POWER HELD UP.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 274, 23 December 1914, Page 5

POWER HELD UP.

SHORTAGE OF INSULATORS. CHANCE FOR NEW ZEALAND. One of the difficulties faeing the City Council just now in the distribution of Lake Coleridge light and power in the city is the shortage of insulators. The power has been ■'' on'' for a few hours each evening since the ceremony of a few weeks ago, and except for a solitary hiatus last Friday night, has answered very well. INSULATORS WANTED.. The demand for insulators by the City Council has created a shortage in the Dominion. Having exhausted local supplies,, the councilgot to work in other centres,, and raked in the surpluses that were available there. The Telegraph Department i was also approached, and a number of i superannuated insulators were delivered.! The trouble is that insulators, like so many other out-of-the-way lines, are! '' made in Germany.' : ' Germany's export trade is non-existent, thanks to the Brit-; ish Navy, so that source of supply was cut off. Insulators are manufactured also in the United States and Great Britain,; but importations seem to : have come principally, from the potteries of our. historic enemy. EFFECTS OF THE SHORTAGE. One of the effects of the shortage is that lighting power cannot be delivered to a-number of houses Which' have already been wired in .anticipation of the time when Lake Coleridge-power would be available. Since the time when the Lake Coleridge scheme became a definite affair, a considerable number of houses have been erected, and a very fair proportion were wired for electric lighting purposes. Some of*them are . so far away from the main station that ; the old cables are not suitable to carry ' the current for the distance. 'The City Council is pushing on with the construction of sub-stations, ten of which are provided for in the scheme. One of the most difficult parts has been that lying about Papanui Road, where there

has been a great demand. The St;. Albans, sub-station, at the Fire Brigade Station, has been completed, and the. underground cable connecting it with the central station at Armagh Street is now being laid. Another sub-station is being erected at St. Albans Park, to relieve the congestion in that part of the district. From these sub-stations the lighting power will be • distributed by overhead wires, radiating throughout the immediate district. - - i A NEW INDUSTRY.

The possibility of having insulators made in New Zealand is being discussed, and the Christchureh Brick Company has been approached. The Government Geologist has been communicated with in order to ascertain whether there are deposits of suitable clay in New Zealand. In the event of a 7 favourable reply being .received, there is ev«ry probability of a new industry being established ifl th.s Dominion.