ELECTRIC POWER.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1248, 6 October 1911, Page 3

ELECTRIC POWER.

GOVERNMENT'S INTENTIONS. TO REVOLUTIONISE THE RAILWAYS. A. deputation from the Pahiatua and' Manawatti districts waited upon the Hon. 1!. M'Kojizie, Minister for Public Works, yesterday, and elicited from him a very intere.-ting •statement ns to the Government's intentions lor the development of hydro-electric power. 'Mr. H. B. Hpss, member for Pahiatua, in introducing' tire deputation, remarked that the Chamber of Commerce had been exceedingly pleaded with the opinions expressed by the .Minister when he inspected the Malum Falls some time ago. Mr. Wukeman .said that there wero many factories in the Pahiatua district, which already had a population of 50,000, and there w;is a demand for cheaper fuel, as coal cost ,t'2 per ton. Jlo suggested that the utilisation of the Makuri power would afford a reliable indication of tho amount of custom for Slate electricity that would coino from the country districts. Mr. W. W. M'Cardl'e, .Mayor of Pahiatua, said that tho Borough Council was compelled to take tome measures to procurr cheaper power. If electricity was not available it would have to purchase tlio gasworks from tho present private proprietary. _Mt. J. A. Nash, Mayor of Pa.lmerstou North, <ilfo spoke. Sonic members of tho Palmcrston. Chamber of Commerce, ho .'.aid, considered the. Lake Waikaremoana project, a more practicable one than that at Makuri. Mr. Murray (chairman, of tho Akitio County Council) askol that a careful estimate should be made of the co.-t of utilising the power for traction purposes. llr. A'. M'Fa.rlaue, chairman of the Ballanoo Daily Company, said that his company would be good customers for power. In three years it hail spent ,£'3581 on tirewood alone. There were six oilier companies in the district similarly situated. THE MINISTER'S REPLY. The Minister replied that in undertaking the development of livdro-eleclric newer'the Government would be guided by national rather than local requirements. It was with that object that, it was developing the power from Lake Coleridge which would .supply the whole of Canterbury from Ilurunui to Timaru. Tho small schemes were, not likely to prove profitable and a matter that'must bo kept in view was the future electrification of the State railway system. The Lake Waikaremoana scheme would probably cost no more than the development of the Makuri power, and it would supply electrical force for the whole of the North Island, distributed by transmission lines down both coasts and through the, interior. The Government was not idle in the matter. Only the previous day he received a report from tho chief e'ectrical engineer and he was having frequent consultations with Mr. Parry. Mr. M'Kcuzio said ho proposed to havo a full investigation of tho possibilities of Lake Waikaremoana which was, in his opinion, Hie best source of power for the North Island, though some of the minor sources might'.he developed to augment tho main supply when tho load was heaviest between G. 30 p.m. and 10 p.m. in the winter months. Electricity for Railways, Discussing tho electrification of railways Mr. M'Kcnzio went on to say that' he was satisiied from his consultations with Mr. Parry that electricity was superior to steam for traction purposes. In his report Mr. Parry stated that he thought it possible.to design an electric locomotive so as to get a certain amount of magnetic adhesion and so add to the tractive effort per ton. "The superiority of the electric locomotive," said Mr. Parry, "is further duo to the fact that' it has the whole of a large generating station behind it and the nature of the equipment is such as to enable it to develop large power for short periods far iu excess of its normal power for continuous working, and if a general power supply is available the electric locomolivo is the cheaper of the two iu first cost and more economical to operate. Comparing the two types on the same gradient the electric locomotive will haul heavier weights at tho same* speed or else tho same weight at greater speed, thus resulting in economy in working'and increase in traffic facilities.

"After studying Hie Uf-e of electricity on branch railway?," coniinneil the Minister, "I am perfectly satisfied that it is going to revolutionise our ideas of milway work in New Zealand." Probably this session the Government would electrify a small branch line as an experiment Instead of buying extensive areas of land, putting in enonnmis cuttings, and constructing long tunnels, electriiied railways r«uld be run alongside (ho roads every grade being negotiable by the electric, locomotives.

The Minister added that the cost of electricity for dairy factories would be .£25 or «t2B per horse power per annum.