“~.

him

picces’ of firoplies

bapinictd of the
workshop |

“and- ‘pieces of

are

equipment which almost brought 58 year-old Dave
“Morris of North Vancouver to bankruptcy. ~

That was four months: ago.’
_ Today Mortis displays with.
gusto an. ‘tantique’” which:
is ‘collecting dust. in. one
-corner.of his shop “at 116
Mountain ‘Highway, North
Vancouver. — |

It is a: $45 oil skimmer,
built | from cardboard. and
_metal parts scrounged from |
garbage dumps.

_. The orange colored con-
traption, which may one day

end up as a museum piece, is

the result of. patience and
courage that has snow-balled
into big “business for : the
former resident of England.

Dickson photo].

“his workshop on. a device to.
fight oil- “polluted waters. |

te ,

v: Working. part time asa

‘POLLUTION FIGHTER: Dave Morris with oll-skimmer.
= . prototype which he built from. cardboard.

In. his makeshift - yet
organized office, adjacent to
the oily: floor, he thumbed

through a folder containing

letters © asking

about - his:

“*3-Square Skimmer,”’ which

he claims is 100° per cent
effective in removing oil from
polluted. waters. 7

The. . triangular-shaped
machine consists of rotating
discs mounted on the under-
side, with one-third of the
diameter of each disc below
the oil surface when in use.
As the discs are rotated the
oil, by its adhesion proper-
ties, sticks onto the: discs and °

tanks. ot -

[Ellsworth

Mofris, his hair extending
beyond his ears like that ‘of
an absent-minded professor,
says his interest. in- oil

: handy man Morris was able _ pollution began during ‘his 25°

_to subsidize his anti pollution years with, oil companies

hobby and earn enough ‘‘to
buy soup and sandwiches for :
“my lunch,"’. until his break-

ed

; through a few months ago.

His efforts had continued

° News interview in March this

“year, which he said: brought
inquiries from B.C.

such as British Petroleum.
He had been involved .in
cleaning the ‘‘Showa. Maru’’
“oil spill off the Malacca Strait
in Ian. 1975. In that incident,

“unnoticed until a North Shore expensive and cumbersome

equipment was. used in: the
clean up after the Japanese
oil. tanker ‘‘Maru’’ was

Hydro and also triggered the grounded in the strait.

-imverest of Vancouver’s two
“daily news papers who inter-

14

. viewed him later i in April.

ARTICLE HELPED |

ee “All success I’ve had’ on effectiveness, Mortis says.

- sales stemmed. from «the ©
“article in the North Shore.
News. My first sale was 10_

|. days after the article appear- from 10 to. 140°:

ed v Morris. confirmed. .

“Since then he. has received:
‘orders from the . federal -

Skimming . devices ayail-
able for smaller oil . spills
were too sophisticated, re-
quired considerable —man-

power and cost as much.as —

$500,000, in relation to’ their

His invention will pick. up
gallons per
minute, Pager » the .

- volt battery and costs $8 000.

government and Seattle, and' The other unit. is ‘diesel.

has received inquiries from driven, hydraulically power- ..

“as far as San Francisco, says —
the: silver-haired Mortis. ...

ed, and can be set up within
minutes to pick up at a rate of

ca ¢ Pe tat . e

ea elite + . Low

140 gallons’ per minute. ‘It
sells for $12,000... ~

‘He ‘says the. price. of the
skimmers, which seems.con-

siderable, are justified by. the

cost of ~materials and. the

effort he: has. “spent on. the
venture.

Ever since ‘he started his
search for the novel skimmer
the . odds were © stacked
against him. He was a
stranger here, was- limited

financially and ‘‘I had to find over half-of. $1,000: she had" one

enough jobs to keep it going.

: | Bs
We ;
ley

‘ete a%es%e“oMetetee®,

30 pm at Se

He. said that at one’ point
he was. down ‘to his last $2,
from. an. initial investment of.

$15, 000 which began’ Sept.
1976, . a

. “My. wife had. to. pay: the darn. thing.

apartment rent. When things
got desperate-my wife put in’

_ been s Saving ‘into. the. kitty.’ ”

* . eo

ereearenas

te er eee are a Pe fh gy

with a
-- store,

Bhan -
KVALD.

an en hee

why WUTRS

department

BA wt.
waOrris,

local.

grocery. ‘and housekeeping ©
expenses. while ‘her ‘husband ~
dabbled in ‘his workshop. .

It pad off. 7 ae

a had: ‘confidence in the.

"ates
Rey
ranatere
ravetatee. rate
ese ece nee mena
te

took -.care of. ‘the .

+ tnareerare,
Se tetat etn re

ae

,
*

ST ae

NOW OPEN
- Quality clothing

“sizes new born to 4