POWER FAILURE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22823, 2 September 1937, Page 10

POWER FAILURE

CITY IN DARKNESS hospital inconvenience EMERGENCY PLANT USED FAULT IN PENROSE LINE , A fault in- the Public Works Department's line equipment at Penrose was responsible for a short interruption of electrical power in Auckland and all other districts supplied from Arapuiu at 10 o'clock last night. In the city trams were stopped for over a minute and shop lights were extinguished for a slightly longer period, although in places the stoppage was for only a few seconds.

The most serious effect in the city occurred at the Auckland Hospital, where all the buildings were in darkness for well over 10 minutes. There were patients in the operating theatres, but the hospital's newly-installed emergency sets were switched on immediately and worked perfectly. These sets, however, do not supply the wards, where torches and candles had to be used. Even after the light was available again it continued to flicker for a long period. Mr. R. H. Bartley, general manager of the Auckland Electric Power Board, said he had not been able to obtain complete information about the stoppage, but it appeared that a capacity reactor used for high tension line work had bent. The fault had resulted in a general communication of the stoppage from the Public Works Department's equipment to all stations supplied from Arapuni.