DOOT: 693.—Gas Stokers

A Dictionary of Occupational Terms Based on the Classification of Occupations used in the Census of Population, 1921.

ORDER XXI.—PERSONS EMPLOYED ON GAS, WATER AND ELECTRICITY UNDERTAKINGS (not elsewhere enumerated)

693.—Gas Stokers

carboniser, carbonising man

see charger.

charger, retort charger ; carboniser, carbonising man

(i) general terms for men charging retorts and furnaces either by hand, or machine;

(ii) in small works where charging machines are not installed, is a front man q.v. or a scoop driver q.v. who fills retorts with small coal by hand with a scoop.

charging machine driver ; retort charge driver

a retort charger q.v. who periodically charges retorts with crushed coal by moving levers of a retort charging machine.

discharger (gas works)

see retort drawer.

fireman (generators)

attends to fires of generators that heat retorts.

front man

a retort charger q.v. who, with assistance of one other front man lifts scoop of coal up to mouth of retort with an iron bar (called a bridle); see also scoop driver; this operation is now being superseded, except in small works, by mechanical means of retort charging.

gas house man ; gas maker (coal gas), gas man

general term for any man working in gas house.

gas maker (coal gas), gas man

(i) in very small works does whole operation of gas making, which includes operations of charging and discharging retorts, augering ascension pipes, regulating supply of "secondary" air to enable producer gas to burn, opening and shutting retort doors, and possibly coke quenching, etc.;

(ii) see gas house man.

machine driver (gas works), machine man

in charge of any type of machine used for charging and/or discharging retorts at gas works; sets machinery in motion by moving a lever; usually also oils and cleans machinery as required.

retort charge driver

see charging machine driver.

retort drawer (gas works) ; discharger

forces coke out of retorts with mechanical ram (compressed air, hydraulic, or electrical); controls machine by levers; usually done by machine driver q.v. employed alternately in charging and in drawing.

retort man (gas works)

general term for any man working in retort house doing work of retort charger or discharger, augerer (699), lid cleaner (699), opener and closer (699), hydraulic main attendant (699), etc.

scoop driver

a retort charger q.v. who co-operates with "front men" q.v. in lifting scoop of coal up to mouth of retort; balances and guides scoop when lifted, pushes it into retort, empties it by turning it over, and removes it for fresh charge; operation now being superseded, except in small works, by mechanical means of retort charging.

stoker, gas stoker

one of a gang of men stationed at back of retorts and working in conjunction with machine driver q.v.; opens retort doors and doors of furnace' at back of retorts and pushes hopper into position so that, as coke emerges from retort, it falls into hopper and thence into furnace; pokes coke with iron rod to quicken its passage into furnace; shuts retort doors when charging and drawing process is complete; shuts furnace door when furnace is stoked, allowing rest of coke to fall into conveyor or into wheel barrows.

stopper man (gas works)

a gas stoker q.v. working in retort house where projector chargers are used, who holds a stopper against open end of retort, furthest from machine, to prevent coal projected by machine from falling out at back of retort.

topman (vertical retorts)

(i) continuous process, controls by hand lever rate of flow of crushed coal from hoppers above vertical retorts;

(ii) discontinuous process, opens door at top of vertical retort, fills retort with coal from hopper by moving a lever, and closes door.

From: A Dictionary of Occupational Terms Based on the Classification of Occupations used in the Census of Population, 1921,
Ministry of Labour, 1927. Digitised by Peter Christian, August, 2016. This text is in the Public Domain.