VISITING EXPERT.

Shannon News, 14 August 1923, Page 4

VISITING EXPERT.

Interesting Comparisons. WHERE NEW ZEALAND SCORES. Mr. T. b. Merson, an Australian electrical expert, now visiting 1 aimers ton North, slates that Commonwealth will never be ‘ to establish hydro works on the scale that has been possible m New Zealand on account oi the lack of a constant water supply. of sufficient volume. Mr. Merson, who hails from Towns- , ville. North Queensland, was interviewed by a “Times” reporter this week, and described the system which | , he installed for that town, of 30,000 inhabitants. The pumping station for the water supply was already at hand as a power source, and thus the two authorities, water and light and power, became amalgamated. STEAM AND GAS.

The two chief systems used in Australia for generating electric power are steam and suction gas. Severa small hydro plants have been established in Victoria and one in New South Wales. All the rest are worked on the other systems mentioned. For a small supply, they can be run very economically, but the advantages ot hydro are unquestioned, particularly when schemes of the magnitude of those now completed or underway in New Zealand are concerned. TOWNSVII/LE’S LIGHT.

The Townsville municipal station, said Mr. Merson, is situated four miles ' from the centre of the city, which is like Palmerston North in the physiography of the district and the wide area over which the capital of North Queensland is scattered. In the matter of power supply, too, the systems of the two districts are very similar As is the case with the ManawatuOroua district (including Palmerston North) a three phase alternating current is used, supplying 8000 volts high tension, which is broken down to 240. ' volts for light and 415 for power. Our informant mentioned also that the street lighting of Townsville was conveyed by a separate system or wires (a constant current series), so that any breakdown did not affect domestic lighting or vice versa. This was a matter which he commended to the careful consideration of the local • authorities. The treet lamps are of handsome design, with four or two globes. ; THE WHITE ANT ENEMY. f Several difficulties were experienced • '/’in installing the Townsville service, which should not be met with here, l 7 said Mr. Merson. The chief of these S/’ poles, which were drawn from the same district as that which is supplyirig the Manawatu-broua Board’s dlsI s ‘ trict. ■ In Queensland, as in other /parts of Australia,' the white ant is .' the great enemy of even the most / durable woods, and despite all preScautions, the poles have to be renewed , ./after a shorter period of service than

they will give here. The poles, before they are erected, have to be impregnated with ceosote oil and arsenic, and another anti-ant preparation is applied after the poles are erected. Constant vigilance is necessary, as it is impossible to toll at a glance which poles are most likely to have been attacked.

In Tasmania, however, hydro-elec-tricity was developing rapidly. One large work has already been established and there is ample water power for many more. Mr. Merson intends to visit United States of America and Canada next year to study hydro-electricity there.