BROADCAST APPEAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 April 1938, Page 10

BROADCAST APPEAL

RADIO TELEPHONE BROUGHT INTO PLAY. RELIEF FOR LINESMAN. (By Telegraph—Press Association). PALMERSTON N„ April 27. Radio telephonic communication between the Waikaremoana and Mangahao power houses brought into play yesterday enabled an appeal to be made on the broadcast band for food to be taken to a Public Works employee who is. at a hut north of Napier. Behind the appeal, heard by thousands of listeners last night, lay an interesting chain of events. Prior to the development to the full extent of the flood, an inspection was required of the telephone line used by the Department, running north from Napier. Mr E. C. Winder was detailed to locate a fault. Evidently he found himself in the midst of the full effect of the downpour. Eventually he reached a linesman’s hut at Waipunga, north of Napier, across the Esk River. The hut ordinarily gives communication to Napier and Waikaremoana, but on this occasion the line was out of commission for the Napier circuit on account of two poles being down at the Esk River.

Close co-operation is necessary between the generating stations at Waikaremoana and Mangahao, because the flow of power from the two is co-or-dinated, and over the last few days, on account of the . line over the Esk River being out of order, the stations had to resort solely to radio telephonic communication. It was- known that there was a settler’s homestead not far from the hut in which Mr Winder was sheltering, but Mr Winder was not altogether familiar with the district. An effort was then made for a message coming from Waikaremoana to Mangahao and from there to the Broadcasting service, to reach the settler, Mr Lee, requesting him to carry food to the hut.