Water Gas.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume IV, Issue 276, 30 October 1902, Page 3

Water Gas.

THE SCHEME THROWN OUf,

The question of water gas was taken in committee.

The folicwing report was read from I His Worship the Mayor : Waimate, October 25. i TO THE WAIMATE BOROUGH COUNCIL. Gentlemen,—ln accordance with your request I visited Balclutha for the purpose of obtaining information re water gas. I spent the best part of two days, on the Bth and 9tb, in ascertaining, first, from Mr Watt his position regarding plant he said he had ordered for the works at Waimate. He produced his letter book showing me what appeared to be a copy of an order sent to the Barrafield Iron Works, Glasgow, dated June 16th last, for certain fittings, etc., value £750, to be shipped about the end of October or beginning of November. He informed me he had no reply respecting the execution of the order, and that he had not ordered the piping, the cost of which would be, at the works, £I2OO. T_;at is all I could ascertain as to the position of Mr Watt as reacting hii for plant, which you will obterve dosa no' bear "ut hi-t statement made to nu at the end of April last, that the good* were ordered and that he had received a profnmt invoice.

It will no doubt bs i'lformvtion for you to know to what extent the public of Balclutha u3e Mr Watt's gas. 1 take the f ilbwing from his own Register book, which I now lay on the table, showing ihe consumers and their eonsump ion with t,he cost of same for two months, May and June. This ehows for the month of Miv 53 accounts, yielding £32, 8s 3d, and f<r the month' of June, 34 account', yielding £23 This is out of eomewk'ro-ibout 500 dwelling shops, etc., iu the Bw.igh, With respect to she ga-i as a light, from what I saw an 1 heard it appears to be a good f.iir light under its best conditions, viz , with incandescent burnws and mantles. The latter, •however, many complain of as a source of trouble an 1 expense. One party informed me of a case in point where a seven two light burner had co»t 15s for a month foi mantles. I saw the body of the Oddfellows' Hall lit up with four light burners, which gave a good light; aUo the Anglican Church. Only one street lamp was lighted, opposite the gis works ; this was a three light lamp, which gava a good light. In my visit along the town I entered thre.2 buiiness places of importance and made my usual enquiry, " Do you use Mr Watt's gas ?" the reply being, •' No, we use acetylene gas, it being cheaper and a better light, burners and mantles not being required." Some few who use Watt's gas speak well of it. I noticed the Railway Station and a large majority of the townspeople still burn kerosene. According to Mr Watt's statement of first cost af pipes, etc;, viz., £1950, after estimating say 50 p*»r ont costs to land at Waimate, the cost of plant would be in round figures £3OOO, without cost of buildings, equal to Bilclntha, which I should estimate at £SOO. Then in addition to that there is the cost of laying down pipes. I hive no information as to this

As to information re tha costs of lighting the Balclutha street lamps, see Town Clerk's leuer attached hereto.

Trmting, gentleman, thit the result of my visit to Balclutha may be helpful to you in dealing with thejiraportant matter of town lighting,—l am, etc.,

J. Manchester, Mayor

In response to equities by the Mayor, the Balclutha Town Clerk forwarded the following letter, which was read : Balclutha, October 22. Mb Manchester, Waimate. Dear tSir, —Your wire of even date to hand asking for coat of mantles used in street lamps for the three winter months. 1 regret to inform you that I am unable to do bo at present, not having received the account for same. I may state that on receipt of your wire I called at the Gas Company's office to get ib, bub Mr Watt was away frem home. The mantles cost 15s per dozen, and as they are very fragile, some of them are rendered useless in a Ye-y short time ; in fact, to have bhem in good order yow would require a new oni for each lamp every week at least. We have our township lighted \ with, say, seventeen gas lamps and bwenty-six kerosene lamps, the cost of j which ie, for lighting and extinguishing the gas lamps, as follows: £ a. d. 15 for May 4 17 6 15 for June 4 17 6 15 for July 4 17 6 17 for August 5 9 0 17 for September .. .. 414 0 24 15 6 To this must be added repairs, mantles, etc, which will at least be £3 or £4 more; say 3 10 0 £23 5 6 £ b. d. Say 26 kerosene lamps for May 5 17 0 „ ~ ~ for June 517 0 „ for July 517 0 ~ „ „ for Augusts 17 0 „ for Sept. 517 0 29 5 0 To this must be added repairs and globes broken ; say .. 2 0 0

£3l 5 0 The lamplighter's price for lighting, extinguishing, and supplying kerosene was 4s 6d per lamp per month. You will notice that the kerosene lamps are much cheaper, the average per gas lamp per month beine £1 15a 4d, and the kerosene £1 4s each per month. Hoping that you will find my remarks and figures intelligible and that they may prove useful to you. Any further information yeu may require I will willingly forward you.— Yours faithfully, John E." Mitchell, Town Olerk.

Cr Nicol m ive I and Cr Cameron seconded—" That this Council rescind the resolution cancelling the agreement to establish water gas in Waimate, and that Mr Watt be granted another six months to complete the works."

Cr Coltman moved and Cr Inkater seconded an amendment—" That having heard the Mayor's report upon his visit to Balclutha, the Council sees no reason to alter its decision to terminate its agreement with Mr Watt, and that he be notified to that effect." The amendment was carried. For : Crs Bitchener, Jones, Barclay, Inkster, and Coltman. Against : Crs Nicol, Cameron, and Sinclair.