THE TRARALGON GAS WORKS :
-   (Jim Hollensen)

He began by summarising the main events of the Works up to l940 and then continued on, in greater detail, the events and history of the Works under Mr. Fred. Hawley as Gas Works Manager. The Works started out as a private company, with its principal shareholders being prominent businessmen of the town, in 1889. By 1897 it had become apparent that the Gas Works was not going to be a profitable enterprise and it was then sold to the Traralgon Shire for the sum of £2,000 .

The first Manager appointed was Mr. Beaton, who was in office from March 1897 until January 1900, when Mr. George Cattrell took over. The first meter-reader was employed in 1900 and the first lamp-lighter in 1906.

The financial situation of the Works was typified by the following audit figures for September 1908 : Income £585.6.9d., Expenditure £632.4:3d.

The expenditure included an interest payment of £130, and the pattern of any profits being swallowed up in this way was a feature of the Works throughout its history.

Following the resignation of Mr. Cattrell,, a new Manager, Mr. T .Price, was appointed in 1901. And he remained until October 1915 when Mr. J. Foster took over as the new Works Manager.

Mr. Foster was replaced by Mr. W. Wedlock in October1917, and also at this time, the lamp-lighter. Mr. Barton, was appointed at a salary of £3 per month and also provided with a new bicycle purchased by Council for £4.lO.Od. Mr. Wedlock was the first to be granted time-free and unlimited use of gas in his domestic premises.

By 1922, Council was under pressure from the local trades people to accept the offer of electricity from the newly-formed Tyers Electric Company. They deferred any decision which turned out to be wise as, only  four years later, electricity from the S.E. works at Yallourn was being used to light the streets of Traralgon.

The Council had been concerned for some time at the continuing unprofitable record of the Gas Works and at a Special Meeting called on May 30, 1901, it was decided to offer the Works for sale. However, no firm offers were received and Council therefore moved to make an "improvement in management"'. This resulted in the dismissal of Mr. Wedlock and the appointment. of Mr. Roy Thompson, in 1931.

Unconfirmed reports state that the S.E.C, made an offer of £4,000 for the Works but Council Minutes only report that an offer was received from a Mr. Sutherland from the S.E.C. which was not "further entertained". .

With the appointment of Mr. Thompson, an official residence was built in early 1932, at a cost of £450. At this time, the staff consisted of the manager, a fitter (Ron Handley, who is still well and living in Melbourne) and a stoker.

Mr. Thompson actively sought new business and this is reflected in the composition of the Gas Accounts of January 1931 and August 1932. Under Mr. Wedlock, expenditure rose from £64.0.0d. to £220.1.5d. and this increase was due to expenditure on appliances, pipes, fittings and freight.

Despite an increase in sales, the works continued to be unprofitable, yet the campaigning efforts of Mr. Thompson (also a prominent local bandsman), who conducted Traralgon's first public gas cooking demonstration, did much to raise public acceptance of gas as a power source.

The overdraft and outstanding loans continued to be of concern to the Councillors and once more the Works were offered for sale, in January1937.

Again, despite some cursory in interest, no sale was effected, which left Council with no option but to borrow further to finance the future needs of the company to service the new A.P.M. estates.

It was not entirely unexpected when Mr. Thompson resigned from the position of Manager of the Traralgon Gas Works, in September 1937. He had effected many improvements to the physical aspects of the works,and had proved to be a successful salesman.

He was succeeded by Mr. Fred. Hawley who took up duties on December 13, 1937. Mr. Hawley was an Engineer who had served under his father at the Brighton Gas Works; he worked briefly in New Zealand before returning and working as Acting Works Manager of the Footscray Gas Works. One of his first duties was to reduce the "unaccounted gas" level down from 21% to 3% in only two years. Most of    this "unaccounted gas" was simply due to gas escaping through faulty mains, and improvements in the standard of reticulation reduced this factor.

His staff at this time comprised :

Ron Handley, Fitter, at £4,16.0d, per week Gordon Curran, Stoker, £4.0.0d, per week Bob Miles, Meter Reader and Collector, £1.5.0d, per week .

Although the Gas Works was classified as an Essential Service during the 1939-45 War and staff exempted from War Service, Gordon Curran volunteered and was acccepted. He was subsequently killed in active service.

During these years, the Works experienced severe disruptions in the supply of fittings and coal which came from the Maitland Coalfields where there was a great deal of industrial unrest all through the war years and for some time after. Red Gum billets were often used in conjunction with Maitland coal, to get by. Imported coal was of poor quality and, generally, twice as much had to be used to make an equivalent quantity of gas. This led to increased overtime being necessary and generally increased costs.

The gasometer was fitted with an alarm device which rang a bell in the residence adjacent to the works. When the alarm sounded, and it often did so in the early hours of the morning, Fred Hawley and his son, Bill, had to get up and fire up a batch of retorts to restore the pressure. It was especially important to have the gasometer full, ready for the Monday "wash-day".

In spite of increased capacity, due to the addition of a large second-hand boiler converted into a gas pressure vessel (by Fred Hawley and Frank Cattanach, a local welder), gas rationing was introduced at various times throughout these difficult years.

The "Lethal Chamber" was a small but useful source of revenue. It. was a metal box used to exterminate unwanted stray animals and was particularly useful for disappointed greyhound 'owners whose favourite had finished poorly at the previous Saturday's coursing meeting.

Naturally, the residence of Fred Hawley was an all gas house and his wife, besides being the unofficial and unpaid accountant, was the "sales-person" of the Works.

At this time the Traralgon Gas Works was the 7th largest in municipal Victoria over time, it rose to be No.2 in Victoria. And the problem of unprofitability that plagued the Traralgon Works right through was common to all municipal Works. Being classed as business enterprises in their own right, they were not eligible for any Government subsidy, and in spite of the losses being incurred, even though economies were effected by purchasing and modifying second-hand equipment, no assistance was available. The Traralgon Council was caught " 'twixt the Devil and the deep blue sea", as the saying goes; it couldn't afford to keep the Works operating and it couldn't afford to close it as most of the town was then using gas appliances.

In 1944, Traralgon's first and only female meter reader was appointed. She was Miss Mavis Webb (now Mrs. Mavis Alexander, who was present at the meeting) and she walked the streets of Traralgon on a specialIy made pair of shoes with thickened soles, made by a local shoemaker. She still recalls the one remaining house in Traralgon lit by gas - it was owned by an old gentleman who still didn't trust electricity, and was adjacent to the viaduct. Mavis wasn't allowed to collect money for accounts due, as Mr. Fred Hawley thought it was not proper to put her at risk in this way, so he devised a bill-book with dials in it which she filled in. The actual reading and calculation of the amount payable was later completed by the Hawley family in their own time at their home.

As the town grew so did the consumption of gas. In 1938 the amount of gas sold was 363,000 c. ft.; six short years later, gas sales had nearly quadrupled, to 1,219,000 c. ft., and 83% of the gas had to be produced between 6.00 a.m. and 8. p.m. each day.

That is, the gasometer held only 13,000 c. ft., yet daily consumption required 74,000 c. ft., without the smaller pressure vessels and the large converted boiler (converted by Frank Cattanach), the works simply could not have carried on.

Most of the general routine maintenance was carried out by our local man, Mr. Cec. Stammers. This was usually done between the hours of 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. on Saturday nights, by Fred Hawley and Cec. Stammers, and carried out with the system under full pressure and with minimal cost to the Council.

An unfortunate incident involving a meter reader who absconded with the cash and the account books highlighted the need for improved financial procedures. It was also at about this time that Mr. Fred Hawley received an unusual request, from the Matron of the Cumnock Hospital. A premature baby had been born and would lose its life unless a humidicrib could be rigged up. Fred Hawley supplied gas for the heating and designed a humidicrib which kept the baby alive during the critical early months.
This photo from your webmaster's collection - greatly enhanced detail from background  (behind cyclone wire) of what we believe to be carnival in connection with the new swiming pool, circa 1953.  Apologies for the poor resolution as it has been enlarged from a tiny part of the background of a larger photo.

The Works continued to be unprofitable, mainly because of excessive overtime being required due to poor quality of the coal being supplied, and it was in the winter of 1949 that once again severe gas rationing was introduced. It was on a voluntary basis and was not entirely successful. The continuing crises served to focus the attention of the Government on municipal gas undertakings.

Typical of labour problems being experienced were three new workers who started in March 1950; one man worked for 3 days and then left. The second worked one shift before walking out, and the third lasted only 3 hours 20 minutes. As an inducement to attract labour, the Council provided workers with accommodation, but once the men had secured their houses they left just the same, and retain- ed their residences. And all of this was going on during the time of Traralgon's most rapid growth, with the establishment of A.P.M., the Victorian Railways and the Housing Commission estates under way. All of these undertakings required an increase in capital expenditure while giving no immediate return on the investment. A typical month, April 1950, saw a loss of £224 recorded.

Fred Hawley could see beyond the immediate problems. He had even then drawn up plans for a completely new Works, with a mechanised retort house, a meter and tests laboratory, a new gasholder and a mechanised coke handling plant. However, with losses of £4,400 occurring in 1952, another Gas Investigation Committee being formed and with manpower and coal supply problems, all these factors took their toll and Mr. Fred Hawley tendered his resignation to Council on September 14, 1953.

Losses increased to £500 per month in 1953. Mr. Harry Blanche was appointed Manager of the Works and it was only a short time later that the undertaking was sold to the Gas & Fuel Corporation in September, 1955, for £43,600. Nineteen months later, gas manufactured from brown coal at the Lurgi Plant flowed to Traralgon for the first time.

The Gas Works then ceased production after 69 years of continuous operations.

A vote of thanks to Mr. Jim Hollenson was moved and heartily endorsed, not only for his most interesting talks, but also for his meticulous research and recording of this very significant part of the history of Traralgon.