ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION OF POWER.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12602, 4 March 1903, Page 5

ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION OF POWER.

(Fnoit Odr Own Correspondent.) CHRISTCHCJECH, March 3. In tho course of an interview to-day, Mr Aloo, engineer of the Maxhiven Fabrik Aerlikon, a Swiss firm, which has done and is doing a good deal in connection with electrical transmission ot power, gave somo interesting information on the subject of electric railway traction. Mr Alio is a tall, somewhat stoutly-built, dilrk gentleman, .with a, decided fliannor and a decided way of expressing his opinions. He has gleaned a lot of information'regarding the proposed Waimakariri Eclicmo. Ho had heard some report that all this city required was 3000 horsepower, but he thought that 20,000 or 40,000 horse-power 6hould be obtained for the wants and possibly Lyttelton, bccause in addition to electricity for lighting and tramway traction purposes and to' replace a certain amount of steam power used in manufactories, allowance should bo made for the expansion of tho industries'of the city and district. As to the Wniniakariri scheme, Mr Alio said ho could say nothing until he had visited the locality. Mr Allo's company lias received an order from the Government to equip one of tho main and most loiided lines of tho Swiss Government with electrio power, and thoy were now at work on it; The lino from Freiburg to Mowat is nov/ being run electrically, and for tho past two years tho company had been working on the. Jungfrau Mountain railway, which has a total height of 16,000 ft, the railway at present reaching up fo 12,000 ft, It would tako about two years longer to finish tho line to tho summit— 16,000 ft above,, sea level. In Norway and Sweden the \J/>vcrnment was also arranging to equip all tho railway lines electrically. Tho cqmpany was now putting into execution one of tlio, greatest hycjraulic schemes ever conceived—a 56,000 horse-power elrctrioal plant iu tho neighbourhood of Zurich. This involves the' submerging of a whole valley, containing a village, etc., and transferring it into a lake to give ths power. The scheme, wliioh is now bc-ing carried into practical effect, received the only gold medal awarded for engineering schemes ot tho Paris Exhibition. Of the power provided, 30,000 horse-power will ho used for industrial purposes in Zurich and neighbourhood, and the remainder will ho used to provide the whole of the Swiss railways with electrical traction power. Coal in Switzerland costs £2 to £2 10s per ton, so that New Zealand could well'bo compared with it in this rc-spect. In Switzerland, since electrical water power had como forward any number o[ industries had sprung up throughout tho country, and no doubt tho s:i ni!" would bo tho ease in New Zealand. Tilers. were numerous townships in New Zealand that could very profitably linvo their olcctric light both for pnblio and private pumnsca, besides soiling powor for small industries, «nd i thus make a good thing out of it. Nothing, it had 1)0211 conclusively proved, pushed it township ahead like electijpity, whr'hov it was in the shape of light, tramway, or power. As to tho speed on the railways, they could he run electrically at 40 an hour. Mr Alio, accompanied by Mr _ W'. ll'. Hales (engincor-iii-cliiof of Ihe Public Works Ivlr A. Dncllev Dohson (city surveyor), and Mr W. H. Gavin (engineer of tho Midland railway) left bv the afternoon train to-ilav for Spviusfio-kl, JUld will, visit the Waimn&ariri and Ofira, returning to this city on Saturday night.