NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3314, 19 September 1917, Page 35

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Questions tor repty in coming Issue to be re> oi\r*& not later than SATURDAY night. Questions will NOT be replied to through 4h* po»t. Old Identity writes: "An old-age pensioner, I understand, is only allowed to possess £SO in cash to entitle him to a furl pension. Supposing an old friend who has not seen him for years, and who is exceedingly well off, makes him a present of money that makes his cash possession for the time being exceed £SO, is the old man debarred from getting a full pension?" No. Voluntary gifts lip to £52 in any year are exempt from being taken into account as income for that year. The exemption from cash in the form of capital is £sflt Pension is reduced by £1 for every £lO net property. K. B. writes: ."If an old-age pensioner has a son at the front, who allots him his pay, does the allotment affect his pension? I have the use of only half of the allotment; the other half is put aside as a fund in case he may send for money at any time. In Australia the allotment does not affect the pension, but I do not know how it is in this country. It is counted there as a gift." Allotments are not taken into account in assessing the pension. Allotments from soldiers at the front should be regarded by those receiving such as trust funds, to be handed over to the soldier on his return. Money writes: "A person has a sum of money in' the Post Office Savings Bank. Can the Government take that money and invest it in the war loan without the consent and knowledge of the depositor and not return it for five 3'ears?" -No, the Government has no such power, and there does not appear io be any necessity for compulsion in connection with the war loan. Caroli asks: " (1) What size dynamo would • I require to give 15 lights, and probable cost of same? (2) What power would I require to drive it ? (3) Could I have lights direct from dynamo without storage batteries? (4) What would be the pro l -' bable cost of having a magneto fitted to a two and a-half horse-power petrol engine?" Your queries are somewhat indefinite, as you do not state what size lights you • require, nor do you state the type" of power you intend using. (1) Presuming lights of 1G candle-power and high-effi-ciency lamps, you would require a dynamo capable of delivering- 300 watts, "which would cost about £l4. (2) You would require' about half a horse-power to drive it. (3) It is quite possible to run light direct from the dynamo without a storage battery, though if you had a batterylight would always be available without the necessity of i tarting the dynamo. (4) The actual fitting of a magneto to a small petrol engine should not cost more than a few pound?, to which must be added the price of the magneto—about £lO.

Inquirer.—The amount of rates payable annually on a house property in Dunedin valued at .£6OO would be £7 16s B<T: The rateable value of such a property would be £4O. There are no harbour rates. If the owner's total income is over £3OO per annum ho would pay income tax on rent received less actual outgoings. The town boundary includes all the suburbs with the exception of St. Kilda. Anticipation asks if a soldier of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force who has been wounded and who marries an English girl can bring his wife out with him on a hospital ship. We should say it was extremely unlikely that such permission would be granted : but ho is advised to make application to the General Officer Commanding the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in London. Constant Reader.—The address of the Rev. E. A. Axelssn is 175 George street, Dunedin. Electricity.—Mr H. M. Dawy replies: "Unless you can get more water, or fall or clam the creek —or whatever it is,—you " will not get sufficient power. Of course, that is supposing you are right in the maimer of mwtsiirn". ■_- the watctf supply, for your witier, according to your statement as to the size of pipes it would fill, and at only 14ft pressure or fall, in the length you mention, varies between 42.1 gallons

per minute to between 13 and 7& gallons per minute, which is utterly insufficient unless a system of storage can be arrived at that would retain sufficient water, or a greater fall be had—or perhaps both of these. As, however, you may not have measured the water property, but only guessed a.t it, I am asking the editor to post you a very simple way of measuring the water, which you can get made on your premises and keep in the stream permanently—as is often done —if you wish, and so note your varying supply, and measure it from time to time. If you can

dam the water and perhaps find! it is more than you thought, please write again. I have communicated with Mr Proctor, at Messrs Turnbull and Jones, who will pro-

bably communicate with you." Water.—Mr H. M. Davcy replies:—"lt is not quite understood exactly what you want. You bring the water to within 150 yards from the house; you then appear to have 15ft fall to a gully—is that not so ? You say you want to have a fall or pressure of about 230 ft or so, and ask how you aae to get it. Finally, you Bay the water would fill a 3in pipe, but you do not say at what pressure or speed it would continue to fill it. Are you living on a hill? If so, could you not run a pipeline down to obtain the pressure you want, and, if so, have your motor there? Do you

want the power for electrical purposes, or what ? Try and write a, little darker; your letter was difficult to make out, the writing was so very faint. Yes, please, give more particulars."

One Who Would Like to Know, Lawrence. —Mr H. M. Davey replies:—"When I was architect for the Excelsior Hotel buildings, in Dunedin, erected for Mr John Donaldson, he used often to explode within 3ft or 4ft from a window, blowing away tho rock in what was called Bell Hill. I

asked him what he used, and he said gelignite; and all he did was to see that the charge was not excessive and to cover the part to be blown in the direction of, say, a window, with a mass of old rope. There were hundreds of explosions. Probably any old material such as brushwood and old sacks, or the like, would answer the same purpose. Also place the charge so that any explosion is away from the windows. Let the editor know how you succeed."

J. W., Woodburn, Winton —Mr H. M. Davey replies:—"Why ever docs your friend put the pipe over the trough? Why cannot h© let the watar run in at the bottom and have no kinks at all, but run the pipe in the end or side a,s low as possible? I fancy the little boil every few minutes is caused by a slight leak, not a leak of water outwards, but of air inwards; and. if so, it would be in the higher parts of the pipe, and should be stopped with tar, or thick paint, or putty, or red or white lead; and) it had better be stopped, as it might increase in time. I am very glad you wrote; so very few take the trouble to do so, and it should be known if a recommendation is good or bad, as, if bad,

it would not be given again." Electric Motor. —Mr H. M. Dayey, consulting engineer, replies: " (1) Five heads are 300 cubic feet per minute, and the buckets must be of an ample ■ capacity to take that quantity per minute. You omit the speed of the wheel. Perhaps yovi do not know that the speed depends on the head of water. Thu 3 with a head of 20ft the wheel of the diameter you mention would run at about 60 to 70 revolutions per minute; while with a head of, say, 600 ft the revolutions would ..be about 350 to 360; so you will see that without knowing the head of water I am at a loss to give you the speed, and consequently the size of the buckets, so please supply the information. As to the pattern of buckets, they should be of the bifurcated type, splitting the water into two streams. (2) This entirely depends on the initial pressure, which is not given, for the usual pump of the type you give never gives much anyhow, though some are made now that give great pressures. Which sort, and what pressure do the pumps give out ? Are your nine chains of pipes on a lsyel or not ? (3) One head is six and a-quarter gallons per second, and as a 7in pipe holds 1.66 gallons per foot the speed of the water in it would be barely 4ft per second, which is not excessive, so there would not be much gained by a larger pipe, unless more than one head was pumped. (4) If the stream, Bft x 2i-ft, equals 20 cubic feet per foot of length, multiplied by 148 ft per minute, you would get 29G0 cubic feet x>er minute, or, say, about 49 heads; but as you may have measured the stream in or near the middle, the water actually passing may be far less. If you wish I could send you full particulars as to the easiest way of getting the quantity of water actually passing, which anyone could easily do with very little skill or trouble. Write again with particulars for better replies." Belgian.—You will find the story of the " Jackdaw of Rheims' in the " Ingoldsby Legends," a collection of fables, etc., supposed to be told by Thomas Ingoldsby. The author was the Rev. E. H. Barhani. E. G.—You should consult a qualified medical practitioner or attend at the outdoor patients' department of the L>unedin Hospital. Advice given on the particulars you supply would be worse than useless.