HOROWHENUA POWER BOARD.

Shannon News, 24 September 1926, Page 3

HOROWHENUA POWER BOARD.

• '• + REPLACEMENT OP TRANSMISSION POLES. The Horowlienua Power Board inet on Tuesday, Mr. G. A. Monk, presiding. Messrs (J.“ Kil.sby, W. H. Gunning, «T. Pethcrick, A. L. Seifert, i. G. Vincent, and W. E. Barber were also present. . . The State Forest Service wrote m connection with eucalyptus poles for power transmission following upon au interview between a representative of the Department and Mr. There was no doubt about the matter that eucalyptus suitable for power poles could be grown in the Horowlienua district and the growing, of them would pay the. Board handsomely. This was, contended the office, a legitimate activity f-or power boards and the writers were prepared to assist the Board in the matter if it decided to take up this important work, and Mr. P. M. Page, Forest Extension Officer, would bo in The . plorowhon.ua .district during the. spring and would call upon the Board ami make arrangements to discuss the matter if so desired. . ... .. The chairman said -ho did not. think the Board was really in the position, at the present time, to undertake tree, planting. The Government has been urged by the Power Boards’ Association to carry on this work, particularly on this coast. It was understood they were going on with it, There was a tremendous arch on this coast that could be planted, and they woulu he good poles when fully grown. ' Mr. Kilsby was of the opinion ,lnu bv bringing Mr. Page to the district, farmers might secure some very valuable information as’ the result of his Mr. Seifert urged that the Board should look into the question, and as the Board was an important.drganisa-, tion in the county it should give a lead fO-4he farmers. Transportation was a considerable item, especially wnere it was necessary to take poles from one end of the country to the otner, but the Board should have full information before this offer was definitely refused. The Forestry Department was willing to impart the information, and even it the Board did not act, upon it the advice would be -very useful to the tanners, . . , , “The .time has arrived when nt should plant trees,” said Mr. Barber. Mr. Gunning stated that, while he was at the last show, held in Palmerston North, he asked the question of Mr. Page as to whether good poles for electrical purposes chuld be grown m the Horowlienua district, aud w iat f - D iT 1 of time it would take to grow tnem. He Was told they could be grown m -0 years, at the end of which time some of the poles would measure .11 inches m diameter, and that there would La two varieties suitable for the'purpose, providing timber that would stanu. A». Mr. Seifert had stated, the question or , transportation was a very lug one. Mavbo they could consider planting a belt 6f trees, here and there, along the fences. They had to consider tnat within ilio past four or five years there had been an expenditure of million;, or pounds for transmission poles. Air. Monk said that the matter ox acquiring land and planting trees eou-d be gone into at a later date, Tne I-' 7 Idem of replacing poles was a very big It was decided to ask Air. Page to nt'teiul a subsequent meeting ox e Board, and outline liis proposition to the members. , , Insurance Against Accident. The State Fire Insurance Office advised that as a result of recent fatal accidents to the public a number of Power Boards were now insiirin o against their liability for such risks. The writers stated that they were prepared to cover the Board against liability for injury to persons and dama,, to property arising out of electric i„g an.l rower lor a premium «t to cent, on the amount of the policy hus a policy for £IOOO would cost toO. It was urged that the Board consider the advisability of effecting such an insurance.

The cliidniian said tlie position seemed to be Unit the Board would Have to lake some of the risk. He had recently discussed tlie matter with tlie and it appeared that the matter of earthing fences would have to *’ e one of Hie things to be taken into future consideration. The biggest element of danger was there. The speaker had lines running across a considerable expanse! of D/nccd country and he was inclined to undertake the, work as a protection to himself. HO thought that the Board could give mst motions to the people desiring their fences earthed.. Personally, he did not, think the proposal outlined m the Icttm should be entertained, but that the Board should carry some ot the load. Air. Barber said ho thought that the idea of giving instruction as t 0 J™ earthing of fence wires was an cxcu lent one.

Air. Seifert said he certainly the Board should take its own risk, bin if that proved to be too heavy a burden, then the power boards shovdd together and formulate a joint scheme. Administration costs in insurance concerns seemed always to be very heavy. The chairman moved that the lettm be received.

-\tr Smith said that so far as concerned the lines in the Horowhcnua area there was little likelihood of wires fading on fences. It would be very .inexpensive for people to 11^ e i , nr piece of iron into the ground, a connect, the fence wires to it. * as a good' mechanical connection was effected, this would prove adequate pro teetion. The Board could instruct pr-pefty-owners in the method of _ doing the 'work, which should result m tne dancer being eliminated. There were 3000 volt lines in the northern districts for which it had been difficult to provide protective measures, but that was now being overcome. If an 11,000 volt line in the, Horowhcnua district came down on to a cross-arai the former was automatically cut out. A similar con-

dition was present when a line fell across a fence. Air. Gunning: Are all employees insured against accident, in any way? The chairman: Oh, yes. Since our system has been up only one wire has actually broke—a faulty one—and outside of that our system is, apparently, a very strong one and stood up to all storms. Trees are the greatest danger these days. The letter was received. Treasurer’s Report. The Treasurer (Air. P. AV. Goldsmith) reported: ' , Since the last meeting of the Board, the sum of £1144 Os lid has been paid away for various accounts, which are now' submited herewith for confirmation. , On the acounts to be passed for the clay, the total amount is £2731 19s Sd. The larger amounts on the list are: hoi electrical installations, £720; bare and t.b. wire, £443; transformers, metcis and fuses, £426; cylinders and immersion heaters, £230; hardwood timber, £B7. . • The accident insurance premium for the year is also on the list, and the amount the Board will have to pay will be about £145, a very considerable reduction compared with the years when construction work was in full swing.. Revenue Exceeds Estimate, Reporting on the receipts, the treasurer said: The takings since the meeting have totalled £3980. Considering the time of the year, returns from installations and service line paymentshave been satisfactory. Receipts foi electricity, are also fair considering that there are few, if any of the quarterly accounts, were received duringthe month. . The total amount collected to dare for electricity, and meter rents is over £15,500. This sum shows that the revenue is keeping somewhat, ahead of: the estimates, even for the quieter poition. of the year. . The following table shows the portion, with . regard to receipts, and will be of interest:— Electricity and meter rents.' to last meeting, £12,894 13s 4d, total to date, £15,572 10s sd. . , Penalties, to last £4l lbs lOd, total to date, £SO 6s. Interest on installation accounts, to last meeting, £276 16s 2d, total to date, £299 17s sd. ’ Ranges, watefheaters and motors, to last meeting, £1165 2s lid, total lO date, £1564 11s. Installation and service lines, to last meeting, £3494 15s sd, total to date, £4339 Bs. , . t '.. • Cottage rents and sundries, to last meeting, £122 4s 2d. Total receipts, to last meeting, £17,995 8s lOd, to date £21,986 7s lOd. Engineer’s Report. The engineer (Mr. J. A. Smith), ieported as follows on. the period since last meeting: No. 1 Gang have run 37 _ services, erected 55 poles, run 975 chains of .t. wire, erected five earth guards, one cradle, fitted 22 cross arms on e.h.t. poles for 1.t., installed transformer at Wallace Road and cut in services which were ready. No. 2 Gang have fun 18 services, erected 27 poles and run 870 chains of wire for l.t. and attended to general maintenance. . No. 3 Gang have run 12 services, erected 12 poles and run 123 chains of wire, fitted new sub. at Dulzell’s mill, and changed over to same, strengthened earths on Tokomaru circuit, straightened up poles in swamp near Alakorua, and attended to general maintenance. Sub-station Fitter. —Changed tian.-,-formers at Otald main sub and Queen Street West, Levin, installed transformer at Dalzell’s mill, dried out six sets and filled with oil, cleaned and painted transformer and street lamp brackets, made extensions to two services and run two services, also attended to general maintenance., Full details were given of the work in the test room and workshop. General.—During the period Wallace Road section was completed, and is now livenecT up, and the completed installations connected. The poles have been carted out for the Paiaka mill line, and have been snigged into position, and the erection will be started immediately. Further supplies of poles will be required and ' 1 would asn authority to purchase approximately 200/24 feet, 200/28 feet, and ,LOO/o.» feet. On account of the steady increase in load and some large consumers hay in,r beeu connected, it will be necessary to purchase some more transformers of the larger sizes, and 1 would ask authority to purchase these. Cr. Barber: I noticed that in,J7 o poles are required —are silver pine st-i ruled out ? , The chairman said all he knew about them was that the Post and Telegraph Department used them at AVaikanae,, on the light telephone lines, and m hroe or four years the cross-arms were all shapes. They did not appear to be satisfactory. Air. Seifert: They won’t stand breaking strain, but they last a fair time. The chairman: No doubt. We did very well to use iron rails, which wdl last something like 40 years, while the cost is not excessive compared with hardwood and silver pine. Then, too, the engineer says the iron rails are much safer in ease of fire. The engineer: Where fern is likely to grow, there is a danger of fire, but where you have iron rails you may be sure they arc all right. South Manakau Line. In answer to a question by the chair-j man the engineer said that when he made up the estimate of the cost of reticulating the South Manakau Road, it was considered they would Have to get £IOO in . revenue to justify taking the line there. Since then several places had changed hands and more people had said they would take ranges and water-heaters, which would bring the revenue up to £lO9. In addition another resident would put in a motor and lighting. It was nearly a year since the original canvass was made and as would be seen the position had changed. , , It was decided that, provided the set-

tiers give guarantee, authority .bo given for the erection of the line. i \ poxton Beacli Line.

Mr. Barber said the street bghtiug at Foxton Beach was still unsatisfactory. He produced a statement show - ing that though there were only five lamps there they had been renewed 22 times this year. In spite of tua. most of the lamps were always out. The engineer said this was due _ to the type of lamp and the poles being in sand and subject to vibration, they had done everything possible by staying the brackets and staying the lamps and trying all sorts of lamps theic. trouble was that ivhere tliere was only five or six lamps they could not use the same tvpe of lamp as where there was a series, of 20 or 30 si reef lightsThe same trouble had been expcncncec everywhere and several power boau s were expecting the arrival of a ne'> style of lamp with a reinforced hament that would be suitable for such places. These would be to hand soon and would be tried at Foxton. %