POWER FAILURE.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20243, 22 May 1931, Page 10

POWER FAILURE.

LYTTELTON TRAINS AFFECTED. ONE DARKNESS. x\s a result of yesterday afternoon's blustery weather, there were power failures in several districts. At Lyttelton all lights were out from 6.45 p.m. to 7.50 p.m., while similar trouble was experienced in St. Martins, Beckeubaru. and Woolston. There was some difficulty with the electric trains running on the Lyttelton line, for though the main power supply did not tail, the signal power was not available. The 7.13 p.m. train from Lyttelton was delayed about half an hour, while other trains were erratic in their runninc-

The passengers for tlie ferry steamer to Wellington were able to get away without difficulty, as the failure of the lights on tbo wharf was made up fop by extra lights put out by the Wahine. 2s'o trouble was caused with shipping, as work oja the wharves had ended for the night. There was no failure in the lines under the control of the Municipal Electricity Department. Messrs R. G. Mac Gibbon and A. E. Davenport, Public Works Department engineers, from whom enquiry was made, stated that the cause of the trouble was not known to them, and could probably not be known until to-day. A doublecircuit line served the area in question. From Methven it was reported that about seven electric power poles had been blown down in the Highbank district, where all lights were out. In Rakaia also the lights failed for a period.