[SEL] Letter to the Editor - TOMM

Arnie Fero fero_ah at city-net.com
Mon Nov 26 09:51:32 PST 2007


G'day Ian,

I'd like to offer a few thoughts on your comments.

> >            I agree with Mr Gibbs as an Australian far to much machinery is
> > being exported Now for some info to you Americans you might not know but
> > should, Australia has only a population of 20million, what does America
> > have something like 220million and if you go back to the early 1900s the
> > population was very small, now you might say what does this mean, well it
> > means the was not much machinery was imported or made here as there was
> > not industry base that required it, result being what we have here is in
> > low numbers and the idea of going bush (as we call it ) to find an old
> > engine is now a rare thing but I see you Yanks (no insult intended) are
> > still finding machinery laying around

Some info for you Aussies that you might not know but should.  During
WWII, VAST quantities of the old flywheel engines went into the blast
furnaces to turn out tanks, battleships, aircraft carriers, etc.  That
action accomplished two things.  First, it allowed us to have this
exchange of ideas in English rather than German or Japanese.  Second, it
made finding old engines when going bush as rare and exciting an event
here as it is in Oz.  Them's the facts mate.  You have obviously grown up
listening to fairy tales of fancy old iron hiding away in every barn and
celler.  BTW, the streets here aren't paved with gold either.  Sorry.

> > I have been to auctions where there have been Yanks there and they don't
> > care what they pay for an engine, we can't match the power of your dollar
> > and as Mr Gibb say we are losing our heritage to the all mighty dollar

Hell mate, the country of origin of a collector has nothing to do with how
deep his pockets are.  If anything, given the current exchange rates due
to the VERY weak dollar, we Yanks are at a MAJOR disadvantage compared to
the Brits, Aussies, Canadians and Europeans in general.  That is certainly
born out by seeing who the top bidders are at auctions in the US.  I think
if you check with your mates you'll find that things are SOOO sweet right
now that they are bringing in the Yank engines by the container load.  So
you should be thrilled that we don't subscribe to the flawed notion that
an engine owner should be limited in terms of who he sells to.

> > As Gibb's has said also the New Zealand government has recognised the
> > heritage value of old machinery as the machinery numbers in NZ are even
> > smaller than what's in Australia  and now with a new Government in
> > Australia we might stand a chance to have some laws changed

Be careful what you wish for you might get it.  You may find yourself
TOTALLY controlled by your government.

> > I find it disappointing to see machinery that built Australia I have to
> > travel overseas to see it as that is the way it is going

Piece of advice mate.  Don't waste your money traveling to America,
England, or Europe to see Aussie engines.  The bloody things are scarce as
hen's teeth in those countries.  You need to look for more credible
sources of info than carping letters to the editor.

> > How would you Yanks like it if we Aussie got together and bought the
> > Stature of Liberty to set up in Australia

Brilliant idea!  But ONLY if you also take the population of New York City
as a part of the deal.

> > I have a Mietz & Weiss, there was three of them in Queensland two have
> > gone to the USA and I have been offered what some people would say 'good
> > money' and if I sell mine then there is none and if look at a map of
> > Queensland it is bigger the most USA states

Mietz & Weiss?  Is that a native Aussie-built engine?

> > Do you at all see the picture we have to keep a sample here for people to
> > see what was used to build Australia

Gee, as with Mr. Gibb, no discussion on your part about banning the
importation of "cultural heritage" engines from other countries.  Why is
that?

> > As some of you might know I run the Southern Cross Register, Southern
> > Cross was the largest manufacture of machinery in Queensland and from 1926
> > to 1986 only made 90 thousand engines this might seam a lot but there was
> > many many models with production figures well under 500 the lowest run was
> > a ESB 21 made two have been found, YD 50 made 3 found and the list goes on
> > with a number of models yet to be found and some other low production runs
> > are showing up in the UK, snuck out from under our nose

Hmmm, ISTR that the R&V register is maintained by a dedicated Aussie.  And
correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't those US built engines?  I maintain a
register of Lorenz & Benz engines that were built in the Czeck republic.
So what?  Every register keeper does so for one reason only.  The love of
the mark.

> > Now I'm not about stopping export but we do need to control what is being
> > exported

Sure are.  You're a greedy sod who wants the government to keep engine
owners from being able to sell their property to the highest bidder.  You
want the government to forse him to sell the engine to YOU at a fraction
of its true worth.  You're a bloody Communist who's afraid to stand up and
admit it.

See ya,  Arnie

Arnie Fero
Pittsburgh, PA USA
fero_ah at city-net.com




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