POWER SUPPLY FAILS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20289, 23 December 1927, Page 10

POWER SUPPLY FAILS.

CHAOS IN AUCKLAND. BIG AREA AFFECTED. (Special to Daily Times.) AUCKLAND, December 20. Considerable inconvenience was_ caused in the city and suburbs last evening and this morning as the result of the failure of the electric power supply. The breakdown this morning, which affected the whole system with the exception of a small section, dislocated the industrial motor and cooking services, and left hundreds of Christmas shoppers stranded at distant points. Fortunately the trouble occurred last night at a tim e when power was not such a great necessity. This morning's trouble commenced shortly after 9 o’clock, just too late, fortunately, to delay business people from getting to their places of employment. Trams were held up at all points of the city and suburbs, and the break came at a particu. larly bad time, as thousands of Christmas shoppers were heading for the city. The power was restored temporarily at about 9.52 o’clock, but again failed at 10.22 a.m., further disruptions to various electrical services being caused till 10.34 o’clock. About minutes’ later more trouble was experienced, but the intermittent service that Aucklanders had htid to content themselves with for two hours was put an end to at 11 o’clock, when things were restored to normal and the tramways set about tackling the problem of readjusting their disorganised tiraeAH trains and railway traffic were held up between Auckland and Mercer owing to stoppage, throwing the signalling apparatus out of gear. Some thousands of railway passengers were much inconvenienced, and hundreds waited on the platforms of the Auckland Railway Station for two hours for the incoming expresses. At this time of the year the railway officials have enough to do to keep the wheels moving in order to cope with the holiday rush, hut with this morn, ins’s hold-up on top of it their job was not an enviable one. In addition to the power stoppage they had their own little troubles, one of which was caused by a mixed train which left Auckland tor Whangarei at 7.55 a.m. When the engine was about half way up the Parnell hank it stopped, and there it remained for some time. This caused'a delay to other trams, but everything was working smoothly acrain when the electric power failed. °The most important delays this mominn- were caused to the extra express fiom Wellington and the Limited. The former was due here at 7.52 a.m., but did not pull in until 10.40 a.m. The Limited, due at 9.34 a.m., did not arrive till 11.40 a.m. Both trains were full of passengers, and the Limited had been delayed on the run from Frankton Junction to Auckland for over an hour, 35 minutes of which was spent at Pokeno on account of th e power breakdown. Delays wpre also occasioned to the Thames and Rotorua expresses.