AN ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION OF POWER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2056, 20 July 1893, Page 21

AN ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION OF POWER.

HOW THE WATERS OF THE TAIERI RIVER MAY BE UTILISED. AN INTERESTING PAPER BY MR W. E. RICHARDSON. As the question of the use of electrical power ia'exciting considerable interest at the present time, the following paper read by Mr W. E. Richardson at a recent meeting of the Outram Mutual Improvement Society should be of more than passing interest, and we therefore thiank Mr Richardson for placing it at our disposal :—: — A few weeks ago a question was asked in the columns of the Taieri Advooate which, I think, requires more thorough ventilation than it could receive in the shape of replies to a question. I refer to the inquiry whether it is advisable to start a factory in Outram ? I think the advisability of doing so is sufficiently obvious, the real question being the feasibility of successfully starting and working a factory in this township. Now, in considering the possibility of a factory being made to pay in any particular place, it is necessary to ascertain whether that place has any special advantage over other places, such as cheap or plentiful raw material of any description, easy available water power, cheap coal, convenience to a suitable market for manufactured produce, &c; Competition is now bo great in most manufacturing places that unless the particular lines can be shown to possess some special advantage over other places it is doubtful whether a factory could be made to pay. I now wish to point out to you what seems to me to be A VBBY NATURAL ADVANTAGE whioh it is quite possible to utilise, io.

a manner whioh could not fail to be beneficial to this township— l mean tho water „ power existing upon the Taieri river, possibly as far up as Hindon, and also upon the Lee stream, say, from its mouth up to the Lee stream Hotel. It is impossible to say how much power could be obtained at, these- places ■ without measuring the streams of, water and 'also the fall, but there is no doubt it , wqnld amount to many thousands of horse power if properly developed. There are various wayßin, whioh it might be possible to utilise this power, but the scheme to which I would like' to direct your attention is to develop the power with waterwheels, and TRANSMIT IT BY lIBANS OF ELECTRICITY TO DUNEDIN, Burnside, Mosgiel, and Outram, where it could be used instead of the steam power in nse .at present, and also for electric lighting— both public and private. -The practicability" <of electrical transmission of power has now been thoroughly established ; it is being used to drive flax machinery at Temuka at a distance .of, I think, eight miles from the source of power ; and also near Queenstown to drive a battery, and probably in other places in New Zealand as well as a number of places both in America and the Old World. I have just come across., a paragraph in an American Mechanical Journal stating that it is proposed to transmit the, power of Niagara Falls to Chicago, a distance, 0f. 475 miles, at a cost of £7 per horse power; - Very great improvements, too, have been made quite recently in electrical transmission of power by which it has been found possible ta transmit a much larger amount of power over the same size of wire, thus making a great saving in first cost. The Electrical Engineer states that it is proposed to transmit 390-horse" powerto a distance of 115 miles over -a, wire one-sixth of an inch thick— that is,' the size of large fencing wire. To give you some idea of the value of power I may state that I should estimate the cost of the steam power . required for Mosgiel Woollen Factory at about £1200 per annum, and smaller powers cost more in proportion. A medium-sized flour mill at Oamaru paid £400 per annum for water power, and to drive the same mill by steam night and day, even at Burnside, where coal is cheap, would cost nearly £700 per year. This '"will give you an idea what an enormous amount must be paid annually in and around Dunedin for all the steam power used there, without taking into account the greatly - increased amount that, would be used if poWer.conUkbe supplied more cheaply and with greater "con- ' venience. The demand for electricity fdr lighting purposes would also be very great, owing to the fact that, in connection with, a very; large scheme for the transmission of power by electricity, the electric light could be supplied at a price that would defy competition, it Heiog a' well-known fact connected with electrical engineering that the cost decreases very rapidly 1 as - the size of the scheme increases. In consider-! - ing this scheme, of course, the question is, Will it pay? This question, can only be answered' by ascertaining • ; - , THE AMOUNT OF POWER THAT CAN BE ' ' ' * OBTAINED '' ' - , and the cost at which the power could be delivered to consumers, including interest on, ' capital expended. It is necessary that this should be much less than the cost of steam at present in use, otherwise the scheme would be a failure. It would not be difficult, to. obtain an estimate of both the* power and. the' cost sufficiently exact to show whether ?the undertaking, would be likely to be a success, and if the scheme seemed sufficiently feasible- _• to justify the expense, then morei ' exact estimates could be prepared. It would also' be necessary. to find out what probable demand forpowerand electric Jightfog there might be^ in Dunedin and the surrounding districts-. Pbs- ■ sibly this scheme may seem impracticable^ but I {would remind you that many, (if not most), of the greatest engineering feats have,' at first, seemed impossible, but have nevertheless been, accomplished ; and even though the ' scheme ' should prove impracticable, no harm can arise _ from giving it a thorough investigation. lam aware that the undertaking would cost a' great* ' deal of money, but if it can b3 shown thatlfc will pay, the money should be forthcoming—- ' especially as I understand that some of our Outram capitalists have great, difficulty in finding a profitable investment for their capital, • Although this is not exactly a scheme for starting a factory in Outram, yet it would, place ,'- this township in a very gopd position as a manufacturing town through being so short a distance from the source of power ; and the fact of so large an undertaking being carried out in , the neighbourhood would have a beneficial effect in itself. Possibly it might be. found more feasible to confine the scheme to starting v '. '',".." A FACTOBY IN QUTBAM TO BE DBIVEN^BX "- ' ELECTRICITY

from the Taieri river or Lee stream. Plenty of power would be obtained at the mouth of the, Lee to drive a factory much larger than the ' 'Mosgiel WooJlen Factory, and this at a distance of only three miles ; this in itself shpuldconstitute a sufficient natural advantage, to justify an effort being made to start a- factory of some' description here when we remember the amount I have just mentioned as being paid, for "power in other pla,ces. The steps I would suggest should be taken in the matter then are;tfiat & publio meeting be called to appoint 'a'poinmittee to thoroughly investigate the whole • matter ; to get some idea as to the, amount of power to be obtained on the Taieri river.and Lee stream) and the probable cost oE electrical * transmission to Dunedin or elsewhere, and to collect information as to the probable ' demand for power and electric light inland around Dunedin, and the income likely, to be derived from supplying the same. Farther,' to obtain all possible information as to the. feasibility of starting any description oi.manu-' facturing enterprise m Outram, whether requiring power or otherwise, and to report on these matters from time to time. ' I have not- suggested any particular manufacture as being , likely to succeed as I consider thai is a matter for careful consideration by the, committee. No doubt, all this means a consider- \ able expenditure of money, and a still g'reafiec expenditure of energy, but until each' and everyone of us puts his shoulder, to the "wheel and does his very best in this matter we have no tight to complain of dull times in Outram, and we will have only ourselves to.blame if waj are pointed at with the finger, of scorn by neighbouring townships, and called a sleepy hollow. ~ If we ask ourselves what we have done for the _ advancement of Outram as a manufacturing . town I am afraid we must own that we_ have done simply nothing. We have 'sat down .' ' a«d howled because things are, dull and *' nothing is doing, and because' Mosgiel ' has a factory and we have none, but so far from leaving no stone unturned we have >not turned any stones at: all, , while " right here " (as the Amoricand say) we. ' - have a big stone in our midst, under which , may be the big golden nugget we have- sighed ' for so long. The farmers, too, in this district* " are equally called upon- to promote this enter- , prise, otherwise they have no* right to complain of .low prices and no outlet for thelrproduce. We have heard a good deallately about placing more people on the land. My own opiniqri ,» ' tha,t what we really require is a manufacturing '* popuMUon to consume ow agricultural pro,*. ;

duce ; when the law of supply and demand will Boon place more people on the land ; and each branch of industry mutually supporting the other will produce a large and comfortable population throughout New. Zealand. There is no doubt that Nevr Zealand is destined to bscome the manufacturing country of this part of the world, situated as it is within three days' steam of Australia and 14 days' of India; all that is"*required is cheap communication, and this would be brought into existence with the growth of trade between these countries. It is a well-known fact that the hot climate of India and Australia will ever preventthe growth of that energy so necessary for manufacturing enterprise, but which will be only the natural product of such a climate as that of New Zealand. This fact, together with the great mineral and other resources of New Zealand, will, as I have said, make it the great manufacturing country of this part of the world. The sooner, therefore, we use our besb endeavour, not only in Outram, but throughout New Zealand, to promote manufacturing enterprise the better it will be for the prosperity of the Country. I will conclude by saying that I have not written this paper merely to help to pass away an evening^ but with the genuine hope that by drawing attention to the subject the ball maybe set rolling, and some useful result may follow. I am aware that with our very best endeavours nothing may come of ifc, but even then we will at least have the satisfaction of knowing that we havo done our best.