WAIROA INSURANCE CLAIM

Taranaki Daily News, 20 June 1931, Page 9

WAIROA INSURANCE CLAIM

ELECTRICAL EFFICIENCY SAFETY OF WORKS AFTER QUAKE JUDGE TO MAKE AN INSPECTION. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Gisborne, Last Night. The electrical installation at the Wairoa freezing works was discussed to-day when the claim of the company and the Bank of New Zcala. ’. for £77,850 insurance from the New Zealand and Eagle and Star Insurance Companies again occupied the attention c Mr. Justice Blair in the Sutreme Court to-day. The judge will visit the works to-mor-row. . The claim arises, from the fire which destroyed part of the works after the February earthquake. • William Drewitt, Power Board engineer, continued his' evidence. He stated that the maxigraph instruments he rescued from the fire showed by graphs of electrical energy consumed that the buildings were in such i. condition that they were holding their temperatures. Mr. Justice Blair: If there were a short circuit in the system sufficient to cause a fire would that be shown? Drewitt: If there was an arcing short circuit sufficient to create danger of fire it would be recorded on the graph. Drewitt said there was a normal consumption of current before and after the earthquake. There could have been no abnormal ingress of outside atmosphere, otherwise it would have taken longer to obtain the desired temperature. Cross-examined, he said the system, of wiring had been a poor one, but was improved before the earthquake. It would have passed the Underwriters’ Association. Tho wires in the chamber were not in tubes, as were only the entrance wires, the sole insulation being the cover of rubber and the braiding. These wires were fairly tightly stretched. If further stretched they might diminish in diameter or break. The recording instruments would tell defects in the system. He had not been in C store for four years and could not speak positively as to the condition of the wiring after the earthquake. Drewitt said he could not suggest any source of fire, apart fpoin human intervention, other than the electrical installation.

His Honour: Rats do not like freezing works, I take it. Rats are becoming unfashionable as far ;.s fires are concerned. Drewitt added that fires of electrical origin were most uncommon and more likely to occur in conduit systems where the wires were close together and could arc across. U Questioned if Waikaremoana was put out of action, could power have been obtained, Drewitt said there were, duplicate lines and he could not conceive any contingency under which consumers on this line could not have been supplied within 12 hours. , Janies Brownlie, a sheepfarmer who had meat in the works, said he had inspected the works after the earthquake and came to the conclusion that they were safe, the damage being slight. John Wilson Kane, superintendent of the Gisborne fire brigade, reviewing a sectional plan .of the uninsulated wqlls of the Wairoa works, stated that the fire would not be readily extinguished once it had a good hold. If a hole burned through the floor and a. draught were getting into the building the fire would obtain a good hold. To fight a fire of that nature a pressure of 1001 b .with four to six ’leads was necessary. When the fire was well away there would be nothing gained by -going on the roof; ■His Honour: Assuming that the appliances were inadequate, that does not affect the case because the insurance company took it and fixed the premium on that. I am more concerned with inefficiency attributable to the earthquake. Evidence on the lines of previous testimony was given this afternoon, following which the court adjourned until Monday. To-morrow the judge will inspect the freezing works.