HOROWHENUA POWER BOARD.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3040, 25 May 1926, Page 2

HOROWHENUA POWER BOARD.

FIRST MEETING OF NEW BOARD. The Ilorowhenua Electric Power Board met in Levin last week, Mr. G. A. Monk presided and there were present also: Messrs D. W. Matheson (Levin), W. 11. Gunning (Shannon), C. Kilsby (Otaki), A. Ross (Foxton), A. J. Petherick (Hutt), W. E. Barber (Manawatu) and T. G. Vincent (Ilorowhenua). ENGINEER’S REPORT. The Engineer (Mr. J. A. Smith) reported as follows: — No. 2 Wire Gang have run 612 chains of E.11.T. wire on the LevinFoxton line and 217 chains of L.T. erected six service poles and run 10 services, cut in on the Queen Street East sub-station, straigthened up and blocked poles at Arawhata Rd., erected street lamp at Reeve Street, Foxton, fitted 11. poles at Manawatu River crossing, erected extra L.T. wire Rangiuru Beach Road. * STAFF REDUCTIONS. The outside staff including the work-shop hands, has gradually been reduced to 32 and with the construction work on hand it will be necessary to keep it at about that number for four or five months, eventually being reduced to about 20, which number, should be sufficient to carry on the maintenance work and a certain amount of construction. The report was adopted. The Electrical Engineer (Mr. J. A. Smith) reported that the Board’s system had stood up splendidly during the extremely rough weather experienced lately. Trouble was experienced in a good many cases owing to branches of trees and strips of bark from gum trees getting across high-tension wires. Sometimes these pieces of bark were carried 200 yards. No wires were down anywhere. SERVICE IN OUTLYING CENTRES. In dealing with a complaint that street lights at Paraparaumu had been out for some time Mr. Ross said that the matter raised the point whether it would not be better to cut the Board’s area up into districts with a skilled operator able to effect small repairs and repair breaks. He considered this would be more economical than maintaining the present expensive transport service. Sometimes a man had to he sent to Foxton from Levin and it took two hours of travelling to do a job that might take ten minutes, which was wasteful. For several years the Board had been a constructional body, but now it was becoming just a current-supplying Board, and what was formerly the best policy might no longer be best. It might happen that Foxton was cut off from the supply and the local man was not qualified to handle high tension wires. It might be out for a considerable time before skilled assistance could be obtained.

The chairman said the Board had to keep a man at Shannon and there had been, unfortunately, a little difficulty in him attending to Foxton because the ferry had not alwevs been working. If they put a. man at Foxton, they would have to do the same thing further south. Mr. Matheson: That would happen all over the district. The chairman said transport was certainly heavy but he could not

see that they could do anything -else. They had a system that had given as little trouble as any in the Dominion. He would like to see Foxton getting the service it wanted because be realised there were greater possibilities in Foxton than in other towns in the district. They wanted more consumers there, and it might so happen that they would have to put a man at Foxton. They had a big load there and a load that should receive every encouragement. “Have you had much trouble there,” the chairman asked Mr. Ross. “It is experience only

that we can go on.” Mr. Ross said he was not speaking from the point of view of trouble, but of economy of handling. It was a question of high transport cost and whether a better result could not be reached by another method. The chairman: The whole thing hinges on one thing and that is necessity. That is why I asked as

to the experience in the past. Mr. Matheson said it would cost, a good deal more in transport to put permanent men at different points, because cars would have to be provided for them. The matter had been discussed many times by the committee with the late engineer. They had to have men to serve the whole district, not just a part of it. The chairman said they should have some figures as to the experience in Foxton in the past. Mr. Barber said Foxton was in danger of being isolated through flood*. The chairman said that with the completion of the AYhirokino line, Foxton would get a wonderful service as it would have two sources of supply, and Levin would also have a better service.