COUNTRY HOUSE LIGHTING.

Timaru Herald, Volume CV, Issue 16081, 30 September 1916, Page 15

COUNTRY HOUSE LIGHTING.

Most household inventions such as tho sewing machine and modern cooking ranges benefit all sections of the conimuiiit.y and the man out back (provided his circumstances permit) is able to mako liis home almost as up-to-date and comfortable as that of liis city cousin, while the advent of motor cars the last drawback of country life, i.e., isolation.

In the matter of house lighting, howevre, the country houso-hokler has been at a serious disadvantage. Coal gas and electric light .ire in universal use in all large towns, and tho city housewife would rather part with her sewing machine tflian lose h©r gas otovo and go back to kerosene lamps, which are used in most country homes to-day. A number of self-eontained systems are of course, obtainable in New Zealand at present, but tho majority of them are far from being an efficient substitute for coal gas, or electric lieht.

Acetyline gas is a great improvement on kerosene lamps, but its objectionable features are well known. The gas is bighlv explosive and therefore dangerous besides having an objectionable smell, while the cleaning and filling of the carbide trays, which have to be attended to almost overy day, is a most disagreeable operation. The average life of an acetyline plant is usually only about- four years, and the present high cost of carbide makes the running expenses almost prohibitive. Hollow-wiro lighting systems which generate' gas from benzine and air are in great 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 Offices, Wireless Stations etc., viz, the famous Wizard, is the most up-to-date and efficient. Over 1,500 complete Wizard systems have been sold in Now Zealand within the last 12 months. The initial cost is small, and la.mps are lighted by an ordinary 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 their lamp for keening the gas tip clean, while for quality and general convenience tho light compares very favourable with city gas. Excellent cooking facilities in the way of stoves and ovens are obtainable a.nd any grade of petrol or bezine can be used, the plant requiring practically no attention. The !ocfiil A cents for the Wizard system, F. Murdock Arcade, Timnm, will be pleased to furnish tho fullest information and arrange for a demonstration free of obligation at any time on request.