Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), Monday 8 September 1930, page 8


MR. GEORGE DUNCAN DEAD.

Notable Cable Tramway Engineer.

Mr. George Smith Duncan, M.Inst.C.E. , London, (formerly chief engineer to the Mel-bourne Tramways Trust, and consulting engineer to the Melbourne Tramways and Omnibus Company, died at Sunnyside, Black Rock on Thursday, September 4. He had been in failing health for some years. Mr. Duncan, a son of the late Mr. George Duncan, a leading business man of Dunedin (N.Z.), was born in 1853 and was educated in Scotland and at Clifton Col-lege, England. Returning to New Zealand he went through a five years' engineering course under Messrs Thompson and Simp-son, of Otago, and two years later he was appointed to the position of provincial engineer of Otago.

Lugaging in private practice ni 187G, Mr Duncan tai ned out a number of impor-tant ai oiks including the laying of tliP Roslin and Mornington cable tramwajs in lfeSS At that time only a few cable tramxinjs had been laid, and this bj stem of ti action its Mr Duncan found it ax as most pi milln e Other tramwajs had all been lud m u straight line, as the problem of citijing the hauluge cables lound curxes had baftltd ex ti j engineer Mr Duncan solxtd tins problem \t that tune a cible umina) sjsteiu foi Melbourne v\as pro ictted, ind the late Ali I B Clipp then (.hinman of the Melbourne Iiumwaj and Omnibus1 Companj engaged Mr Duncan as clntf engineei It vías he who designed and earned out this laige undertaking Nothing on such a stale had ever been attempted beioie and when the sjstem was in siittesiful operation Ah Duncan w is lecognistd bj the engineeiing profession throughout the xioild as the leading author llj on callie tiattion It was m reiogni

tion of tin-, n oik that he ai as appointed a mtnibei of the Institute of Cn ii Lngi netrb Aftti acting as engineer to the Mel

bom ne Tramxiajb Ti list for thiee a cars Ali Duuciin again engaged m prix ate prac tice, dtxoting most of Ins attention to mining euginetiing He inliodiiced into Aubti illa tht cjaiuding piocess In Ins later j em h and indeed ilmost to the time of his (leith Mr Dnntan who was nu una!) tie ii chemist as xx eil as au engineer, xins eiidtaxouimg to mike practicable a piocess foi e\ti icting the gold which is held in solution in sea watei Woikmj» on a 1 iboi itcn \ st ile lit siittteded in extracting tonsidci ible quantities of the metal, but at i piohibitixt puce Ali Duncan marned Mi»-, Jiiplicmu Kilgoin of Dunedin, xiho pieeleet i-til lum He leixes two sons and

i il inclue i Ali Mi i ed J Duncan xvhn ]i lelu - i et n lilting tn^uieer and who »h i - ii id 1 with Ali Duncan during the i i« m wl nil he was tngineei ni thict for tin Al II unit li muni-, Tiuit and ron

ullin m». neei lor the Alelbonine Trim way and Omnibus Company, is the only

surviving brother.