POWER LINE RISKS.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20753, 13 January 1933, Page 8

POWER LINE RISKS.

—♦ — DANGER OF CLIMBING POLES. ACCIDENTS RARE IX CHRISTCHURCH. The danger of climbing electriepower poles was made plain this week vviicn it was reported in Thb Pbess that a boy, who had scaled a pole near Napier to secure a bird's nest, had been injured seriously by coming into contact with a cable carrying 11,000 volts. It j is nearly two years since there was a similar accident in Christchurch, a young man being hurt when demonstrating his ability to climb a pole on the power-line to Governor's Bay. Before that time there had been no casualties through climbing poles for many years, though there have been several purely accidental deaths in the district by electrocution.. Precautions are taken to warn people not to climb power poles, and, as reported from Xapier, all poles carrying 11,00 volts have red notices nailed to them, reading either, "Danger! Live wires." or else "Danger! 11,000 volts!" Mr E. Hitchcock, general manager of the Municipal Electricity Department, remarked that obviously the boy at Napier had been irresponsible and unthinking. "Most boys," he pointed out, "have an instinctive caution regarding electric cables, even if they do not, as manv bovs do these days, know something about electricity. Every care is taken to warn people not to climb power poles, but if a man absolutely insists on putting his hand into tne fire it is difficult to stop him or to prevent him from being burned." Mr Hitchcock said that most of the 11,000 volt cables in tho Christchurch district were now underground, with the exception of one leading to Sumner and one round the foot of the Port Hills. In the country, of course, they were very common. The ordinary cables carried on poles in the City arc in groups of four, carrying a three-phase current. One of these cables is harmless, while the others i carry a potential of 400 volts as bc- | tween each other and of 230 volts be- ! tween any one of them and the earth. "However, it would not be wise for anyone to go experimenting to find out which is the harmless wire," Mr HitchI cock remarked. "Even 230 volts can do a good deal of damage."