The Times. Published on Tuesday and Friday at Noon. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1920. WAIUKU DISTRICT ELECTRICITY SCHEME.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 9, Issue 503, 6 February 1920, Page 2

The Times. Published on Tuesday and Friday at Noon.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1920. WAIUKU DISTRICT ELECTRICITY SCHEME.

"We nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice."

Elsewhere in this issue we publish a report of the visit of members of the Franklin County Council to Waiuku, to inspect the route of the proposed electricity extension supply scheme being put forward by a Waiuku firm of engineers, who have for some two years been supplying the township of Waiuku with electric current. So much has been said in recent years of the immense value and adaptability of electricity for industrial, municipal, farming and household purposes that almost superfluous to dwell on this aspect of the question now, even though it is really the most important one. However, we may briefly recapitulate what has already been stated time and again about the value of elec tricity in country towns and districts. The first call, as a rule, is for street lighting purposes, and Waiuku has had two years' benefit in this respect. Next comes the supply of current for power purposes the business and industrial areas, which form of power, for cheapness, adaptability, cleanliness, convenience, and low cost of upkeep has never yet been excelled. In Waiuku the existing plant is entirely inadequate to meet the great and growing demand for power, and, like Pukekohe, the town absolutely must increase its current-generating capacity. For the township, therefore, the proposed extension, necessitating, as it will, a much more powerful plant, will certainly cope with a most insistent demand. Coming to the districts of Aka Aka and Otaua, there is, even now, ample scope for the use of electric current. The dairy factories, and every milking shed and farmhouse which are at all convenient to the main roads can assuredly do well with motors for driving milking machines and other farm implements, and lighting for both sheds and houses. Comprising some of the most fertile land in the province (the famous Otaua and Aka Aka swamp country), these districts are bound to develop into closer settlement. In fact, several properties in that area are now in process of being subdivided, and other properties will follow in due course. The probabilities are great, and the possibilities (especially with the larger scheme foreshadowed) immense. Provided that the scheme rests on a sound engineering and financial basis, and is sponsored by sound,' levelheaded, progressive men, there is every chance of its proving successful, and being not only a lucrative proposition for the shareholders, but of great public utility to the district, and a direct instrument for its material advancement. With these provisions, the company are deserving of sympathetic consideration, and we trust that the scheme will be brought to a successful issue.