HOROWHENUA POWER BOARD.

Shannon News, 25 May 1926, Page 3

HOROWHENUA POWER BOARD.

FIRST MEETING OF NEW BOARD. Tho Horowhenua Electric Power Board met on Tuesday at Levin. Mr. G. A. Monk presided and there were present also: Messrs D. W. Matheson (Levin), W. H. Gdnning (Shannon), C. Kilsby (Otaki), A. Ross (Foxton), A. J. Petheriek (Hutt), W. E. Barber (Manawatu) and T. G. Vincent (HoroAvhenua). '■Tho chairman welcomed Messrs Petheriek and Vincent, the two newlyelected members on the Board. They were, he said, replacing two very valuable members of the Board, but the speaker felt sure that after having served a term of office they too, would prove, equally valuable, and would find that the Board’s affairs had been very well conducted in the past. Mr. Petheriek said he had been aware of the fine work achieved by his predecessor (Mr. Mackay) and /hoped to emulate in some part, what the former had done. Mr. Vincent paid tribute to the services of Mr. Brown, who had, during the short time he knew him, assisted the speaker in every conceivable way, | particuarly in the matter of imparting any information which was the out come of his experience in the, Board’s work. The speaker’s first concern would be the advancement of the Horowhenua Power Board, irrespective of the special interests he was elected to represent. ' Mr. Matheson expressed personal regret that Mr. Brown would not be able to take' an active part in the Board’s affairs. No one had taken a keener interest in the Board’s work, and the speaker would like to have it placed on record that /Mr. frown’s fellow members appreciated his work during the term of office. The chairman said Mr. Brown was the one member of the Board who had not missed a meeting up till that day. The motion was carried, by acclamation, and tho business of the Board continued. Engineer’s Report. The Engineer (Mr. J. A. Smith) .reported as follows: — The two pole gang hands, with the fitter, have been working with the wire gangs at the , Otaki Sanatorium and Potts’ Road; 41 poles were erected. They also cleared trees on Tiro Tiro Road. No. 1 Wire Gang have erected two service poles, ran nine services, finished off the l.t. at Aker’s, cut trees' on the Foxton line, general maintenance and patrolled the lines during the heavy storms, and worked on the Pott’s Road fine.

No. 2 Wire Gang have run 612 chains of E.H.T. wire on the Levin-Foxton line and 217 chains of L.T.; erected six service poles and run 10 services, cut in on the Queen Street East sub-station, straightened up and blocked poles at Arawhata Road, erected street’lamp at Reeve Street, Foxton, fitted H poles at Manawatu River crossing, erected extra L.T. wire Rangiuru Beach Road. No 3 Wire Gang have run 238 chains of- L.T. wire, erected 12 service poles and run 18 services in Paekakariki, Waikanae, Te Horo and Otaki districts; straightened up and blocked poles on the main line, renewed street lamp fitting Rangiuru Beach. Sub-station Fitters have built and livened up Queen Street East sub., dried out several transformers and, general maintenance.

Installations: During the period a group has been formed at Pott’s and lvawiu Roads and tenders are being called for the wiring. At Raumati Beach, all consumers wired up, have been livened up. Staff Reductions. The Engineer reported as follows: — ''The outside stall’ including the workshop 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 20j, which number, should be sufficient to carry on the maintenance work and a certain amount of construction.” . The chairman said that at first sight twenty men might seem a large number to keep on for a system like this, but it had to bo remembered that the Board had a very large extent of timber line to maintain. Further than this its business was to keep the consumers supplied with electricity and it must be prepared to maintain its fines in the event of any disturbance over a wide .area.

Mr. Barber agreed that the Board should maintain a staff large enough to effect repairs promptly in an emergency. The Engineer’s report was adopted, the chairman remarking upon the increase in ranges put in. General. Messrs .Seifert, Matheson and Monk were appointed a finance committee. 1 In answer to Mr. Kilsby, the chairman said the Rahui Road fine was on the estimates. The engineer said the fine would go up to Blair’s Road, but they could not get a load beyond that. The Finance Committee recommended the payment of accounts totalling £2565 Bs, which was agreed to.

Lines Withstand Gales. Cr. Barber commented upon the absence from the report of any reference to the manner in which the Board’s system stood up during the high winds. The Electrical Engineer (Mr. J. A Smith) said he had been engaged so continuously during the past week that there had hardly been time to supply any report. The system had stood up splendidly during the extremely rough weather. The trouble in a good many cases was that branches of trees and strips of bark from gum .trees got across high-tension wires. Sometimes these pieces of bark were carried 200 yards. At Waikanae . there was a cyclone that uprooted trees, and fi loosened a couple of poles that were in soft ground, and two poles were affected on the Arawhata Road. No wires were down anywhere. Cr. Barber said it was,a tromendeu;

wind and it was remarkable to find so little damage had been done to the lines and poles. The chairman said many trees had grown since the lines had been put in and they would have to call on the settlers to assist the Board by keeping the lines clear. Replying to Mr. Vincent, the chairman said that once the lines were erected the owners of the trees were responsible to keep them cut back. Mr. Kilsby said he had called attention to the growth of some trees in Otaki near the lines and the owner had at once cut them back. If owners were similarly approached. there would not be much trouble. Service in Out-lying Centres. Mr. Petheriek said as soon as he became a member of the Board he had received complaints in regard to the street lights at Paraparaumu. One at the station he was told was out for a I fortnight and another in another street had also been out for a fortnight. The engineer said this had been remedied and he understood everything was now working satisfactorily. Mr. Ross said 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 be sent to Foxton from Levin and it to6k 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 mgn was not qualified to handle high tension wires. It might be out for a considerable time before skilled assistance could be obtained. v The chairman said the Board had to keep a man fit Shannon and there had been, unfortunately, a little difficulty in him attending to Foxton because the ferry had not always been working. If they, established 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 he 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. Eoss. “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 tiling and.that is necessity. That is why'l asked # as to the experience in the pa^t. 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 and not just a part of it. The chairman said they should have some figures as to the experience in Foxton in tbe past. Mr. Barber said Foxton was in danger of being isolated through floods. The chairman said that with the completion of the Wirokino line, Foxton would get a wonderful service as it would have two sources of supply, and Lovin would also have a better service.