A THOUSAND A YEAR.

Otaki Mail, 27 March 1922, Page 4

A THOUSAND A YEAR.

FOR RESIDENT ELECTRICAL ENGINEER. POWER BOARD STARTING IN EARNEST. Ai a meeting oi me Ilorowherma iiio-nleumi; Power Board, held on i uesday, the most important business on liana was tlie question ti gaisOi't engineering assistance to ne engaged. The hist step in ti. 's ocu-.iuerauon was tne perusal oi a ic,,oiL iUiiiisiied ny ine secretary, Mr lioiusmiin, ox his observations of the c.-.poneuees oj outer noards in the Ar:i,jiiini district m tire light oi the n-.m.ve ad van tag-s ol •Icfintig in die 0u..0u uciionai Slugus with consulting ong.neurs or a permanent engineer. Tlie report was of v confidential nauii'fci. ilia i tiatnntin v Mr G. A.*Jdonk) oh-si.-j ,-ed that tiie report contained a gi eat deal oi useful information, ror ins own part he leit tiiat ii a firm vi consulting engineers was engaged >. me board would have the value oi the Knowledge not only of the 'leads oi Ihe arm, but also of subordinates, •in tiie other hand a permanent en gmeer stood alone, but against that theie was the fact oi the board bav mg his undivided attention. 11 tin hoard decided on ihe lauer it slioult uot hie salary. Jll an under taking such as was in hand, when several thousand pounds would la spout, a hundred or two in the salary of the engineer should not be wot ried about, it was imperative that t }goou man be secured on tlie ground that he would save money in tlie ion; run. Mr D. \V. Matheson urged that a] plications he called lor both, and th decision be made then, lie admittei 1 iiiit u resident -engineer would cat 1 airily have to lie appointed later, bu during Hie construulioual period tlier was one point about a firm of cot suiting engineers that struck him put denial iy. That was that a repuiabi firm would doubtless have a goo, .uiying connection in England. Th board would be buying great quant; lies oi material and money might b saved in commissions. | Mr A. .Seifert congratulated M } Goldsmith 011 ids report. On cor I siue.aiiori of tiie matter in all its ai i pects he leit that die appointment 0 I a resident engineer would be mor \ advisable, especially if it couicl 1> I arranged ihai liis plans could b . siiuiiiitk’d 10 a linn of consulting e» ynnir, be lure they were put int , o|)Ciarion. in mi\ case a permanen 1 engineer would lie necessary iatet and iie was sure that if £750 a yea 1 was offered, with a bonus payable a ihe end of two years' service, a re I liable and efficient man could b i secured. As an instance, of tlie ire mentions expense that would be en . tailed in the initial work, he liai , learnt from inquiries made in Christ ; church tiiat. the erection of transmis i don cables ran up to as high as £75 a in tie. With consulting engineer there was the disadvantage of indi ipci control. \ linn would send ai ‘ engineer in their service to carry on die work. With the permanent en igineer in Ihe Board’s employ on Hi ! spot from the commencement ther ! would be united control, j Mr A. A. Brown agreed with tlies ‘ wti. -iißans. He thought, howevet tiiat instead of submitting plans to [consulting engineer they might be re j ferred to tlie Public Works Dspar I menl. ’i'he ctiairman disagreed with thi; It was all rigid to go io the Depar merit beforehand, lie said, hilt no 1 when the work was in progress. yi r A. T. Mnckny was more in J'm ntir of Mr Matheson’s scheme, an advocated caution in embarking 0 tiie expenditure entailed in so enoi s moiis a scheme. 1 Mr F. Wliihley said That, taking ill I expenditure as £IOO,OOO, a consuhirt engineer's commission at 5 per cet would amount to .€SOOO, and the wot might he compressed inio a couple c years. ] The chapman: “And our expend ; lure will exceed tiiat." He went, o Ito say tlnu he could not agree wit i Mr Mathesun’s jiroposal, and thougl ! it better to make a definite decisior .otherwise it would be like a iocs body calling applications for a pos Minn ami asking the applicants 1 .stale their own salaries. He thougl tiiat Mr Wliitiler's statement in r< yard io the eonimission illustrated e 1 important point in that it showe liow great an ainouiu a consulting er glneer would cost in comparison wit a permanent one. j Mr Seifert tlteti moved that, appl cations be called for a permanent er girieer at a salary of £BOO. The motion was seconded pro form by Mr Matheson, who immediate! afterwards moved an amendment tha alternative applications he called fo from consulting engineers and fror others, desirous of a permanent ap pointment at a salary of £IOOO a year, lie explained that his one desire was ensure tlie Board gening the bwt ■ engineering advice. He further | minted out that if nu engineer was j appointed at the salary indicated £-*- i other would be required in a suborj (Finale position to carry out the rou- • tine work of installation. A consult-, j ing engineer would have ail thxt j ' done out of tlie commission. He was afraid that Mr Seifert's idea of submitting the plans to a consulting en-, srineer would not' operate in practice. No good engineer would submit to ' tiiat. | » The chairman remarked that the | subordinate engineer would not have , jto he paid a ; mg salary, as his work j ' would not lie on so nigh a plans. 1 “We would have to pay him a good , I salary, though." said Mr Matheson. | j He added that, he would like to he j .clear on what a consulting engineer* | would be actually prepared to do tor t jibe five"per cent. j “Well, should we not first know 5 about what it will cost?" remarked Mr ,1 Barber. The chairman replied that if was j oplv by engaging the engineer first t they' could arrive at an estimate. Mr Seifert again emphasised his

point of the direct control that would

obtain by having a consulting engm-. eer. In any case there was no prooi j that a consulting engineer would j have any greater ■ability- than one prepared to accept an engagement. ( and salary, Personally he was of opinion that there were plenty o f good men wlio would accept me post, and they could rest assured that any J man who was appointed would pul 1 lorth his best enueavour, as on die » success of his work here would de- • I pand iiis repuiation and in great mea- ' j sure his career. Nevertheless ilie I possibility ol' them engaging a mail \ who was nut up 10 lire job had to be lai ed, and ior that reason he advocated the submission ol the plans to 1 a consulting engineer. The Hoard | could hardly criticise them. For Ids [ own part tie count not protenu to. \ Air Whibiey considered it was hauliy IlOCcJa.tsiil'y lu L'iil l uiJs -j • Oili - coiisuiung engineers. no k»uk u uicti jit was tiie other way about. .my urm ' loi standing would he picpuicu 'o { 1 take me job on. 5 Tne anienumeut and liie mution j were then put io the meeting in turn tUIU lost. A motion was men moved ]by Mr McKay that applications be called for a resident engineer at a salary of £IOOO a year, rins" was sec- | oiiueu by Mr Matheson atm carried. ilie chairman voted against it, auu alter wards mentioned that lie would have preierred lo see a salary of £duo a year with a bonus payable at the end of two years’ service, lie regretted that in Mr Seilert’s motion the ' payment of a bonus had not been included. Suggestions then came from a couple of members that the resolution be reseinueu, but me seconder, Mr Matheson, declined to give his ’ permission to this course. Accordingly the resolution stands, and the applications are to be called for forthj with. The Board then went into committee to frame the conditions ol the . engagement. As the i’ovver Board could ' not expect any revenue for some time it was necessary to strike a tale, but , it would be only in the nature ol a I security and the Board would probably never have to colled it. The secretary then informed the Board that the capital value ol the Horowhenua County ..had been raised by the valuation last year from apI proximateiy . £3,500,000 before the war to £5,>50,000. i lie power district \va> !‘mucb largest in extent than ilie county, which it included, and would - if probably be valued at up to £7,000,000 " A rate ol oiie-twemieth ol a penny on that liasis wuuld produce £ISOO or £ISOO, while on £0,000,000 it would t be productive ol' £1250. The chairman considered it would ’ be advisable to make the rate one- ( tenth ol a penny, and the Board wuuld thus have a couple of tltou- , sand or so at its command. This was put into the form ol a motion and carried, and the resolu- [ tion will be confirmed at the next meeting of the Board. *>•*•*» SSSS!?™!