MR WILFORD ABROAD.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12789, 14 June 1912, Page 5

MR WILFORD ABROAD.

TALES OF HIS TRAVELS. WONDERFUL NATURAL GAS SUPPLY. > -.» Jn bis'-tojuv-aDroad'-Mr,'!'. "Ms vWilidi-d, M.P., visited' many7piaces, , of arid t saw many things, strange and wonderful; In , an i interview -.with a' 7reporter he narrated some of/Jiis experiences, '■ Z ' \.-\ :'■ '■'.''■■'; , '' "Orie of tiijp , most; interesting places I saw t while travelling;'' he ,said, t "was .Medicine Ha*t;, situate- 01V the,, west of Canada, m, thei district of Alberta, and oiVthe bank's 'bf the Saskatchewan river 658' miles west 'of Winnipeg". '' It is a divisional • point,- , and '• is m the , centre of natural -. gas fields. • -The whole town j is lit. from, this natural gas. flow/ i which is used for domestic purposes as^well as in_ manufactures and industries ■ The price to -tha .consumer is 'five; cents, or 2£d - per thousand - feet. In > the official description of the. place it appears that rolling mills, linseed oil factories, planing mills, flour mills, etc., are carried on, and m the lighting of the town lamps the gas is used, and the lamps are never put out, day or night for, as tlie chronicle isays, it would not pay to employ the labor for such a purpose. The town of Brooks is lit m the same way,. and Calgary, a prominent western town, is rio,w also lit by natural gas found close handy m Bow Island. Cooking, lighting and heating of the houses for the whole winter are obtained from this natural source." Mr Wilford suggested was it worth while prospecting m New Zealand, for Gisborne people 'have claimed for some time that they have a gas flow which can be lighted with any ordinary match at any time? The gas m Canada is collected by a great cylinder sunk m the field. The mains are taken up from the cylinder and then the small lines vf rom. the mains lare run through the principal streets and principal parts of the town; The gai is used m its natural state. '.. Mr Wilford had an opportunity of inspecting a new automatic telephone >yftich is now m great vogue m -AmeVrica. ,; No telephone girls are required in -this system. A little round metal disc,- .with numbers frdm one to nought, is attached to the ordinary telephone. A person desiring to ring up gives a half* turn to this disc, placing the finger iri'feach number to make the required call. For instance, if a person required number 396, he would place a finger m turn on. three,, on nine, and on six. That would ting a bell m the hjiilding occupied by , the subscriber who had number 396, and there would be an immediate connection. Should the line be engaged _ a buzzing sound comes back which means "Engaged" ! Placing^ the receiver' on the hook gives up the connection. , Telephones can be used at all tunes, day or night, and -require no manual service m the exchange*, but work automatically. "I believe," said Mr Wilford, "that just as the days of firemen m ships are numbered through the introduction of oil, so, m the course of time, the automatic telephone will c ? u Se.the exchange girl to disappear also. ;.-,:.