The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 1883.

Inangahua Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1242, 7 March 1883, Page 2

The Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 1883.

The proposal to introduce the Electric Light to Eeefton is now assuming something of a practical form, Mr Prince, the representative of the New Zealand Electric Light Company, reached here on Monday evening last, and has since been occupied in gathering information as to the probable cost of supplying and erecting the required plant, and the probabilities in favor of the venture being a financial success. The first proposal, we believe, embraced the purchase and erection of a forty-horse-power steam engine to supply the requisite power, and this feature of the scheme was not viewed very favorably. It was thought that with such a force as the Inangahua river [available, it would be a waste of money to- resort to steam, and upon this ground not a few were disposed to condemn the whole undertaking. The arrival here of the engineer of the New Zealand Electric Light Company, however, opens up a new view, for Mr Prince, the gentleman in question, banishes altogether the idea of a steam engine, and is of opinion that there is no town in the colony more favorably situated than this for the application of waterpower to the object in view, He has ascertained that a force equal to 100---horse power can be obtained from the river by means of a water-race of one mile in length and a turbine. The water would be lifted from a point opposite Murray Creek and flumed down the southern side to the quarry, from whence it would be conveyed across the river in pipes and delivered to a site somewhere near the fire-engine house. This' work will cost roughly about £1,000, and would compass the double purpose of providing a motor for generating the electricity, and furnish also a water supply for the town. The water would be normally delivered at a freight of3ofi above the Strand, but if required for fire purposes, could be raised to an elevation of 80ft. As the water-power would not be required for the electric lighting machinery from sunrise to sunset, the force could be available as a motor for manufacturing and other purposes dnriug the daytime. In this way 75-horse power would be available and could be transmitted to any part of the district by means of copper wires, a wire of the same gauge as that used by the Telegraph Department being sufficient to transmit 20---horse power to the furthest limits of the field. Thus, quartz batteries, and saw mills driven by electrical energy are by no means improbable outcomes of the illuminating project. The whole of the electric lighting plant would be covered by a building of about 15 x 15, everything would work noiselessly and the incandescent system creates no danger whatever from contact with the wires. The superiority in this respectover the arc system beineone of its primary merits. These are aTfew of many interesting facts in favor of the undertaking, which we gathered from Mr Prince, who has had considerable experience in the application of water-power to the generation of electricity, the electrical railway from Portrush to the Giants' Causeway, which is now working, and reaches a speed of ten miles an hour, having been constructed under his supervision, the energy used being obtained from waterfalls on the line. The pi'acticability of our own undertaking cannot therefore be doubted, and the only question is one of ways and means, and as these are matters which will be fully dealt with at the meeting tonight, we trust that all who take an interest in the project will be in attendance.