ELLESMERE COUNTY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17198, 19 June 1916, Page 2

ELLESMERE COUNTY.

PROPOSAL TO OBTAIN ELECTRICITY. DEDEGATES WAIT ON COUNTS’ COUNCIL. The residents of the Ellesmere County have' lately been interesting themselves in the question of obtaining electricity from Lake Coleridge for lighting and power purposes, and an announcement that a proposal to employ an electrical engineer to report upon a scheme for the reticulation of the county was to be discussed at a special meeting of the County Council on Thursday resulted in several waiting on the council in support of the proposal. The deputations comprised four members of the Southbridge Town Board, four members of the Leeston Beautifying and Township Improvement Association, three Leeston business men and a representative from Doyleston. The speakers were Messrs E. G. Hubbard, J- 11. M’Millan, A. Werner,\H. Neavo and A. W v Green. They strongly urged the council to go thoroughly into the whole matter, with the assistance of a qualified engineer, and that in the event of it being considered practicable to reticulate the county, or the more populous centres, the necessary formalities should bo gone through and all preparations made, so that the scheme could be put in hand immediately the war was over, the opinion of most of those present, including members of the council, being that tho shortage of electrical appliances and prohibitive prices, and probably the question of finance, would make it impossible to do the reticulating until after the war. It was stated that the Government engineer had undertaken to run the line to Leeston on’ receiving a guarantee that 50 horse-power would he taken. The view was expressed, at the meeting that there would he no difficulty in doubling the guarantee asked for. . .. , Replying to the deputations, the chairman said that the council had discussed the matter in January and had agreed that the time was inopportune for embarking an electrical scheme. His own opinion was that they were “barking up the wrong tree” in asking local bodies to do the distributing. Their efforts should bo directed towards awakening the Government to a sense of its responsibilities. flic tendency these days was in the direction of nationalising the industries of tho country. They had the Government running the telegraph, telephone and postal systems, the railways, and even a coal mine, yet in no instance did they find the Government asking lobs! bodies to do retailing except in the case of electricity. A speaker pointed out that the Government intended to run the main transmission lines to those districts which were prepared to do their own distributing, and that if the council did not take the matter up the district would not be reticulated until all other parts liad ; been supplied. After a lengthy discussion the council decided to invito two engineers to submit prices for reporting upon alternative schemes—(l) For reticulating Irwell, Doyleston, Leeston, South•bridge and any other centres of population near the route of the main transmission line; and (2) for reticulating the whole county