| The new works were
rapidly expanded and included brass and iron foundries as well as
extensive storage tanks for lamp spirit. In effect, the Protector
was set for a great leap forward. For 30 years until his death in
1919, Joseph Prestwich remained the dominant character. It is a sound
testimony to Mr Prestwich's skill that the design of safety lamps
produced by the Company has remained virtually unchanged from 1890's
to the present day.
By about 1910 the company could claim that 200,000 Prestwich Patent Lamps were in daily use and in 1914 an article in The Business World reported that over a million such lamps had been supplied to |
colliers, both at
home and overseas. In the years following the first world war flame
safety lamps were steadily supplanted for illumination purposes by
battery powered electric lamps which were either fitted to the miner's
helmet or carried by hand. Also, the main passages underground came
to be lit by electric power.
These developments naturally affected the Protector's production of safety lamps. The flame safety lamp has continued to remain an essential item of the miner's equipment, though their principal use nowadays is for testing for presence of methane in underground workings. |