904 it was noted that the Dunedin City Gasworks supplied gas not only to the City but also to the Boroughs of North East Valley, South Dunedin and Maori Hill. St Kilda Borough was supplied to only a limited extent. The Caversham Gasworks, owned by an English Company, supplied gas to the suburbs of Mornington, Roslyn and Caversham.
By March 1906 the Gasworks had switched to the use of New South Wales coal, namely that supplied by the East Greta Coal Mining Company. This East Greta coal had a faster carbonizing rate than New Zealand coals. Although other NZ Gasworks were using local coals they had a larger storage capacity whereas Dunedin had a limited coal storage capacity of only twelve hours compared to the three days or so of other works.
Five tenders were received for coal supply for the coming year. These comprised West Maitland coals, (East Greta, Pelaw Main and Abermain) and New Zealand coals, (Westport and Brunner). The contract was for 10 000 tons.
By the end of 1906 the Council’s Gas Committee had announced a record gas yield per ton of coal of 13 238 cu ft and was congratulating the new Gaswork’s engineer, Mr Hungerford on the result. A start had been made on the construction of the new retort house and Australasian hardwood had been sourced for the piles. Bluegum of the required thickness couldn’t be obtained locally. Driving the piles would take all of four months, it was estimated.
At the end of December 1907 a group of City Councillors and other prominent citizens made a tour of the extensions now in progress on the Andersons Bay road site. According to the Otago Witness the group noted the following developments:
1. The Retort House: The brick walls were nearly finished. Seven settings of horizontal ‘through’ retorts, operated from a steel stage floor will be accommodated. On this floor will be installed a De Brower charging and discharging machine of the most modern design. Two gas engines, each of 30 h.p. will drive generators to supply electricity to power this labour-saving machine. On the discharge side of the retort house will be installed a push-plate conveyor to receive the coke discharged from the retorts. The conveyor will carry the coke to elevated gantries from where it can be loaded directly into railway trucks or carts. The new coal-handling plant will consist of a coal hopper and pit at the rear of the coal store. The railway trucks will be emptied into this hopper from which the coal will be elevated either into the coal store or into the retort house. Here it will be conveyed by a push-plate conveyor and discharged into a series of twelve ton capacity hoppers. From these hoppers the coal moves first into the measuring chamber of the charging machines which project the coal straight into the retorts. The retort house is 38 ft high to the roof line, 66 ft wide and 112 ft long. The coal stores, which are included in the retort building, will be 112 ft long, 40 ft wide and capable of holding a six weeks supply of coal. The retort house should be in full operation in a year’s time. When this happens the old works will be entirely pulled down.
2. The Old Plant: On visiting the existing plant it was quite obvious that the extensions were not being undertaken a moment too soon. The plant was ‘dilapidated in every direction’ and the signs of extensive repairs were obvious.
3. Other Aspects: The new exhausting machine is nearly assembled. This machine is a Beale type with four blades and fitted with automatic steam and gas governors constructed by Messrs Wallace [sic] and Sons of Gloucester England. The Works laboratory gave a demonstration of coals testing to determine their-gas producing capabilities.. The laboratory is equipped with a photometer and a calorimeter for determining the gas’ heating value. Mr Hungerford explained the methods used for testing sulphurous properties and other impurities contained in the gas.
The huge derrick for pile-driving on the new holder site was next inspected. The piles had arrived in New Zealand and a start was to be made on driving them almost immediately. The English contractors would make a start on erecting the holder about the end of March. The capacity of the new holder would be 1 000 000 cu ft. It would be 430 ft in diameter and 120 ft high or about 30 ft higher than the Gaswork’s chimney. (Last winter the demand was equal to 700 000 cu ft per day).
Later in 1908 the Mayor of Dunedin decided to establish an inquiry into the management of the Gas Works and to hear the alleged grievances of the workmen. The inquiry and its findings were published in full in the Otago Daily Times of 4 September. Though somewhat outside the scope of these notes, the inquiry did provide an insight into plant management and governance and the working conditions of the era.
By early January 1909 a start was to be made of the Maori Hill gas reticulation using a mile and a half of piping. At the new retort house, of the six beds of 48 ‘through’ retorts, one bed was completed while the generators and the bottoms of the retort beds are in position. Extending out from the second floor in the front of the house is a huge steel structure called a hot coke conveyor running to a height of 45 ft. In front of the retort beds is a set of rails along which the coke emptied from the retorts is conveyed and then discharged along the elevator. The coke is then screened allowing the breeze to be separated. The coke is then discharged into one of four hoppers. Carts can then draw in underneath where by the pulling of a lever the cart is filled, The elevator is of the De Brower type.
During the Dunedin City Council’s appeal for one of its leading stokers not to be called up for war service in August 1918 one or two facts of the Gaswork’s operation were revealed. At that time the Works was carbonizing 13 000 tons of coal annually and the staffing was considerably ‘shortened’ because of the War. Mr Hungerford, the gas engineer, had held his position for the last twelve years and during that time there had been a complete change in the handling of coal. All the machinery was stated to be electrically driven. The work was divided into three eight-hour shifts under the control of a leading stoker.
In early-June, 1920 Dunedin and other areas suffered a serious shortage of bituminous coal. The local Coal Trade Committee, which seemed to enjoy some sort of official status, had done the rounds of the local coal yards and had found only about 135 tons of this coal available. Orders were given that every shovelful of bituminous coal should be sent to the Gas Works. This coal was shifted to the Works on a Tuesday afternoon when it was expected to last until the following Friday. On this day the Flora was expected from Greymouth with between 300 and 600 tons of coal for the Gas Works. As a precaution the Gaswork’s manager was warning consumers that the gas pressure had been reduced as a precaution and that they should use the strictest economy.
There was even a suggestion that inspectors disconnect the gas supply to those houses which also had a coal range. Central authorities, alleged the Otago Daily Times of 3 June, were easing up on the supply of hard coal to Dunedin because of the nearby abundance of soft coals. The Gas Committee pointed out that in the last four years the Works had been under-supplied by suitable coal. The storage capacity for coal at the Gasworks was over 4 000 tons, yet on two occasions during the last two months these stores have contained less than five tons with the daily output of gas being equivalent to a consumption of 60 tons.
The immediate position gave cause for grave anxiety. On 8 May the Rakahoa [sic] arrived with 640 tons of coal and on that day the stores were empty as the vessel had been delayed. (640 tons represented less than two week’s supply). The Works were promised further shipments during the following week but this didn’t happen as the boat was diverted. The Flora was substituted but was then late in arriving here. The Works were kept going by the use of some Stockton coal which was received from the Kaituna which enabled them to keep going until last Monday. During this period the supply of coal was certainly ‘hand to mouth’!
DUNEDIN GASWORKS TIMELINE; 1863 – 1920
Compiled by W.J. Cowan
This timeline was compiled from newspaper files accessed through the National Library programme ‘Papers Past’. From this site the various reports, etc. mentioned below can be read, in full.
Scources:
‘R’ – Dunedin City Council Gaswork Committee Reports, etc. as reported in The Otago Daily Times of that date
‘ODT’ The Otago Daily Times local news
‘OW’ The Otago Witness local news
‘McD’ City of Dunedin by K.C. McDonald, 1965
1862
May: Dunedin Gas and Coke Co. formed with Stephen Stamp its engineer and promoter. ODT
October: Company registered with these objectives: 1.Supply gas within the town and suburbs of Dunedin; 2. Sell coke, tar and other residual products from the distillation of coal or any other material used in the manufacture of gas. ODT
November: Gas Co. entered into agreement with Town Board to supply gas to and maintain 150 lamps in the town. ODT
1863
28 February: John Millar, Town Board engineer, vetoes designs of proposed gas lamp pillars, designs his own. OW
9 May: Gas being generated at the Andersons Bay Road site; holder contains some 80 000 cu. ft. OW
13 May: Controversy over lamp post tendering. ODT
August: Gas mains being laid in Stuart Street along with 25 temporary, wooden gas-lamp posts. ODT
1 September: Gas lamps lit for first time soon replacing ten kerosene-powered street lamps provided by the Town Board in June 1862. ODT
25 September: Dangers of unlit streets. OW
1869
Gas Co’s seven year contract due for renewal; steady litany of complaints re the quantity and quality of the gas supply. McD
June: Mr A.K. Smith of Melbourne requested by Council to report on the gas supply and manufacture. McD
3 June: Council debate on quality, etc. of gas supply. ODT
5 August: Smith’s report highly critical of the existing plant ;suggested Council should build its own plant at the east end of St Andrew Street. McD
18 November: A.K. Smith’s design for new Gasworks presented to Council. ODT
1870
15 January: ODT Editorial on Gaswork’s sale.
27 January: Tenders received for new Gasworks: J. Millar FSA £20 932, E. Chambers £22 109, Walkem and Peyman £21 495,
A.K. Smith £19 275 ODT
2 May: Mr W.N. Blair presented his valuation report on the existing Gasworks to the Council. ODT
5 May: Council meeting on Gaswork’s purchase. ODT
23 May: ODT Editorial – Gaswork’s Question
1871
17 March: Bricklayers needed to set retorts, benches, etc at Gasworks. R
22 June: Joseph W. Hutchison took over lease of Gasworks from his brother in February, 1868; fourteen men employed.
1872
14 February: Tenders invited for erection of meter house, experimental room and offices at Gasworks. R
1873
W.B. Taylor appointed accountant and collector at Gasworks; in 1887 appointed Gaswork’s secretary. ODT
1875
Henry Courtis of Melbourne presented his report on the state of the Gasworks to the Council. In October the Council finally offered to buy the Gasworks for £45 000 as they stood and this offer was accepted by H.A. Hankey owners’ representative. McD
13 December: Job vacancies in Gasworks advertised. ODT
1876
1 January: Gasworks pass into Council ownership. McD
1877
30 May: Special Council meeting to consider gas supply complaints; reports considered. ODT
6 June: Order to bright Bros. for 36 fourteen-inch retorts; daily coal consumption c. seven cwt. of cannel [sic] coal; old gasholder repaired by Burts. R
1878
10 April: D.C.C. to order 100 lamp posts from U.K. @ £5.17.0. R
6 July: D. Proudfoot to construct loop line and to fix a turntable at Gasworks. R
29 July: Mr Marryat, Gaswork’s foreman. R
28 September: ODT Editorial on street lighting.
3 October: Sparrow and Co. supply new Cornish boiler @ £206 to Gasworks; other tenderers: Cutten and Co. and Blackadder. R
1879
13 January: Mr T.S. Cleminson’s report on the Dunedin Gasworks published. ODT
11 February: Grey River coal tending to choke-up ascension pipes; gasfitter regulations adopted. R
27 March: Gasworks advertising for new gas engine. R
4 June: Engineer experimenting with a mixture of Greymouth and Kaitangata coals. R
6 December: Martin and Watson to supply West Coast coal @ 39/5 and 36/5 per ton. R
1880
19 May: Two new gas purifiers to be bought @ £1 000; necessary because of increased use of Greymouth coal. R
18 June: Report on series of additions and improvements to the Gasworks under leadership of E. Genever, engineer. ODT
1881
7 April: Production for week ending 7 April: 44 retorts working, 111 tons of coal carbonized, 1 164 300 cu. ft. gas made, 18 tons coke sold, 1 242 gal. tar sold. (illuminating power of gas = 18 candle power). R
22 April: Gasworks now using N.Z. coal exclusively. R
1882
18 February: Extensive report on improvements to Gasworks. ODT
1883
16 February: Suggs No. 4 or 5 flat-flame, steatite burners used in street lights. R
7 July: Visit to Gasworks by Otago Witness rep. as part of Otago Hands and Hearts series.; South Dunedin Borough to be supplied with gas. ODT
22 October: Caledonian Bowling Club began play on their new green at the rear of the Gasworks. R
1884
2 June: Two of the four new settings are in use. R
1885
4 May: Mr D.A. Graham, Gaswork’s engineer, presented his annual report. [This contained numerous points of operational interest]. ODT
1886
6 April: Mr D.A. Graham, engineer, presented lengthy report to Council. R
21 May: ODT Editorial on Gaswork’s profitability.
27 August: ODT Editorial on state of Gasworks
7 September: Strong need by Council to push gas sales espec. for motive and cooking power; increase of only 50 consumers during last three years. R
13 October: Two new governors connected to the mains followed by a third and larger one; pressure in mains to be reduced. R
28 October: Report on Gaswork’s proposals for improvement. ODT
2 November: Report on proposed new governor house. R
16 November: Recommended that a room be fitted-up to demonstrate the advantages of gas as an illuminant and for heating and motive power. R
1887
30 May: Gaswork’s engineer responds to D.C.C. complaints over gas quality, etc. R
4 June: Report on dispute over aspects of Gaswork’s management and governance. ODT
16 June: N.Z.R. to stop propelling coal trucks across Andersons Bay Road because of accident potential; A & T Burt to supply 24 cast iron lamp frames; Suburban Gas Co. to stop supplying gas to South Dunedin Borough; greater demand for gas for heating and cooking, 31 new applications for supply during last fortnight. R
25 August: Sulphate of ammonia sold to Kempthorne Prosser @ £10 per ton.
3 September: Gaswork’s engineer endorses Westport coal in advertisement. R
1888
19 April: Two new engines needed at Gasworks. R
6 September: Gas supplied to 18 gas engines in town with average gas consumption per engine of 90 633 cu.ft.; 61 gas stoves in use. R
1890
18 September: Report on coals used. R
4 October: Special Gaswork’s report. R
1891
17 January: Invercargill Town Clerk, Mr Scandrett, publishes report on N.Z. Gaswork’s operations. ODT
1892
21 January: Gaswork’s engines to be fitted with new cylinders @ £60; two gasholders are to be cleaned and repainted. R
4 April: £200 to be spent on new Gaswork’s engines; start of a large order with ultimate intention to build new works. R
28 April: Quality of gas to be improved; the small exhauster is to be altered to operate faster. R
9 November: Two new retort settings @ £180 ordered from Auckland Gas Co. for next winter’s demands. R
8 December: 100 tons of Hetton coal (NSW) to be supplied @ 22/6 per ton. R
1893
15 February: New gas engines for Gasworks completed by NZ Engineering and Electrical Co. R
15 March: Tender of Grey Valley Coal Co. accepted to supply Coal Pit Heath coal @ 27/6 per ton for next year. R
24 May: H.B. Courtis appointed as Gaswork’s engineer; ex Timaru Gasworks; all hands to be dismissed after one month and then re-engaged at engineer’s discretion. R.
5 July 1893: Preliminary report on Gaswork’s operations by H.B. Courtis. R
1894
5 February: Gaswork’s fumes affecting Braemar Street properties; paint damaged; family ill; Council had lost four actions brought against it. R
14 February: Mayor’s memo on Gaswork’s engineer’s report. ODT
17 February: ODT Editorial on engineer’s report.
25 April: Mrs E.B. Miller’s request for free gas for her Technical School cooking lessons refused. R
10 May: List of Gaswork’s staff: positions held and wages. R
1895
23 May: 56 applicants for position of Gaswork’s cadet. R
1896
3 June: Purchase of gas engine authorized; 5 110 tons of East Greta coal ordered, (E.G. coal gasifies rapidly). R
23 September: New horizontal engines at Gasworks up for sale with £180 reserve. R
1898
28 July: Wall at end of retort house unsafe; suggested that retort house be enlarged in that direction. R
14 December: Two gasholders to be painted using oxide paint. R
1899
8 March: Tender of Greymouth-Point Elizabeth Railway and Coal Co. to supply West Brunner gas coal for next year accepted; screened @ 24/- per ton, unscreened 22/- and nuts 23/-. R
27 April: Christchurch Press reports ‘The Dunedin Gasworks has succeeded in turning a very beautiful harbour into an evil smelling pool’. R
29 June: Report by engineer on water gas; ODT editorial on 1 July
20 September: John Lunn’s tender of £999 for retort house extension accepted.100 ton sample of East Greta coal to be paid for according to results. R
28 November: Letter to ODT on the use of coal gas as motive power for tramcars.
1900
18 April: £1 611 tender of McKechnie and Fleming for erection of brick buildings with iron and slate roofs accepted. R
13 June: J. Lunn’s tender of £918 for constructing concrete foundations for new gasholder accepted. R
25 October: Winstanley retort benches being erected at Gasworks. ODT
1901
3 April: Sale of Gaswork’s engines; Milburn Lime and Cement to supply lime for purification. R
1902
5 February: NZ Coal and Oil Co. supplied 15 000 gal oil @ 6d per gallon; 10 000 tons of East Greta coal ordered. R
16 April: Open shed to be built at Gasworks for coal protection; £21 set aside to buy second locomotive. R
6 August: Alterations to railway in Gaswork’s yard; four tons of rails bought (17 September). R
15 September: Hugh Kitto, 11 years, fatally injured when playing with railway wagons on the Gaswork’s siding at Andersons Bay Road. R
15 October: Experimental apparatus delivered. R
10 December: Supply of gas to 5 h.p. engines limited to their location being no more than 100 ft from building line. R
1903
1 April: Water gas plant partially destroyed by explosion. ODT
2 April: New residence built by Robert Baskett for Gaswork’s manager; old house 40 years old. R
8 April: OW report on explosion.
1904
28 April: Mr Chenery Suggate of Auckland Gas Co. asked by D.C.C. to report on the Dunedin Gasworks and how the plant could be modernized and extended. R
22 June: 27 500 cases of kerosene @ 6d per gallon delivered to gasworks. R
20 July: Mr Suggate’s report on Gasworks published. ODT
17 August: Duplicate ammonia concentration plant to be bought @ £450. R
19 August: Letter to ODT re Suggate’s report.
14 October: Use of Ocean Beach Railway for coal cartage. R
26 October: Gaswork’s locomotive plus £125 to be given to John Murdoch and Co. in exchange for larger engine. R
9 November: Tenders invited for the supply of a gas engine and exhauster. R
1905
12 April: Gas engine bought for £20 to power workshop equipment; superphosphate bought to improve water gas output. R
10 May: All gas lamps in South Dunedin to be fitted with auto lighters; Gasworks using unscreened East Greta (N.S.W.) coal till March 1906. R
1 June: Westport v. East Greta coals report. ODT
20 July: Gasworkers’ Union met with Council to state grievances. Reply to Mr Suggate’s report by Gaswork’s engineer; ODT
22 September: Proposal to raise loan of £50 000 for Gaswork’s improvements. ODT
22 November: Number of gas lamps reducing. R
1906
1 February: Question of gas v. electricity, etc. R
14 February: Concentrated ammoniacal liquors produced by Gasworks to be sold to Ammonia Co. of Australia for next five years. R
28 March: Order for 10 000 tons of East Greta coal; £5 compensation offered to Mr Applegarth, suffered facial burns after small gas explosion at A. Moritzson’s premises; D.C.C. workmen at fault. R
29 March: ODT Editorial on coal for Gasworks.
3 July: Punching and shearing machine supplied to Gasworks. R
13 July: Mr Hungerford begins duties as Gaswork’s manager. R
28 August: Two Gaswork employees to be retired after 40 years service each. R
11 September: Exhauster and gas engine surplus. R
23 October: Tenders called for Gasworks extension machinery. R
1907
26 February: Twelve tons of finely-ground fireclay to be bought from the Christchurch Gas Co. R
23 April: George Waller and Son to supply exhausting machinery @ £728. R
7 May: Two pressure registers and one exhauster vacuum register to be bought. R
21 May: 620 ft of retorts needed @ £470. R
1 June: 38 gasworks in N.Z.- 10 in Auckland, 9 in Wellington and 6 in Otago provinces. R
18 June: Thomas Cole appointed in England to be inspecting engineer for Gaswork’s extension. R
16 July: Acceptance of tenders for Gasworks extensions. R
23 November: Large wooden derrick erected for pile driving the foundations of the new gasholder; iron bark piles. R
1908
1 January: Inspection of Gaswork’s extension’s progress by Councillors, etc. OW
14 March: Extensions progress. ODT
6 April: Gaswork’s staff erecting coal store and retort house roof. R
18 April: 66 street lights to be erected in Caversham Ward; fitted with incandescent burners. R
27 April: Town Clerk’s Report. [comprehensive]. ODT
23 May: Distance between reticulation of the two Gasworks is 20 chains [sic]; connection being made using Mannesman pipes
9 June: Gasworks using about1 000 tons of coal per month; new gasholder tank under construction; Marseilles tiles to be used on new retort roof; new retort benches being built. R
27 June: Letter to ODT by H.B. Courtis re gas quality.
30 July: Alterations necessary to water-gas engine room to accommodate new exhausters. R
7 August: Inspection of larger of two ammonia plants by rep. of the Australasian Ammoniacal Liquor Co; plant there since 1905. R
4 September: Gasworks Inquiry Report. ODT
5 September: Gasworks now connected to Caversham plant which is still in production but will soon shut down. R
3 December: Difficulty with the alignment of old and new gasholders, (being erected by Messrs. Westwood and Wright). R
1909
8 January: New gasholder nearly finished; capacity 1 000 000 cu. ft., 120 ft high when fully extended; retort house progress. R
22 March: Gasworks Committee to arrange the manufacture and sale of essential parts of gas cookers; up to date cooking and heating appliances to be promoted. R
24 May: New gasholder sits on reinforced concrete slab; 130 ft in diameter. R
14 June: Fencing to be erected around Works. R
18 October: Disposal of old cart weighbridge at Gasworks. R
1 November: Cash sales re-introduced at Gasworks; coke to be sold from Gasworks now by weight. R
1910
3 February: Inquiry into the construction of the new gasholder and retort houses. ODT
4 October: W.J. Jenkins and Co. Retford, England to supply duplicate parts, etc. for retort house machinery; suitable breeze furnaces to work under forced-draught for Gaswork’s boiler. R
31 October: Ross and Glendinning to loan Council their Straker steam wagon to cart metal from quarry to Gasworks. R
21 November: ‘Kaituna’ said to be the name of creek which once flowed down from the Glen and entered the Harbour at the Gasworks. R
1911
6 February: Messrs. Newton, Chambers and Co. of Sheffield to supply one set of purifiers. R
10 February: Kerosene bond to be built in Andersons Bay Road opposite Gasworks; will hold 60 000 cases of kerosene and petrol. R
9 March: Concern over high wharfage charges on coal @ 3/- per ton, highest in N.Z.; on a year’s supply of 15 000 tons = £2 250. R
23 March: C & W Gore successful, (only), tenderer for supply of 50 000 red bricks. R
31 March: Report on defects in new gasholder’s foundations; [see also 6 April]. ODT
3 April: C.W. Walkers of London to supply one set of purifiers. R
18 April: Electric street lamps being erected. R
8 November: Purchase of ground at west end of Percy Street for new gasholder or re-erection of present holder. R
1912
14 October: Damaged gasholder to be removed and re-erected on the Percy Street site. R
1913
17 March: Dismantling and re-erection of gasholder begun. R
17 April: Solid rock for base of new gasholder found at depth of seven feet. R
28 April: Bulk of coal orders for the following year sourced from Pelaw Main and Aberdare fields in N.S.W. R
16 October: Different forms of Gaswork’s motive power. R
27 October: D.C.C. Works Dept. to buy tar from Gasworks @ 6d per gal.; to take not less than 50 000 gallons per year. R
17 November: Coal consumption is 250 tons per week. R
1914
20 May: Waronui Coal Co. to supply 4 000 tons of Bellbird and 2 000 tons of Aberdare coals. R
7 December: Recent death of H.B. Courtis, aged 63. (Obituary). R
1916
6 March: 13 000 tons of coal required for y.e. 31.3.17.
1917
8 March: John McKewen contracted to cart coal from wharf to Gasworks for 1/10 per ton; State Coal mines to supply 10 000 tons of coal @ 25/- per ton; Bruce Railway and Coal Co. to supply 3 000 tons of Westport-Stockton coal @ 25/6 per ton. R
1918
21 August: Gas stoker’s appeal re active service. ODT
1920
21 February: Gaswork’s locomotive on loan to the Harbour Board; overhauled and returned on 6 June 1919. R
15 March: New Gasworks plant ordered from England: condensers, rotary scrubber, Livesay washer. R
26 March: Coal shortage. ODT
3. June: Coal shortage report. ODT
19 June: City Gasworks by-products report. ODT
14 October: New motor-generator, ex Sydney, bought for £1 000. R
28 October: Petrous Tile Co. leasing Caversham Gaswork’s site. R