THE LIGHTING QUESTION.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 393, 6 September 1911, Page 5

THE LIGHTING QUESTION.

To 1 he Ed i lor. Sir. —-1 have no \vi.«b to prolong the cii emission on ibiy question in your columns, as ihoro is, pcrl>np!>, -no ui-c----ful end to bo eervct), nnn 1 :-hr; 11 be content, with a very brief reply to ('r Voting's letter, which appraivti in your last i; ; ;-~ue. A ppareni ly :n repression used by me in my Inst letter bus had ;i disturbing e'lVc! npiin (Y Young, vir.., my referorn'o to

members of the old Council having doubled in their track?. Now, i wish to way that, although 1 still consider the expression doscribefi the posit,ion in regard to sonic very correctly, I had no intention of using it, in an offensive manner individually,nor had I any idea of applying it to Cr Young in particular. With regard to the point attempted to be made by Cr Young, that I favoured the new Council defiling with the light question and the sending of delegates to further investigate the different systems of

lighting, I think the very f-tcl that I did so is the best possible evidence that I wished to be .fair and unbiassed, and that; whilst I .bad formed a definite conclusion in. regard to what. I believed to be the best light for To Kuiti. I was willing' that the new Council should have an equal oportunity of acquiring information at first hand so that the facts upon which the. first. Council had based its conclusions might, be verified or otherwise. That, these facts were amply verified is borne out, by the report of the delegates. Cr Votingnext asserts that; the lighting question was ridiculously considered by the first Council. Of course Cr Young is speaking for himself, and probably so far as he is personally concerned, i:i is

perhaps right. But. if he, as a nn-mlwr of the Lighting Committee, and as a Counciiior, was guilty of such ridiculous conduct without mifin/r voice ill any sort, of protest. what: ere the public to think of his at!ii it it ;- as a public, man. So far, howevt r. from having anything to say against the procedure adopted at the time by the then Council, he voted.'first as a member of the Lighting Committee and again at the Council for the report recommending to the ratepayers the adoption of Dreadnought gas, and notwithstanding his endorsement of that report, he now turns round and publicly accuses (lis fellow Councillors of what he is pleased to term " ridiculous consideration of the lighting question." Yet these be your Cods, 0, Israel!—l am. etc., JAMES HOD P ID. To the Editor. Sir, —At the last meeting of the Council when dealing with the light ing question, it was stated by one mem her that Dreadnought, gas could net be turned down without, jumping. I may say that none her-' know? of this fact, and that the gentleman who made the statement has been hup;--in-formed. Another member .stated that, if Te Kuiti adopted this gas they would be at the mercy of the Standard Oil Co.. and I wish to simply say (hat we do not use a gallon of Anwrican oil for the production of the- gas in Waipukurau, but- the British Imperial Oil Company's only. The Taranaki oil is similar to the Borneo article, and will no doubt now soon be on the market. In a letter to the pap'W Mr Forsyth rightly wishes for more information on the subject, ami we hope that ho can make it. convenient, to come down and see our gas for himself. I may explain with regard to his little joke that though our gas will give an effective explosion in a cylinder under compression, that it will not do so under other circumstances. We claim for our lu:ht that it is a far better light than electricity, and that it; i? cheaper to the consumers, and thus far these contentions have not been denied, and nothing has been found by your lighting committee against the gas, except that it is new. It is not. my intention to enter into a newspaper controversy on the. question, and ;t we are defeated on the Council we shall not whine about it, but. accept the verdict of your elected city fathers with the feeling that they have done what they consider right, though mistaken. I would like io conclude by expressing our admiration for the spirit of fair play shewn by Mr Butcher in the interview with your representative, who, though in opposition to us was manly enough t.o tmd good in his opponents. I should say that such a man's opinion should be of value to anyone who has not had a life's experience- in lighting, as he is an acknowledged authority on the subject. Thanking you in anticipation, —'Yours, etc., W. A. CHAMBERS. Managing" Director, N.Z. Dreadnought tins, Co.