DAMAGE BY A RAT
CAPITAL IN DARKNESS. CANBERRA AND OTHER TOWNS. The unknown urge which compelled a rat to enter a cubicle in the Canberra electric power house after midnight recently resulted in Canberra, Queanbeyan, Yass, Cootamundra and Burrinjuck being plunged into darkness, and the rat losing, its life. The rat came into contact with the cable which conveys current to Queenbeyan; it caused a short circuit, which resulted in a blinding flash. It took half an hour to restore the light in Canberra, and two hours in Queanbeyan. An automatic device at the other centres came into operation, and the darkness there lasted only a few seconds. Several guests returning late to a Canberra hotel were handed candles as they entered. A number of bridge parties had to be abandoned, and those pedestrians caught unawares were at a loss to find their way along the maze of circuits and crescents that constitute the thoroughfares of the Federal capital city.
The body of the rat, through which had passed 7000 volts of electric current, was found to foe only slightly singed.
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Bibliographic details
Taranaki Daily News, 16 August 1933, Page 7
Word Count
181DAMAGE BY A RAT Taranaki Daily News, 16 August 1933, Page 7
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