TRACTION AND WATER POWER.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11478, 10 January 1903, Page 8

TRACTION AND WATER POWER.

AN EXPERTS OBSERVATIONS.

(BT OUR SPECIAL REPORTER.)

Mr W. G. T. Goodman, who is representing the English firm of Mesers Noyes Bros., and the W T e~tin£ho_se Company, and holds the position of consulting and administrative engineer in connection with the installation of the Dunedin electrical tramways, passed through Christ-church yesterday on his way south. has just returned from a tour of some months' duration, in which he visited the principal cities of America, Great Brpuiin, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, and several other countries, * making a special study of their methods of traction and application of water-power. He also gave much aitention to the lighting of different cities, and came to tlie conclusion that Berlin is the best-lighted city in the world. The systeml adopted there is very complicated, and could not be readily explained in a general description, but it is most extensive and elaborate. In Switzerland Mr Goodman went on the high-speed railway from Berlin to Zossen, w„ere experi_.ei._i are being conducted in very high rates of speed, and a\ rate of 120 milts an hour is anticipated. At the time of his visit, the permanent way was being sUecgthened to allow of that speed. While in Germany Mr Goodman waa on the mono-railway from VohurLnkel to E-ber-ftldt, which is suspended over v river, and appeared to ran moat, efficiently. The mono-rail system is applicable to certain cases where a surface system could not be installed. 'He spent a considerable time at >the Dusseldorf Exhibition—one of the finest engineering exhibitions the world has ever seen. A good deal of time was spent also at the Kvupp steel works at. Essen and Magdeburg, where no leas than 48,000 -workmen are employed, and Mr Goodman •had the honour of meeting the late Harr Krapp himself. The firm of Noyes Bros., it may 'bo staged, representatives of the great German firm in Australia and New Zealand. Almost every city in America, Europe, and Gnu* Britain, Mr Goodman stated, baa its _p-».o-(late tramway system, and in the last-mentioned country iho&e which have not are installing them rapidly. Among British cities which he visited he examined the systems of London, Liverpool, Birmingham, Salford, Bolton, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and others. He was especially impressed with that of Glasgow, which he considered was one of the most complete iv Great Britain. This opinion was only formed after taking all details into account, for as a rule one system, excels another, in some particular department, such as cars or permanent way, tout he gave Glasgow the general supremacy. The system adopted there, of course, is that of the overhead trolly. During Mr Goodman's visit to the city experiments were being conducted with the new Newall brake, with which the motors on a down grade act, as generators, and operate the magnetic brake. The method appeared to be exceedingly efficient, and the authorities were applying it to almost all their care. Li America Mr Goodman went to Indianapolis, and was on the high speed interurban railway which runs from there to Muncie, on the electric overhead system, and at one place reaches a speed of 69 miles an hour. This railway is constructed parallel with a steam railway, and since it has been operating tne latter has been practically crippled, passengers realising the value of a quick service at short intervals. t In his observatioihs of the application of water-power, Mr Goodman visited the principal plants of America, and chief among them that of the Bay Counties plant at Coalgate, California, whence power is transmitted a distance of 220 miles. This, he states, is undoubtedly one of the finest hydraulic plants in the. world. He : also paid * visit to the Pike's Peak water power plan!, another very important installation, in Colorado. In Switzerland Mr Goodman examined the plant at Basle, Rheinfelden, and at Zurich, and he _aw most of the leading experts both of America and Great

With regard tp the TOlaldon of his experience and observations to C_riateh_rc_ problems, Mr Goodman stated that this city was without doubt eminently adapted for tramways. The overhead trolly system, he was convinced, -was altogether the most suitable. The underground system was much too expensive, and that of surface contact was not sufficiently developed as yet for the risk to be taken of installing it in such a new country. In Dunedin the work of installing the new system, which during his absence had been chiefly confined to the erection of the car house, would now be pushed on rapidly. of the material for the permanent wiy had been delivered, and the cars were being made in a very elaborate style, with all the latest appliance*, and of a width sufficient to ensure plenty of room between the gangways. Th* whole of the electrical machinery in connection with the plant was being made at Messrs Noyes and Co.'s new -works at Manchester, which he had visited during his stay in England Owing to the difference of climate and topography, Christohnrch. would require slightly different designs in regard to its tramways from those of '■Dunedin. In the matter of water power, Mr Goodman stated that the ratio of the capital cost of, hydraulic works to the amount of power which could be disposed of, was the question which any expert must go into, and on which only an experienced man would venture his advice. He thought that there were several American experts who woujtd be fully competent *to give an opinion on the Wa.m_k_r.ri scheme, but he doubted it they could be induced to come out, owing to the importance of other engagements. With the opinion that many of the Cali-forr-ian rivers resemble those of New Zealand, Mr Goodman was in accord. Speaking on general questions, Mr Goodman stated that tbe trouble which had arisen at Home through the absence of sufficient employment for men who have returned from the front was not., he thought, likely to be of long duration. It was fairly aoule with the first large numbers which returned, but would in all probability settle itself graduaDy. Both in Great Britain and in America be noticed that the manufactories were, generally speaking, exceedingly busy, and people seemed very prosperous. From Naples to Sydney, on the return journey after his trip, Mr Goodman was a passenger by tbe Oruba, in company with the much-discussed baifcters. He went on to Dunedin by tlie Waikare yesterday afternoon.