'BLACKOUT' AGll

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 16, 20 January 1939, Page 8

'BLACKOUT' AGll

POWER FAILURE, TROUBLE IN WELLINQJOt fc FACTORIES IDLE TO "®Alt|gf (By Telejrrfli.li — Tress \VEI.LI\<;toX, this Wellington'* "blackout" f rom 0.35 last night war. followed by «'tip more serious one at 1.55 this for not until midday was -itWBS restored in the city. Tlie load will I taken over by the Evans Bay < plant. «o that, apart from tW* minute* while the t-tation was under way and tlie city load sect ionalUed, there was little venience. The inconvenience hi the Hntt Vtßfj however. waw very *eriou* indeed. *WM The chum' was again the shortWtflti ] 10.000 volt power over the cncru-ted surfaces of insulators on ft#® main transmission lines from Sti«^Ml to Khandallah. A special force of Ptjjfc pf Works linesmen from various partsiißi the Wellington area, aided by linesn*SS of the Hutt Valley Power Board, wji all day yesterday cleaning salt eMt 9* from insulators on the sixty odd njfclil of line, and are continuing the joh%B day. A shower of rain would do ftfff job in a few minutes, but there ii'm B sign of rain. Yesterday'* laborious pole anJtjjSH climbing and hand polishing eoverniifiS miles of one line only, and tieft kS two lines over 00 miles long, boti&S salt cru*t is not bad over the wkiil length. The worst sections toft apparently north of I'araparaumu.vj? IB

Many Workers Idle. -k- fill Some thousands of workers ifc'£§S Hutt Valley were thrown idle, ui Bp nearly all industry was at a standitl B this morning. AH of the large mofefjl assembly plants are almost 111 dependent on electric supply, as B Wills. Limited. Slippers. Limited, Lei* H Bros, and many other industries. jvflg In the railway workshops meft Wot ffc standing bv cleaning machines doing other odd tasks, but In tfcß majority of factories the employeesfat H The managers of (several factoritf tO I fc day expressed the opinion that theqfjs§f§ tion of a standby power plant for 4hffif Hutt Valley should receive sonle ctifr sideration. but it is recognised that jiW f: : localise of one failure there is do lietd WM for panic and that a standby plait ffe might not be an economic propositi* The heads of the factories all ajr#,ml however, that it is the duty of tit j authorities to give them the R possible information regarding the pnfc ll§f able length of power failures. It ii lip pointed out that in the case of 111 standby plants would be essentkl, li fpij the destruction of hydro plants tfodt Mil bring all industry to a (standstill SMt ||§ dislocation was caused to the I'lfi ton-.Tohtisonville electric tralft sirtfefc f!| A limited supply of power wM available to the railways ft dm-& Evans Bay station this morning, audit || was found possible to operate the || 'but at a considerably reduced spMt Extra buses were sent out to Jtihwilf 8 ville to assist passenger ■ •but. they were not required* It i* tmdtr- H stood the majority of people rfflwl J the city in time for work. SJ \§