POWER OFF TWO HOURS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 283, 1 December 1941, Page 4

POWER OFF TWO HOURS

BREAKDOWN AT OKGIA SUB-STATION TRAM TRAFFIC DISLOCATED A breakdown m Hie switchgear al lhe Government sub-station, Okoia, deprived Wanganui of electric powei for slightly more than two hours on Saturday morning. The power went oft at S.lu and was restored at in. 57. lhe area affected being from Turakina to Waverley, including the citj and suburbs. The tramway system in Wanganui was brought to a standstill, tht failure occurring at a time when loadings were heavy on city-bound cars. Many people had to walk, hire a taxi or cancel their trip lo town. Victoria Avenue, usually busy with shoppers on a Saturday morning, was comparatively quiet. "When the power failed all the trams were out on the road." said an oliicial last nig'ht, "but when it was restored they picked up their running from where they had stopped. The position was awkward for a time, and it was fully an hour before normal schedules could be resumed." Because many factories do not operate on Saturday mornings, the industrial inconvenience of the breakdown was less serious than it wtwld have been on a week day. Some factories, work-rooms and small plants, however, were unable to work normally. Post and telegraph services in Wanganui were not interrupted, an alternative plant enabling the department to euntinue working at normal capacity. Hailroad signals were not affected and no traffic delavs occurred because of the power failure. Though electric clocks stopped, the town clock in Victoria Avenue continued to toll the time, the master clock in the Wanganui City Council’s office being controlled h\ batteries.