Posted by John Wilson on August 19, 2000 at 12:05:06 from wn-d211.actrix.co.nz:
In Reply to: Re: PM - oddities index: Beckfoot power posted by Robert Hill on August 17, 2000 at 11:20:59:
Yes, the company is called the “Onan Corporation”, of 1400 73rd Ave, Minneapolis MN, USA according to a recent Standard & Poors Directory. It is a subsidiary of Cummins Engine Co, with sales of $700m! Anyway the engines were electric start, not pull start!
Another option for lighting in the days before reticulated electric power was petrol, as in portable “Coleman” lamps. And a local museum near Wellington, New Zealand has a home installation with a central tank of “white spirits” or filtered petrol distributed to the house lamps via small-bore metal pipes. It seems rather hazardous now!
NB: petrol = gasoline (USA). In WD the Walkers nearly get their riding lamps filled with petrol instead of paraffin/kerosene/kerosine because of the different names for fuel in the Netherlands.