ROAD GIVES WAY.

Hokitika Guardian, 1 June 1926, Page 1

ROAD GIVES WAY.

mo GENERATOR FALLS INTO RIVER. DUNEDIN, May 28. Covered by six feet of water, a section. tlio stator, of a 1000 kilowatt generator now lies in the Waipori river, into which it dropped on Wednesday, after parting company with the truck which was carrying it to Dunedin. Recently the. City Electrical Department sold a generator to the New Zealand Government for installation at Waikarenioana hydro-electric development works, and various sections were packed for shipment to the small port of Waikokopu on Tuesday. One section, weighing six tons, was brought to Dunedin safely, but the team of twelve horses, driven by William Brennall, had hauled the stator only about a quarter of a mile down the Gorge road from the power-house, when the accident happened. The road was too weak, for the heavy load, and a, portion of it collapsed. One wheel dropped over a hank, and the hig truck took a tilt. The strain on the harness was so great that- it snapped, and the truck dropped down towards the river. Brennall and his companion jumped clear. The truck crashed through the trees and came ’to rest about fifty feet down the steep hank, a tree stopping its path. The hawser securing the generator to the carriage snapped, and the stator rolled a further ten feet into the river. A start will be made on Sunday to lift the stator, which, with its casing, weighs eight and a half tons, out of the river. - ,