MR. G. LAUCHLAN

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 32, 6 August 1936, Page 11

MR. G. LAUCHLAN

PROMINENT CITY OFFICER

Mr. George Lauchlan, assistant general manager and distribution engineer of the municipal electricity department, died suddenly this morning. Mr. Lauchlan was 63 years of age, and would have retired'from the city service next year after nearly fifty years of work in the development and advancement of Wellington.

Yesterday Mr. Lauchlan attended a meeting of the Wiremen's Registration Board, and in the late afternoon remarked that he was not feeling well. He became ill during the evening and died suddenly this morning. :

Mr. Lauchlan played a direct arid consistent part in city development in

his long and' unbroken service in the' electricity department and, earlier, in similar service before the municipal department was' established, for at. 16 he joined the small staff of the Gulcher Electric Lighting Company, later taken over by the Wellington Electric Lighting and Power Syndicate, which in turn was taken over by the city.-

Wellington was the first' city in the Southern Hemisphere to adopt electricity for lighting purposes, and thus Mr.. Lauchlan saw the whole . of the electrical development of New Zealand. From the struggling start "when the Gulcher Company was setting up its water-driven turbines (for not only.was! this company the first in; the . South-1 em Hemisphere, but it was'one of thef first hydro-electric companies in the world) and the letting of the first contract with the city for the installation of 500 street lights, Mr..Lauchlan played his ; part in guiding development, jiot alone *in Wellington,' but* in' New Zealand as a whole.

From his junior position with the company,, Mr. Lauchlan rose to , the post of distribution' superintendent1 for the syndicate at the time (August 15, 1907), -when the Corporation took the Undertaking over and he joined -the city service under the late Mr! Stuart Richardson, the city's first electrical en-1 gi'neer. In January, 1915, he was appointed' assistant manager.' of the Electric Lighting Department under the late Mr. W. H. .Morton and in April, 1926, became, under Mr. M.. Cable, assistant general manager and distribution1 engineer. "'"'" ■ : "■••■-■■"■ ■'■~'1 •■.^v. :''! " ■■•'■■:'''

Iti this position Mr. Lauchlan .came into contact with all classes, of consumers, the largest industrial concerns and cottage ' .consumers. No man could have been better fitted for the work he undertook, for his relations with all' who called upon him were particularly: happy. When, some .years ago,'the city embarked upon the change-over from 110----volt to 230-volt supply, involving a recasting of the whole of the city's distribution system and the replacing of equipment of all types and of household, shop, and factory wiring and installations, one 'of the , heaviest ' difficulties foreseen in the way of achievement was the settlement of disputes as to the allocation of cost of renewal and replacement work between con-: sumer and department. In order to overcome those certain difficulties a special Board of Appeal' was set up, to discuss problem's presented to it by the consumer or department. -That Board of Appeal was never called upon to discuss a single dispute.. No. finer proof could be asked' than that of the tactful and common-sense way in which Mr. Lauchlan went about that difficult- task: of reconciling opinipns, and indeed, in his every-day work of supervising: the distribution of electricity for lighting (and power. Mr. Lauchlan held office as president of the Electric Supply Authority Engineers' Association, an office which is regarded as the highest honour that can be conferred by the electrical engiueers of the Dominion, and represented the association upon the Wirerhen's Registration, Board and the Public Works Advisory Board for several years. .; , 7 .. . 7 As a young man he was a keen sportsman, particularly in tennis, often as a partner and rival of Mr. F. M. B. Fisher in the championship : and firstclass tournaments, and in rowing. • He had been associated for a great many years with rowing, being a life member and at the time of.his death a vice-president •of the. Wellington Club. He frequently represented his club at regattas, and was manager of the New Zealand'crew that went to Australia in 1925. For many years he was a member of the New Zealand Rowing Association Council, and for the past two years has been its chairman. The late Mr. Lauchlan was chief of the Wellington Caledonian Society and a member, pf the executive of the Association of. Scottish Societies, as well as taking a prominent part in the guidance and activities of the St. Andrews Burns Club. Mr. Lauchlan was also president of the Central Club and a vice-president of the Scottish Wanderers' Football Club.