45. - Lake Macquarie

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No. 45. . by SULPHIDE CORPORATION PTY. LIMITBD DECEMBER, 1954. POTTED BIOGRAPHIES Kenneth Gregory Johnston Born at Cardiff on 8th June, 1926, Ken received his early education at Cardiff Public School and later New- castle Boys' High. On leaving school in 1941,Ken started at Sulphide as Junior Clerk working mainly on Stores and Accounts. During the following years he has filled most positions in the General Office, includ- ing Bookkeeper, Senior Costs Clerk and Senior Accounts Clerk. He held the last position until the end of 1952, when appointed to Assist. Cashier and Paymaster. This position also incor- porates work in connection with the Corporation's Building Society. William George Johnston Born at Wallsend on 25th Augu~ 1909, George attended Wallsend cath&.~ lie School which he left at the age of fourteen to start as messenger .boy with "Wayes" cake shop. After two years with Wayes, he joined the Main Roads Dept., to work as a drill hand on the Pacific Highway section between Hawkesbury River and Gosford. Then to B.H.P. wharves for fifteen years as a Trimmer; here he saw the erection of the B.H.P's. large 10 ton ore bridge. Coming to Sulphide in 1946, George started as a loader at the Super Shed. After three years he learnt to drive Always a keen sportsman, Ken has a navvy and s, now employed as a represented in most junior grades of navvy driver. Was Super Shed Dele- Soccer and played State League with gate to the Sulphide Employees' Union Cessnock, Lake Macquarie and Cardiff. 'for two years. -helped Cardiff. win the Northern League Premiership in 1948. Although In~OUnger days, played Rugby now retired, Ken is sWan enthusiastic League with Western Suburbs, Walls- follower "Of tile IOCBJ team. Summer end and West Wallsend, with cne sea- months are taken up as a .regular son of Rugby Union. George married player with Cardiff "A" Grade cricket- "m ... 1934, and some eight years ago team in the Newcastle City and Sub- moved to Argenton where he built hi- urban Competition. own home, for. his family-two bo,,> and a girl. Eldest son, George Jni'"J is a fourth year B.H.P. apprentice elect. mechanic; daughter, Pamela, is with a Newcastle firm of Solicitors; and son, Ian, at Argenton School. Interests: Gardening, horse racing, and an occasional game of crib. Ken married Miss Kathy Preston, also of Cardiff, in 1951, and they have one daughter, Judith, aged 21; years. Since moving into their own home, he has become an enthusiastic gardener, though still has a yearning for those big events of the turf. I the bells on old w.ild *. ' s ~ Of o~ goodwill to LONGFELLOW.

Transcript of 45. - Lake Macquarie

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No. 45.

. by SULPHIDE CORPORATION PTY. LIMITBD

DECEMBER, 1954.

POTTED BIOGRAPHIES

Kenneth Gregory Johnston

Born at Cardiff on 8th June, 1926,Ken received his early education atCardiff Public School and later New-castle Boys' High.

On leaving school in 1941,Ken startedat Sulphide as Junior Clerk workingmainly on Stores and Accounts. Duringthe following years he has filled mostpositions in the General Office, includ-ing Bookkeeper, Senior Costs Clerkand Senior Accounts Clerk. He heldthe last position until the end of 1952,when appointed to Assist. Cashier andPaymaster. This position also incor-porates work in connection with theCorporation's Building Society.

William George Johnston

Born at Wallsend on 25th Augu~1909,George attended Wallsend cath&.~lie School which he left at the ageof fourteen to start as messenger .boywith "Wayes" cake shop.

After two years with Wayes, hejoined the Main Roads Dept., to workas a drill hand on the Pacific Highwaysection between Hawkesbury River andGosford. Then to B.H.P. wharves forfifteen years as a Trimmer; here hesaw the erection of the B.H.P's. large10 ton ore bridge.

Coming to Sulphide in 1946, Georgestarted as a loader at the Super Shed.After three years he learnt to drive

Always a keen sportsman, Ken has a navvy ands , now employed as arepresented in most junior grades of navvy driver. Was Super Shed Dele-Soccer and played State League with gate to the Sulphide Employees' UnionCessnock, Lake Macquarie and Cardiff. 'for two years.-helped Cardiff. win the NorthernLeague Premiership in 1948. Although In~OUnger days, played Rugbynow retired, Ken is sWan enthusiastic League with Western Suburbs, Walls-follower "Of tile IOCBJ team. Summer end and West Wallsend, with cne sea-months are taken up as a .regular son of Rugby Union. George marriedplayer with Cardiff "A" Grade cricket- "m ...1934, and some eight years agoteam in the Newcastle City and Sub- moved to Argenton where he built hi-urban Competition. own home, for. his family-two bo,,>

and a girl. Eldest son, GeorgeJni'"Jis a fourth year B.H.P. apprentice elect.mechanic; daughter, Pamela, is witha Newcastle firm of Solicitors; andson, Ian, at Argenton School.

Interests: Gardening, horse racing,and an occasional game of crib.

Ken married Miss Kathy Preston,also of Cardiff, in 1951, and they haveone daughter, Judith, aged 21; years.Since moving into their own home, hehas become an enthusiastic gardener,though still has a yearning for thosebig events of the turf.

I the bells onold

w.ild *. 's ~

Of o~ goodwill to

LONGFELLOW.

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Married Ladies Under 30: 1st Mrs. J. Redriff,2nd Mrs. W. Trotman, 3rd Mrs. G. Hamil-ton.

Married Ladies Under 45: 1st Mrs. N. Nelson,2nd Mrs. M. Beck, 3rd Mrs. K. Salnsbury.

Married Ladies Over 45: 1st Mrs. S. Skelly,2nd Mrs. W. H. V. Nettle.

Sulphide Championship: 1st D. Dillon, 2nd K.Johnston, 3rd B. Berthold.

young Buffers', 40-50: 1st J. Rawnsley: 2ndE. Hawkins, 3rd A. George.

Young Buffers, 50-60: 1st W. Ingham, 2ndR. Hughes, 3rd L. Brassington.

Old Buffers Over 60: 1st D. Davies, 2nd J.Tait, 3rd A. Hughes.

Sack Race: 1st P. Dymott, 2nd C. Cressy, 3rdA. Clarke.

Egg & Spoon Race Ladies: 1st Mrs. ,M. Trot-man, 2nd Mrs. M. Hall, 3rd, Mrs: J. Red-riff.

Egg & Spoon Race Men: 1st V. Crosble, 2ndE. Hawkins, 3rd A. Clarke.

Stepping Distance 60 Yards: Mrs. M. Connelly.Stepping Distance 100 Yards: 1st Ern Wllson,

2nd Wal Walton.Sulphide Handicap: 1st R. Conoily ,2nd A.

Clarke, 3rd E. Hawkins.Committee Men: 1st E. Charlesworth, 2nd K.

Wiltshire, 3rd B. Berthold.Staff Ladies' Race: 1st D. Coates, 2nd E.

Barnier, 3rd P. Donohoe.Departmental Tug-of-War: 1st Supershed, 2nd

Engineers/Electricians.

ANNUAL WORKS PICNIC

The Works Picnic was held on Friday,12th November, at Speers Point Park,and we were favoured with a gloriousday.

Full use was made of launch tripsaround the lake, whilst the merry-go-round and chair-o-p.anes worked over-time. Much favourable comment hasbeen heard on the introduction of .icedfruit drinks. Everything went off well,thanks to those responsib.e for theorganising, and there was ample pro-vision for all concerned. Perhaps a'\ttle more enthusiasm could have been,.10wnby the entrants for the sports;

Some were a bit slow to nominate. Iput it down to-too much ice-creamand fruit-drinks.

Winners of the various events were:

JUNIOR SECTION

Girls, 12-14 Years: 1st Judith Lloyd, 2nd Mau-reen McGrath, 3rd Mary Portus.

Boys, 12-14 years: 1st Joey Waiters, 2nd AlanDavies, 3rd Ted McGrath.

Girls, 10-11 years: 1st Joan Charlesworth, 2ndHazel Hughes, 3rd Marion WaIters.

Boys, 10-11 years: 1st Cl!ff Youngberry, 2ndBarry Beck, 3rd Doug Kemp.

Girls, 8-9 years: 1st Pat Rumsby, 2nd HelenPortus, 3rd Kay McNaughton.

Boys, 8-9 years: 1st Doug Hall, 2nd MarisSkujlns, 3rd Colin Wllson.

Girls, 6-7 years: 1st Angeleka Jermolajew, 2ndBarbara Youngberry, 3rd Julie Roberts.

Boys, 6-7 years: 1st Grahame Carlier, 2ndJO'1annes Bonsing, 3rd John England.

Girls, 4-5 years: 1st Valerie Gibson-Brown,2nd Margaret Masters. 3rd Virginia Howie.

"Boys, 4-5 years: 1st Allan Davies, 2nd BryanTrotman, 3rd Glenn Green.

Tiny Tots, 3 years and under: 1st JenniferHamilton, 2nd Paul Linsley, 3rd PeterNettle.

ack Race, 8-14 years: 1st Christine Wans-brough, 2nd Peter Sams, 3rd Helen Wans-brough.

ADULT SECTION

The adult section created considerable in-terest. Our new champion, Davy Dillon, putup a good run to win. (The stray dogthat led the field has not yet been destroyed).

Results were:

Guessing Number of Peas in Bottle: Mrs. L.Miller.

Gliessing Length of String-Mrs. J. Dymott.

Guessing Length of Ribbon: Mrs. W. McBlane.

Stepping the Distance 80 yards: Mrs. G.Hamilton.

Junior Men's Handicap: 1st T. O'Toole, 2ndJ. Dick, 3rd J. TriggelI.

Single Ladies' Race: 1st M. McGrath, 2ndD. Coates, 3rd E. Barnier.

The presentation of the Champion-ship and other trophies was made byMr. Ray Filmer who ably congratulatedthe winners. Mrs. E. McGrath pre-sented the prize for the McGrath Com-petition, which has now become: ·anestablished event amongst us. .

Congratulations and thanks must beoffered to Mr. W. Ingham and team0:1 a very well organised picnic.

-B. P. DAVIES, Hon. Sec.,Sulphide Welfare Club.

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The wfnning Fertilizer PlantTug-of-war team.

L. to R.: V. CROSBIE, F.HITCHCOCK, E. DAVIS, J.SCHMIDT, F. RICE, G.BROWN.

A section of the crowdpresent.

>

The chair-o-plane andentertainment devicesworked overtime.

The members of the fair sexreally _"turned it on" intheir sports events.

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FISHING CLUB

The Club was fortunate to have anouting to Yaegen Head on the 30thand 31st October week-end when weacted as host to the Wallsend FishingClub, 12 members of which, and goodfellows, too, accompanying us on thetrip. Yaegen is at the north end of thevast stretch of beach that runs fromNorth Head at Nelson's Bay. To thosewho have not been on this beach Iwould like to explain some of thethings that nature has provided. Itis impossible to push one's hand intothe sand without hitting those marineoddities, the "pippy." There are liter-ally millions of them, and as the wavesrecede from the beach, many are leftstranded, burrowing into the sand forsafety. Worms were also plentiful,the Wallsend boys being very good atcatching them and were only toopleased to instruct us in the art ofcatching them.

Although no great numbers of fishwere caught, Jack Dobell won thesweepstake for the biggest fish, a 3lb.drummer, whilst the total weight ofcleaned fish went to W. Wilson-lO~lb.

-"WISS."

Baby kangaroo kept jumping out ofmama's pouch and papa kangaroo keptputting him back. Finally, papa slappedbaby's ears and slammed him back forthe twentieth time "You shouldn'thave done that," said mama kangaroo."Can he help it if I've got hiccups?"

VISITORSWe were glad to see on the Works,

Mr. L. B. Robinson, who recently ar-rived from England, Dr. G. K. Williams,Metallurgical Consultant to GeneralManager, I.S.C., England, Mr.J. K. T.Watson, Supt. of the SuperphosphateDivision at Risdon of Electrolytic ZincCo. of Australasia Ltd., Mr. C. W. Corbin,Manager, Wallaroo-Mt. Lyell FertilisersLtd., Adelaide, and a party of six seniorstaff members of Mount Isa Mines-Messrs. R. K. Carruthers (Mine En-gineer), A. T. Brennan (Mine Fore-man), P. M. Molloy (Assist Chief Elect.Engineer), P. G. Rowe (Engineer), K.K. Treloar (Metallurgist), and A. W.Cameron (Metallurgist).

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as 'For this issue we asked two Sul-

phiders to give us a few lines on Christ-mas in their old countries:-

CHRISTMAS IN HUNGARY

Christmas is the feast of forgiveness,peace and love, and even the weather isdecorating it with the eternal white-ness of the snow.

A Christmas tree-a fir tree-is pre-pared in every home, decorated withcandles, sparklers, "golden" walnuts,"angels' hair," silvery stars and candy.The presents and the tree are broughtby "Jesus Child" on the Holy Night.

As soon as it isdark outside thecandles are lit onthe tree, and, at theringing of a tinylittle bell the fam-ily enters the room.Ancient ChristmasCarols are then sungand the presentsdistributed, followedby the feast meal.

Mr. L. Banathy. The family staystogether till it is

time to go to the Christmas Mass. Itis a wonderful sight as the people aremoving towards the church, everybodycarrying a lighted candle.

This is how it used to be-a Christ-mas in Hungary.

CHRISTMAS IN LATVIA

The calendar reminds me that thereare only a few weeks to Christmas, butsomehow I do not feel it when lookingat the bright blue summer sky, thegreens and flowers around me. Theword "Christmas" brings an entirelydifferent picture to my mind:-

It is winter, and it is dark and cold.The days are the shortest of the year,and the twilight sets in soon after3 p.m. For weeks there has been therush to buy all the presents, to send allthe cards, to get everything ready andorganised, and then at last it is here-the Christmas Eve, and it is the mostimportant and most intimate day ofthe holidays. You do not go out onChristmas Eve, nor receive visitors orcall on friends; this day belongs to thefamily. A Christmas tree is brought-into the lounge room and arranged-candles, "angels' hair," artificial snow,

Christmas apples, sweets in specialwraps, etc., are put on it, and parcelscontaining presents for everybody areput underneath the tree. The expecta-tion and excitement of the childrenapproaches its culmination.

Then in the early hours of the even-ing you get ready to go to church. Itdoes not matter whether you are aregular churchgoer or not, to-night yougo. The churches are packed to theircapacity, people are even filling theaisles. Wrapped in their furs or coats,wearing their snowboots, they standthere and join in the Christmas Carols,listen to the play-ing of the organ,the singing of thec h 0 i r and solo-ists and to theChristmas Messageread by the priest.

It is here you getthat ever touchingand solemn Christ-mas feeling; andyou carry it homethrough the night, Mrs. V. Skujins.which is lit by themany candles and Christmas trees inthe windows, the white softly glowingsnow all around you, the bright starsin the very dark sky. You hear peoplesinging, and there is the smell of freshbaked bread and roasts in the air.

Home again, everybody assembles inthe lounge room around the Christmastree, the candles are lit and someChristmas Carols sung. Afterwardschildren distribute the presents. Thenthere is the supper, which usuallyconsists of special dishes, pastries andsweets, which are always eaten onChristmas Eve. On the rest of theholidays, and we call them 1st and 2ndChristmas Days, people go out, call onfriends or entertain them.

As has happened over the last tenyears, the 24th, 25th and 26th Decem-ber of this year will be ordinary work-ing days for the people in Latvia. Fewof them will go to church, the rest willonly go back in their memories to thetimes when they used to spend thesedays quite differently.

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ABOUNDTRAFFIC AND YARD DEPT.

We were glad to welcome to ourmidst W. R. Walters whose brother,Les WaIters, is with our store Section,and also extend a welcome back to ex-Sulphider T. C. Rawnsley (Shunter).

Supt. Wally Rutherford is on annualleave enjoying a well earned rest; weunderstand on a Pioneer Tour.

FERTILIZER DEPT.

By"Z"

OBITUARY-DAVID RUSSELL KERRThe sincere sympathies of the Fer-

tilizer Dept. are expressed to ·Mrs. D.Kerr and family on their recent sadloss. Dave Kerr joined this depart-ment OD! 11th January, 1946, and hadbeen associated with other members invarious capacities till his sudden anduntimely passing. Dave was unassum-ing, quiet, well liked by all, and hisworkmates will retain pleasant mem-ories of their associations with him.He leaves a wife and three young chil-dren. Dave is a son of Peter Kerr ofAssay Dept., and son-in-law of JackWallace, President of SulphideUnson.

Our sincere sympathies are also ex-pressed to George Johnston and family.George has been unfortunate to losehis mother recently.

Adolph Mendyk has been unluckyenough to get his finger in the wrongplace, which necessitated a week off.

Bill Mclntyre, of the Mixer, who hasbeen off work ill, has now returnedfull of vim. Glad to see you back, Bill.

Last month our superintendent RoyFilmer was featured in "Potted Bio-graphies." It was not mentioned thatRoy was a Radio Inspector for twoyears, and also, when in the radio andelectrical business, he designed andbuilt the original 2HD Radio Station.This station was then owned and op-erated by Mr. H. A. Douglas, of CooksHill.

ACID PLANTBy H.S04

We offer our very sincere sympathyto Mr. and Mrs. Ken Sainsbury in thesad loss of their infant daughter.

Bert Dick and another prominentAcid Worker, who prefers to remainanonymous, had good reasons to "poketheir chests out" at the official open-ing of the new Lake Macquarie Dis-

THEtrict Ambulance building, for they areboth hard working committeemen ofthe "Management Board."

Supt. J. O. R. has at last shiftedinto the new house, and all personnelare eagerly awaiting news of the "do"which is usually associated with suchoccasions.

Congratulations to Berme Bertholdon his placing in the sprint event atthe picnic. Rumour has it that BobWebb would have brought further gloryto the Dept., if he could have beenpresent for the big events, but un-fortunately Bob had to leave early,being on the afternoon shift.

Our "Tug of War" team finishedrunners-up to the runners-up andwould have gone on to victory if theyhad not been handicapped by havingto pull "up-hill." (Long range tip fornext year).

Noticed enjoying themselves at thepicnic were two retired Acid Dept. iden-tities in Jack Eyre and Jos Smedley.

Noel Lloyd's wife is giving him acompass as a Christmas present. Sheconsiders this a useful gift followinghis inability to differentiate betweenthe location of Speers Point Park anda certain brick building a quarter milesouth-east. In defence it may be saidthat Noel had' plenty of "mates."

P.I. D.

As usual the Editor's request for afew items has left us dumbfounded. Thedeparture of Cecil Cheng for foreignshores has moved this paragraph onestage closer to an autobiography. Cecilsailed on November 13th for Englandwhere he hopes to further his indus-trial experience. During a small cere-mony at the Esplanade Hotel prior tohis departure, Cec, in the company ofsome very able talent, proved that Aus-tralia's honour will not suffer at thehands of English beer. This remark-able performance was achieved with-out the need of the50 c.c. hypodermicsyringe which Piddoc Banathy hadbrought along to inject new life ifnecessary. During the serious. part ofthe evening however, Cec was left in~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~4'l

A MERRY, ... j

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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DEP ARTMENTSno doubt as to the great esteem inwhich he was held and to the gapwhich he would leave behind him.

We can claim that on that nightCecil's boat was well and truly givena good shove towards England.

Of other news, alas, there is none.

MAIN OFFICE

By Cicero.

Our sympathies go to Business Man-ager, Mr. Fred Eggleston, whose father,Sir Frederic Eggleston, passed awayrecently. Sir Frederic was prominentin the Victorian Parliament, beingMinister for Water Supply and Minis-ter for Railways and later Attorney-General and Solicitor-General. He wasAustralian Minister to China, 1941-44,and Australian Minister to the U.S.A.,1944-46.

Our hearty congratulations go to"Matey" and Mrs. Hamonet on thearrival of their first-Michael John-born on 11th November. Also congra-tulations to our ex-workmate, MargaretHale, on increasing the population withyoung Master Ian William Hale.

This issue we say welcome to ourmidst to Miss Lorraine Hall-Lorrainecomes from Holmeville way and hasbeen added to Mrs. Robertson's coterieof belles.

Norma McGeachie was farewelled byMr. H. Black on behalf of all andsundry, and we wish her all the bestfor whatever the future may bringforth.

Pat Donohoe who has been promotedto the Accounting Machine section, hasbeen seen gracing a certain velocipedeof late. The owner is consideringstrengthening the front fork, but Patthinks a little padding on the barwould be more to the point-what goeson, Brian?

Robert John Hughes, Esq., returnedto his old stamping ground-the SuperShed-to lend a hand as a holidayrelief.

From the holiday front we learn, alittle belatedly, that Dot Coates spent a

'~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~;H ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

couple of weeks on a "flying" trip toLord Howe Island; Stewart Gow headedthe Zephyr up the New England High-way to Brisbane, returning via thePacific Highway, while George Hamil-ton spent an enjoyable three weeksover at Wallsend.

ELECTRICAL DEPARTMENTBy"Cy."

Our hearty congratulations go toPerc and Mrs. Beacher on the arrivalof their new daughter, to bring thescore to three.

George Firmstone, our Super Elec-trician, has returned from his superannual holiday which he very muchenjoyed at "Oolarboo."

We are pleased that the ElectricalDept. was represented at GraftonJacaranda Week. Our representative,Mr. George Brailey, has been on acaravan holiday with Mrs. Brailey toNorth Coast resorts.

As the News goes to Press, we arevery sorry to report that Brian Con-nelly, our Super Apprentice, is an in-mate of Wallsend Hospital. By thetime of issue, we hope Brian will bewell on the way to full recovery. Bestof luck, Brian, the Boys are thinkingabout you.

'The Wizz that Wazz is still, the Wizzas it Wazz when Wizzing in the Wazz-a picture no artist could paint.

ENGINEERS

By"Bimbo."George Portus (Shift Fitter) is an

expert gardener who occasionally bringsalong radishes for his foreman. How-ever, he has been outdone by UncleClarry Carroll (Fitter's Assist) whobrought in three champion spikes ofgladioli for the Works Sister. Beautiesthey were, but where will it stop?

Tommy Walker (Machine Shop) cer-tainly looked the part when acting astraffic cop during the digging up ofthe Main Road in front of the Works;his dress-white overalls, sun-glassesand peaked cap.

We extend a warm welcome toMessrs. W. F. Hinton and S. Wakeman,the latter an ex-Sulphider.

The Engineering Dept. extends sym-pathy to Mr. Jack Wallace and familyin the sad loss of their son-in-law,Dave Kerr.

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ROASTING' AT COCKLE CREEKBy A. K. Wansbrough

Sulphide Wharf.

Come, stranger from the South, and letme tell

The story of these idle cranes, these rot-ting piles,

To which in bygone years the busy coasterscame

From sun-drenched Pirie, high on Spen-cer's Gulf,

Through inland waters, sparkling, calmand green,

And o'er the southern ocean, deepest blue,Lashed with wild storms, 'round Wilson's

Promontory.

To haven in this river crept those shipsDeep in draught and bearing precious oreHard won in mines 'out back at Broken

HillFor silver, zinc and lead from Nature's

store,And sulphur loosely bound but easily

freedBy wily alchemists at Cockle CreekIn roasters belching brimstone fume and

fire.

Cockle Creek-Ore Bins.

Now let us thither. See these empty bins,Silent and desolate as Balclurha's wallsSave for the cooing pigeons; yet which

onceDid echo to the noise of Carte's teamWielding their picks and shovels in the

dust,Discharging trucks on piecework in the

daysWhen jobs were scarce and men toiled

hard and long.

Beneath these viaducts, these rough hewnpiers,

The chargemen filled their skips with rus-set blende

And heaved them down the tracks-nighthirty years---

To the clanking lift and through thechokimg fume

To feed the furnace fires, like swarthyslaves.

Of some Mephisto in a hopeless searchFor life's elixir and transmuting stones.

Barrier Roasters.

Between these walls that. now the windblows through

And 'neath this roof part open to the skyTill lately pulsed the heart of Cockle

CreekPumping the life blood gas to chambers

threeThe focus of attention from us all,Accountant.s, engineers and P.I.D.Extorting the last percent efficiency.

Around these roasters nine at midnightprowled

A learned Celt investigating meansOf reaching even tenor in the gasAnd lowest remnant sulphur on the

hearth.He sought. the stolid operatives to winTo studied bonus schemes but they re-

mainedUnmoved by his Cambrian oratory.

The Future.

Let us again move on. See here, hard-by,A new plant takes its shape with modern

graceThese slender columns hold, high in the

air,Bunkers for pyrite, called fool's gold no

moreBut wealth indeed as sulphur-bearing orePar acid needs of heavy industryAnd fertilizer, key to Cerea's store.

Adjacent, in this building there will riseThe phoenix of all roasters yet conceived,The latest in technique, and one that willThe turbulent pyrites force to yieldIts uttermost of sulphur and of heat:A monument to those that carry onThe art of roasting ores at Cockle Creek.

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OUR NEW PLANTS (7)GAS PREPARATION.

S02 gas from the T.L. roasters and/or the sulphur burners, after someatmospheric cooling in the hot S02mains, will enter the humidifyingtower. This is a lead tower 7ft. dia-meter and 30ft. high, lined with acidresisting brick but without packing.Acid of 20 to 30 per cent. strength willbe circulated through this tower, dis-charging inside through spray nozzles.The purpose of this tower is to cool thegas further and cleanse it.

The packed wash tower follows im-mediately. This tower, also of lead, isapproximately the same height, but14ft. in diameter. It is brick lined andpacked for 22 feet of its height with2 inch acid, resisting' tiles, with twofeet of ceramic rings.

The strength of the circulation acidwill be between 5 and 20 per cent., andwill enter the tower through a dip-pipeand splash-plate distributor.

Eight cooling tanks are installed onan elevated concrete structure adjacentto the towers, and these overflow intotwo pump tanks on ground level underthe towers. Internal salt water coilswill serve to cool the circulation acid,thus controlling the temperature ofthe gas leaving the wash tower.

The efficiency of cooling at this pointhas an important effect on the opera-tion of the subsequent drying and ab-sorption systems.

To circulate the acid through thesecleansing and cooling towers, Kestnertype vertical glandless centrifugalpumps will be used.

As the strength of the acid buildsup, portion of it will be bled from thecirculation systems into the chamberunits. The rate of water make-up willbe controlled through rotameterslocated in the main acid plant controlroom.

MIST PRECIPITATORS.

On leaving the wash tower the gasis in a suitable condition for treatmentin the electrostatic mist precipitators.

There are flve paralleled units pro-vided, one of which will be normally

stand-by. Each treater consists of aM.S. lead-lined shell 7ft. in diameterand 28ft. high, containing 24 ten inchbore tubes 12ft. long through which thegas passes.

A special lead-covered steel wire willbe hung from an insulated suspensionassembly down the centre of each tubewith a bottom plumb weight. Duringoperation, the electrode wire will beheld at a high potential, and, as inthe case of the hot precipitator pre-viously described, the very fine dustremaining in the gas together withacid mist carried over from the washtowers, will be precipitated on theinside wall of the lead tube.

This "drip acid" will trickle downthe tube and through a liquid gas sealto the wash tower pump tank. It willbe necessary from time to time to washthe inside of the tubes with a waterjet.

The gas leaving these precipitatorswill be free from all suspended mate-rial and is now ready for the dryingand conversion processes. However, 'asan insurance against electrical or otherfailures or temporary lowered efficiencyin the gas preparation system, a largewet coke filter will follow the mistprecipitators before passing it to thedrying tower. -J. O. R.~-l€-I.€~-I.€-I.€-I.€~~-1€!€!€!€!€~!€./fo!

CRICKET CLUBResults since last month's News are:23rd October: TERALBA-7 for 81 (Garfoot

5/16) d. SULPHIDE WELFARE 78 (McLean 30).30th October: NENCO-7 for 153 (Garfoot

4/57) d. SULPHIDE' WELFARE 52 and 4 for57 (Dick n.o. 32).

6th November: SULPHIDE WELFARE-9 for155 (Ha'!l 24. Nelson 24. Garfoot 20. Hawkins22) d. NEWSTAN COLLIERY 80 (Garfoot 5/37.Hawkins 3/32).

Those two stalwarts from the Gen-eral Office (Messrs. Needs and Gibson)are with us again, and we are appre-ciative of their sterling services. Al-though they aggregate almost a centuryof years between them, they are asactive as ever in the field and contri-buted in no small measure to our un-expected win over Newstan. Thanks,chaps! -J. H. S.

9

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NE\V SUPERPHOSPHATEGRINDING AND ACIDULATING PLANT

- Nea g le ion: 27 1954-

GRINDING- UNIT

It is in the nucleus itself that we must lookto find the basic factors which distinguishone element from another. One of the majordifficulties is, of course, that whilst the atomIs small (radius = lQ,8cms,), the nucleus itselfis very much smaller (radius = IO·12cms.).However, by using among other things thenuclei of Hydrogen Atoms (namely protons)as projectiles and observing the results ofdirect hits by these projectiles on the nucleiof other atoms, a comprehensive picture ofthe structure of the nucleus has been built up,

At first sight one would Imagine that thenucleus, containing as it does a number ofpositive charges, would be likely to explode,since like charges repel one another and, atthe small distances involved inside the nucleus,the forces of repulsion must be comparativelyenormous. To balance these forces, however,are the forces of cohesion-the same kind offorces that hold a drop of water together.It can be shown that it Is a balance betweenthe electrical forces of repulsion and thecohesive or gravitational forces which allowsthe nucleus to remain as a comparativelystable entity.

ATOMS WITHOUT TEARS (6)(F. H. EGGLESTON)

It Is possible to have atoms of the samechemical element (that is with the same atomicnumber or the same number of protons in" t"henucleus), but with dilf~rent atomic weights(that is with one or two neutrons more orless in the nucleus). Such elements or varia-tions of the same element are called isotopes.

As has already been indicated, the outerelectrons of an atom may be disturbed orremoved without profoundly affecting theatom. If an outer electron is removed, theatom is left with a resultant positive chargeand is what is known as ionised. In somecases the outer electrons are very easily de-tached, such as by rubbing a piece of perspexwith a piece of wool. The electric chargeswhich manifest themselves, sometimes evenin the form of sparks, are due to displace-ment of the outer electrons from the mole-cules of the substance involved.

Electric currents through conductors aresimply a steady flow of these outer electronswhich pass freely from one atom to t.he next.The numbers involved are of course colossal-a current of one ampere is equivalent to thepassage along a wire of 6.27 x lQ18 electronsper second. (To be continued.)

10

Page 11: 45. - Lake Macquarie

wl1l' t;ulpl1illl' <!Tnrpnrntinn1!jimitl'lI

Roaat Chicken end York Ham

Roaat Beer Ox Tongue

Mayonnaise Salads

Spanish Cream

Apple PIe Fruit Sal~d

Wine Jelly

Cheese

Celery

Cofree Cordials

,7, •• 51P'T£MBtR. 191.

"'\6 ~~~k~

\N.~~~~

AREN'T YOU GLAD YOU'RE YOU?

YOUR •...Heart?-No pump as perfect if you treat it

right.Eyes?-No camera can touch them fo.r effi-

ciency.Nervous system?-No telegraph system equal

to it.Voice and ears?-Better than any radio

built.Nose, 'lungs, skin ?-There Isn't a ventllatlng

plant as wonderful.Spinal cord ?-Can't be beat by the most

complete switchboard for giving instantaneouswarnings and reactions.

Such a marvellous complicated mechanism asYOU is worthy of your highest respect andbest care.

Protect yourself ta-day, to-morrow, allmonth, all year! You are your own bestsafety device.

LIN~~WICJ"H CJ"HE

DA~GJf(11)

From time to time the Cockle Creekworks have been honoured by visitsfrom the state Governors. Sir Walterand Lady Davidson were the guestswhen this menu was used on 7th Sep-tember, 1918, and on this occasion thevice-regal train actually came into theWorks=-so :Jim Webb of Traffic Dept.informs us.

At the time, World War I was stillbeing waged and the Works were ac-tively engaged in producing their shareof the munitions programme besidesproducing essentials for other districtindustries bound up with the wareffort. Sir Walter was keenly interestedin all phases of our operations.

Like the previous luncheon of 27thAugust (see last "News"), the cateringwas attended to by the Mayfield Girls'Patriotic League, and the Governor ex-pressed admiration at the efficient ser-vice rendered by this band of voluntaryworkers.

Autographs of Sir WaIter and

Lady Davidson on back of

Menu Card.

ACCIDENT REPORTFOR 5 WEEKS ENDING 1/11/54

AcidSuperCementEngineersYardDredge .Colliery .

No. ofAccidents

3Nil

61211

Nil

Lost TimeAccidents

NilNilNil

3Nil

1Nil

Total 23 4

Frequency Rate: 5.8 (previous 3.1).Severity Rate: 747 (previous 725).

-STEVE BELL, Secretary,Accident Prevention Committee.

Davles & Cannington Pty. Ltd., Printers, King Street, Newcastle.

11

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