ELECTRICAL ENGINEER.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 195, 16 August 1907, Page 6

ELECTRICAL ENGINEER.

ME. AXES. "WTXiiE APPOIKTED. No less than 114 applications were received by the Auckland City Council for the post of electrical engineer for the city, at a salary of £500 a year. These came from all parts of the Empire, and by command of the Council, the number was reduced to ten by the City Engineer. ' The Council went through the qualifications of these, and at last night's meeting, by ballot, selected Mr. Alexander 'Wvllic, at present in charge of the Electricity Department of the Borough of Walsall, an important industrial town in England with a population of 93,000. Mr. Wyllie received his early education at Prince Albert College, Adelaide (South Australia), where he gained a University scholarship in the year 1895. In ISSB he graduated in arts and in IS9I in science. At the same time he was the winner of the Argus Engineering Scholarship, vauled at £600. In 1595 he was appointed Borough Electrical Engineer to the Corporation of Walsall, which appointment he lias held ever since. Mr. Wyllie's experience covers a long connection with municipal tramway matters. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical Engineers and of the Incorporated Municipal Electrical Association, and is fully qualified in every way to carry out the duties required. Mr. Wyllie will probably leave England in about lour weeks. At last night's meeting the City Engineer was instructed to submit a report as soon as possible upon the extent and estimated cost of the extensions necessary to the electric power scheme to provide for the demand. He •was also instructed to go into the matter of ordering additional cables to provide for demand in Customs-street east and west.

Messrs. Turnbull and Jones applied, through the City Engineer, for an extension of time for the electric lighting contract, owing to delay caused by loss of plans sent from England. These plans were, after much cabling Home, delivered at the firm's office, having been discovered lying in the office of another firm in the" city. The writers pointed out that in view of the recent tariff increases, they, as scents for the Tudor battery, were able to effect such early delivery as saved the Council over £200 in customs duty. The battery was now almost erected, the boiler and most of the pipes had been delivered, both engines were due on board the s.s. Devon, and the Westinghouse Company had advised that the generators, switchboards, and booster were shipped on July 4 from London. The Engineer, in forwarding the application, recommended that no decision be arrived at at present, but that the matter be considered when the Council were in a position to judge of the progress heing made, apart from the & caused by the failure of the, Post Office to deliver the plans correctly. It was decided to adopt this recommendation.