A NEW ELEVATOR.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 449, 26 February 1890, Page 4

A NEW ELEVATOR.

ADOPTED BY SARGOOD, SON, AND E WEN. Auckland, Feb. 22. Messrs Sargood, Son, and Ewkn, warehousemen, of Victoria-street, have set an example to Auckland commercial firms worthy of imitation in their adoption of a new and expeditious hydraulic elevator in their business premises. They hav6 just erected in their warehouse a first-class passenger lift or elevator, which is of a design quite new to Auckland, and which enables their customers to reach the top floor of their buildings just as easily as the ground Hon - , and with the greatest safety and celerity. The elevator is of the kind known as the Otis Patent Hydraulic Lift, and was erected by the Australian Otis Company, of Melbourne, which is a branch of the famous American elevator manufacturers of the United States, Messrs Otis Bros.

The car is a handsomely finished structure of Australian woods—Huon pine and blockwood, which, combined, present a very pleasing and unique appearance, and tend to give passengers the impression that they are travelling in an elevated railway car rather than in the clumsy, close boxes which ordinarily do duty as elevators. The motive power for the lift is obtained from the street water-mains, which connect by a cylinder 8i inches in diameter. Attached to a piston in this cylinder are two rods, I,[: inches in diameter, to which the four steel ropes which suspend the car arc attached. These four ropes are each g of an inch thick, and have a breaking strain of 10,G0Ulb each, making a total of 40,0001 b or 20 tons for the four. The most these ropes will be prepared to raise in the lift will not bo over a ton. Attached to the car is a patent governor safety gear arrangement, which regulates to a nicety the speed of the lift. The four steel suspending ropes are independent of each other, and are connected with a safety plank underneath the car instead of on the top as in ordinary cases. Should one single rope give way, the safety appliance will at once be thrown into working action. As the engineer in charge says, “It is extremely improbable that all the ropes will break at the same moment. ’ The elevator shaft is enclosed handsomely in kauri with wire panels, which give a light and airy appearance. The work has been carried out carefully by Mr J. Ellingham, builder, of Auckland. All the machinery in connection with the elevator has been erected by Messrs Dunn, Smith, and Drummond, of Customs-street. The car itself is about 5 feet squaro, any 8 feet 6 inches in height. It is elegantld fitted up in the interior with soft cushioned seat, large mirror, etc., and forms a very handsome and comfortable vehicle for travelling up through the four storeys of the warehouse to the various showrooms. It is fitted with an electric signal device which enables persons on any lloor to communicate at once with the man in charge of the elevator, wherever the car may happen to beat the time. One advantage of the Otis patent is that the consumption of water for lift purposes is not more than one-half of that of ordinary elevators. The construction of this lift has, throughout been under the supervision of Mr FT G. Ayres, of Melbourne, who is a member of the Australian Otis firm. Mr Ayres has just come from the South, he having been engaged in similar tasks in the various Southern cities. The lift in the Eiffel Tower, at the Dunedin Exhibition, was one of the Otis elevators, and was erected under Mr Ayres’s supervision. Messrs Sargood, Son, and Ewen intend to have the rest of their business establishments throughout New Zealand similarly fitted up with Otis lifts, having become convinced that this elevator design is the best and most convenient, besides ensuring thorough safety.