The Chronicle LEVIN. THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 1917 THE LIGHTS OF OXFORD STRÈET

Levin Daily Chronicle, 7 June 1917, Page 2

The Chronicle LEVIN. THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 1917 THE LIGHTS OF OXFORD STRÈET

Levin Borough Council and its street lighting committee has done wisely, in agreeing to give further consideration to the council's resolve to do away with the central system of lighting Oxford street. It is a good system, with weaknesses; and remedy for the weaknesses could be found in a much simpler manner than that for which a majority of the council voted some few weeks ago. In order to cure some small defect®, they resolved 011 a complete change of the system The alteration decided upon is of a nature too drastic; and it involves an avoidable expense to the end that an inferior system of lighting shall be substituted for the existing one; a change that has for its chief recommendation the saving of a sum of (at most( £131 in five years. These are the figures of the chairman of the borough council lighting oommittee, and they are reliable. It is true that central lights are more troublesome to attend to; but the system gives better results, and is worth the extra trouble. Stripped of all sideissues, Levin's street-lighting problem is very small. All the talk about being "guided by the experts" is so much verbiage; the question is but a matter of general judgment, and the citizen is as competent as the expert to decide whether sidelights or central are the more desirable. This was tacitly admitted by the late council when it abandoned a previous endeavor that was made to do away with the central system of lighting. Let the Borough Councillors face the true position to-day: they are seeking to commit the burgesses to an expenditure on new lampoets that is unnecessary while the present system of lighting is maintained; to the tearing up of the newly asphalted roadway of Oxford street in half-a-dozen different places, and the incurring of expenditure for the connections and fittings, by no means a negligible amount of money"; to take down and make no further use of the ornamental and

exceptionally effective concrete pillars that now support the central are light; to endanger the future existence of the street trees; in short, to subvert almost entirely the existing state of things. And quite unnecessarily. Councillors say they have no better remedy than the gasworksmanager's first proposal to consider. Xf they really think so, they are not open minded. Admittedly the gasworks manager's chief objection to the present system is on the Bcore of troubles caused by tlie "boosting'* system. Possibly he has other objections to the present system; but, if so, his report to tVe council does not disclose them further than by a reference to the impossibility of procuring the present ftyle of aiv lig:t in New Zealand at present. Ouch objections arc easily met. In Levin there is one point upon which unanimity exists: and that is as to the need for superseding the. present high pressure "booster" system. By employing a lamplighter at a cost of about £10 per annum the Oxford street lamps could be extinguished by hand, and the "booster" pressure reduced by one-half as a result. With the neoessity for automatic lighting gone, Humphrey lights such as those now used in the municipal chambers and outside the Century Hall could be established on the concrete pillars in Oxford street, and the fact is not disputable that these lights are even better than the Oxford street arc lights were when new: their present worn-out state is not a fair test of the lamp and is unfair to its manufacturers. Eight Humphrey lamps could be procured at a cost of £35 10s 01 thereabout; and. all the accessories for mounting them are in position.

The scheme adapted by the council involves the purchase of from twelve to ves the purchase of. from twelve to fourteen new lamps and accessories, and the making of new connections with the mains. The cost per lamp, plus connections, will run into £48 at least; and even if the council obtains permission to use the telegraph poles as lamp-posts, half a dozen 01* more additional posts will be required, and the- least possible cost of these would be £30 additional. Xo estimate of this unavoidable cost appears in the official estimate of cost of the new .faheme, beyond a line in the borough estimates of expenditure, which might easily be overlooked in estimating the figures concerning the new scheme;. Briefly put, the system of lighting can.be made satisfactory at an expenditure of one-half that involved in the new system, and the illuminating power of the cheaper option will he superior. Let tlie councillors be frank and admit that they decided hastily and not in the ibest interests of the community. A proof of public opinion to that effect has been given them in the influential petition presented at last Monday's meeting of the council. Councillors never publicly* expressed .their opinions in favor of changing the lighting system of Oxford street, and they erred in so dams; before they had been one month in office and on the very night that the gasworks' manager's report was first made available to the public and the press. "We are aware that contrary assertions have been made 011 this point—but the truth is ns we state—and we challenge anyone—councillor or not—to show the {Disputes such as the present one surely should be carried 011 with fairness and truth on both side.^.