Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News THURSDAY, MAY 26, 1898. THE QUESTION OF THE HOUR

Te Aroha News, Volume XIV, Issue 2106, 26 May 1898, Page 2

Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News THURSDAY, MAY 26, 1898. THE QUESTION OF THE HOUR

As the question, oflighting Te Aroha is.occupying so large a share of the burgesses’ attention, at present, we have beea attentively watching our u exchanges fcp'any instances in the colony in. which, a similar situation has arisen. Our search has been at last rewarded, ; and to-day we beg te; present- poi our readers some valuable notes on the subject by a couple of w.riiers in- Saturday’s; issue of Northern Advocate, u published at WangareL Kodak says

I think I am. not fax out in stating thatthe • majority of the burgesses of Whangarei fav- : our gas as against electricity, not, because 'they consider gas the better of the two lights .but because they prefer that a private. Company should. bear the responsibility, of making what is to all intents,und purposes a financial experiment., and also because gas is so useful for cooking and heating purposes; No one can reasonably be offended if the argument is advanced that the! members, of the- Borongk Council have no. special knowledge of-electri-city*-and consequently are- entirely in the bands, of engineers, us to whose ability we have little or no. infonnsfcioni At. alt events Plie- ratepayers do* not' feel tike-' confidence necessary for venturing- upon experiments. Thereis much in the reports of the engineers to cause one to doubt many of the statements made.' The statement that each 16-oandlt lightshouid produce from £l. los to £2 per year is surely nonsense; or,, if true, would ’condemn itself. Any one of the Whangarei hotels would require not less than, forty of these lights, which woiild cost from: £6O tor £BO per year-' The usual- charge made for such lights in. England is 13s per lamp, annually- " . . . - On such figures as these there is little to reeonimend electricity to Wliangarei, and it is by no means clear that electrioity could under-favourable* circumstances be produced here cheaper (hart gas.. * At the annual-meeting of the-Sheffield Gas Company the .other day .the chairman, Sir Frederick Mappin, Bart., ipade some ratherstartling statements respecting the cost oi: gas and electric.- lighting,, yery mnclii to the advantage of the former. He said:*- 1 An institution, with which- he was connected found; that' whereas- in-five years they had spent £251 for gas, electricity for. a similar period had cost them £582. He noticed that the Sheffield Town Hall, a new: building,, had paid for the electric light for three months ending December 31,1897, the sum of £2lO 175.. During the tlirlltmonths ending De» cember 1*95, the; charges' for gas . consumed in the town clerk’s office,.the city accountants offioe. the wp-ter department,, the weights and measures, office,. and the health department ambunted,.tq, £37 4s 10:1;’ * Continuing fn. the same strain, Sir Freder- ’ ick femarkea :■ —‘The City Council of: Woreesier had recently had accounts before them of fire cost df lighting-in the- municipal departments by gas and electricity,-and the comparison to .be drawn therefrom was most remarkable- The items, were as follows: — Guildhall, gas for one year, 1894, L69l6ja s(li eiectriciiy, for one year, -1897, LISC os ; public hall, gas, L 52 8s 6d; electricity, LlO4 9s-,, police station.,, gas,. L 39 11s ; electricity;' Lla 15s ; market house, gas, L 47 3s 4d ■, :eleotricity,.Lß.o 3s„ town, clerk’s office,, gasL6lsa 7d ; electricity, L 25 15s ; 110 public lamps were displaced by fifty-five arc lamps, and the annual cost had- gone up from. L 330 to L 1,265 16s s the cost of lighting- the water works building had gone up from: L 220; 19s for gas to E 650 10s for electricity; conseque tly, Worcester, which formerly paid L 707 5s 6d for gas in its public b uildings was now paying L 2,401 16s 6J for electricity.’ ;. Of course,, these statements may *be taken •with a. grain of salt, but they go-to-prove ;ihat,. even it Whangarei had an ample waterpower, which it has jnot, there is a doubt as to cost, and as to the risk the Borough would -run in. accepting a scheme about which we know so little.

- That the electric ligh t would- be ah inestimable boon, and that it would tend to advertise and popularise the p'aca, goes without saying,. -.But it is useless’ beating the air, and striving after the impossible

•The gas supporters eay :—-‘Let the; Company which wants to start gas works here go

on, the Boro'ich reserving to itself the, power of purchasing the works at any time.’ :This idea will oomaneid itself to most people, a? it throws on the,gas ooisapan y all responsibilities.