Contents
Controller and Audit-General
The Audit Office,
Wellington, N.Z., 8th April, 1929.
I hereby certify that, after investigation of the publisher's lists and other records, the average circulation of the New Zealand Railways Magazine for the 12 months ended May, 1928, is in excess of 20,000 copies per month during the whole of that period and that, during the months of February and March, 1929, the circulation has increased to over 22,500 copies.
“O waterfall that fallest to the sea,
Falling for ever to white virginals
Of olden melody! …”—Hubert Church.
The Bowen Falls (540ft.), Milford Sound, South Island, New Zealand.
New Zealand
Railways
Magazine
Railways
Magazine
“
.”
For Better ServicePublished by the
New Zealand Government Railways Department
Circular over 22,500
Vol. 4. No. 2.
Wellington, New Zealand
Leadership
Biography is full of instances that prove how leadership often develops from some shock to the sensibilities or the senses of the individual. Newton was weakly in body, and a poor student until a schoolmate bigger than himself delivered an unmerited blow beneath the belt. Unable to retaliate in a physical sense, he decided to beat the bully at lessons, and soon topped the class. Another blow—this time on the head—from an apple wind fall in his father's orchard, set his mind in motion to deduce the law of gravity.
Whatever the pre-determining cause, leadership of the supreme kind can be attained only by those with a definite object in view and constant purpose in its pursuit.
It is a new belief that whatever a man really wants he can have. The pursuit of that want makes him a leader, provided he bends all his energies to its attainment. Lord Rosebery's schooldays are remembered best by the confession of ambition made to some pals. “I want,” he said, “to marry an heiress, to be Prime Minister, and to win the Derby!” He reached the limit of his wants, accomplishing all three purposes, and then, having nothing further to wish, just went on winning Derbys, of which he captured three.
No business can make continued success unless it has leadership, in which decision, loyalty, judgment, friendship, courage, and purpose are wisely blended. Probably to every man is given the ability to lead in some one thing. Those who make no progress towards some form of leadership usually just drift from day to day, with no clear purpose, no goal constantly kept in view—just a blind following of the easiest streets in the maze of the problems of life.
The next best thing to being a good leader is to be a good follower.
There are physical, moral and psychological differences between men that, at a certain stage of the game, determine beyond dispute who should lead and who follow. Given a leader of tried capacity there is nothing better in the business world than the spirit of loyalty that, recognising his worth, backs him up, and furnishes that support which enables every well-intentioned decision to reach perfect fruition.
Columbus certainly discovered a new world, but his supreme effort in crossing an unknown ocean was made without moral support from any of the crew of his three vessels. His was a lone struggle towards the triumph of which he was Nelson, who, from his first successful fight, received the full confidence and support, the veritable worship of officers and men throughout the ranks of the British Navy.
Railway developments in recent years indicate rather the Nelson—the “band of brothers”—type of support than the Columbus, in the staff backing given to the efforts made in making the Railways increasingly responsive to public requirements.
Modern business leadership is the source of the change, and a good fighting spirit (developed from the shock of competition), the resource upon which the Department has mainly depended, and, during our latest year the result has been a definite winning back of business in both passengers and goods traffic. This may be taken as a clear sign that the Railways of this country are past their nadir, and are now leading the way in providing attractive service to the public.
New Zealand's National Game
It is interesting to record that Mr. H. H. Sterling, General Manager of the New Zealand Railways, was elected as a member of the executive body of the New Zealand Rugby Union. Mr. Sterling has been associated with New Zealand's national game for a number of years, having been a member of the branch committees of the Rugby Unions in the various districts of New Zealand in which he has been located. His appointment to an executive position on the parent body will be pleasing to the whole of the railway service.
It is interesting to note that among the delegates at the annual meeting, when the above election took place, was Mr. E. Casey, Divisional Superintendent in the North Island, who is one of the Auckland Rugby Union representatives
The retirement, last month, of Mr. H. J. Wynne, who, for the last twenty years, has controlled the destinies of the Railways Signal and Electrical Branch, was an important event in connection with railway matters. Mr. Wynne had so appealing a personality that everyone in the Department with whom he was associated came to regard him as a close personal friend. He had most progressive ideas, and, from the time of his arrival in the Dominion, when the signalling system of the railways was undeveloped, he took a leading part in building up this important service until today, in some aspects of signalling, it has few rivals in the world—notably in long distance signal installations. New Zealand had, for some time, the longest stretch of single line automatic track in the world, that is, from Arthur's Pass to Stillwater Junction.
On his retirement from the service, Mr. Wynne carries with him the good wishes of all the staff for his future health and prosperity.
The Late Mr. Burnett
Mr. James Burnett, whose death, at a ripe old age, was announced during the past month, was a man who made a definite mark on railway development in New Zealand. After occupying various positions in the service he attained the position of Chief Engineer, which he held for a number of years.
Mr. Burnett was a man of very decided opinions, and did much towards heightening the regard in which engineering practice in New Zealand is held by the engineering fraternity.
After his retirement from the service he carried on his work in another direction by helping to organise efforts in connection with the Red Cross movement. His services to that body were of so special a character that he gained universal esteem.
Farmers' Excursions
None of the enterprises that have been undertaken by the Railways Department in recent years has given a more gratifying proof of the fact that they are supplying a service pleasing to the Department's clients than the various Farmers' Excursions that have been organised.
This movement was started about three years ago, and from the first trip, when special efforts were made to make the outing attractive, the movement has extended until, this season, four major Farmers' Excursions are being run through the Dominion. These are now on, the winter being the time at which farmers can most conveniently be spared from the work on the land to pay visits to other parts of the Dominion. Two big excursions are being run from the South Island to the South. So popular have these excursions become, that, in Christchurch, it was found necessary to arrange for the despatch of two trains to convey the Canterbury farmers. Each of the excursions has been filled up from nominations received in the districts, without any special advertising by the Railway Department.
Stephenson's “Rocket”
When the Liverpool and Manchester Railroad Directors were about to decide upon the type of motive power, sentiment in favour of steam was at low ebb. Stephenson finally persuaded the Directors to consent to a public trial of locomotives to be held on 25th April, 1829, and the successful performance of his locomotive “Rocket” not only determined steam as the road's motive power, but did much to promote the use of steam on other roads. In this test the “Rocket” hauled a coach containing 30 passengers at a speed of 29 miles per hour. On the following day it pulled 13 tons forward and backward on the two miles of railroad until 35 miles were covered. The locomotive had two cylinders working in an oblique position and weighed four and a half tons.
The Development of the Locomotive”
published by The Central Steel Company,
Massillon, Ohio, U.S.A.).
General Manager's Message
Service Aspects of the New Zealand Railways.
Evidence is not lacking of the need for fuller understanding by the public regarding the service which the railways render them, both as a seller of transportation, and as a buyer of New Zealand commodities. The test of figures is always enlightening, and on this point it is interesting to record that over £6,25,000 was the sum spent by the Railways Department last year on the wages of employees and on the purchase of commodities in New Zealand. The wages account for the year was £4,884,136, and the amount spent on New Zealand produce and manufactures was £1,345,360.
These figures go to prove definitely that every section of the community in New Zealand is interested in the national transport business. Some review of the matter, as it affects the two principal sections—those engaged in primary production and those employed in the business of secondary industry—is therefore appropriate.
Primary Industry.
The great interest that is being taken by the farmers in the special excursions arranged to enable them to travel as representatives of the farming community to various producing and manufacturing districts of New Zealand presents an opportunity for stating the case to the primary producers.
The fact that these excursions are run is tangible evidence of our desire to meet the farmers in the matter of railway passenger facilities with a view to increasing their opportunity of taking advantage of cheap travel on the railway. The remarkable success which is attending our efforts has shown that what we are doing for the farmers is being appreciated, and holding, as I firmly do, that the true test of our success is service as well as profit, this is a source of great satisfaction to us.
We desire to bring home to the farmers the fact that while the railway is helping, and continues to do what it can to help, the farming community to an advantageous use of the railway system of the country, there is a definite responsibility on the part of the farming community to give the railway such support as will make it a thriving institution and so put it in a position to cater more and more adequately for the needs of the people. Almost invariably the railways that have been built in this country (apart from those in the very early days when the system was being constructed between the main cities) have been
There is, therefore, a definite responsibility on them to make the railways a success in fact, and so justify the statement of those who advocated their construction that they were a justifiable proposition. The railways are only worth the use that is made of them, and unless people use them our lines cannot possibly be a success from any point of view, financial or otherwise. Our outlook is not bounded by the financial return alone, although of course it is our object to do the best possible from this point of view—but we desire also to give a service to the public that will be satisfactory to them. It is largely on this second principle that the farmers' excursions are based.
Secondary Industries.
With almost £5,000,000 spent annually in the wages of railway employees, it is clear that those engaged in secondary industries are definitely gainers by the assured spending power of railway employees. It is to their direct interest, in view of the fact that the railways are an essential industry, to give adequate support to the railways in the way of placing their freight business with the national concern in preference to passing it over, as some of them do at times, to uneconomically operating, and unessential competitors.
A Double Responsibility.
The responsibility for making a success of the railways does not rest with the railway people only. The responsibility is much wider than that. Certainly the railway people have to give service, and give that service at the lowest possible cost. That is what we are endeavouring to do, and, as the figures show, with success. But the collective responsibility for the success of the railways embodies more than this. The best efforts of the railway people in the direction indicated will be inadequate to make the railways as opportunity may offer. All too often we have traffic diverted from the railway on the most trivial grounds. For an advantage that even the smallest consideration would show to be but temporary, if not wholly evanescent, people will sometimes divert their traffic from the national institution. Such action will have its undoubted reaction. Uneconomic services cannot be permanent, and the net result must be that ultimately, through the weakening of national and more permanent institutions such as the railways, definite loss to the community will result, which the community must ultimately make up.
General Manager
Modern Signalling Installations
Automatic Colour Light Signals, No: 10 Tunnel, Christchurch-Greymouth Line, South Island, New Zealand.
The Level Crossing Problem
The following article deals in a practical manner with the level crossing problem. It contains information, not previously available, upon the existing financial responsibilities of the various parties concerned, and shows to how great an extent the New Zealand Railways have carried the burden of level crossing protection.
A great deal has been written in recent months about the level crossing problem as it exits in New Zealand. This has been due to the unfortunate series of accidents that have occurred through road-users failing to obey the law, rather than to any special attractiveness about the subject in its legal, moral, technical and psychological aspects.
The main points considered are:—
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(1) Is the Railway doing a reasonable amount of work in the direction of protection at crossings throughout the Dominion?
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(2) Where, and by what means are crossing protected?
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(3) Is the law relating to crossing reasonable? Is it observed?M
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(4) What further can be done to minimise the risk of accident at crossings? Who should do it?
Taking the above questions in order, it may be possible to bring the problem within reasonable compass and state the position in brief and concise terms.
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(1) What the Railway Department is doing towards level crossing protection.
The Department employs a total of 80 crossing-keepers (52 on full time and 28 on part-time) at 37 crossings where the traffic is particularly dense. The wages bill for this work totals £13,122 15s. 3d. per annum, towards which Local Bodies contribute £1,107 8s. 6d.
Up to the present the total amount spent by the Railway Department on the elimination of crossings, either by providing overhead bridges or subways, has been £150,000. Crossings have been dealt with in this way only when the traffic was particularly dense or where the need was especially urgent.
The next method of dealing with the protection of important or dangerous crossings has been by the provision of special crossing signals; these have been of three types and were supplied at the number of crossings indicated, as follows:—
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(a) Warning bells—at 54 crossings.
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(b) Wig-wag signals—at 32 crossings.
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(c) Flashing light signals—at 4 crossings.
Total cost, £19,080.
This still leaves 2,561 crossings in the Dominion (1,093 in the North Island) at which no special audible or visual signals have been provided. But all of these have the protection of the standard “Stop” notice, 6,000 of these having been provided, as well as 1,400 “crossed arm” notices, at a cost of £26,000. It would thus be seen that the Railway Department has spent on protection of level crossings and their elimination the sum of £195,080. The Main Highways Board has spent £13,000; the Local Bodies have spent £24,000, while the amount provided by road using vehicles and associations of motor interest is infinitesimal.
The annual cost to the Railway Department of the up-keep of automatic warning devices at level crossings amounts to £3,880. If this be added to the Department's annual cost for the wages of crossing-keepers (£12,015) it will be seen that the annual cost to the Railways for the protection afforded to the road using public at level crossings is approximately £16,000.
The record of accidents at level crossings shows the following results since 1909.—
Accidents to Road Users at Level Crossings.
Styx Crossing, main north road, canterbury, shewing highway flash-light signals.
Accidents to Train Passengers at Level Crossings.
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(2) The Level Crossing Law in New Zealand.
The law recognises, that, in order to preserve the safety of His Majesty's lieges, definite instructions must be given regarding the negotiation of level crossings by the public. The present of level crossings by the public. The present law requires that vehicles must stop before attempting to negotiate level crossings, and it is noteworthy that in no case where this law has been observed has any accident occurred to a motor vehicle in New Zealand.
The Government Railways Amendment Act, 1928, contains an amendment to the above provision which reads as follows:—
Section 9:
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(1) Every person driving a motor-vehicle on any road or street shall, when approaching a railway-crossing, reduce speed when within one hundred yards of the crossing to a rate not exceeding fifteen miles an hour, and shall not increase speed until after he has crossed the railway-line. It shall be his duty to keep a vigilant lookout for approaching trains, and he shall not attempt to cross unless the line is clear.
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(2) If at any such crossing there is a “compulsory stop” sign, erected pursuant to regulations
under the Motor-vehicles Act, 1924, or by the railway authorities, it shall be the duty of the person driving any motor-vehicle as aforesaid to stop at such sign for such time as may be necessary to make adequate observations to ascertain whether or not the line is clear. -
(3) Every person who fails to comply with the requirements of this section or who crosses or attempts to cross any railway line while the same is not commits an offence and is liable to a fine of ten pounds.
This amendment comes into operation on the 1st June, 1929, and before that date the Railway Department, in collaboration with the Main Highways Board, will have the various level crossings classified according to their relative importance in order that those which will carry the compulsory stop signs may be defined. The neglect to comply with the law as it previously stood was particularly due to a belief on the part of road users that its universal application would be absurd considering the large number of crossings at which trains are to be met with perhaps only once or twice a day. The distinction between compulsory “stop” road crossings and others will now be based on a reasonable assessment of the desirability of enforcing a stop in order to adequately protect the persons and property of both road users and rail users, and the law will be rigorously enforced.
Alarm bells at the Clarence Road level crossing, Addington, Christchurch.
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(3) Further Action in the Direction of Road Crossing Protection.
For the current year the Department has a programme which will entail an expenditure of £8,223 in eliminating two crossings and providing 11 special crossing signals. In view of the Department's financial situation, it may be reasonably contended that it is doing a fair thing for the public of New Zealand in the amount it is expending, and intends to expend, on level crossing protection. Upon this point it is to be noted that the financial position imposes a very definite limit to the load of expenditure which the Railways can bear for work of this kind. If more is required to be done it seems that action should be taken by the road using authorities for their own protection at level crossings, and in this direction there is room for very much greater interest and activity.
The Railway Department has shouldered the heavy burden cheerfully in the past, and has constantly indicated that where local bodies have been prepared to bear a fair share of the cost of eliminating crossings it would join with them in securing elimination.
The foregoing statement, and particularly the impressive figures of the Department's expenditure and annual liability upon level crossing protection, should do much to put the whole question in its proper perspective.
Ken Alexander .)
Will-Power is great, but steam power is greater.
If you doubt this assertion, meticulous reader, gird up your Bulldog braces, plant your Bostocks firmly on terra permanenta—or the permanent way—and stand immutably, inscrutably, and imperturbably between the rails, taking care when doing so to project your psycho-cylindrical jelly-beans outwards and onwards impinging on the oscillatory onrush of the nearest approaching train. Grasp a volume on “Mind Over Machinery” between the first finger and the thumb of the right hand, and concentrate all the fifty-seven varieties of your psychological hardware upon the charging victim. Raise the left hand in a gesture of contempt, like that of a traffic inspector rampant, or of Wilhelm Hohenzollern, senr., reviewing a battalion of Dutch cheeses at Doorn; then await developments. There are sure to be developments. Either you stop the train, or you subject your wife to a severe attack of galloping widowhood. If you succeed in halting the engine it is because the enginedriver is an understanding man who probably served his apprenticeship to a donkey-engine. But in the double event of your psychological outfit developing an air-choke in the uptake and the engine-driver mistaking you for a magnetic disturbance, mind and matter henceforth will be of equal indifference to you, for your destination will be a place where mind doesn't matter and matter is out of mind.
No, sir, the hypnotic retina may be effective for restraining the homo-voracious complex of a zither or of a man-eating antimacasser; but can it, for instance, restore the departed youth to a senile breakfast egg, bring back that schoolgirl complexion, or induce respiration in a wind-broken vacuum cleaner? The “Noes” have it, I fancy.
Certainly faith has its advantages. For instance, it assisted a certain ancient contractor named Mohammed to effect a compromise with the biggest shifting job extant, with no other tools than his personality; but attempts at mountain moving as a pastime have their drawbacks, and are not recommended for beginners, in the best treatises on psychological sports and pastimes. Even if one did succeed in enticing a mountain into one's back yard by imitating the cry of the eidelweiss, or the gymnastics of a Swiss cheese, what would one (or two for that matter) do with it, unless one proposed to raise yodels and alpenstocks on a commercial scale?
As a deterrent to over-ambitious exponents of psychic put-and-take, who might be tempted to
“a Traffic Inspector Rampant.”
Nevertheless, details of the business have trickled down the pages of history. You remember how King Canute was asked to permanently lower the Plimsol mark on his native foreshore merely with a look of despotism and his personal influence. As you are aware, his action arose out of a wager with the minister of marine with whom the king happened to be drinking stoups of stout, mugs of mead, dippers of dillwater, or something equally damp. It was suggested that nothing of an acqueous nature was beyond the king's powers of control. Then came his famous declaration of indiscretion, which subsequently lost him his seat on the harbour board, and made him so unpopular with the navy. In fact it is on record (or vice versa, as the case may be) that the navy waited upon him in person and threatened to pull out the plug and scuttle the fleet if the king endeavoured again to restrict the cruising radius of the senior service—but we anticipate.
Of course you recall how the king endeavoured to wriggle out of the bet by asserting that he was suffering from a slight attack of water on the brain following over-concentration on tides, and said he feared that the raising of his mind so constantly to a sea plane might derogatively affect foreign relations with his neighbours, the Finns. However, popular opinion being in favour of calling his majesty's bluff, he proceeded in his state homobile to the nearest marine sunspot, and—after commanding the lifesavers to stand by in case his tidal brain-wave should develop stringhalt or a vacuum in the symposium—he proceeded to think of all the anti-wet arguments he had ever read in the American press, and to project his most ultramarine thought bacilli at the selvedge of the North Sea. You know what happened, learned reader—how the North Sea cut him dead on the marine parade, and advanced steadily until the king contracted water on the knee and only escaped losing his crown and anchor in Davy Jones' locker by the timely intervention of the life guards, who reeled him in and wrung him out.
“There is nothing new under the sun,” is a slogan adopted by used-car salesmen, and it is probably the most truthful truth they have ever been guilty of uttering. Mind manipulation certainly is no new thing. The serpent practised it with marked success on Eve, and people have been giving other people pieces of
“The vanished youth of a senile breakfast egg.”
Business psychology teaches the use of the £ s. d. ray for disclosing the weak spots in your adversary's psycho-financial complex, and enables you to duck under his guard and upset his credit balance with an underhand jab to his chamber of commerce.
Boxing psychology is similar in some respects, but when practising the latter phase of the noble art, you look into the depths of your opponent's eyes and read there the message of his soul, which is usually an advance note as to where he intends to deliver the next wallop. It is a mistake, however, to gaze too closely or too long into the windows of his soul, for he may decide that the time is ripe to deliver his message by hand, and knock you for ten, twenty, thirty, forty—or even fifty seconds, into the land of shadow-sparring.
Child psychology is a finer and gentler art than either of those aforementioned. Its mastery enables you to determine instinctively what it is that causes the infant Samuel to hiccough like a shunting engine with steam pressure on the dome, and to convolute in the region of his Plunket system. Advanced pupils can even quieten the discordant vibrations in the infant Samuel's screech box or hooter, without resorting to the old-fashioned method of stunning him with a slipper, or leaving him with the neighbours, on the pretext of a sudden death in the family or something even flimsier.
Plumbing psychology, it seems, has not advanced appreciably during the last decade or two, but I believe that, by forming a psychic circle of one's most muscular relatives, armed with red-hot soldering irons and flame-throwing blow-lamps, it is possible to influence the pipeological impulses of members of the profession in such a manner that their subconscious metallurgy is prompted to action—slowly at first, but gaining impetus during the fourth and fifth weeks of their efforts to instal a new washer in the bathroom tap.
And now, having exhausted all unreliable sources of information concerning psychological highcockalorum, I am constrained to practise the psychology of silence.
“will power that wilted.”
As a reaction to aesthetic speculation, let us take the bit in our teeth and go to the dogs.
Undoubtedly the dog is a wonderful skinful of warring emotions and canine dogmatism. He is an animal of parts—not spare parts, as some road-hogs appear to imagine, but rather bare parts. For instance, he can register friendly relations in the region of the hind quarters, and, simultaneously, issue a note of warning from head quarters. In other words, he is a bit of a “wag” and something of a “bite” at the same time. He perspires through his tongue, which is a blessing that has not been vouchsafed to man, whose vocal efforts appear never to exhaust him to this—or any other—extent. This fact constitutes one of the many mistakes made by Nature when drawing up the plans and specifications for the modelling of man. Although the dog has not yet been handicapped by a “psychology” he has other troubles, the chief of which is an unappeasable vacuum in the vicinity of his meat-works. Have you ever watched him making burning love to the butcher? The affection in his eye is more than human; it is a love beyond understanding. It comes straight from his soul—via his epiglottis.
Until, in the days before the war, I sojourned for a few months in a whare overlooking the native pa at Ohinemutu, Rotorua, I had never realised the full significance of the term “race suicide.” As a warning against indiscriminate mixing of racial characterstics, the dogs of Ohinemutu were without parallel. They reminded me of the nocturnal illusions engendered by the consumption of a muscle-bound crayfish and an especially vivacious piece of antique Stilton. Their pedigrees must have been as tortuous as Chinese politics, and they were all so closely connected by marriage that they were almost afraid to bite one another for fear of biting themselves.
There were dogs wearing a blood-hound's head at one end, a greyhound body in the centre and the merest suggestion of a rudder aft. There were dogs that were mere canine enigmas, dogs that only thought they were dogs, and dogs utterly incapable of proving their “bona fidos.” There were dogs that loped like a rheumatic llama, dogs that bounded like a football, dogs that appeared to be guided solely by their olfactory prescience, dogs that howled, dogs that growled, and dogs that seemed rapt in thought. All the colours in the spectrum were represented in this herd of hounds. Some were the hue of sunburned liver, some were fish-belly white, some flaunted more colour variations than a country football club, and others were so involved that it was necessary to wear smoked glasses to see them at all. In the chilly watches of the night they would advance in close formation on my dust-bin, little realising, poor misguided wretches, that it belonged to a Scotsman, and there they would engage in bloody warfare over nothing more substantial than the vertebrae of a defunct trout. The call of duty demanded that I should be up and doing before the gibbous moon had set and the sun had said “good morning.” At this time of the day the vicinity was usually as devoid of life as a meeting of the clans when a collection is about to be taken. The pa provided a short cut to my place of daily endeavour, and for some time I used it. But one morning I stumbled over a tin. Immediately, the air was rent with horrid noise. With the baying and barking of a thousand hunger-maddened hyenas, dark forms dashed through holes in fences and from beneath a score of whares. For a moment I experienced all the sensations of a piece of doomed dog's meat, and the next I took unto myself the wings of an Avro, and the horsepower of Mercury. Youth and fear are a great combination to develop speed. I had either to outstrip the pack or to be stripped. The fact that I have been spared to write my memoirs proves that I gained my objective, but it was a close call—so close that I could feel the hot breath of the leaders scorching my calves. That, I might add, is not the closest I have been to going to the dogs—but enough.
“Look int his eyes and read there the message of his soul”
Speaking of speed reminds me that I started to write about steam power and trains. Allow me to mention, therefore, that last Sunday I conducted the twins round the block in the “week-end special” and that the night before I witnessed the weekly spectacle of Uncle Henry Fitzgaily, in a rotary condition, coming home by rail.
“the Week-end Special” and “Coming Home By Rail.”
The General Manager of Railways in New Zealand (Mr.H. H. Sterling , L.L.B., M. Inst. T.) tells of the needs and purposes of publicity.
Speaking before the Wellington Advertising Club on the 8th May, the General Manager (Mr. H. H. Sterling) dealt very effectively with the purposes and necessities of Publicity in relation to modern transport.
He said that he was not there as an expert in Publicity. It was not his business to be his own Chief Mechanical Engineer or Publicity Manager. As General Manager of Railways it was his duty to employ specialists to be in charge of these departments, and to engage them upon the work for which they had work for which they had the necessary qualifications and training.
“I don't like the word ‘Advertising,’” said Mr. Sterling. “I prefer ‘Publicity’ as being the term that conveys the wider implications of the duties that advertising or publicity is intended to fulfil.”
When the term “Advertising” was used, the first thing most people thought of was the “Wanted” advertisements in the newspapers or one of the various types of outdoor advertising.
The main reason why he approved of the word “publicity” was that he considered the work of the advertising controller came within the general classification of public relations. The public had to be related to business through extension of knowledge which would bring buyer and seller into harmony with each other.
“What,” continued Mr. Sterling, “is the function of a Director of Publicity? It is to let the potential buyer know the worth of what he has to sell.” The function of the publicity agent went far beyond that of mere cold-blooded salesmanship. He must be a public educator. “If he rises to this idealisation of his duties and opportunities he gets a position in public estimation that is really worth while. He ranks with the world's professional educators—its statesmen, architects, edusationists, doctors and engineers.
Mr. Sterling said that in administering the affairs of the Railways he aimed to place its publicity service on this plane. In order to bring its efficacy to the maximum it must be raised in dignity on a scale comparable with other professions.
The early economists used to describe the commercial traveller as the only man who was not a producer. In some aspects of advertising, that is, where it performed similar functions to those of the commercial traveller, it could be given a similar classification. “But,” he continued, “in their realisation of the purposes and opportunities of business the later economists had got beyond that stage, and put both in a higher rank. They now recognised both to be
New Zealand's Crack Train.
Daylight Limited leaving Frankton Junction, North Island.
Publicity was an education for the public in the development of wants. The aim and object of every human being was to develop towards improvement in some direction, and this could only occur as wants developed. It was admitted that publicity could sometimes produce a temporary success with a worthless article, but this took no account of moral obligations, and so was an outrage on the community. The moral difference between this and theft was negligible. The whole thing came back to the question of the conscience of the individual, and supplied a further reason why the status of publicity should be raised.
“Speaking to you as advertising experts, I say definitely that as the standard of your profession is raised by yourselves, so will you obtain a higher standard of appreciation and rank in the community.
“I feel that publicity, or advertising, goes further than merely informing people about what you have to sell. If you want to ‘get back’ on the economists you must do so by making the people interested in wants, for it must be recognised that the developement of wants tending to the benefit of the race is a useful economic function. True publicity is necessarily educational in character.
“The purpose of publicity,” continued Mr. Sterling, “was to create for the reader or hearer a realisation of something that he needed and would be better for—to bring to people the knowledge of something worth while.”
It had been said that Transportation represented the arteries of commerce. If this were so, then publicity was its voice (applause), and according as publicity was able to make that voice sound in dulcet tones—pleasing to the people—so could be gauged the measure of its success. It had a technical duty to construct its message with the best sounding phrases, and at the same time a moral responsibility for doing the right thing by the public.
The development of publicity in recent years had been so great that its effect had been revolutionary in character, and, as with all revolutions, its moral effect was what would determine its true place in history.
Railways in their earlier stages represented a form of commercial life that partook of the nature of a monopoly, or quasi-monopoly, in regard to certain classes of transportation. In that condition the need for publicity was not either pressing or obvious. The general rule applied to them as to other monopolies. As the development of alternative means of transport took place, the monopoly aspect became less and less, and the importance of publicity in relation to them grew in inverse ratio.
Modern Publicity Methods.
A recent display by the Railways Publicity Branch in the window of Kirkcaldie and Stains, Ltd., Wellington.
Twenty years ago the New Zealand Railways constituted a quasi-monopoly. They had entered upon an altogether new phase now. In their publicity work they had to go forward without precedent, to conceive ideas and make experiment upon a large scale, and this all had to be done in a very brief period and in a time of very disturbed conditions.
“We have now,” said Mr. Sterling, “come to realise what advertising means to us. We have had to tell the public what we have to sell to get them interested in our operations, to tell them how the whole business of railroading is worked and to explain to the public the service which it is our function to provide.
New Zealand Railways Poster.
One of the latest examples of Railway publicity enterprise.
“To do this we have adopted various means, and have constituted a Specialist Department in that connection. We have busied ourselves in this work to the full extent of our means. It has been an uphill fight, as it nearly always is when any new thing associated with any public service is required.
“In our publicity work,” said Mr. Sterling, “the thing nearest and dearest to my heart has been the ‘Railways Magazine.’ A house magazine is an essential of modern business. No business of any size is now without one. I regard it as more important than almost anything.”
Mr. Sterling remarked that he was very proud of their publications, and went on to say how, even in such a back-block place as Okarito on the West Coast, the magazine was to be found, reaching people, definitely relating the Department's work to the public, and bringing home to them its usefulness.
Returning to the question of publicity generally, Mr. Sterling said that the Railways had to let the public know they had something to sell and all about it. “In regard to public transport, the Director of Publicity has to give the public a clear idea of how the business is functioning.” This latter aspect was all-important. A revolution had taken place in the circumstances surrounding the operations of transport and this important factor must be kept in mind.
A great deal of the Railway's difficulties was due to misunderstanding, confusion of ideas, and what he might describe as mental storms in the
Mr. Sterling said that railways were not the last word in transportation. Other factors had come in. Each had to be classified correctly and given that place in commercial life which it could best occupy in the community.
“We have definite knowledge,” said Mr. Sterling, “that many of our competitors are not working on an economic basis. There are many road hauliers that are doomed to economic extinction. As service on an uneconomic basis is contrary to the public welfare—it is really disservice—the publicity agent has to concentrate closely on the facts, make them known, and help things to settle down on a better basis.
“It is not too much to say,” said Mr. Sterling, “that the Publicity Branch has as great a responsibility as any of my branches. Its difficulties are great—while the other branches, Mechanical Engineering, Transportation, etc., have the accumulated knowledge gained in years of development behind them, Publicity is a birth of yesterday. It has had to grow without the aid of precedents and under adverse conditions.”
“I believe,” he continued, “that it is doing its job, and that we have been fortunate in the staff chosen for the work. The public viewpoint is rapidly becoming focussed in the right place. According as it does, so is the Publicity Branch performing a duty that takes its operations far outside that class, which, in the dictum of the economists, is ‘non-productive’.
“Publicity has thus a definite place in Economics. It gives flesh and life to the skeleton of Commerce, and insofar as it does so, is related to humanity in that it helps us to realise those things that are best for humanity and sets them up as ideals towards which we may aspire.
“If I had to choose a text for Publicity it would be based on the responsibility that rests on you all—not only a commercial, but a moral, responsibility to make towards the betterment of the human race—to increase the sum total of human happiness. The dry bones of £ s. d. may rattle on,” exclaimed Mr. Sterling, “but give me, everytime, the living being of useful service which transcends all else and makes us men in the truest sense. By whatever we do that helps to increase human happiness we are discharging our duty and at the same time doing the best for our own true welfare.” (Applause.)
“I like to feel that the Publicity Branch of the Railways is bringing to our people something worth while, and I believe my staff are being guided by the same ideals. We should be lost without it. With it, I feel sure we can do a useful service for the community.” (Cheers.)
The Mechanical arm of the Service.
Back Row (from left).—Messrs. S. H. Jenkinson, Office Engineer; C. V. Mills, Draughtsman; A. Taylor, Works Foreman; N. P. G. Ewart, Chief Clerk; J. Binsted, Asst.-Loco. Engineer; J. W. Lowry, Second Clerk; R. J. Gard, Chief Draughtsman; G. M. Slight, Works Foreman; H. Wylie. Works Manager; H. W. Dallison, Works Foreman. Front Row.—K. H. Gardner, Chemist; G. Wilson, Loco. Engineer; A. E. P. Walworth, Works Manager; L. W. Robertson, Loco. Engineer; G.S. Lynde. Chief Mech. Engineer; E. T. Spidy, Supt. of Workshops; A. D. F. Sampson, Works Manager; C. A. Jenkins, Works Manager; C. J. Graham, Works Manager.
“The negligence of nature, wide and wild;
Where undisguised by mimic art, she spreads
Unbounded beauty to the roving eye…”—James Thomson.
The Manga-tawhero Spur over the Wharau Range to Waikari-whenua, North Island, New Zealand.
(ByJames Cowan ,Specially written for the
“N.Z. Railways Magazine.”)
The unique physical features of the Mamaku tableland and its important historical associations, afford ample material for the descriptive art of the interpreter. Few have a greater knowledge of the country than Mr. James Cowan, and fewer still have his gifts of vivid picturisation.
I suppose that few travellers to Rotorua by the daily trains are aware of the geographical and geological significance of the high country they cross; fewer still who have heard anything of the history and tradition that belong to the district.
The section in my mind is the much-dissected tableland known as Mamaku, to which the railway ascends from the Matamata-Patetere Plains and bounded on the Rotorua side by the party-wooded slopes near Tarukenga and the Ngongotaha Mountain. This plateau, of volcanic origin, some ten miles wide where the train crosses it, is part of the Hautere Range, which extends from the back-country of Tauranga in a great sweep to the Patetere country; its southernmost section ends abruptly in the lofty wall of Horohoro, which looks from the Taupo road a true table mountain. All this territory, thickly forested before the pakeha rail-builders and setters came, is coated with pumice, and it is remarkable for its lack of running water. It is seamed everywhere with deep, steep-sided gorges and gullies, but these natural cuts in the pumice are usually dry. It is only on the edges of the central plateau where the tablelands slant to the plains that the head-streams of the rivers issue from the underworld.
The place-name Mamuku, as will be explained presently, is of quite modern origin. The general name for the broken plateau where it sweeps up from the north and east is Hautere, a famous name in Maori story. A glory of all this high bush country is the abundance of ferns, but above all of the tete-kura or heruheru, the crepe fern, popularly called Prince-of-Wales' feather, botanical name, todea superba. The forest floor, in its untouched state, is covered in many parts with this beauty of the bush in such a soft, clinging jungle that it is difficult to force one's way through it. There is a native proverbial saying used especially by the Coast tribes, and those on the plains, in reference to these forests: “E kore koe e puta i nga tete-kura o Hautere.” It means, “You will never be able to penetrate the thick ferns of Hautere (which cover the bush tracks).” There is an inner meaning, an allusion to the human element. “You will never be able to fight your way through the enemies that infest your path, the wild tribes of the bush.”
The railway traveller sees something of those ferny glories, and the eye is solaced by the varied tints of green that softly paint the wooded country through which the train climbs from Ngatira and Arahiwi to the Mamaku Station, 1,888 feet, the highest point on the Rotorua railway. The mountain rimu or red-pine, is the principal large tree in this forest; there are rata, too, of great size. But the bush, rich as it is, the only bit of indigenous forest on the line, is only a tattered fragment of the grand forest through which the way for the line was cut, nearly forty years ago.
The native forest in those days was regarded more as an encumbrance than anything else; the great idea was to cut it out and burn what could not be milled. It was only with difficulty that the powers of State were persuaded to save a fringe of it along the rail line.
The forest, what there is of it, and the numerous sudden gulches in the pumice highlands, are the distinguishing features of the run as far as Tarukenga, where the train pulls up for a minute or two before descending to the shores of Rotorua Lake that glimmers soft-blue eight hundred feet below. These dry ravines gave the engineers and contractors for
Te Toto, Te Uhi, Manurewa; those are the more remarkable of the ravines that your train crosses so easily to-day, and that gave the rail-builders such brain and muscle work in the pioneer years.
A Beautiful Forest Pass.
Hongi's Track, between Roto-ehu and Roto-iti, and the sacred Matai tree “Hinehopu.”
Te Toto—sinister name; it means a place of bloodshed. Along this ravine the scattered Hauhaus ran, wildly seeking a place where they could climb to safety, back in 1867, when the Government forces chased them out of the Arawa country.
Te Uhi you cross further on, as you go down from Mamaku station to Tarukenga; the name means “The Chisel,” and indeed it looks as if some giant navvies of Maori fairydom had gouged it out, for pure devilment, to obstruct the pakeha line-makers. Its sides are precipitous, quite vertical in most places; it is eighty or a hundred feet deep; the cliff-tops are jungly with trees and creepers and ferns; “monkey-ropes”—aka vines of the Maori—trail over the edges. In the bottom of the ravine there should be a beautiful cascading stream, if this were not such a freakish bit of country.
Then, a little way before Tarukenga is reached, the train rumbles across the lower end of the Manurewa Gorge—the “Soaring Bird.” This name is an allusion to the often-observed habit of the tui, plentiful in these parts. When it is making for its nest, it soars into the air for a considerable height, then drops straight down to it like a diver. As for the name Tarukenga it means “Slaughter”; it holds a tale of battlefield and “long pig.”
People who know the New Zealand bush well have remarked on the curious fact that, although the principal station and township here are named Mamaku, not a single fern-tree of the kind called by the Maoris mamaku is to be seen anywhere about here. There are ferns and fern-trees in abundance, but not the korau or mamaku, the black fern-tree, the edible kind scientifically classed as cyathea medullaris. (Korau is properly the name of the tree; the term mamaku is applied to its pith, used for food.)
The explanation of this inappropriateness of nomenclature lies in the fact that the place was originally named, by the Maori explorers, Kaponga, in allusion to the abundance of the
“… the wild cataract leaps in glory.”—Tennyson.
(Photo, C. R. Barrett)
The foaming Aratiatia Rapids, Waikato River, North Island, New Zealand.
It would have been more fitting had the name Tuakura been substituted for Kaponga. This is the name of one of the common fern-trees—or tree-ferns—seen in these parts. It has fewer fronds than the others of the family; they spread out horizontally, with a slight drop at the tips; the general effect is that of an opened or flattened-out umbrella of leaves.
The Katote, too, is abundant in these parts; it is a fern-tree with very numerous fronds, inclining sharply upwards, some almost straight up; great bunches of grey, dead leaves, called by the Maoris “pahau,” or beard, hang down beneath the upspringing coronet of vigorous, green fronds. The most graceful of all is our Kaponga, its feathery frondage drooping from a long slender stem, often sideways leaning; the great leaves are a gleaming white under-neath, hence the popular name, silver fern-tree.
This side-excursion into the forests reminds me that those interested in our wonderful bush life are able to see, even from the train, an example of the rata climber at its tree-strangling work. Close to the right-hand (east) side of the rails as the train to Rotorua approaches the edge of the bush, after leaving Mamaku, there is a large rimu tree clasped in the embrace of the rata. The great vine clings closely to the trunk of the red-pine, and it has sent out strong lateral shoots, for all the world like murderous fingers clutching its victim. The tall rimu is still vigorous and beautiful, but its fate is certain, though it will be many a year deferred. The rata never lets go its steel-like strangle-hold.
Now a story of these slopes of the Okoheriki that go down towards Ngongotaha from the rail line where it emerges from the straggly borders of the bush.
A little over a mile before the train glides down into Tarukenga station, a white-painted gate is passed on the right, or east side. Supposing one makes a stop-over at Tarukenga for a few hours between trains, this gate gives the stroller entry to the Crown land—waste land still when I saw it last—where the fern and tupekahi bushes grow thickly on this olden battlefield. A walk of two hundred yards down the fern slopes in the direction of some pine trees brings one to an historical spot that should be preserved as a national monument. It is the best existing example of military engineering in the last Maori Wars. I have explored scores of fortifications in New Zealand, but none of them possesses the special features that make this Puraku Pa so good a specimen of native defensive works adopted to modern needs. There are no conspicuous earth-works or terraces as in the ancient pas; nearly all the defences consisted of trenches, a most skilful example of Maori ingenuity in “digging in.”
A great war-party of Hauhaus invaded the Rotorua country in 1867. The warriors came from the Waikato, through the forest that our railway penetrates. Government forces, militia and Arawa allies drove them out, killing a score or more.
When the Government troops entered the pa, they found it a marvel of ingenuity, and even to-day its deep trenches, with traverses and flanking bastions, remain almost intact. The double palisading was destroyed, but the Arawa fortunately did not take the trouble to fill in the trenches. There were two palisades, the pekerangi on the outside of the trench and the kiri-tangata (“the warrior's skin”) immediately inside. These stockades had been constructed of totara timber hauled from the near-by forest by the sledge track which wound up past the pa. The trench was about three feet wide with a depth of five feet. The interior of the work measured 80 paces in length by 45 paces at the widest part; most of this space was occupied by whares, low huts thatched with kaponga fern-tree fronds and sides and eaves protected by being earthed up for several feet. The earth floors of these huts were dug in a foot or two below the level of the ground. The trench, with its numerous traverses and covered ways, was essentially the same as our soldiers' trenches in France and Flanders in the Great War, but in one detail there is a difference. The pakeha engineer throws out the earth from the trench in front of his ditch to form a low parapet. The Maori cast the earth on the inner side, his rear, lest the bullets of the enemy, striking the loose soft soil should throw dirt in his eyes, confuse his aim, and perhaps temporarily blind him. The dug-out soil also formed a little parepare or parapet on the outer side of the main line of palisading, close against the back of which the bullet-proof whares were built. On the marae, the open space or parade ground, stood the niu, around which the Hauhaus marched chanting their Paimarire service. There was a low roughly built railing, a Hauhau altar rail around the foot of the mast; within this tapu space stood the tohunga, the priest of the war-party, who slowly revolved around the pole leading the chanting, as his followers marched in procession.
(Photo. C. R. Barrett.)
The famous Fairy Spring, Rotorua, New Zealand.
The three gateways, the principal one on the western side, may still plainly be traced. Except at these gateways and at places where the covered ways ran, the deep narrow ditch of the Hauhau trench is continuous about the roughly rectangular pa. Its sides in places are as clearly cut as if they were delved out
“
All rosy-hued, it seemed, with sunset's glow …”—Alfred Domett.
(Photo, C. R. Barrett.)
A section of the beautiful Pink Terrace at Orakei Korako, North Island, New Zealand.
Many years ago, standing inside the fern-grown earthwork, my good old friend and bush-travel mate Captain Gilbert Mair told me the story of Puraku and pointed out the scene of the fighting in which he shared. That story is far too full of incident to be told here, but the narrative of the pursuit which followed the capture of the pa I shall briefly give because it deals with those gorges which every now and again open out to the train passenger's eye.
Mair commanded the contingent of Arawa Maoris, friendlies, detailed to work round to the rear of the pa and cut off the retreat. The pa was attacked before they could quite get into position, and so all they could do was to chase the Hauhaus. The main body of the fugitives took flight up a long narrow gorge about two miles on the Waikato side of Tarukenga. The young chief, Hemana, and his party holding this ravine killed seven men, and several more were killed at various points on the line of flight, making twenty-two in all. Hemana and his Arawas had great difficulty in following up the swiftly-flying foe because of the rough country. In order to cross one of the gorges they had to travel along its top for nearly a mile before they found a practicable place of descent, and then they had to lower themselves down by aka vines. The train traveller to-day may imagine something of the formidable obstacles presented to the troops, and even the mobile and lightly-clad Maori.
Up the straight cliffy sides of the gulches the Hauhaus clambered by means of the trailing aka, some as thick and strong as ships hawsers. Hemana was so hot in chase of one man that the two, fugitive and pursuer, were both on the same aka together. The Hauhau, struggling desperately upward, was caught by his foeman, who gripped him in his arms and in
aka or the tree-vine gave way and they fell to the bottom, where Hemana killed his man.
Relics of the Hauhau war-party were still found within and about these fern-hidden ditches and mounds when I paced its lines with Captain Mair and sketched the trench—a broken gun-barrel of wide bore, apparently an old Tower musket, broken iron cooking pots or “go-ashores,” and fragments of human bone, a memento mori of Kihitu's warriors slain. There was the five-foot butt of a totara pole, said to be the remains of the sacred niu; it stood on a clear space near the north-west angle of the pa.
In the days of '67 hundreds of Hauhaus marched in procession round that tall flag-staff of Riki, the red war-god, chanting their savagely beautiful Karakia, the black-tattooed priest with upraised hands leading the service. Standing on this tapu storied spot, we may imagine something of that spectacle; see again the Pai-Marire warriors marching round and round, their hands thrown up in a frenzy of militant exaltation, eyes rolling, voices chanting the psalms of David so strangely turned to the purposes of Maori war. The rebel chorus, the volleys of musketry, the pakeha bugle call and the Hauhau war yells, the independent firing, the scattered irregular shots of the forest chase, all these we may conjure up again, but the only sounds we hear to-day are the trill of the little riroriro in the bushes and the bell-like anvil note and the flutey gurgle of the tui in the shadowy bush gorges. Now, too, the distant rumble of the train as the engine pants its way up the Mamaku ascent across the gulch of the old-time line of flight to Waikato. And the venerable Niu staff yonder—its smoothed-off butt is a rubbing-post for the Maori pigs rooting for a living in the bracken that spreads a blanket of peace over the Hau hau battle-ground.
“All bright and glittering in the smokeless air …”—Wordsworth.
A picturesque glimpse of Whangarei Harbour, North Auckland, New Zealand.
Island Fruit
Prompt Transport Appreciated
Those who build by the wayside must expect many critics, and the operations of the Railway Department touch national activities at so many points, that those in authority often are the objective of the critic's tongue or pen (says the Lyttelton Times). Those with grievances, alleged or real, usually make themselves heard, but when the Railway Department shows that it can act with initiative and despatch, usually no one feels impelled to make any comment. On Friday the Department, assisted by prompt work on the wharves, acted with highly commendable energy, with the result that tropical fruit was made available in Dunedin markets in time to meet weekend requirements. The Maui Pomare did not arrive at Lyttelton until 6.30 o'clock in the evening but over 1,000 cases of fruit were unloaded in time to be railed to the south by the night express. The consignment was offered for sale in Dunedin at the same time as the fruit sold locally and the prompt dispatch must have been appreciated in the southern centre. It was, of course, an opportunity to show what an important part the railways play in our system of transport, and, at the same time, an illustration of the assistance they can render the business community. And incidentally, it afforded further proof of the benefits derived from the provision of a night train to the south. Without it, this fruit (some of which by now has probably passed into the hands of consumers), would not yet have been made available for sale. It is by this improved standard of service that the Department can best meet the increased competition of to-day, and its efforts, as demonstrated last week, will not be overlooked, especially by those who know what efficient transport means to the community.
Ready for its Run Through the Six-Mile Otira Tunnel.
(Photo. W. W. Stewart.)
One of the powerful electric locomotives used on the Arthur's Pass-Otira electrified section, South Island New Zealand.
“Once again
Do I behold those steep and lovely cliffs….”
(Govt. Publicity Photo.)
Harrison's Cove, Milford Sound, South Island, New Zealand.
—Wordsworth.
“Fling wide thy glittering fringe of silver sheen,
And toss towards heaven thy clouds of dazzling spray.”
The Aniwaniwa Falls, Lake Waikare-moana, North Island, New Zealand.
Mr.Chas. E. Wheeler visualises the time when the New Zealand Railways will be running the “Super Limited Slotted-Plane Express.” In his opinion, travelling by air is a commonplace, and he gives particulars of a recent invention estimated to remove the cause of 75 per cent. of former accidents.
“You don't mind flying in any weather?” inquired Captain Findlay, officer in charge of the Defence Aerodrome, Sockburn. “It's all the same to us!”
And it was the ready assent given which led to my standing alongside a Moth plane, looking up at the most dismal prospect in the way of weather. Solid masses of clouds floated slowly over the plains at a height of a couple of thousand feet, and Christchurch people were carrying their umbrellas, hoping that the weather would clear up.
In five minutes we were above these dismal clouds, in a perfect summer sky, clear blue to the horizon, with a widespread and glorious rolling panorama beneath us. A trip by aeroplane to-day is quite commonplace, and the preparations were no more elaborate than getting a motor car out of its garage, and “warming up” the engine. With this simple preliminary we were off, aiming at a steep angle so that Sockburn quickly disappeared and we bumped our first cloud.
And it was a definite bump too. The machine went straight into an immense white mass, and as the vapour curled around us, so that only the edges of the wings could be glimpsed, there were three or four little reminders that we had struck something more solid than clear atmosphere. The sensation was that of motoring over a few minor potholes, in a well-sprung car. After this experience, we sped around looking for holes in the dense carpet of cloud beneath.
“Perfect bombing weather” declared the Captain, as he sighted a rift through which could be seen a train speeding towards Christchurch. The carriages at this height appeared to be the size of petrol cases, and the speed about the same as that estimated by some suburban growler who writes to the papers about his local train which stops every mile. But this happened to be an express, though we easily beat it into Christchurch, having no crossing-places to consider and no
New Zealand Defence Department's (Air Force) Moth plane, at Sockburn Aerodrome, Christchurch.
From this viewpoint, a few thousand feet aloft, one could easily follow the logic of the aviator, who explained that if he was on a bombing excursion he could find a small hole in the clouds, through which he could pass in a few seconds, yet with sufficient time to glimpse a large area of the land surface, drop his explosive “message” and disappear into another cloud before the alarmed inhabitants below could even find out where to look for him. Our cities would be very helpless on such a day in time of war unless we, too, had our friendly aeroplanes capable of taking the same point of vantage.
New Safety Factor in Modern Flying.
View shewing the closed position of the slotted wing lying snugly on top of the plane.
Travelling in a Moth is devoid of thrills unless there are clouds to “bump” or lively air currents which give the impression of falling into a hole. A New Zealander who has done a fair amount of air travelling over his own country found that on crossing a river, even at a good height, there was an inevitable downward dip into which the plane swoops, giving its occupants the sensation of travelling down in a fast lift.
We guessed that the plane must be right over the centre of Christchurch by this time, and the clouds were eagerly scanned for a hole into which we could dive, to get a view of the landscape. The moment came, and the sudden banking of the plane for a sharp turn showed that the pilot had seen the opportunity. A thrilling spiral with the plane mostly on its side, and we were over Cathedral Square, with trams, pedestrians, and the solid mass of episcopal masonry apparently spinning around—an optical illusion of course, due to the fact that we were spinning, and not the Cathedral. Drivers of our trains are familiar with this optical effect, for the Limited Express, as it speeds along the Main Trunk, does not, to the view of the engineer, run around the curve. The driver will tell you that, to his eye, the curve straightens out—swings into line straight ahead—as the engine approaches it.
During the last year or so, the invention of the Handley-Page slotted wing has provided aviators with a safety device which, it is estimated, removes
What is evident to the unsophisticated is a metal flap about four feet long, and about nine inches wide, on either side of the top of the upper wing of the biplane. When the plane is moving forward at a rate which enables the pilot to maintain a safe angle, these flaps lie snugly in line with the general curvature of the wing-top, but once the plane loses speed, and the air currents change, up goes the flaps, and any tendency to the assumption of a dangerous angle is at once corrected. We had a splendid demonstration of the efficiency of this device, which is fitted to every Defence plane in use in the Dominion. Climbing to a good height above Sockburn Aerodrome, which could be seen through a thinning out of the cloud-banks, Captain Findlay shut off the engine. The silence was intense. We tried to watch two things at once—the Handley-Page slots, and the ground beneath. It was evident the plane was moving forward, and tilting down, but at a certain moment of combination on angle and lowered speed, the slots stood up straight, and the plane appeared to almost hover over the aerodrome. Having ample room for the experiment, we were able to watch it in a leisurely way, reflecting what an advantage this will be to those thousands of people who in future will take to the air with heightened confidence, knowing that most of the risk has gone. The pilot, having switched on the ignition, the engine, spun by the downward rush, was at work again, and we enjoyed another “spiral” which sent Sockburn spinning wildly around (though we knew better) until a few mild bumps indicated an easy landing.
But for the cloud-bumping and the wing device, one would not venture into print on so everyday a topic as an aeroplane trip, but the experience suggests that this form of transport is going to make rapid headway in practicability and in public confidence. The time is not far distant when we may expect the New Zealand Railways (which is in business to give the most efficient form of transport available) will be running the “Super Limited Slotted Plane Express” for the benefit of those hurried people who wish to reach distant places without the bother of waiting at stations en route, or giving way to other traffic.
In the air: The safety wing automatically rises, almost vertically, to check dangerous angles.
In his current review of recent European railway developments our special London Correspondent makes interesting reference to important coming advances in train signalling through the use of wireless waves, and discusses the merits of double and single lines of railway.
RADIO is now the plaything of the hour. Broad-casting provides a curious hotch-potch of education and amusement, and, in its own way, is undoubtedly performing valuable service to the community. The utilisation of wireless waves, however, promises to be put to far more serious use in many branches of human activity. In the railway world it seems probable that, before many years have passed, we shall witness extensive utilisation of wireless waves in train signalling on many of the principal main-lines.
As was pointed out by Mr. R. G. Berry, Divisional Signal Superintendent of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, in his recent presidential address to the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers, an invisible air wave can transmit in minute detail, from one end of Britain to the other, a full concert performed in London. It should not, therefore, be beyond the ingenuity of the signal-engineer so to harness this wave that it would do anything required of it. It might light up a signal of a required colour, operate a pair of points, work level crossing-gates or stop a train. It was Mr. Berry's opinion that, within a very short time, many of the present methods of railway signalling would be regarded as crude and primitive. In a recent article appearing in these pages, the writer dealt briefly with the utilisation which is now being made in Germany of the metal selenium in train signalling. This metal, which is peculiarly susceptible to the effects of rays of red light, offers distinct possibilities for simplifying train signalling apparatus. Its properties are at the moment being carefully studied by signal engineers at Home, and here again there seems a likelihood of old methods of train signalling being completely overhauled, thanks to modern scientific research. Whatever developments the future may have in store, one may safely prophesy radical changes in the railway signalling field in the near future.
A double track between two cities is undoubtedly of considerable value from the point of view of the railway selling forces. It is problematical, however, whether many double track routes can, nowadays, be fully justified from the traffic aspect. Double tracks are costly to build, maintain and operate, and, on careful examination, there would seem to be many instances where a well-managed single track could, with comparative ease, accommodate all traffic at present handled over double track. Signalling refinements have added enormously to track capacity, and it is a fact that a single track, run on scientific lines, can carry as much and more traffic, both passenger and merchandise, as an ordinary double track run on conventional lines.
The conversion of double into single tracks is not always at first welcomed by railway users,
Following the conversion to single track of many unimportant branch routes, the Great Southern is now embarking upon a conversion of this type covering the whole of the main line from Clonsilla Junction, ten miles outside the Dublin terminal, to Roscommon and Ballinasloe, a distance of 168 miles. During peak periods, traffic over this line is mainly in one direction, and it has been found that, owing to this lack of traffic balance, much of the advantage of the existing double track is lost. At every station on the new single track there is being provided a passing place of maximum train length, formed by utilising a part of the adjoining track, while most of the existing lay-by sidings will also be retained. The facilities for traffic handling, therefore, will be increased rather than reduced, and, with the employment of improved signalling on the electric train staff system, it will become possible to provide better train services with a single track than with the existing double line.
Ensuring Safety and Speed.
Automatic colour-light signalling on the Liverpool Overhead Railway.
Road competition continues to worry almost all the railway systems of Europe, and indeed of the whole world. In Britain, and elsewhere on the Continent, many of the railways have come to working arrangements with important firms operating road services, wherein financial interest is acquired by the railways. In Germany, arrangements of this kind were concluded some time ago, and, for a while, appeared to work well. Now, however, the German railways are finding this policy of joint interest an impracticable one, and they have therefore abandoned it. Full liberty of action is now sought for them to operate road services of their own for both passengers and freight, and big developments along these lines are likely.
The total number of motor vehicles in service on the German roads at July 1, 1928, was 933,312, an increase of 29 per cent over the 1927 figure. The position of the German railways in regard to road competition is rendered increasingly difficult for an enormous number of road motors are operated by the Post Office in competition with the railways. These motors total something like 1,500, and in a single year they carry some 50,000,000 passengers. The popular conception of the German railways being backed up by the Government in every branch of their activities thus rudely falls to the ground. The German railways are now run on essentially business lines, and have to encounter severe competition on every hand.
Italian railway operation includes the negotiation of many tunnel sections, especially in the northern portion of the government railway system. Tunnels like the Simplon, the St. Gothard and the Mt. Cenis are world famous. Now their number is to be added to by the construction, at present proceeding, of an 11-mile long tunnel, piercing the heart of the Apennine Mountains.
The new tunnel is almost equal in length to the Simplon, and forms part of the new direct railway route between Bologna and Florence which, it is anticipated, will be opened early in 1931. The precise length of this engineering wonder is 11 miles, 626 yards. The method of construction followed is to drill the tunnel from each side of the Apennine Mountains, north and south, and also through two intermediate vertical shafts. The new Bologna-Florence route is a trifle over sixty miles in length, and will supersede the existing 81-mile route between the two cities. At present three hours are occupied on the run throughout owing to the steep grades. Electric trains will travel over the new route in ninety minutes. In all, the new Bologna-Florence line has thirty tunnels and 41 bridges. Apart from the Apennine tunnel itself, there are the Monte Adone tunnel (4 1/2 miles) and the Setta tunnel (2 miles) encountered en route. On completion of the new Bologna-Florence electric railway, and the conversion to electricity of the Florence-Rome steam route, direct and rapid train service, serving the whole of Central Italy, will be introduced.
Electrification In Switzerland.
A fast passenger train on the st. gothard railway.
Switzerland is a leader in the electrification field, and, during the present year, the Swiss Government railways are spending some four million odd francs on electric traction. The routes from Sargans to Coire and from Winterthur to Rorschach, via Romanshorn, were opened to electric traction in May last, while the route from Oerlikon to Schaffhausen was completely electrified towards the close of 1928. This concluded the first stage in the throughout electrification of the Swiss Government railways. Before work is begun on the second stage of the electrification, it is thought desirable to wait a year or two. In the meantime, this year's work includes the important task of replacing the three-phase system of electric traction on the Simplon tunnel and other sections, by the single-phase system. During the present year the Swiss authorities intend to place orders for the supply of eighteen fast electric passenger locomotives, four heavy mountain type electric locomotives; four electric shunting locomotives, and two electric tractors. At the close
In addition to the electrification programme, the Swiss railways have this year set themselves the task of replacing the hand brakes on all goods wagons by automatic compressed air brakes of the “Drolshammer” pattern. The introduction of this equipment will enable freight traffic working to be considerably speeded up, afford increased safety, and eliminate the necessity for employing special brakesmen on freight trains.
The problem of the private owner's wagon continues one of concern for the Home railways. There are, in Britain, approximately 700,000 coal wagons, of which over half a million are owned by colliery proprietors or coal merchants. In addition, a number of wagons which are privately owned are employed for the conveyance of miscellaneous freight traffic. It is in the case of the privately owned coal trucks that greatest difficulty is experienced. All the privately owned trucks have to be returned empty to the point from which they commenced their journey loaded, and the confusion and congestion, to say nothing of waste haulage, which thereby results, may readily be imagined.
Not long ago the Great Western Railway, following the lead set some years back by the North Eastern line, introduced into the South Wales coal trade a number of 20-ton high-capacity coal trucks. These trucks have proved of real service to the trade, and their utilisation has materially simplified the operation of coal trains to and from South Wales. As yet, however, the collieries and merchants fight shy of the high capacity wagon, but by degrees, new equipment is being installed at the pit-heads rendering the use of 20-ton wagons practicable. On the Continent, the use of 20-ton wagons for coal traffic is common in France and Germany, while in the latter country coal and mineral trucks of as high a capacity as 60-tons have found marked favour. As the years proceed, there will, no doubt, be witnessed a steady growth in wagon capacity, and this tendency will be welcomed by all concerned in the movement of traffic.
“Samson got some wonderful advertising results when he took two columns and certainly brought down the house!”
“If you do not advertise you fossilise.”
“The lions of Society are tigers for publicity.”
—Lord Dewar, on Advertising.
A Leader Among British Expresses.
L.M.S. “Royal Scot” leaving Euston Station, London, for Glasgow.
A Marked Increase
A rather remarkable record has been established by the Railway Department in the increased carriage of artificial manures during the last three years. During the financial year ending 31st March, 1926, 306,451 tons of artificial manure were carried. This was quite a substantial quantity of fertilizer to be carried by rail in one year, and was a clear indication that the farming community readily realised the benefits to be obtained from topdressing of pastures. The railway rates then charged were considered to be quite low and had secured for the Department a large business at a rate which, although barely remunerative, was based on a scale that enabled the Department to give good service to the community at a low price.
On a New Zealand Branch Line
e route to fairlie south island new zealand from which terminal the hmitage, mt cook, is reached by motor.
A change was made in the railway tariff rate upon fertilizers about two years ago, a big reduction being introduced, and this has had a very stimulating effect upon the use of fertilizers by farmers. So great is the change created that the figures deserve special attention in their economic implications. Against the 306,451 tons handled in 1926, during the year ending 31st March, 1928, 586,007 tons were carried, and the quantity at the end of the last financial year, that is, up to 31st March, 1929, had risen to 712,741 tons. To help in securing this great enhancement in traffic, which means more than a doubling in three years (that is from 306,000, in 1926 to 713,000 in 1929) the rates charged for fertilizers were reduced by 40 per cent. This was a handsome concession to the farming community, and one which could only be undertaken by a State concern intent upon giving service for the benefit of the country at large, rather than upon gaining for itself a direct commercial return.
A somewhat similar increase, though not so marked, has occurred in regard to agricultural lime. For 1926 the number of tons of lime carried was 105,410; for 1929, it was 142,213 tons.
The reduced rates came into operation from the 30th August, 1926.
A great deal has been said in recent times upon the question of the community value of services rendered by the Railway Department. It is the publication of many such facts that enable us to say definitely that no other service, if privately owned, could possibly do the work which the Railway Department is now doing at the price. Also it is perfectly clear that the great expansion in the use of artificial manure, that is, of 100 per cent. in less than three years, would hardly have occurred had it not been for this reduction, made possible by the co-operation of State services for the benefit of the country as a whole.
The remarkable increase in the national returns from agriculture during the last season are a clear indication of the beneficial effects secured to the country from the adoption of intensive cultivation on farms. This result could not have been secured had it not been that the Railways were prepared to lend their services for the purpose of supplying a transportation facility which, although not in itself directly remunerative, was of national benefit. The users gained the maximum advantages obtainable from cheap conveyance to enable them to place on their land the required ingredients for ensuring intensive cultivation and maximum production.
Among the Books.
Our Book Causerie
Travelling—by rail, of course—to Napier, recently, I had as a fellow-traveller a railway worker on holiday. He was reading a novel, but as I took my seat beside him, he courteously said “Good morning,” and went on reading. As the train sped on, I could hear him now and again “nichering” to himself. Clearly, he was enjoying his book. I was engaged writing for some time, but, my task finished, I, too, took out a book. As I reached for my bag, I saw the title of the story my neighbour was reading. Coincidence—my book and his were by the same author! I said nothing, but proceeded to bury myself in the story. From that first greeting not another word passed between my neighbour and myself until the train pulled up at Woodville. Still neighbours we sat down to lunch. Our physical hunger satisfied, we mutually relaxed and walked the platform yarning until “All seats, please!” was called. As we lifted our books from our seats before sitting down, I said, “Strange, we are reading books by the same author!” “Are we?” he replied, “that's funny.” Then, after a pause, “Y'know, I like a good yarn … a good yarn, an' this one's just pie on!” The name of the book was “Well-to-do Arthur.” “Yes,” I said, “a good yarn, but Pett Ridge has done better.” “This'll 'bout do me, anyway;” he replied. Another pause, then: “How's that you've tackled?” “Oh,” I said, “it's a bit of all right.” Then I went on: “D'you know when you told me you were a railway worker, I was glad to see you reading one of Pett Ridge's books. You know, of course, that he was a railway employee before he turned author?” No, he hadn't known, but, now that he did know, he'd get some more of his “stuff” next time he wanted something to read! I assured him he couldn't do better, adding, “I've just a chapter to read of mine, so you can have it when I finish.” “Right-oh,” he replied, “we'll swap.” And we did.
How many railway workers know that Pett Ridge is an ex-railwayman? In the early “'Nineties,” while still a young man, he went to London as a Railway Goods Clerk. Almost immediately he started story writing, and soon found his feet. Sensing, somehow, that literature is a good walking stick, but a bad crutch, he continued to write out way-bills by day and stories by night, until such time as he was earning by his stories a sum equal to three times his wages as a Railway Goods Clerk. When this point was reached he walked out of the “Goods” office and took on authorship as a profession. What of his books? The high figures to which almost every one of them has attained is answer sufficient. We of the older school love our Dickens so well, that we instinctvely resent anyone trying to poach upon his preserves. In our opinion no one could come near him in the delineation of London life and character. In that realm of fact and fancy the last word was with Dickens—or so we thought. Then along comes a “Goods” clerk and shows us that, while Dickens is still supreme, there are a hundred and one types of London life that Dickens left untouched. These it has fallen to the luck of Pett Ridge to see and note, subsequently reproducing them in one or other of his books. I don't know just how many books Pett Ridge has written, but I'm sure I've read nearly three dozen of them—all good. There are some hypercritical persons who speak of Pett Ridge as “merely a humorous writer,” and who declare that “his stories are not of much account as literature.” Perhaps not; but the average man in this, as in so many other instances, will please to differ from the so-called experts, and will lose nothing by so differing.
* * *
“A Handful of Leather,” by Will H. Ogilvie, illustrated by Lionel Edwards (Constable, London, per Whitcombe and Tombs). Will H. Ogilvie, after making his name as an
Alter a few words in these verses and who, hearing them read for the first time, would guess that they were not written during his Australian days? Indeed, Mr. Ogilvie himself seems to have been carried away by the old familiar swing of the verses and imagined he was writing for an Australasian audience and not for Border Scots. In this, his latest volume, he returns to his early love—the horse, and in it he lets himself go, just as he did in “Fair Girls and Grey Horses,” “Heart of Gold,” etc., for the drum of hoofs, and the jingle of reins beat true to the music that thrills through his veins. To Will Ogilvie, as it was to Adam Lindsay Gordon, the speed of the horse is “an endless glory.” He hears again the hoof thuds of years agone and calls up the ghosts of old mates who have ridden with him in that “sunny country where the golden wattle grows.” This book contains much of the best things Will Ogilvie has ever done. The illustrations by Lionel Edwards are all that they should be. Australasian admirers of Will Ogilvie, not entirely for “auld acquaintance sake,” but for its own inherent merit, must procure this, his latest volume, if they would feel the old thrill once again. (Price 16/-.)
A Model Foundry.
A section of the iron foundry at the Hutt Valley Workshops, Wellington.
Where the Railway Department Helps the Public
Great Fluctuations In Wagon Requirements
We append hereto a graph, showing the fluctuations in traffic carried by the Railway Department in the South Island from the 1st of April, 1925, to 31st March, 1929. This graph shows the monthly variation in the tonnage carried during four years, and is a most illuminating exposition of the difficulties with which the Railway Department has to contend in meeting public requirements in the matter of trucks.
The graph indicates that the minimum quantity carried was during January, 1927, when slightly over 150,000 tons were carried in the South Island. The maximum quantity is shown in March of 1929, when 270,000 tons were carried. The difference between these two maximum and minimum points is sufficiently striking, but when the intermediate variations are taken into account it is not surprising that the Railway Department finds difficulty at times in supplying the needs of the Commercial community. The graph shows fluctuations as startling in their magnitude as those found in the temperature records of a hospital fever ward. It might well be the saw-backed fever chart of a typhoid patient.
Supposing the payable quantity which the Railway Department could carry per month to be in the vicinity of 200,000 tons. Then the graph indicates:—(1) that twice in the 1925–26 year the figures fell far below this—down to round
Each vertical division represents a four-weekly period.
The statement is particularly interesting in view of the loose ideas set afloat regarding the Railway Department, such as that the growth of motor traffic had definitely put the Department in an inferior position in regard to capacity for conveying the goods of the people.
There have been occasions, at each of the peak periods, when the Department has found difficulty in carrying all the traffic offering at the exact time that the consignor desired to send it, but no business could afford to carry a big proportion of rolling stock which would not be called into action except for a few brief weeks in each year. On the other hand the fluctuations indicated are so great that nothing but a service which was capable of a great deal of expansion could deal with them. In this respect the Railway Department has a definite advantage over the motor for, whereas the maximum load of a motor varies very little from its minimum economic load, the quantity conveyed by any particular train may differ in amount by 200 or 300 tons from that of another train, yet both be running on an economic basis. The advantage of this elasticity is that the Railway Department, by working long hours and putting on additional trains and arranging for faster turnover of its wagons, is able to expand its services very extensively for short periods and still be in position to retain in service its same transport units and staff, throughout even the dull periods of the year, without serious reduction. In other words, with the same staff it is able to handle both the maximum and minimum tonnage offering in the Dominion without adding in any way to the unemployment difficulties which any country, subject, to some extent, to seasonal fluctuations in its traffic developments, is so apt to be faced with.
Supposing that the traffic which the Railway Department has carried had been in the hands of road hauliers, it is perfectly clear that either the goods could not have been carried at all or that, if they had been carried, a large number of vehicles and a large number of men would have had to be employed at the busy seasons of the year and their services entirely dispensed with at the slack periods. This would have led to an enormous amount of economic waste, a condition which it is the purpose of those who have the welfare of the country at heart to obviate.
The point regarding the relative inelasticity of the motor as compared with the train for pulling the country through times of maximum traffic has not previously been stressed, but it is undoubtedly an extremely important factor and one which more than outbalances for general purposes the movement mobility advantages of motor transport.
The whole effect of the graph produced with this article is to show very clearly how impossible it would be for any service but the railways to handle the bulk of the Dominion's goods traffic.
It is hoped, too, that its publication will reconcile those who are at times inconvenienced through the Department's inability to supply all the trucks that may be required at any particular time and place.
We find that periods of stress in the coal industry, for instance, which invariably occur at the beginning of the winter season, coincide with a rush of grain to ports and stores and heavy press of shipping traffic bringing imports to the Dominion. Circumstances such as these cause congestion in the stores which are unable to take the produce quickly enough. This in turn slows down the turnover of wagons and prevents the best service being made even of the rolling stock that is available. So also the non-arrival of ships at due time has a similar effect. All these circumstances have a tendency to accentuate the position which, as the graph shows, would be difficult enough under the best possible circumstances. The wonder is that the railway copes with the difficulty as well as it does.
“When the North Express Comes in.”
The Christchurch-Invercargill Express arriving at Invercargill Station.
To pour the fresh instruction o'er the mind,
To breathe the enliv'ning spirit, and to fix
The generous purpose in the glowing breast.
When the Apprentice Classes were first organised at our Workshops, it was found that, although many of the lads were undoubtedly turning out to be first-class tradesmen, their standard of education left much to be desired. Many of the boys, although having a sixth standard certificate on entering the service, had not further improved their education.
The task, therefore, of equipping the lads with a first-class technical knowledge of their respective trades, was commenced in a thorough going manner, and most gratifying progress has been made by the majority of the boys. Along with their training in arithmetic, the boys were taught drawing and the correct reading of blue prints. The method adopted was to instruct them to draw a pictorial projection from the blue print, of a standard object with which they were individually familiar. They were also instructed in the art of making working drawings. These drawings were afterwards compared with the drawings made by the draughtsman, that the apprentices might see where an improvement in their own drawing could be made. After a while every apprentice became proficient in this work, and could read blue prints with ease.
When the boys had mastered arithmetic, they were taught the rudiments of algebra, to about the matriculation standard. From algebra the boys proceeded to a study of the Calculus—a small class having been started for this purpose. The class lasts for one hour, and, during that time, the various parts of the differential Calculus are explained—rigid mathematical proofs being avoided. It is intended to provide the apprentices with a working knowledge of differential and integral Calculus that they may be in a position to read the more advanced books on steam and engineering.
To give instruction to boys possessing little knowledge of algebraical symbols, in the meaning, use, and way of finding a differential co-efficient, was a difficult task, but this was successfully accomplished in the first lecture—on which the boys took copious notes in the manner of students in a large university. In this lecture, entitled “The Scope and Usefulness of the Calculus,” it was pointed out how, firstly, the Calculus could be applied to work the boys had already done, and, secondly, how problems, impossible of solution by ordinary methods, were comparatively easy with a knowledge of the Calculus. To make work easier by always dealing with something familiar to the apprentices, rather than with abstract propositions, instances that have occurred in the shops are used as examples.
Built in our own Workshops.
An “X” Class locomotive used on the hilly portions of the Main Trunk Line, North Island, New Zealand.
A departure from any text book available had to be made, for it was found that they were so loaded with rigid mathematical demonstrations as to be useful only as a rough guide.
The use (in the course of lectures now being given to the boys) of familiar examples treated in a new way has the advantage that much of the progress made will be made by the apprentices themselves—without conscious effort—in the process of solving problems.
When the boys have mastered the Calculus, it is intended to direct their future studies upon sound lines. The ideal aimed at is to make them first-class tradesmen.
Locomotive development all over the world is in the direction of increased steam pressures. Several interesting high pressure locomotives have been constructed of late in Europe and America, and now, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway of England is undertaking a most interesting experiment. A fast passenger locomotive of the “Royal Scot” type is to be equipped with a boiler constructed on the Schmidt-Henschel high pressure system, as experimentally employed in Germany, and modified in design to suit British conditions and the “Royal Scot” class of engines. High pressure steam will be generated in a drum, distinct from the normal boiler, by the passage of hot steam through tubes passing through the drum. The steam within the tubes will be generated in a water tube firebox. Steam from the drum will first be employed in a high pressure cylinder of 11 1/2 inches diameter at approximately 900lbs. pressure, and thereafter will be mixed with low pressure steam from the boiler, and utilised in two low pressure cylinders each of 18 inches diameter, at 250lbs. per sq. in. The new locomotive will be of the three-cylinder compound class, with a tractive effort of about 33,200lbs.
The “Royal Scot” locomotive weighs, with tender, 127 tons. Each carries 5 1/2 tons of coal and 3,500 gallons of water, and is employed for hauling the Anglo-Scottish express between London and Glasgow. The run out of the Euston Station, London, to Carlisle, on the Scottish border, involves the negotiation of many steep gradients, and presents many locomotive difficulties.—(From our special London Correspondent.
Learning by study must be won,
'Twas ne'er entail'd from sire to son.
The new school for apprentices at the Hutt Valley Workshops, Wellington.
(Photo. A. P. Godber.)
ByH. Collett .(For the “N.Z. Railways Magazine.”)
Bell-bird.
Kingfisher.
Count Stroemfelt, a distinguished Swedish traveller, recently gave his impressions of New Zealand to the “Hobart Mercury.”
“New Zealand so delighted me,” he said, “that I hope to see it again. The Government was very hospitable, and I found everybody charming. I was especially astonished in this young land to see the excellent sleeping-cars on the railways.”
Wit and Humour and Humour
A minister, in addressing his flock, began: “As I gaze about. I see before me a great many bright and shining faces.” Just then eighty-seven powder-puffs came out.
* * *
He was visiting a maiden aunt. Said she: “And what brought you up to London, George?” “Oh,” said he, “I came up to town to see the sights, so thought to myself, I would call on you first.”
* * *
“I'se for a five-day week. How 'bout you, Sam?”
Sam: “I'se for a five-day week-end.”
* * *
Mistress: “Did I hear you break something in the kitchen just now?”
Servant (with some emotion): “Yes'm—my (sniff) engagement with the milkman!”
* * *
“This is a hard world,” said Pat, as he knocked off for the day.
“Yis,” said Mike, “Oi be thinkin' the same thing ivery toime I put me pick in it.”
* * *
Employee: “I came to ask if you could raise my salary.”
Boss: “This isn't pay day.”
Employee: “I know that, but I thought I would speak about it to-day.”
Boss: “Go back to work and don't worry. I've managed to raise it every week so far, haven't I?”—(Sydney Bulletin.)
* * *
The Lady: “Are you sure you've got everything, Harold”
Harold (bitterly): “Everything, m'dear, with the trifling exception of the piano and the mortgage on the house.”
A lock-out is a man who comes home too late.
Snoring is letting off sleep.
A barrister is a thing which is put up in the street to keep the crowds back.
With a view to comparing old-time means of transport with present-day facilities, a class was invited to write an imaginary dialogue between a cab-horse and an aeroplane. This is how one boy opened: Horse: “What is that blasted thing up in the air?”
In the eighteenth century travelling was very romantic, most of the high roads were only bridal paths.
What is the correct name for a five-shilling piece? A bob.
The White Feather. A feather that is white in colour as a White Leg Horn's is.
The embalmed body of an Egyptian is called a dummy.
A knave is a man which works on the tramlines.
* * *
From a boy's letter to his chum: “You know Bob Jones's neck? Well he fell in the river up to it.”
At a recent meeting of the Garden Circle of the Southland Women's Club, the result of the competition for the beautifying of Southland railway stations, organized by the circle, was announced. The three judges, Mrs. G. I. Moffett, Mrs. R. N. Todd and Mrs. J. B. Sale, inspected the stations and made the following awards:—Orepuki 1, Thornbury 2, Makarewa 3, Riverton and Warepa 4 h.c.
The Orepuki station will receive a cup presented by the president of the Southland Women's Club, to be kept for a year, and in addition a miniature of the cup and a cash prize of 30/-. Thornbury will receive a cash prize of £1. It was decided that a special prize of 10/- should be given to the Makarewa station. It was also decided that the two cups should be displayed for a time at the Invercargill railway station.
Mrs. Moffett, secretary of the Garden Circle, read the following account of the tour of the various stations:—
“Makarewa was first visited, and we found it very pleasing. The principal garden is an oval one cut out of the asphalt where the Makarewa name post stands. It has a small border of stones which is very effective.
“We called next at Thornbury. Here there are several small gardens all bright with flowers. They were very neat and tidy.
“Riverton, we discovered, had a small garden, carefully laid out and well cared for. The special feature was a bed of antirrhinums in very pretty colours.
“Orepuki was next visited, and we were amazed at the work that had been accomplished in four or five months. A large square lawn has been made with a garden at each corner and a central oval bed.
“We were particularly pleased with a bright show of godelias at the Tuatapere station.
“The next day we visited Lochiel and Winton. Lochiel has a narrow strip of garden, which, when made larger, will be very effective. Winton has several long garden plots with some good plants.
“Otautau was visited on Monday. The garden is pretty and easily seen from the train. On Tuesday we visited Warepa, which is at present gay with flowers. On the way to Warepa we also visited Kamahi, which has not entered for the competition, but has a very bright garden.
“We much appreciated the kindness of Mr. Morey, District Engineer, and his railway officials, who are most enthusiastic and interested in the gardens.”—Southland Times.
In the application of power to useful work dependence must be placed upon bearings, without which machinery cannot operate. In the transmission of power by shafting, bearings play an important part, and upon their efficiency depends the efficient operation of every industrial plant.
Lubrication affects the power consumption of every bearing, and, as even in a fair sized plant, the number of bearings runs into thousands, a small individual power loss in each, multiplied by the total number of bearings, becomes a large power loss. The money loss involved in this power loss may mount to serious proportions. Shafting, when poorly lubricated, is a large waster of power, and although this loss may not be seen, the business feels the effect of it. Power is thus steadily wasted which could otherwise be converted into production.
At one time the common conception of lubrication was that of making metallic surfaces smooth or slippery by the application of an oily substance, attention being given to the modifying influence that the lubricant has upon the surface. It has been found that the metal constituting the bearing surfaces has little influence on friction except when lubrication is incomplete and boundary or greasy lubrication exists, i.e., when the quantity of lubricant present is insufficient to form a complete separating film between the surfaces.
Correct lubrication implies the complete separation of the moving part (the journal) and the stationary supporting part (the bearing) by a lubricating film consisting of the correct oil, possessing sufficient body and adhesiveness to support the pressure, and at the same time presenting the least possible resistance to motion consistent with absolute safety of operation. It also means that the oil film is maintained by a sufficient supply of oil, of lasting quality, without waste.
An oil film between the bearing surfaces can be maintained only when there is motion. When there is no motion, it is evident that any fluid would become squeezed out gradually from the pressure area. Due to the adhesive properties of a suitable lubricant, however, and also to the greater or less porosity of the journal and bearing metals, the surfaces remain oil-wet for a long time, thus facilitating initial motion when the machine is started. As soon as motion takes place, the moving part carries with it sufficient oil from the adjacent supply to rebuild the film on which it may ride.
It will be shown how this film is formed and maintained, what mechanical conditions must be observed to render it effective, and what characteristics must be possessed by the lubricant itself in order that the best results may be obtained.
As a fundamental example of an oil film, take a journal or shaft revolving in a solid bearing, consisting of a cylindrical hole through a solid block of metal, the hole being very slightly larger in diameter than the journal. Assume that the clearance space between the journal and the bearing is kept filled completely with oil, with the load of the journal acting downward. In Figs. 1—4 are shown end views of such a journal in various positions with respect to the bearing. The clearance space has been exaggerated for the purpose of better illustration.
Fig. 1 shows the journal resting directly on the metal of the bearing, the film having been squeezed out while the journal is at rest. If slow rotation of the journal begins in the direction indicated by the curved arrow in Fig. 2, there is at first a tendency for the journal to roll to the left. This would result in a new line of contact D between the journal and the bearing, except for the presence of oil which separates the journal and bearing surfaces and facilitates the starting motion.
Due to the downward pressure, the rotating journal will occupy a low position in the bearing on starting, and the oil film will be thin on the lower side. With increasing speed the quantity of oil carried into this supporting film, by its adhesion to the rotating shaft, becomes greater, thus producing a thicker film, which has a tendency to raise the journal, as in Fig. 3.
Experiments have shown that at normal load and high journal-speed, in a well designed and well lubricated bearing, the greatest pressure within the fluid film is in the part marked E in Fig. 4; while the centre of the journal A lies on a diagonal line; approximately in the direction of the letter F.
In order to explain this position of the journal, let us bear in mind that the weight of the journal tends to locate it in its lowest position, as shown at C in Fig. 1. The oil film carried under the journal, due to its rotation at slow speed, will lift it; resulting in a position shown in Fig. 3. The motion of the rotating journal carries the oil to the left at the top, and to the right at the bottom. The larger clearance at the top favours this carrying action, and the contracted clearance at the bottom retards oil flow, resulting in a broadly-distributed and increasing high pressure at the lower left or descending side, in the area marked H in Fig. 4, a rapidly diminishing pressure in the area marked K, and a minimum pressure in the area marked G.
Fig. 1.—Bearing with the journal A at rest, in contact at C with the bearing B.
Fig. 2.—The journal A when starting rolls so that the time of contact moves to D.
Fig. 3.—The journal A lifted by the oil film as rotation is started.
Fig. 4.—Position of journal A after it has been brought to full speed.
Fig. 5.—Bearing with clearance space only partly filled with oil.
This excess of pressure on the left results in a change in the lateral position of the journal toward the right as well as a lifting of the journal, as shown in Fig. 4. The area E of greatest pressure also moves towards the right or rising side until equilibrium is established.
Many factors may enter into this condition of equilibrium; these include the effect of changes in the load and speed, the form of clearances, the bearing size, the quantity of oil supplied, and the body of the oil; which last factor, in turn, is influenced by its temperature.
Keeping other conditions the same, if the load is decreased on the journal illustrated in Fig. 4, the centre of the journal will rise towards the centre of the bearing; thus tending to make the clearance space more uniform throughout the circle. It has been found experimentally, however, that the centre or axis of the journal will not coincide with that of the bearing; and that the point of least clearance will remain in a diagonal position near the letter F.
If the load is increased, the journal centre moves downward, still in an angular position, until the film on the rising side has become extremely thin. As the load is further increased, the dragging effect of fluid friction in this very thin film tends to move the journal towards the centre vertical line.
If the load were increased to an amount entirely disproportionate to the supporting strength of the oil film, the journal would be brought down to actual contact with the bearing surface near the bottom point of the circle. When this takes place, complete lubrication ceases; and the result is excessive wear and friction.
The changes which take place due to decreased load would also result from greater speed, or increased body of the oil, which, in turn, may result from a lower temperature.
Reduced speed, decreased oil body and higher temperature produce the same changes in the location of the journal as have been described for increased load. In practice, very commonly, the clearance is only partly filled, as in Fig. 5, due to leakage at the bearing ends. This changes the distribution of pressures, and somewhat alters the position of the journal, which still, however, will take an angular position in the direction of the letter F for normal loads. Oil carried over or across the top, due to its adhesion to the journal, accumulates in the wedge-shaped space H. The carrying action of the journal builds up the pressure in the wedge-shaped space H until it reaches a maximum in the area E, slightly beyond the lowest point. After the point of least clearance F is passed, the oil pressure drops rapidly until, as the point K is passed, it ceases to fill the clearance.
The effectiveness of lubrication is due to the support of the journal by the pressure in the oil film. This pressure is due to the adhesive property of the oil and to the motion of the revolving journal, forcing the oil into a clearance space of decreasing thickness; thus forming an oil wedge (H—Fig. 5), which is one of the requisites in the lubrication of frictional bearings.
The presence of a lubricating film, between the journal and bearing surfaces, does away with friction between the solid parts and replaces it by
This friction within the fluid is greater for a heavy-bodied or highly viscous oil than for oil of light body, emphasising the desirability of minimising frictional loss of power by the use of a light bodied oil. On the other hand, the greater the load, or the lower the speed, the heavier must be the body of the oil in order that a complete film may be maintained. High temperature also demands an oil of heavy body to compensate for the reducing effect that high temperatures have on oil body. To minimise fluid friction, the oil used should possess the lightest body that will maintain with safety a complete film under the existing conditions of load, speed, and temperature.
Wherever power is consumed in friction, the result is the generation of heat. The quantity of heat generated per minute is exactly proportional to the amount of power consumed in friction. Wherever metallic contact takes place in a bearing, the power consumed and the heat generated are greater than if a complete lubricating film were maintained. Even where a lubricating film completely separates the surfaces there is a certain amount of friction within the film; and, therefore, a proportional amount of heat generation. This heat is conducted away by the metal of the bearing and journal and dissipated.
Although the lubricating film is microscopic in its thickness, it may be regarded as composed of many layers; the outer layers being cooled by contact with the metal, while the inner layers are heated by the internal friction within the fluid. Although the temperature difference between these layers may be slight, the tendency is for the central layers to be of higher temperature, due to the heat generated therein. An increase in temperature always reduces viscosity or body, rendering this part of the film more fluid. Due to this greater fluidity, a greater part of the motion takes place between the central layers, localising the fluid friction in this part, and, therefore, tending to increase the temperature-difference between the layers until a stable condition has been reached.
A mental picture may now be formed of the movements of the lubricant within the bearing clearance. The oil directly adjacent to the metal surfaces is cooler than the central layers; and, being more viscous and adhesive, clings to the metal surfaces. Therefore, we may visualise this as the formation of a protective viscous coating on the bearing surface and a similar protective viscous coating on the surface of the journal, the latter coating moving with the journal, and the two coatings being separated by a film which is less viscous and in which the sliding motion takes place.
The foregoing discussion of the principles involved in the oil film and its maintenance by means of an oil-wedge suggests that the satisfactory action of this film may be upset completely if the characteristics of the oil itself are not as they should be. Experience confirms this conclusion.
(To be continued.)
With a view to testing the possibilities of high-speed rail travel an experimental run was made on 3rd April between Paris and Cherbourg. The train consisted of a 4-6-2 locomotive with two de luxe corridor cars, and one luggage van. An average start-to-stop speed of 72 miles per hour was registered by the train, which, on certain portions of the track, attained the high speed of 93 miles per hour.
The site of the new oil wharf at Point Howard (on the Wellington-Eastbourne Road), with which rail connection is being established.
Mr. A. McNeil, commercial agent of the Railway Department, made some interesting comparisons at a meeting of the Masterton Chamber of Commerce (says the “Wairarapa Times”). He said that the Wairarapa was one of the most important districts in New Zealand, not only from a railway point of view, but as a primary producing district. The annual volume of primary products from the Wairarapa was immense. The wool alone taken from the district would fill a train seven miles long; sheep, a train 40 miles long; dairy produce, a train five miles long; and meat, a train four miles long. Mr. McNeill mentioned that the business people of Masterton depended for 80 or 90 per cent. of their trade on the farmers, and he advocated that they should support the railways which served the farmers by carrying produce, fertilizers, and other goods, cheaply.
Bearing in mind the utility of the overhead railway under certain circumstances, is it not a trifle surprising how few railways of this character have actually been brought into service? America probably leads in the utilisation of the overhead railway, while Germany also possesses a notable example in the Barmen-Elberfeld overhead electric line (writes our London Correspondent).
Britain's only overhead railway worthy of the name is the Liverpool overhead system. This line runs north and south parallel with the River Mersey, and has been a boon to Liverpool suburbanites for thirty-six years. The line is formed of wrought iron girders, 16 feet above ground level, supported on columns; the longest span on the system being a bow-string span of 98 feet. Between the girders there is a continuous flooring of arched plates, this flooring being almost noiseless under traffic. The track consists of flat-bottomed steel rails of 601bs. per yard, laid on longitudinal sleepers, held in position by lugs riverted to the flooring plates. Automatic signalling is installed throughout, with modern colour-light signals. The basis of the signalling arrangements is to permit of a two minutes' service of passenger trains throughout. Trains on the Liverpool overhead railway are formed of electric motor and trailer cars, and the principal service operated is that between Liverpool and the seaside resort of Southport. A trip over this unique railway may be whole-heartedly commended to the visitor to Britain anxious to secure a peep at the shipping on the Mersey and the many interesting activities associated with life in a great seaport.
By Those Who Like Us
Appreciation of the arrangements made by the Department for the speedy removal of those at Arthur's Pass when the recent earthquake occurred, is expressed in the two following letters, addressed to the District Traffic Manager, Christchurch:-
From Mr. H. Le Page, Clifton, Sumner:—
As one who was holidaying with my wife and family at Arthur's Pass when the earthquake occurred, I feel compelled to write and express my great appreciation of the work of the Department, and the great courtesy and solicitude shown by all officials in what was to everyone a very trying time.
The promptness with which the first relief train was despatched reflects great credit on the manner in which your Department can handle an emergency. As for the arrangements for bringing away those remaining I can speak personally, being one of them. The Department could not possibly have done more for their comfort. The travellers were principally women, many of them in a highly-strung and nervous condition, and the fact that they were able to get right back to their homes in Christchurch had a wonderful effect on them.
I would specially like to mention the work of the stationmaster at Arthur's Pass, Mr. W. C. Tritt. He and his staff spared no effort to ensure the comfort of the women-folk. Everything they could do was done, and I can assure you, Sir, that the travellers highly appreciated it. Mr. McNair, the engineer, and his assistant, Mr. Lusty, both did their utmost to see that nothing that could possibly be done was left undone.
I wish you would convey to the above officers the thanks of the travellers. I think I can speak for all. Their kindness and courtesy, and that of your permanent way staff (who all worked like trojans, and had a word of cheer for the overwrought women-folk), was deeply appreciated.
From Mr. E. J. Ross, Christchurch:—
I do not know if it was your branch of the Department which took charge of the arrangements for transporting the second batch of residents and visitors from Arthur's Pass last Sunday, but if not, I hope you will be able to convey the contents of this letter to the proper quarter.
I have been asked to convey to your Department the thanks of a number of those returned to Christchurch by train and bus on Sunday night, and to express their appreciation of the courtesy and consideration shown by its officials to them under very trying circumstances.
They would like to make a special reference to the stationmaster at Arthur's Pass, the officials who made the arrangements for their comfort at Springfield, and the man in charge of the bus who took such pains to see them landed as near as possible to their homes.
As a relative of several of the ladies of the party, I should like to add my appreciation of your Department's arrangements.
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From the Secretary, New Zealand Presbyterian Bible Class Unions, Hamilton, to the General Manager of Railways, Wellington:—
On behalf of the Hamilton Presbyterian Conference Committee I have to write expressing our gratitude to your Department for the efficient way in which your staff handled the hundreds of young men and women who came by rail to our conference here. We would especially express our appreciation of the courtesy and ready helpfulness of the stationmasters, both at Frankton and at Hamilton. It was due to the co-operation of these gentlemen and their staffs that much of our transport problems were so easily solved.
We would also express our appreciation of the way in which your business agent so actively assisted us in all matters pertaining to transport, and particularly with the arrangements for our picnic to Rotorua.
Making and decorating waxed parchment for use in the home is fascinating work that is always practical. Little wastepaper baskets, lamp shades, screens, and shields for wall sconces are some of the useful and attractive articles that can be made quite simply, and which add to the decoration of the home. Materials are inexpensive, and, other than an special qualifications.
First of all, buy at the stationery shop some ordinary parchment paper. Then purchase a cheap wastepaper basket or a wire lampshade frame and cover it with parchment paper. Two or three rolls of ordinary crepe paper should then be bought, and little decorations cut out from it. One of the most effective decorations consists of a number of small circles about the size of a penny cut out from crepe paper of different colours.
Next, the paper must be waxed or parchmentized. The whole article, including the paper decorations, must be coated with transparent sealing wax of the light amber colour, which has been dissolved in commercial alcohol (obtainable at any oil shop). This solution is put on like paint. The stick of sealing wax must be broken up into small pieces and covered with alcohol. A small camel's hair brush should be used for applying this solution, which gives an air of transparency to the paper and immensely improves the appearance of the crepe paper decorations.
The edge of the article can then be finished off with a binding of gold braid or any other suitable material—this gives a perfectly finished appearance which takes away the home-made air. A coating of rose-coloured sealing wax, or some other warm shade, applied to the inside of lamp shades or wall sconces, gives a rich, glowing light.
There is no limit to the number of designs which can be applied to these parchment articles, either by means of crepe paper or figures cut out of magazines and periodicals. Providing they are attractively coloured, the wax finish gives them the necessary artistic touch. Little shapes of Japanese lanterns, studies of children in charming poses, and animals, make excellent designs.
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In order to have the flavour of a stew evenly blended throughout, add enough water in the beginning for the entire cooking, and then let the stew cool down as vegetables, and so forth are added.
In flavouring any cooked mixtures, such as custards and the like, let them cool throughly first. Otherwise the warmth causes the flavouring to escape with the alcohol, with which it is usually preserved.
To flavour a sauce with chopped onions, cook them slowly in the fat to draw out the flavour, but do not brown.
A few grains of sugar added to any sauce, soup or other dish consisting of much tomato, takes away the raw, harsh sharpness of the acid it contains. This is also true of dishes containing vinegar.
Boil a piece of alum the size of an egg in a pint of milk. Hold as hot as possible in the mouth. Repeat until relief comes.
Writing of one of the latest and most popular publications of the Railways Publicity Branch, “The State Railways of New Zealand,” the Evening Post, Wellington, says:—
“State Railways of New Zealand, 1929,” is the title of a beautifully illustrated brochure, issued by the Government for general information. A brief history of the railways is given, beginning with the Lyttelton-Christchurch line, the first in the country, begun in 1860. Railway organisation and operations are treated under separate headings, and references are made to the many activities of the Department in the carriage of passengers and goods. In a note on level-crossing accidents, it is stated that they are “due to the impatience of motorists and other drivers failing to observe caution at crossings.” But the Department is doing its best to solve the level-crossing problem. Conveniences for travellers are specially dealt with. No mention is made of following the example of some British railway companies in providing “third-class sleepers,” but a hint is given of a demand for an “all-sleeper” express on the North Island Main Trunk line. The book is an excellent guide to the great work being done by the railways of New Zealand, and its value is enhanced by railway maps of both Islands.
An interesting experiment in the running of a Seed Car Special Train has just been brought to a satisfactory conclusion by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. The special was organised by the railway in co-operation with the Seed Branch Department of Agriculture for Manitoba and the Manitoba Agricultural College. It was composed of seed cars, a poultry car, a baggage car—well stocked with a supply of the different seeds for sale to the farmers, who bought freely. Two cars for the display of grains, grasses, clovers and corn, were also provided, and the train had ample space for lecture purposes, being fitted with a machine for illustrating the lectures by means of pictures. A competent staff, supplied by the Department of Agriculture, accompanied the train, which visited; altogether, thirty-nine points of the Canadian Pacific Railway system.
The train (which was supplied, equipped and moved by the Canadian Pacific Railway) toured for nine weeks, and its movements were followed with keen interest by the farmers who attended the lectures and demonstrations by the experts in large numbers.
We have heard the crash of waters where the
snow-fed rivers run…”
Staircase Gully Viaduct (230ft. high) and the Waimakariri River, on the Christchurch-Greymouth line, South Island, New Zealand.
Traffic And Stores Branches.
Aickin, F. W., to Assistant Law Officer, Gr. II., Head Office, Wellington.
Barnes, C. E., to Business Agent, Gr. III., Dunedin.
Boesley, G. H. J., to Station Clerk, Gr. VI., Hawera.
Foster, G. C., to Ticket Inspector, Gr. V., Frankton.
Martin, R. R., to Assistant Relieving Officer, Gr. VI., Wellington.
O'Shaughnessy, W. F., to Train Running Officer, Gr. V., Ohakune.
Pringle, J., to Business Agent, Gr. III., Wanganui.
Slowley, J. M., to Machine Shop Foreman, Gr. III., Hillside.
Stanley, V. R. J., to Business Agent, Gr. III., Head Office, Wellington.
White, N. E., to Chief Clerk, Gr. IV., Workshops Manager's Office, Addington.
Wilson, C. G., to Assistant District Engineer, Gr. I., Dunedin.
Prosser, J., to Christchurch Passenger.
Bone, J. T., to Christchurch Goods.
Dobson, A. K., to Christchurch Goods.
Hurndell, A. W., to Oamaru.
Willyams, A. L. M., to Addington.
Wilson, J. H. C., to Lyttelton.
Maintenance Branch.
King, J., to Greymouth.
Moloney, D., to Westport.
Williams, J. G., to Arthur's Pass.
Rudd, L. A., to Otahuhu.
Wills, T. H., to Dunedin.
Hall, A. C., to Gisborne.
Korner, A., to Oamaru.
Suggestion and Innventions.
Tablet Porter.—Suggestion re issuing circular memoranda in order to obviate trains stopping at tablet stations specially for this purpose.
Brown, P. S., Labourer, Loco. Running Shed, Auckland.—Awarded bonus of £2 for his suggestion re improved slip-rail in Auckland Running Shed.
Stephens, P. W., Lifter, Addington.—Awarded bonus of £1 for his suggestion re draw-bar spanner.
Taylor, J. W., Leading Lifter, Westport.—Awarded bonus of £2 for suggestion re improved safety cap for hand brakes on wagons.
Crashing Into Trains.
The American Railway Association recently announced that more than 20 per cent. of the accidents at highway grade crossings in 1927 resulted from operators of passenger automobiles, motor buses and motor trucks crashing into the sides of trains (says an American exchange).
Of the 5,596 highway grade crossing accidents that took place in 1927, reports just received from the railroads show that 1,148 accidents resulted from such a cause, with 244 persons being killed and 1,636 injured.
This was an increase of 66 over the number of such accidents in 1926 in which year 225 persons were killed and 1,586 injured as a result of automobiles running into the sides of trains.
Insurance Companies Confident
If there was any doubt that British railways are the safest in the world, the recent announcements of some of our daily contemporaries regarding the insurance of their readers against accident should have removed it (says the Railway Gazette). From the very commencement of newspaper insurance schemes the risk of injury or death upon the railway has always been considered so small that compensation in respect thereof has been higher than from other causes, but the recent extension of these benefits to £12,500 for one person, or £25,000 in the case of both husband and wife, has emphasised the smallness of this risk. Insurance companies are not sentimentalists, and we may be sure that the element of risk is fully reflected in the comparative benefits offered for injury or death by various means. Thus while the sum already mentioned is apparently the measure of the slight risk incurred in a train, in the case of a road vehicle it is only £1,000 per person. This may justifiably be taken as a tribute to the incomparably superior safety of railway travel. The British public has been educated to a state of perfect faith in the safety of railways, and its confidence is fully justified. The safety of the passenger is a cardinal principle in railway management, and every device that can aid the human element is employed in railway working. Elaborate precautions are taken on the British Railways to ensure safety, and to this may be attributed the fortunate position occupied by Great Britain in the matter of fatal train accidents.
(New Zealand's safety record is 78 million passengers carried in the last three years, without one fatality.)
Variations in Traffic and Revenue
1st April, 1928, to 31st March, 1929—as compared with last year.
Revenue.
Note.—“Minus” sign indicates decrease. In all other cases the figures indicate the increase in number, quantity or amount.
The total operating revenue for the Dominion shews an increase of £181,486 for the thirteen periods as compared with the corresponding periods last year. Heavy traffic in livestock and “other goods” and extended operations by the Department in road motor services are the main causes of the increased revenue.
The decrease in the number of “ordinary” passengers carried is offset somewhat by a substantial increase in the “season” and “bearer” tickets issued. The number of passengers carried on our road motor services shews an increase of 2,056,309.
The increase in cattle traffic in the North Island and on the small section is due chiefly to heavy traffic in day-old calves for the boneless veal industry. The position in the South Island is almost normal.
The number of sheep and pigs carried by rail shows a large increase, especially in the South Island, where, during March, there has been heavy traffic in fat lambs to the various freezing works and large numbers of store sheep have changed hands. The increase in the North Island is mainly in the Auckland District, due to large yardings at markets and heavy traffic in fat lambs.
Timber traffic is gradually improving, especially in the South Island, due to the improved state of the timber trade in the Christchurch District. The general traffic is adversely affected, however, in the Auckland and Ohakune Districts, through several mills ceasing operations.
The tonnage of “Other Goods” conveyed by rail discloses a substantial increase of 265,000 tons. The increase, which is general for all the Districts with the exception of Westport and other small sections), is mainly due to heavy traffic in metal, manure, frozen meat, grain and wool. The decrease on the Westport Section is the result of adverse weather conditions and shipping fluctuations affecting the movement of coal.