1.—13.

F. OAKDEN.]

17

303. You say you asked for applications for power and got them for 3,600-horse power? —Yes. 304. Have you considered the number of horse-power you could deliver to Dunedin by means of your present scheme? —Yes. That became the electrifal engineer's duty to report to the board. 305. What is it? —Six-thousand-horse power complete. 306. That will be the total power you will h&ve available, not only for Dunedin, but for any other demand within the area of supply? —Yes. It would not be all available for Dunedin; it is not, as a matter of fact. 307. It may be asked, why should you not content yourselves with your first installation, costing you £56,000, and supply the are* outside Dunedin? I want to ask you whether that would be commercially possible? —I should say, distinctly not. The area outside of Dunedin is so scattered that it would involve an enornw.us expenditure for branch transmission-lines, and would end in disaster. 308. What is the radius of the area of supply?—l have not calculated. 309. Say, from Milton to Port Chalmers?—-It would be thirty miles by a breadth of forty miles. It is self-evident that we could not go here, then, and everywhere with the first unit. 310. Then, we may take it that to shut out Dunedin would be to make this enterprise a commercial failure?— Clearly. The whole object of the company, from first to last, has been to supply Dunedin, its suburbs, and the surrounding district.

Saturday, 20th August, 1904. Examination of Frank Oakden continued. (No. 6.) 1. Dr. Findlay.] At the close of yesterday's proceedings you were being examined as to the effect the exclusion of Dunedin from the area of supply would have on your company, and I think you explained that it would be disastrous to the company ? —Yes, for the reason that we must have a main objective. In other words, there must be a large demand from one particular point of the district, and thereafter reticulations or branch lines would be laid. The main feature of the scheme is dependent on the supply to Dunedin, and all our expense has been in connection with supplying Dunedin proper. 2. I will leave it at that. You have given the Committee the detail of demand for power you have already got for the future? —1 think so. 3. From your consideration of the future demand in Dunedin and the surrounding district, can you say whether in your judgment that demand will be enough to absorb all the power obtainable not only from the Waipori Falls and Lee Stream, but from the Taieri as well, if it is harnessed? —I should say so emphatically. I would further state that my opinion is based not only on what I have seen in other parts of the world, but on information we have received from all the capable engineers we have been able to get hold of. Siemens's representative was here some time ago, and was very emphatic on the subject, and I understand Mr. Alio also was emphatic; and other authorities —I am speaking of books now —point to a considerable demand for electricity where it has been made available for new communities. 4. You think the demand will be enough to absorb all the power from the sources I have mentioned ? —More than enough. 5. In reply to a question, Mr. Hay stated yesterday that it was probable the Taieri would be harnessed by the city within the three years allowed by the .4ct. What have you to say to that? — I have no desire to criticise the Lee Stream cr Taieri schemes. I can only say, from what I have read in the newspapers, that the Taieri scheme will be an extremely costly one, and that it was abandoned and the Lee Stream adopted. 6. By whom? —By the Council. 7. Now we come to the question of the cost of the power. You heard Mr. Goodman say yesterday that power might be brought to the power-house at Dunedin at an expense of £4 12s ? — Yes. 8. £4 12s. per horse-power per annum for twenty-four hours. What have you to say to that? —I should prefer that question to be answered by Mr. Stark, as he is more familiar with it. But I am sure Mr. Goodman did not intend to convey to the Committee that they could afford to sell it to the public at that. That was the net estimated cost delivered into the sub-station. 9. Supposing it were delivered at the sub-station for £4 125., what would be the additional cost per horse-power to deliver it in quantities to consumers all over the city? —That is a matter for the electrical engineer to answer. 10. Mr. Hay, in comparing the cost of steam and the cost of electrical power, referred to the price of coal, and stated that there was not much chance of a change from steam to electricity since the business men had the advantage of cheap coal? —I should scarcely take Mr. Hay's opinion on that point. I say it is utterly wrong. He referred to lignite, and the evaporative power of lignite as compared with true coal is so small that the cost of using it is equally great, and true coal is approximately £1 ss. a ton. Our competitors in America and England obtain their coal probably at 9s. and 10s. a ton, while we in Dunedin have to pay £1 ss. The lowest price at which I can buy coal—and I think I get through 6,000 tons a year-is £1 ls. per ton for the smallest screenings of Brunner coal practically. It is there that the statement that cheap coal is available to Dunedin is wrong. 11. Apart from that general statement that cheap coal is not available to Dunedin, can you say that where coal is as cheap as 9s. a ton electrical energy is taken in preference to steam? In Pennsylvania two years ago the cost of coal—Mr. Stark can correct me if lam wrong—was $2J per ton; that would be about 9s. per ton. And, as we all know the enormous amount of

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