Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1910. WAIKAREMOANA POWER.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10134, 3 November 1910, Page 4

Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1910. WAIKAREMOANA POWER.

Mr George Nelson, who has performed such good service in bringing before the notice of the public the importance of Waikaremoana as a source of electrical energy, is not content to let this great project be passed over by the Government for other schemes of greatly inferior potentiality, and as the result of an address he delivered before the Napier Chamber of Commerce on Thursday last that body has resolved to make representations to all other Chambers of Commerce and local bodies from Gisborne'to Wellington and AVan'ganui asking for, their support in urging upon the Government the necessity of giving Waikaremoana priority in the scheme of developing the water powers of the Dominion. Mr Nelson is an enthusiast, Tbut, according to the Hawke's Bay Herald, ho is also a skilled and practical engineer, and the fact that lie has visited many of the principal hydro-electrical installations in Europe and America gives spur to his entliusiasm "and qualifies hiirl lo SpeaK with authority. In his adtlress to the Napier Chamber Mr Nelson reviewed the events leading up to the Government's decision to take in hand and develop the water powers of the Dominion. He did not attach the slightest importance to any criticism, of the Government proposals which U<> had so far seen.

There was no doubt electricity could be transmitted over tlie distances suggested; as to whether it would pay to do so was mainly a matter of calculation. 0/. the general question he felt no doubt that the Government was justified. In going into a large scheme like this it was necessary to be guided by the history of l.xO past, and to look well ahead. In a young country with the possibilities New Zealand possesses, it was advisable to go a good deal further than the circumstances of the moment appeared to necessitate. There was so much that could be done when once a cheap supply of electricity was available. The history of hydro-electric development at Niagara was an object lesson which should not be ovorlooked. There the original electrical development was by one concern, the Niagara Falls Power Co. : now there are half a dozen companies, with about ten times the plant of the original installation, and still the demand is not satisfied. The greater part of this current was used by industries which were directly brought into existence by the supply of cheap electric power, industries which could not exist without it. Mr Nelson quotes Mr Ralph D. Merschon, an electrical expert, to show that it was a commercially feasible, proposition to transmit current from Niagara to New York City, and he mentions that Canada is arranging to. distribute current over a radius of 200 miles from the falls. He then proceeds to adduce reasons why' Waikaremoana should be adopted as a source of supply: 1. That it is by far the largest power in the North Island. 2. That it can be extremely easily developed. 3. That owing to the high fall obtainable the initial outlay would be small. 4. That hydraulic works can be carried out at a minimum expense, 6000 ft of fall being obtainable in a distance of 70 chains, or 1420 ft in 3J- miles. 5. That owing to its large reservoir capacity, 24 square miles in extent, and the great depth of the reservoir (over 600 ft in the deepest part) the water is always beautifully clear and free from sediment, which would mean a minimum of maintenance on the. pipe line and hydraulic machinery. 6. Messrs Hancock and Hay both point to Waikaremoana as a possible source of supply for Wellington City, if Wellington, then Wanganui can be equally well supplied from the same source of supply. To the North it will supply Gisborne, and as much further as circumstances of the future may justify.