COUNTRY HOUSE LIGHTING.

Timaru Herald, Volume CV, Issue 160, 28 September 1916, Page 5

COUNTRY HOUSE LIGHTING.

Most household inventions 6uch as the sewing mach.ne and modern cooking ranges benefit all seoL.ons of the community and the man out oack (pro- • vided his circumstances permit) is able , to,make his home almost as up-to-date, and "comfortable as -that of his c.&y cousin, while the aavont of motor cars and,good roads has taken away almost the last drawback of country life, i.e., ' isolation. j . In the matter of house lighting, how- I evre, the. country house-holder has been at a serious disadvantage. Coal gas and electric light are in universal use in all large towns, and the city housewife would rather part with her sewing machine tihan lose her,gas otove and go back to kerosene lamps,- v/nich are used m mest country homes to-day. A, number of self-contained gaslight'ng' evstems are of,course, obtainable in New Zealand . at present, but tho j majority of them are far from being an efficient substitute for' coal gas, or electric -light. ' ■

AcetylVne gas is a great improvement on kerosene lamps, but its objectionable features are well known. The gas is liighlv explosive and therefore dangerous besides having an objectionable smoll, while the cleaning and' filling of the carb'de trays, which have to ho attended to almost every day, is a most disagreeable operation. The averago life of an acetyline plant is usually only about four years, and the 1 present high cost of carbide makes the running expenses .almost prohibitive. Hollow-wire lighting systems which generate gas from benzine and air are in grea? demand at present. There are two kinds of hollow-wire plants on the market, but the one adopted by the New Zealand Government for use in country Post Office?, 'Wireless Stations etc., viz:, the famous Wizard, is the most up-to-d-ate and efficient. Over 1.500 eomr/ieto Wizard systems have been sold in N«v Zealand within the last 12 months. Tho initial cost is small, and la.mps are lighted by an or- \ dinarv wax match, and inverted gas mantles are used. The small generator, in which the gas is _ generated, is fitted with an automatic cleaning attachment which the "Wizard alone embodies with the ; r lamp for keening the .gas tip clean, while for quality -and general convenience the light comparer very favourable with eitv gas. "Excellent cooking facilit'es in the way of stoves and ovens are obtainable a.nd any grade of petrol or bszitio can be used, the plant requiring practically no Attention.

The local Agents for the Wizard system, F. Murdock Arcade, TimnTn, will be nleascd to furnish the fullest information and .'irrange for a. demonstration free of obligation at time on reQuest.