MATAMATA AND ELECTRICITY.

Matamata Record, Volume II, Issue 81, 9 May 1918, Page 1

MATAMATA AND ELECTRICITY.

Address by Expert. Considerable interest was evinced by farmers and towns- 1 people on Friday, when Mr W. P. Gouvain, chief engineer of the Waihi Goldmining Coy., Ltd., attended at Matamata at the invitation of the Town Board and the Matamata branch of the | Farmers’ union to give an address on electricity and the manner in I which it could be used in the dis- ’ trict. The hall was full when Mr Gauvain rose to his feet, and both then and at the conclusion of his address he was accorded loud applause. The speaker said he was pleased to see such a large audience, and especially the ladies who would appreciate the remarks he had to make in connection with electricity in the home. He said the time of considering an electricity scheme was fortunate because upon the conclusion of the war there would be a great demand on the manufacturers of electrical appliances. On the other hand at present it was impossible to secure material from -England, and practically impossible from America. Yet data should immediately be gathered, so that the project of using electricity on the farms, in the factories and in the township might be proceeded with directly * the war ends. The people should know just where they stood so that the scheme would be complete, and orders placed for delivery as soon as' possible. Mr Gauvain, speaking on felectrio power, said that competition was going to be very keen after the war, especially so in connection with shipping. It would be found that the nations of Europe* would not send their ships such a great distance as New Zealand if they could get produce nearer. Also, competition from Britain herself would be much keener, inasmuch that there would be greater cultivation there; in fact, the British Government now had a scheme of assistance to men who wished to go on the land. So that, although Britain could not be expected to feed herself, yet she might reasonably be expected to manage half. Thus, if the demand was not so great prices would be lower, and it would be necessary for New Zealand farmers to bring the cost of production down to a minimum. Electricity would be the greatest factor in this. The speaker proceeded to give details of the generating of electricity, stating that on the Waihi line the current was sent along at high pressure for economic reasons. It could not be transmitted at low pressure owing to the cost of the lines being prohibitive. The high transmission was converted into low pressure by being sent through transformers.* It was quite impossible for farmers or the town ( to obtain direct current from the present transmission lines owing to the high pressure. The manner of obtaining it would have to be through a central transformer. Each farmer would require a small transformer to reduce the current to the pressure required by him. In giving examples of the power of electricity, Mr Gauvain said that tof drive a two-cow plant milking machine, in use for say four hours a day, about 8 units of electricity would be required. In Auckland he believed the charge to householders was about 5d per unit in the day time. At night when the general use was much less the charge was considerably reduced. That was the reason that many factories ran through the night. New Zealand, he predicted, was one day going to cease importing fertilisers, and be in a position to supply herself and have some for export. The country had such enormous water power that this would be possible. Nitrates could be made by means of electricity at a considerably less cost than it could be purchased. There was no reason at all why New Zealand should not manufacture carbide. In commenting upon this the speaker said that a year or two before the war Germany, a great agricultural nation, previously importing its nitrates from Chili, inaugurated a scheme for home manufacture, and thus, when war broke out, was in a

position of providing nitrates for fertilising, and for the manufacture of high power explosives. Applied to milking machines electricity would prove more efficient than the oil engine, and would be cheaper and cleaner. He thought a 2 h.p. motor would be powerful enough to run an ordinary milking machine. This type is also the simplest machine made, was “fool-proof,” and was described as being as “ simple as a grindstone." It required but light foundations and was turned on by a switch which started the machine in from five to ten seconds. If a truck was used as a foundation —quite efficient — the motor was rendered portable and could be taken to any part of the farm for use in wood-saw-ing, chaff-cutting, etc. From the point of view of transport there' was nothing which could compare with electricity for cheapness and efficiency. The time for electric motor lorries in the district would come with the introduction of a scheme at Matamata. The “ Glaxo ” factory lorries would not be fully employed by carting milk, but could be used for carting for farmers. These would be run from storage batteries in the lorry, which could be charged in the night when there would not be a great demand on power. Lorries used in Christchurch ran about 60 miles at a cost of from 2s to 4s according to the size of the lorry. Electricity in the house, continued the speaker, would help to bring the conditions for ladies living in the country much nearer to those of their town sisters. He dealt with the subject in connection with lighting, cooking, ironing, heating, cooling and freezing, etc.; and then went on to speak of the conditions by which power could be supplied. He said that his company had entered into agreement with the Government for water rights on terms which were to Be doubled if the electricity was generated for anything but mining operations. The conditions were also that not more than 3d per unit could be charged, or £9 per h.p. per annum. The company was not prepared to sell in any way but bulk power which worked out at about \id of a penny per unit. He here pointed out that the cost to consumers would be considerably more than that owing to the current having to be taken continuously day and night, whereas the quantity used at night would be nothing near that required in the day time. Hence the wisdom of using storage batteries. Mr Gauvain laid special stress on his suggestion that the plant should be standardised ; it would be cheaper and would be more easily replaced. He suggested that the matter should be attended to by the Town Board, the Farmers’ union or the New Zealand Dairy association, but whoever took the scheme in hand should work on the co-operative principle and so encourage users. Now was the time to appoint a consulting engineer so that the scheme would be ready to be launched directly opportunity offered. The conclusion of the address was greeted with prolonged applause, and the lecturer was accorded a hearty vote of thanks. In answer to Mr Gunn, Mr Gauvain said the current would have to be transmitted by overhead wires; the alternative was far too expensive. It was decided that the prosecution of the scheme be left in the hands of the Town Board and Matamata branch of the Farmers’ union.