ONLY GUESSWORK

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 24 November 1927, Page 5

ONLY GUESSWORK

WHICH WAY ELECTRICITY FLOWS WELLINGTON’S SYSTEM JEOPARDISED. WHEN HASTINGS HAS CHANGE OF POWER Recently the “Tribune” recorded the fact that Hastings had been switched over to Mangahao for its electrical power. There was very little excitement caused in the community. The housewife switched on and found there was light; the workshop did the same, and there was power; in fact few bothered at all about where the ‘/juice” came from so long as it was there. Yet, behind the scenes experts were having an anxious time. They were on pins and needles, so to speak. For all they knew, Hastings, quite innocently, might cause Wellington, the Empire City, to be plunged Into darkness. These experts were powerless in the matter. Much time and labour depended on the switch-over, vet with al) their knowledge thev were absolutely at the mercy of Dame Fate. This most interesting fact was only made public during the hearing of a ease at the Hastings Magistrate’s Court this morning when in the course of his evidence Mr. J, H. Scott, electrical engineer to the Hastings Borough Council, referred to the matter.

EXPERTS BEEN TRYING FOR YEARS.

For some twenty years expert electrical engineers had been striving to invent an instrument which would indicate the direction in which electric current would go when switched on, explained Mr. Scott. He stated that when Mangahao was turned on to Hastings it was necessary to give it a trial on a motor to see which way the current was going. The trial showed that it was the reverse to that in vogue under the Hastings power plant. All sub-stations had to be notified and warned that the Hastings plant would be altered to make the current run parallel to that from Mangahao. Until switched on there was no way of ascertaining in which direction the flow would be. Actually he and the Government engineers could only guess at ..(he direction and it was necessary" to warn the sub-station as- to what might have happened. The Wellington lights might have fused, for all they knew. The matter was raised so as to indicate the fact that when the re-connection of wires was undertaken. the engineer could only guess the direction until the switch-over wa s actually undertaken.