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Kōrero: Lighthouses

Replacing gas cylinders

Video file

From 1913 the Marine Department began to install automatic acetylene burners as the light source in lighthouses. These could be turned on and off by an automatic sun valve. However, people were required to replace the gas cylinders. This video clip shows men changing the cylinders of the light beacon at Jackson Reef lighthouse, off Cape Jackson in Cook Strait.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

Reference: Pictorial Parade 138

Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Helen Beaglehole, Lighthouses – Lights: from oil to electricity, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/video/6677/replacing-gas-cylinders (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Helen Beaglehole, i tāngia i te 2 March 2009.