HYDRO-ELECTRICITY.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume LXX, Issue 146126, 5 December 1916, Page 5

HYDRO-ELECTRICITY.

(To tho Editor.)

Sir, —Some weeks-have elapsed since the representative conference set up a committee to investigate the possibilities of electric light and energy from the Wairarapa rivers, aud it is surely up to the committee to give some proof that it is alive to the confidence placed in it. At the outset it, Avas reported that one firm and one individual had "promised contributions towards the initial expenses that Avould be entailed in the investigations. Have any further sums been promised? Has any canvass been made or arranged for? Mr Daniell at the meeting struck the proper keynote when he pointed out that it Avas useless in trusting to getting any practical support from the Government. No one knows better than he, the intolerable vacillation that is to be met with on any proposals placed before the Cabinet ami its high officialdom. But why Avait for any help or advice from the Government!; Why spend a large, sum on engineers, Avho have a. knack of propounding the most elaborate schemes, expensive plans, etc., so that hundreds of thousands of pounds are required in order to make elaborate and extensive Avorks in order that big commissions fall to the lot of the engineer? It is Avell known that at the WaingaAva Gorge there is sufficient fall to drive several turbines Avithout great expense. Those qualified to judge and who have known the river for many years can point to a spot Avhere, by the construction of a simple weir, some 30 feet of fall can lie obtained, and foundations for the turbines can be made in the solid rock. This work, simple and effective, can be done without interfering in any way with the town water supply or Avith the other important irrigation systems that, aro at work on both sides ot the river. It is, 1 understand, quite on the cards that the proposal outlined will give sufficient energy to supply the Masterton borough and County for some years to come. It should be borne in mind that, the large Government scheme is somewhat mythicnil, particularly as

Waikaremoana is at least 2f>o miles away in 'the most direct course that a line could be carried. 1 contend that the Waiugawa will supply all that is wanted in the meantime, and then, too, at a minimum of cost, which is the most important factor, because, to be a. payable proposition, both light and power must be supplied at a price that will ensure its use on every farm and factory within reach. To return to the committee, let it take a leaf from the book of the Patriotic Association, and publish daily the result of the canvass for contributions to the initial expenses, then the public will know who Aye re in earnest in the matter. —I am, etc..

SPEED UP. (A meeting of the local members of the Investigation Committee is being held in Masterton this week.—Ed. D.T.)