| appeared
at an early date in sporadic outbreaks of departmental picnics and
hot-pot suppers, and these were strongly reinforced in 1905 by the
formation of the British Westinghouse Engineers' Club, chiefly of
engineers and apprentices. The object of the Club was described as
"to provide a means of transmitting to the younger employees
of the firm, apprentices in particular, the knowledge possessed by
the older members". There were two sections, general and technical:
one covered cricket, tennis, and association and Rugby football, and
the other held weekly meetings where papers were presented by leading
officials on some aspect of the Company's activities, discussions
following.
 The
Club had no permanent home until October 1907, when with Carlton's
support it acquired Oakbank, a large house standing on the Chester
Road near the Park gates (opposite the present entrance to the White
City). From then on it flourished exceedingly. A great success of
the second year was a 'parliamentary debating society' with A. McKinstry
as Prime Minister, A. P. M. Fleming as Foreign Secretary, J. Bissett
as Chancellor of the Exchequer, F. Crompton as Chief Government
Whip, and D. N. Dunlop sitting on the cross benches where he could
be relied upon to keep the proceedings interesting. New social sections
developed quickly, rifle and chess enthusiasts being early in the
field, and an annual dinner for the staff became an established
function. Altogether the Club played a great part by instilling
a habit of cooperation among its members and bringing into the organization
a democratic spirit, then very unusual but an asset to the whole
Company.
Another
important step was taken in 1906 when Lange established a foremen's
association. Cooperation among foremen was all-important, and the
new association was to organize welfare and social activities and
so provide the soil for good relations to nourish in. The first
chairman was Tom Smith, and the association has grown with the Company
to a membership of 300. In later years it has come to act as the
foremen's official medium for negotiations with the management,
and from 1919 onwards members of the association and of the education
department have formed an advisory sub-committee to consider problems
of apprentice training in the shops.
TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENTS
After some years of manufacture to American designs, the Company's
engineers started to introduce improvements, and in some lines completely
new apparatus was evolved. Much of this redesigning was caused by
the lower cost of labour relative to material in England.
Gas
engines, which were an important product for many years, were improved
by the introduction of water-cooled exhaust valves in 1906, and
soon afterwards vertical tandem engines designed by W. Stead and
K. R. W. Cox were put on the market. These engines in sizes from
250 to 1000 hp could be used with producer, blast furnace, town,
or coke oven gas, and they rapidly superseded previous designs.
|
