MUNICIPAL ENTERPRISE IN SHEFFIELD.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1832, 17 April 1907, Page 15

MUNICIPAL ENTERPRISE IN SHEFFIELD.

The Corporation and people of Sheffield have every reason to be proud of their electricity undertaking, Av-iiich has never had a more prosperous year than the one just closed. The “Sheffield Daily Tol.egra.pn,” in its annual survey of the municipal undertakings carried, on by the Corporation, gives ample evidence of the marked advance Avhich the use of electricity in Sheffield has made. During the summer months, Avhen the electricity department is generally quiet, it Avas exceptionally busy, and, says the “Telegraph,” the great demand for neAv lighting installations continues up to date. Many neAv villas are being erected in the. city at present, and it is significant o*'' the recognition Avhich. electric light has won for itself that the builders are putting m the v/ires as part of the work of construction, and not leaving it to the tenants to call upon the department for everything afterwards. This, of course, is calculated to greatly conduce to the wider adoption of the. light. Villas of modest rentals—as loav as £3O —are taking electric light pretty freely. It is customary, Avhen giving a figure as to the extent of electric illumination, to reduce the devices of all kinds to 8-e.p. lamps. The light noAV installed in the city is equivalent to 256,000 such lamps. Bor motive poAver, too, electricity is used to a greatly increased extent. The motors in the city driven by current from - the Corporation mains noAv represent, in the aggregate, h.p. They range from the tiny affair driving a cooling fail in a room to the 200 h.n. motor employed to run a rolling null. The early canvassing carried out by the department is uoav bearing fruit, and the general- spread of Icuoavledge is resulting in manufacturers coming Avith orders instead of having to be persuaded. Some big installations are in contemplation, and proprietors of large Avo-rks are deciding to completely change their method of driving and adopt electricity throughout. One of the large steel firms in the east end recently resolved to make this change. One of the reasons Avhich determined them on that course Avas the absolute need of more space. By taking energy from the Corporation they are able to dispense Avith their present engine and boilers, and save all the space except Avhat. is required for the. comparatively small motors. The change is being carried out gradually. Ultimately the firm’s demand will approach 2000 h.p. The number of electric lifts in Sheffield is increasing very satisfactorily.- The cost of Avorking a lift by electricity is only about one sixth as much as that of running it by hydraulic poAver. It is not therefore, that Avith a reliable supply at low rates, electricshould be increasingly applied to industrial and domestic purposes.