1934-03-10 — Page 2

Page

01

SHIPBUILDERS,

SHIP REPAIRERS,

BOILER MAKERS,

FORGE MASTERS,

H

OXY-ACETYLENE AND

ELECTRIC WELDERS,

MECHANICAL AND

ELECTRICAL

ENGINEERS.

-DRY DOCK-

THE TAIKOO DOCKYARD & ENGINEERING COMPANY

Length 787 Feet

OF HONG KONG, ́LIMITED.

".

SALVAGE TUG "TAIKOO' WIRELESS CALL

V.P.G.N. G METERS.

Length on Blocks 750 Feet.

Depth on Centre of S! (H.W.O.S.T.) 34 ft. 6 ins." -THREE SLIPWAYS.-

Capable of Handling Ships Up to 1,000 Tons Displacement

Electric Crane at San Wall. Capable of Lifting 100 Tens at 70 Feet Radius,

BUTTERFIELD & SWIRE, Agents;"

HONG KONG, CHINA & JAPAN.

TEL ADDRESS: "TAIKOODOCE, HONG KONG.

TELEPHONE: 30211

CALL FLAG: "NUMERAL ONE" Over “ANI. PENNANT "

Shanks

& CO. LTD.

+ BARRHEAD-SCOTLAND

SANITARY

HONG KONG DAILY PRESS, SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 1934.

Workers and Safety

First

on

The combination of legislation, propaganda and public opinion has so wrought on the conditions under which machinery is now installed in our factories, that it may be said that the accidents that occur are rather due to a failure of the human than of the mechanical element--so much so that it has been argued that too much progress has been made in this direction, and that that "foolproofedness." which is now the Ideal, encourages carelessness' on the part of the workman.' Without going so far as to sup- port this view in its entirety, Mr. R. Dennison, in an address on "The Workers and Safety First." which he delivered. to the Tees- side Industrial Committée Friday, January. 26, did, however, point out that some workers are miore prone to accident than" others, and that it was one of the duties of such bodies as that, which he was addressing to con- sider ways and means of trans- (erring these

to men

other occupations without their finan- cial position being adversely affected. Insurance provided one solutions, but the matter was complicated by such difficulties as that of assessing the degree of disability and of guarding against victimisation. As regards accf- dents, the Home Office inspec- torate had done more

than figures disclosed to make the workshop safe, but Industrial Committees would be failing in their real object if they did not keep their eyes open for pitfalls for which legislation had not provided,

WARE

MODERN SANITARY EARTHENWARE "APPLIANCES IN WHITE & COLOUR

THE JARDINE ENGINEERING CORPORATION, LTD,

(Incorporated under the Companies' Ordinances of Hongkong)

14, PEDDER ST. HONG KONG.

SHAMEEN, CANTON,

SOLE AGENTS

ני

For Constructural Work of Every

Description

Use Green Island Cement

TWO REFLEX TYPE ROTARY KILNS HAVING AN OVER ALL LENGTH OF 254 FEET THESE KILNS ARE USED MANUFACTURE GREEN ISLAND CEMENT.

TO

Issued by the

GREEN ISLAND CEMENT CO.,

2ND FLOOR EXCHANGE BUILDING

LTD.

ENGINEERING & BUILDING

Modern Shipbuilding In

Regard To Repairs

As the science and practice of

LONDON TO BAGHDAD JOURNEY

OF PRODUCER-GAS LORRY

We are informed that Messrs. Koela Producer-Gas Plant Com- pany. Limited. Aldwych House, W.C.2, have acquired the business and rights of Messrs. The Parker Producer-Gas » Plant Company, and have further developed their products. They have recently standardised both gas plants and

shipbuilding have recently under- New Regulations Co-cylinder heads for fitting to the

öf

gone important improvements and developments. It is only to be expected that repairing establish- ments should tend to suffer a little fram time-lag in their cor- responding capacity. Superinten- ents and consultants who try to. but the broke on economical construction because repairers are sometimes a little behind the times, are. however, happily a minority in their profession. The ever-extending applications sclence have greatly simplified modern merchant-ship construc- ` tion, and as the same time have lessened the time and cost of re- pairs. The modern. standard 8,000-ton deadweight cargo car- rler, as compared with her prede- cessor, has only one side girder in her double bottom on each side, instead of three, and solid floors at every third frame, in- stead of at every frame; the three or four side stringers formerly fitted in the holds have been completely done away with; the forty to fifty pillars in each hold. have been replaced by about six. columns, the wasteful continuous keel and sheerstrake doublings are no longer seen, and single bulb angle frames and beams are Atted instead of riveted combina- tions of angles and plates.

An interesting paper on #Ship: building" in Relation to Subse- ́quent Repairs,” recently read be- fore the North-East Coast Insti- tution of Engineers and Ship- builders, by Messrs, Edmund Wil- son and Edmund P. Wilson, ac-. knowledges the value of the re- search work carried on by Lloyds Register of Shipping, but it would almost seem that the authors are not fully aware of its wide scope, nor of the elaborate system by means of which every ounce of experience gained from the 9 per cent. of merchant tonnage, with which the Society has to deal, is extracted, and the lessons applied for the benefit of future ships.

Messrs. Wilson refer to a quali- ty "which is not inaptly called "unseakindliness" in, ships-em- bracing a range of seamanilke terms, such as stiffness with its opposite crankiness, and wetness as if this were inherently char- acteristic of certain vessels as a result of faulty design, for which the naval architect is responsible; but while this may occasionally be the case, as for example, when ships have been made excessively broad to take undue advantage of the Classification Society's Rules, and have consequently be- come too stiff, yet the proper lad- ing of vessels and seamanship are more often factors of greater im- portance. It cannot be too clear- ly emphasised that, no matter what the good qualities of a ship may be, as a result of the ship- builder's original care and skill, the effects can be entirely neutra- lised by careless stowage, indiffer- ent superintendence, and bad handling at sea,

vering Traffic Signs

Regulations and directions un- der Section 46 of the Road Traf- fic Act, 1930, on the subject of traffic signs have recently been Issued, and a circular letter has also been issued to all highway authorities drawing attention to a number of the more important... features of the regulations and report of the Departmental Com- mittce on traffic signs.

It is hardly correct to state gen- erally, as put forward in this pa- per, that the Classification Socie- ties have no direct knowledge of seagoing conditions. For many years past, Lloyds Register has adopted the regular policy of sending some of the most experi- enced surveyors to sea to make 'scientific observations

to

+

Broadly speaking. the in- tention has" been both

codity and simplify the " use of road signs, and to bring them into conformity with the terms of the International Con- vention of 1925. The warning given in the circular against the erection of unnecessary signs will.. meet with wide approval among motorists. Wide differences have existed in the past in the pract- Ice of various authorities in the number of signs erected, exces- sive emphasis having been given

in

some districts sources of danger of so trivial a nature as to be entirely ignored elsewhere. As a result, drivers were tempt- ed to neglect the warnings given unless they were reinforced by their own observations of the road conditions. The suggestion in the circular that signs should only be used when they are really needed, and should be limited to standard types, is unexceptiona- ble, but requires a wide exper- lence on the part of the erecting authority for its successful ap- plication, Particular emphasis might well be given to the fact that a self-evident. danger ren- -ders a sign unneccessary, as all sign-posting has an unfortunate tendency to transfer the respon- sibility for the safety of the roads from the driver to the erecting. authority.

U

whole range of Ford and Fordson commercial vehicles and tractors. At a demonstration of the relia- bility and performance of the apparatus, two one-ton Ford vans were Atted with the plant and heads for a journey from London to Afghanistan,

The vehicles were standard models purchased from stock, and in addition to two passengers, each carried a full load of luggage. spares, cinema equipment, extra water and oil tanks. camp 'equip- ment, &c.

It is probable that criticism of the new regulations Will be mainly confined to the refusal of the Minister to author- ise the use of the "Halt" sign on secondary roads debouching on major roads, and to the, stress laid on

route numbers Father than on place-names. We "be- leve that the official form of lettering proposed for the signs indicating both route numbers and the nearest places of im- portance has already led to pro- tests from local authorities, on the ground that the number is given more prominence than the name.

The World's Ship- building & Marine Engineering

"

our

1

lay 1CTOSS and through The ex-

The vehicles left London on October & and were driven over- land to Marseilles. where they shipped to Beirut, Syria, From there the road was from Damas- cus, across the difficult country of the Syrian Desert, involving rough going 26 miles of climbing at опе point, to Baghdad. Thence the route" Persia to Teheran Afghanistan to Kabul. pedition aroused great interest throughout the journey; being received and entertained by local Governors and Government om- clals at each stopping place. The whole run was accomplished with only minor adjustments being necessary. Local charcoal Was used throughout, no previous fuelling arrangements having been made, Cables received from the leader of the expedition evince complete satisfaction at the results obtained from the vehicles, plants and equipment generally. Goodyear tyres were used throughout, and in spite of the

The upward trend which has been noticeable in the aggregate tonnage of the merchant ships under construction in Great Britain and Ireland in the last two or three quarterly shipbull- ding returns of Lloyd's Register of Shipping, is again manifest in the statistics for the last three months of 1933. The returns, it will be recalled, deal only with vessels of 100 tons gross and up- wards. There were 90 ships, comprising 64 steamers, 23 motor- ships, and 3 sailing ships and barges, making together 331,541 tons, under construction in shipyards on December 31, 1933, against 87 ships and 303,762 tons on September 30, 1933, and 50 vessels and 225,497 tons 'on December 31, 1932. Moreover, 74- 701 tons of shipping were com- menced in the United Kingdom during the last quarter of 1933.. showing an increase of 35,031 tona over the corresponding total for the September quarter; and 65,~ 274 tons were launched, against 42,077 tons in the three months ending September 30, 1933, The position abroad, in contrast with

· Our own. has become Worse. transgress, everyone who has beenchant ships under construction in The total tonnage of the mer-

on the efect of the most onerous 'condi- tions upon the various parts of ships' structures. Even if this were not the case, the results of heavy weather and other damage are always inspected in the light of the captain's reports, and ac- tion taken by a trained and com- petent staff.

While there are certain limits bearing on eventual repairs which no responsible shipbuilders would

intimately associated with the in- tricacies of the case, knows that it is too much to expect that when designing, full attention can be paid to every other interest, including all possibilities which may arise in future maintenance and repair. The latter problems are better left to another type of mind, approaching the subject from a fresh point of view, always with the Classification Society in the offing to uphold the standard and maintain the balance, It might reasonably be expected that more attention would be paid to the co-relation of these inter- esta in establishments where both shipbuilding and repairing, are carried out side by side, but the tendency is against mutual inter- 'est, and even the workmen, at any rate in the north, are generally averse to change of employment.

foreign shipyards on December 31 last, namely, 425,736, was about 27,000 less than that in hand on September 30, 1933, and consti- tutes the lowest total recorded since June, 1909. Furthermore, €9,960 tons of shipping were com menced abroad during the last three months and 109,664 tons" were launched, showing a decline, as compared with, the September quarter, of 1,142 tons in the ship- ping commenced and an Increase of only 19,341 tong in the tonnage launched. With the exception of those for Japan and for: Spain," 'the total tonnage under construc- tion of all-foreign countries has decreased during the three months under consideration. Japan has displaced France and leads with 106,760 tons, France is FLOW second with 90,056 tons,

rough roads no punctures were experieŕiced..

were

'The Outlook in the Textile-Machinery Industry

At the beginning of 1933 the view was expressed that a con- tinuation of the slow Improve÷ ment witnessed in 1932 might be expected. The view was put forward in spite of the fact that during the last few months of " -1932 there been a slight relapse,

and

without postulating any general up-swing, in trade. The textile-machinery industry has always been the most difficult branch of engineering-as re- gards the forecasting of trude prospects. In actual fact, the recession continued in the early part of 1933, and it was not until the last quarter of the year that

could be any improvement corded. Even so, the level of

for 1932 for the year as a whole, activity was slightly below that though by the beginning of 1934, it had risen higher than during any time for the past three years. A genuine revival is now badly needed. The year 1931 was the worst year on record for this branch of engineering, and after a slight stirring in 1932, last year has been little better than 1931.

This neute and prolonged "de- pression has done extensive damage to this branch of engi neering. No general index of production is available, nor are there any official statistics of employment. An investigation"of a representative sample of textile machinery Arms, however, re- vealed that in 1933 only some 37 per cent. of the numbers employ- ed in 1913. were employed in 1933, and extensive short time prevail. ed even among the workpeople remaining In employment. According to the Census of Pro- duction, 53 per cent. of the value of textile machinery produced was exported 1924 arid 86 per cent, in 1930. Profitable opera- ting at such levels is impossible for the whole industry.

Looking back, it seems likely that the improvement of - 1932 was caused simply by the Allip given to British exports by oun departure from the gold standard. To the extent that the improve-" ment in the last quarter of 1933 may be ascribed to s genuine recovery of trade, it may be hoped that the present upward movement will

Full consumption figures are not yet available, but it is stated that 1,188 lb. of charcoal used per vehicle between. Ealing and Baghdad, a road distance of 1,300 miles, the cost being 31 17. 6d., based on an average price of 71. 5s. per ton. The cost of petrol" for the same journey, based on a price of 2s. 3d per gallon, would have been approximately 101. 123. per vehicle, the actual saving in cost being therefore in the. neigh- bourhood of 62 per cent. It is quite possible that a still greater saving will be shown by the figures covering the Journey from Baghdad to Kabul, as the average price of petrol is higher in the area covered. while 'that of charcoal is lower.

It may be mentioned that the average price of charcoal throughout India," Africa and the East is from 21. to 31 per ton, while petrol varles between 2s. 6d, and 4s. per gallon, so that the route selected was by no means the most favourable from the point of view of relative fuel costs. As the plants are stated to operate with efficiency on "low-temperature

equal

permanent.

be

more

Textile machinery exports are still the largest of any individual category of the machinery group.

As regards the home market, there seems practically no possi a strong probability that there bility of any further decling and

will be a marked but unevenly distributed revival amongst the

.. various sections of the industry.

coke, extended trials of the WELSH WATER PROBLEMS producers and heads in

this country will be awaited with con- siderable interest.

1.

Sweden is third with 64,640 tons, Holland fourth with 40,540 tons, and Spain fifth with 35,724 tons. The total horse-power of marine engines, "either under construction or being Installed 011 board vessels on December 31, 1933, was 1173,171. This was made up of 85,873 hp., the total for re- elprocating steam engines; 466,- 082 s.h.p., representing steam .turbines, and 621,216 ih.p.,

the aggregate for oil engines. Great Britain and Ireland occupied first place with 438,479 h.p., France. second with 187,140 h.p., Japan third with 132,810 h.p.. and Holland fourth with 131,175 h.p. Germany was responsible for a total of 88,492 hp., and Sweden for 61,795 h.p.: all other countries hind totals of less than 50.000 h.p.

was

The 'copious rains at intervals during January, making

the rainfall for the month consider- ably above the average, had the effect of Alling most of the Welsh reservoira to overflowing, and even the Swansea reservoirs," which have a capacity of 1,405,- 000,000 gallons, were practically Alled. In some areas floods of a heavy character were experienced. The Ebbw Vale Council, however, have been much concerned over the difficulty experienced in stop- ping leakages from their Carno reservoir, which were regarded as the chief cause of the recent shortage of water, which obliged the council to take an emergency supply from the unaltered stores of the Ebbw Vale works. London " water experts have been endea vouring to trace and stop the leaks. The council has been put to an expense of about 8,0001 so far:

METAL WINDOWS

MANUFACTURER :

MADE IN HONGKONG

FROM

IMPORTED

BRITISH

MATERIAL

95% BRITISH.

THE TAI YING STEEL WINDOW MFG, CO.

TELEPHONE: 27482.

OFFICE 89/86, CHUN YONG STREET, FACTORY NORTH-POINT, HONG KONG,