News Topic - New Zealand
Articles 31 - 40 of most recent articles
Sept. 5, 1885: Pay at the Pump
1885: Sylvanus F. Bowser delivers the first gasoline pump. It improves safety, but can't guarantee low prices.The automobile was yet to be invented, and gasoline was a byproduct of refining kerosene for stoves and lamps. Some of that equipment could use gasoline, but it wasn't much in demand.You bought fuel in a general, hardware or grocery store. You had to bring your own gallon (or whatever) can, and the storekeeper would ladle the flammable fluid from a barrel. Wasteful. Messy. Dangerous.To reduce spillage, Bowser built a pump in his Fort Wayne, Indiana, barn. He sold and delivered the first one to Fort Wayne merchant Jake Gumper 123 years ago today.The self-contained unit included a wooden storage barrel, marble valves, a wooden plunger, a hand lever and an upright faucet lever. It was a success. Bowser formed the S.F. Bowser Company and patented his pump in 1887.The Bowser pump soon became known as a "filling station," and Bowser started selling an improved model to the first automobile-repair garages in 1893. Most places that sold fuel to motorists used the "drum and measure" method. Gasoline was gravity-fed from a large steel drum into a five-gallon measuring can. The motorist then carried the can over to his automobile and poured the fuel into the car's tank through a funnel that was lined with a chamois filter to remove grit and impurities. A big bother all around, and not awfully safe, either.Bowser came up with a big improvement in 1905: He enclosed a square, metal tank in a wooden cabinet equipped with a forced-suction pump. A hand-stroke lever pumped the gas. This pump featured air vents for safety, stops that you could set to deliver a predetermined quantity and -- wonder of wonders -- a hose to dispense the gasoline directly into the vehicle's fuel tank. He called it the Bowser Self-Measuring Gasoline Storage Pump. (Rival John J. Tokheim of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, had fitted a pump with a direct-delivery hose in 1903.)The word bowser soon became a generic term for a vertical gasoline pump. That usage has dropped away in the United States, but lingers in Australia, New Zealand and, to a lesser extent, Canada. A bowser is also a tank truck that delivers fuel to airplanes on the tarmac, and in Britain the term applies as well to self-propelled tanks carrying any fluid that is delivered directly to the end user -- for instance, water after a disaster. Bowser's later career was quirky and litigious. He invented and personally marketed a backscratcher and a sit-down enema. He also sold postcards of himself next to the "Stone of Scone," part of the coronation throne on which British monarchs sit while being crowned in Westminster Abbey.Source: Petroleum Collectibles Monthly, others
Wired News – Sep 5, 2008 04:00 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Technology
1885: Sylvanus F. Bowser delivers the first gasoline pump. It improves safety, but can't guarantee low prices.The automobile was yet to be invented, and gasoline was a byproduct of refining kerosene for stoves and lamps. Some of that equipment could use gasoline, but it wasn't much in demand.You bought fuel in a general, hardware or grocery store. You had to bring your own gallon (or whatever) can, and the storekeeper would ladle the flammable fluid from a barrel. Wasteful. Messy. Dangerous.To reduce spillage, Bowser built a pump in his Fort Wayne, Indiana, barn. He sold and delivered the first one to Fort Wayne merchant Jake Gumper 123 years ago today.The self-contained unit included a wooden storage barrel, marble valves, a wooden plunger, a hand lever and an upright faucet lever. It was a success. Bowser formed the S.F. Bowser Company and patented his pump in 1887.The Bowser pump soon became known as a "filling station," and Bowser started selling an improved model to the first automobile-repair garages in 1893. Most places that sold fuel to motorists used the "drum and measure" method. Gasoline was gravity-fed from a large steel drum into a five-gallon measuring can. The motorist then carried the can over to his automobile and poured the fuel into the car's tank through a funnel that was lined with a chamois filter to remove grit and impurities. A big bother all around, and not awfully safe, either.Bowser came up with a big improvement in 1905: He enclosed a square, metal tank in a wooden cabinet equipped with a forced-suction pump. A hand-stroke lever pumped the gas. This pump featured air vents for safety, stops that you could set to deliver a predetermined quantity and -- wonder of wonders -- a hose to dispense the gasoline directly into the vehicle's fuel tank. He called it the Bowser Self-Measuring Gasoline Storage Pump. (Rival John J. Tokheim of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, had fitted a pump with a direct-delivery hose in 1903.)The word bowser soon became a generic term for a vertical gasoline pump. That usage has dropped away in the United States, but lingers in Australia, New Zealand and, to a lesser extent, Canada. A bowser is also a tank truck that delivers fuel to airplanes on the tarmac, and in Britain the term applies as well to self-propelled tanks carrying any fluid that is delivered directly to the end user -- for instance, water after a disaster. Bowser's later career was quirky and litigious. He invented and personally marketed a backscratcher and a sit-down enema. He also sold postcards of himself next to the "Stone of Scone," part of the coronation throne on which British monarchs sit while being crowned in Westminster Abbey.Source: Petroleum Collectibles Monthly, others
Wired News – Sep 5, 2008 04:00 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Technology
Air New Zealand cuts long-term fares to Australia
Air New Zealand is to cut long-term lead-in fares to Australia by an average of 15 per cent.Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown and Dunedin customers could benefit from cuts in fares to Sydney, Melbourne,...
New Zealand Herald – Sep 4, 2008 11:46 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in World: Oceania
Air New Zealand is to cut long-term lead-in fares to Australia by an average of 15 per cent.Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown and Dunedin customers could benefit from cuts in fares to Sydney, Melbourne,...
New Zealand Herald – Sep 4, 2008 11:46 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in World: Oceania
Customs seize enough pseudoephedrine to make $20m of 'P'
Customs officers in Auckland have seized 80kg of pseudoephedrine, enough to produce as much as 24kg of methamphetamine (P) with a street value of around $20 million.It is the third-largest haul of its kind seen in New Zealand.Officers...
New Zealand Herald – Sep 4, 2008 11:00 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in World: Oceania
Customs officers in Auckland have seized 80kg of pseudoephedrine, enough to produce as much as 24kg of methamphetamine (P) with a street value of around $20 million.It is the third-largest haul of its kind seen in New Zealand.Officers...
New Zealand Herald – Sep 4, 2008 11:00 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in World: Oceania
Air NZ told 'make urgent changes' after crash
Air New Zealand has been told to make urgent changes to its operations and maintenance of its eight long-haul Boeing 777 aircraft in the wake of shock findings from a crash in Britain.A British Airways jet with 152 passengers...
New Zealand Herald – Sep 4, 2008 10:37 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in World: Oceania
Air New Zealand has been told to make urgent changes to its operations and maintenance of its eight long-haul Boeing 777 aircraft in the wake of shock findings from a crash in Britain.A British Airways jet with 152 passengers...
New Zealand Herald – Sep 4, 2008 10:37 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in World: Oceania
Family of murder victim travelling to NZ
The sister and brother-in-law of murdered Chinese woman Yi Ren will arrive in New Zealand early next week.The 30-year-old's body was found in her Newton apartment in Auckland after a man called emergency services. That man,...
New Zealand Herald – Sep 4, 2008 7:00 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in World: Oceania
The sister and brother-in-law of murdered Chinese woman Yi Ren will arrive in New Zealand early next week.The 30-year-old's body was found in her Newton apartment in Auckland after a man called emergency services. That man,...
New Zealand Herald – Sep 4, 2008 7:00 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in World: Oceania
Lots Of Girls Kissing Girls
Katy Perry's I Kissed a Girl inspired a New Zealand radio station, The Edge, to gather up a bunch of girls to set a new world record for girls kissing girls today, Thursday.That feat wasn't too difficult, though.There was no world record set previously for numbers of same-sex kissers.However, 1,188 Parisians of various genders set [...]
PerezHilton.com – Sep 4, 2008 5:00 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Entertainment: Celebrity Gossip
Katy Perry's I Kissed a Girl inspired a New Zealand radio station, The Edge, to gather up a bunch of girls to set a new world record for girls kissing girls today, Thursday.That feat wasn't too difficult, though.There was no world record set previously for numbers of same-sex kissers.However, 1,188 Parisians of various genders set [...]
PerezHilton.com – Sep 4, 2008 5:00 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Entertainment: Celebrity Gossip
Bouncers charged
Three bouncers have been remanded in custody over the death of a New Zealand man after a fight at a Gold Coast pub in May. Morne Ricardo Lombard, 28, of Southport, Denis Legradi, 21, of Pacific Pines and Naeroa Petera Tepaukonui,...
New Zealand Herald – Sep 4, 2008 5:00 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in World: Oceania
Three bouncers have been remanded in custody over the death of a New Zealand man after a fight at a Gold Coast pub in May. Morne Ricardo Lombard, 28, of Southport, Denis Legradi, 21, of Pacific Pines and Naeroa Petera Tepaukonui,...
New Zealand Herald – Sep 4, 2008 5:00 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in World: Oceania
NZ First used $80,000 gift for payback
The mysterious big-money donation that spurred Winston Peters' infamous "no" press conference was $80,000 and went towards helping to put right New Zealand First's wrongful spending at the last election.But exactly whose $80,000...
New Zealand Herald – Sep 4, 2008 4:00 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in World: Oceania
The mysterious big-money donation that spurred Winston Peters' infamous "no" press conference was $80,000 and went towards helping to put right New Zealand First's wrongful spending at the last election.But exactly whose $80,000...
New Zealand Herald – Sep 4, 2008 4:00 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in World: Oceania
Notorious inmate 'part of drug ring'
One of New Zealand's most notorious criminals is allegedly involved in an elaborate drug ring which saw police this week reveal they had seized enough chemicals to make more than $5 million of P.The drug ring, run from behind...
New Zealand Herald – Sep 4, 2008 4:00 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in World: Oceania
One of New Zealand's most notorious criminals is allegedly involved in an elaborate drug ring which saw police this week reveal they had seized enough chemicals to make more than $5 million of P.The drug ring, run from behind...
New Zealand Herald – Sep 4, 2008 4:00 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in World: Oceania
National's plans for business investors 'chequebook immigration'
National's plans to allow wealthy foreigners to retire to New Zealand and to loosen the rules for business investors is "chequebook immigration", says Immigration Minister Clayton Cosgrove.The party's new immigration policy includes...
New Zealand Herald – Sep 4, 2008 4:00 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in World: Oceania
National's plans to allow wealthy foreigners to retire to New Zealand and to loosen the rules for business investors is "chequebook immigration", says Immigration Minister Clayton Cosgrove.The party's new immigration policy includes...
New Zealand Herald – Sep 4, 2008 4:00 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in World: Oceania