ELECTRIC LIGHTING.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 2635, 20 September 1923, Page 2

ELECTRIC LIGHTING.

PROPORTION OF HOUSES LTT. NEW ZEALAND THIRD TN WORLD. New Zealand stands surprisingly high in a table drawn up by an American technical writer to show the proportion of houses lit hy electricity in a dozen or so nations, which lead Ihe world in this respect. Canada leads off with 38.3 out of every 100 homes so lit, Ihe United States come a good second with a percentage of 30.8 and then comes, not Norwav or Sweden or one ol the other great power producing countries, hut New Zealand, with 30. S houses out of the average hundred lit by electricity. Japan is next on the list with 20.0 per cent, and then follow Denmark 20.8, Switzerland 25.0, Norway 21.3, Belgium 10.7, Australia 18, and Great Britain 10.5 per cent., the other countries being all down below the 15 per cent, mark. The use of electricity for light ins' is, of course, a vastly different thing from the use of power as power, and thus in another table showing the consumption of power per capita New Zealand is not mentioned, the ten leading countries being Chile, 125, Great Britain 130, Germany 111, France 117, Sonin \ c, ion, Sweden 30-1, the United Slides 172, Norway 103, Canada iTI2, and Switzerland at the top with a big margin to spare, 700 kilowatt hours per annum, The Manga lino, Waikaremonna, Arapuni ,md Southland schemes may lift New Zealand to second place or near to it, as regards the percentage of houses lit by electricity but Switzerland and the next nine countries on the list have far too long a lead as regards power.