ELECTRIC LIGHT.

Waipa Post, Volume VI, Issue 270, 5 December 1913, Page 2

ELECTRIC LIGHT.

TO THE EDITOR. SIR,—In your last issue Pro Bono Publico advises a Taihoa policy. He says wait! wait! wait! and yet offers no reasonable grounds in support of his advice. Jr Pro Bono Publico does speak lor the public good —and 1 do not think that he does —he should at least say why we should wait indefinitely before we decide. Of course he is wondering how many residents will use the light aijid takes' upon himself to prophesy that the scheme will be a frost, and a costly experiment lor the town. In this I can only presume that Pro Bono Publico has never travelled further than Kakepuku, nor benefitted by literature. If he had done so he would possibly already have realised that his argument had been raised in other towns and that, when the scheme matured almost every resident availed himself of the more modern lighting system, and which financially proved a good town investment. As it is to-day in Te Awamutu the public are spending large sums in candles and kerosene, and the installation of a municipal lighting system simply means that this same money goes to buy the light from the power house. So that it in reality pays the rates of which Pro Bono Publico is so very afraid. In other words, if the money we now pay for candles, matches, and kerosene was paid for electric light, then undoubtedly a municipal lighting system would pay its own way and rates for that purpose would never be struck. That has been proven elsewhere, and it will be the case at Te Awamutu. If Pro Bono Publico would have us wait, then he must show some better cause than he has done. —I am, etc., 1

VOTER

TO THE EDITOR,

SiR, —Some doubt seems' to ) exist in the minds of a few rate--1 payers as to the safely from fire > of a building wired for electric • lighting or heating. A brief - comparison between the old and : the latest systems will be of ; interest to a few of your readers. ; Under the old system ,the insulated house-wires from the mains ; were conducted from the meter to the various points in a series of wooden casings. These casings were placed above or below the ceiling's and in course of time became as dry as tinder and found an excellent kindling place should the wires become hot as the result of a short circuit. They were also liable to be eaten through by rats or mice, and once the wires were exposed the inevitable short circuit took place and a fire was the result. .Under this system the fuses were placed in the ceiling roses and wall switches and were liable to be tampered, with by unauthorised persons, who, perhaps finding the safety fuse gone, would replace it with ordinary wire, usually a hair pin, thus rendering the whole circuit liable to serious damage, if not fire. Under the new system all the insulated wires are enclosed in metal tubes, which lead right up- to the terminals at the ceiling roses and switches. The latter do not contain any fuses, but all the fuses for each room are contained on a central fuse and meter board placed in a convenient position and easily accessible. This fuse-board usually consists of a slab of marble standing about four inches from the wall and surrounded by an iron frame containing a glass door. Thus all the fuses are under one control, and should one require to be. replaced, the main switch is cut off when the wires may be handled without danger. The fuse is the safety ; valve for the whole electric sys- j tern, and should the wires become , overloaded this fuse immediately melts, thus breaking the. circuit j and preventing the ordinary ,

wires from becoming hot. It is very necessary that fuses 1 should be replaced only by fuse wire. Power and heating circuits are installed in the same way, usually with a heavier wire, and j attached to a separate meter, as n these units are considerably j, cheaper than for lighting. The installation of an electric system <; for lighting purposes costs about 20s per point unless special fittings are required. The forgoing « system is perfectly fireproof and . is now recognised, and passed by ® the underwriters and fire insur- c | ance companies.—1 am, etc., 7 „ J. M. SPEAR. “