THE ELLESMERE OUTLET.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20730, 15 December 1932, Page 15

THE ELLESMERE OUTLET.

1Q IStS EDITOR 0* TEB VRE3S. gjj —Writing from a way-back surnj camp, where copies of your issues (f December 4th, sth. and 9th have reached me. I see that Mr Hoibai invites me to criticise his scheme (bp » permanent outlet at Taumutu. I ismM be delighted to do so. but yjyfc explain to Mr Holland that, jiiaouh the plans of his design are d 33 elearlj in my mind, after the of year, 1 cannot fully recall dtetriht i -e of his accompanying repaji Would he therefore kindly give a lfcjrt resumo oi : this, including the fcflomßg points: O) On what existillK«arls, if any, bis scheme is based; aal 0} how the natural conditions that gMa es such existing works compare lift/those to be found at Taumutu. I wrald point out to Mr Holland ■Jut |» has read a wrong construction Into my letter when he says that I am prejudiced against the schemes. Xoi s.t alt: aa the contrary 1 think ttaa highly commendable —naturally (9 m mpect to the reclamation pro- • My *rgß3J»ats are that they are: (1) Sot urgently necessary: (2) itasnitaWe as works for unemployed Sahonr; (3) few "risky from an engineering point of rieir, and hence too risky from tbo |»int of view of our Ktraitewd rational finances, to be ondotffea at the present time. 1 v&M pdtt out that thero are halfSsisms&d abandoned works all over aantry to-dav to the value of I a—all dead loss —and is anxious to add to this >f this nature should be iy when we have a bulgIf money has to be forward five alternative snding it, and in each i, from a national viewbe greater than that ke Ellesmer© reclaimed. . too, the engineering be known to a nicety; ates could be prepared; t>our could be utilised; of the results could be ;ast. The fact that 1 I lion, however, will not I >ne iota in giving Mr idid and disinterested is scheme. —Yours, etc., DOLIN A. GILLETT. :ember 12ch, 1932. DITOR OF THE PiSSS orrespondent "Engineer"-' aie questions bearing on lor Lake Ellesmere out- ' asks: How will so short ction as he proposes pree south-west gales from intrance, especially in haviour of the fine Taunder wave action? a wave breaks and its itated that banking of oceurs, and sullh break- - where waves are obaclies or shoals and the :r"' will have noted the ij in an otherwise con- j f breakers, opposite a e will have noted also • the water in the river e clear cut the gap in Jakers. The central aim is to maintain maximum jl and maximum velocity ow tide mark. Then the the shingle the more I. At other than low Id break on a line higher hau that of the channel : feet of inward flow at : I he negligible, as it ap- ( Ben even with the unpro- 1 . Drifting shingle enter- ! inel month at flood tide ' banked but distributed • el to be swept out again 1 With the unprotected ( ver. heavy seas . cause being insufficient pro- ] to "Engineers" second I ' a curved protecting j oeity in a stream flow- 1 jilt course is developed 1 untal axis. But where a ] ied ibid maximum veloc- t mg the outer or convex £ er case the channel will z d will be scoured more £ > convex side than along j ! former case. A stream t ;urvcd bank protected t will not tend to change 1 in tho limits of the 3 r bailie or mole, I am 1 this curving is a first c 1 third question is: What c :e of a pile work baflle s dl inside over a short j ile f g er of economic compari- 1 ion-positive and positive f : avc action. The firat 0 Timaru, built of heavy r J the positive resistance e suffered accordingly. A the outside would have I shock absorber. "With ®orbcr an incomparably fould suffice. Thanking ent for his interest in 'ours, etc., , J. E. HOLLAND. " December 12th. 1932. e

mahakipawa preference I SHARES INTEREST. TO THE DDITOB OF TEB PEESS. —I have read "Dissatisfied Mahakipawa Shareholder's" letter in The Pf.ess of Tuesday with interest, and being one of those who also responded to the company's appeal for funds —on more than one occasion—must also express disappointment with the non-pay-ment of preference interest. The original issue of preference shares must now date back some two years and a breach of understanding at this juncture can hardly appeal to those subscribers who were prepared to take a seemingly poor I chance. AH credit must be given to the executive for the present satisfactory position of the company and one must also applaud a cautious policy, but an undertaking is an undertaking and the citation of one bad return in mining should hardly be allowed to outweigh the general position in such circumstances. An adequate reserve fund in a commercial venture must be admitted a sound institution, but many would rightly prefer an early distribution where gold-mining is concerned. In this case it is assumed that the mine is amply developed to pay its wny and that payment of interest would still leave it with sufficient in hand.—Tours, etc., disappointed shareholder. December 14th. 1032. UNFAIR COMPETITION ALLEGED. TO IHE EDITOB OT THE MESS. Sir. —The policy of the Municipal Electricity Department, in specially advertising seasonal gifts tor sale is in my opinion decidedly unfair to private electrical traders. The department's mam activity should be the sale and distribution of electric power, but during recent years there has been a gradual but nevertheless determined effort to act as agents for and to stock many kinds of electrical appliances. Not content with establishing an elaborate showroom the department is now openly advertising its <wares to the public. Under existing conditions the private trader has a lot to contend with, and at this time of the year is justly entitled to expect a little ot the Christmas trade, yet the department, despite its substantial profits from power and lighting sales, is now actively competing with the local trader. A large proportion of private traders are ratepayers, and have m addition their Government taxes to pay, while the Municipal Electricity Department is exempt from ordinary Government income taxation. When conditions are noraial it is surely untair lor the municipality to enter into business competition with ratepayers, but under conditions prevailing to-day this competition is intolerable and calls for a strong protest.—Yours, etc..

St\ MARSHALL

December 14th, 1932. [Cr. Elizabeth R. MeCombs, chairman of the City Council's Electricity Committee, when this letter was read to her, telephoned the following statement : The action of the Municipal Electricity Department in continuously cheapening the price of electricity has created a demand for electrical equipment. The department sells such equipment at, a reasonable profit. As to the statement about the non-payment of taxes by the department, it is not true that the department does not pay taxes. It pays rates in the ordinary way, and m addition it pays into a special fund for ornamental street lighting an amount equal to the income tax. Further, it pays £3OOO a year to the City Council's general fund for services which are not worth £IOOO. Tho Municipal Electricity Department is_ taxed as no other business in tne City of the same sise is taxed, and no other business in the Oitv .has given a donation of £2500 this year for the relief of distress.] CHEAPER ELECTRICITY POWER. TO THE EDITOR 0» THE F&ESS. Sir, —The City Council, in its greatness, through tho Electricity Committee, has at last conceded a miserable 5 per cent, to the commercial user. While rents and interests have been reduced 20 per cent, and wages 10 per cent. —in many cases considerably more —the City Council cannot see its way clear to give tho business community any further relief than an allowance of some £2900: out of £29,000 net profit shown last year. It takes some £.11,000 for sinking funds. The balance of £IB,OOO is surely more or less available for further relief to the commercial interests in this City. It could be proved that many of the charges to business people for exactly the same service and for the same class of service are more than twice as much as the charges to the ordinary householder. That surely is an extraordinary state of affairs. One has to be electrically-mindcd to follow the vagaries of the M.E.D. The joke, after all, is on the business man, because he and his class were responsible for the creation of this service by constant agitation, and one would think they ■would see to it that they had reasonable benefits side by side with the ordinary householder in the "way of reductions in power as the opportunity offered. One has to realise, however, that the business people are not by any means represented on the City' Council, and the political bias is a very one-eyed thing especially when there are so many votes to be influenced. —Yours, etc.,

BEING FLEECED. December 14th, 1932.

[On this letter boing read over the telephone to Cr. Elizabeth E. MeCombs, chairman of the City Council's Electricity Committee, she made the following statement: The comparative figures in connexion with the prices charged to commercial users of electricity have been published over and over again. The prices charged to commercial users are the lowest in the Dominion. If a strict analysis were made it probably would be shown that commercial users are receiving the service at less than cost. Electricity cannot be stored. The Municipal Electricity Department lias to pay over a whole year 011 the highest peak attained during the year. Unlike the household users, ■who probably use electricity for 16 hours a for seven days a week, there are many commercial users, especially those who light offices, who use electricity for only an hour or two a day for three or four months in the year.' Capital charges for development and distribution form a very large proportion of the cost of hydro-electricity, and these costs have to be met whether the customer uses electricity for a few hours a week for a few months in the year, or whether, like the household users, it is used for a number of hours each day for SCfe days :n the year. In mv- opinion the commercial users of electricity have nothing to complain about and, with the exception of a few persistent grumblers, they are very grateful to the Municipal Electricity Department for all that has been done for them. Dunodin has a cheaper source of supply than Christcliurcli, but charges a vpry much higher rate to commercial users.] BUSINESS AND PUBLIC LIFE. TO THS EDITOR OF THE PBESB. Sir. —1 notice one of your correspondents has made the suggestion that it business men, managers of companies, etc . would pay more attention to then-

or their employers' interest it would t>© much better for all parties. One , can hardly pick up a paper but one sees a meeting of some kind or another of business men, which in most cases is a sheer waste of time. Talking about doing things is no good, ( they should stick to their jobs and do them. —Yours, etc., ; UNFORTUNATE SHAREHOLDER. December 14th, 1932. SUMNER STREET FOOTPATHS. TO THE EDITOR Or THE PRESS. , Sir, —A few weeks ago a letter, signed by "Ratepayer," appeared in your columns drawing attention to the "shocking state" of the asphalt footpaths in Sumner, and hoping that tße Borough Council would have them put in order before the Christmas holidays set in. As the Council appears to have been unmoved in the matter, I should like to confirm what "Ratepayer" stated. During the late rains it has been almost impossible to walk on theae footpaths without stepping into some of the numerous pot-holes, which are veritable mud puddles.' At night time anyone walking along them might easily have au ankle badly twisted. How is it that these footpaths are so woefully neglected, have so little attention given to them, and are allowed to get into such disrepair? We have our own gas works and make sufficient tar to supply a dozen times the wants of Sumner. Then what becomes of the tar? Is it sold to outside districts, and do we pay for its being produced for their benefit, for there is comparatively little of it used in Sumner?—Yours, etc., RATEPAYER NO. 2. December 13th, 1932. [On the contents of this letter being submitted to Mr W. H. Nicholson, Mayor of Sumner, he expressed regret that "Ratepayer No. 2" had not mado his complaint direct to the chairman of the Council's Works Committee, or to the borough engineer, or to the Town Clerk, when, as with all complaints so made, it would have received attention. "With the exception of a small proportion of the footpaths in the borough, the repair of which the engineer, under instructions from the Works Committee, had in hand, he said, the bulk of the footpaths in the borough would compare favourably with those in other boroughs. There were some cases of footpaths that had been damaged by heavv traffic and required attention, but, as far as he knew, none was in a • condition dangerous to the public. The suggestion that all the footpaths were in a shocking state was manifestly inaccurate, because some miles of new tarred pavements had been laid and were in good condition. If "Ratepayer No. 2" went to the Council Chamber and interviewed the engineer he would be told where the tar from the borough gas works went; also, he would be informed tliat not only did the borough use all the tar produced at its gas works, but had to buy thousands of gallons outside.]