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exception, of the Willans & Robinson pattern. The dynamos are all
by Siemens, and give a total electrical horse power of 960. The
boiler house contains four Lancashire boilers and one Babcock &
Wilcox. This plant therefore has a producing power of 720
kilowatts, and is capable of supplying 4,800 amperes. About
19 miles of cable have been laid in the streets. The mains are laid
on both sides of the streets under the pavement, and by this means
interference with the carriageways is avoided. A special feature of
the undertaking (and one apparently adopted in no other place) is
the laying of the cables in the bare ground. About six inches of
earth are filled in over the main and then an ordinary deal board
is laid down over the cable as a warning to workmen that a main
is underneath. This system is, however, not being followed in
the extensions now carried out, as in one or two instances the
cables have been found to have been damaged by workmen and rats.
The cables are now drawn through ordinary 9 inch drain pipes, by
which considerable saving is claimed. The site selected for the
central station is in the middle of the town, contains about 1,200
square yards, and is capable of considerable extension. The cost
of production per Board of Trade unit on the past year's working
is stated to be 4d., including sinking fund, repayment of loans
and interest, &c. The price charged to consumers has been reduced
from 5½d. to 5d. Coal is obtained at from 8s to 8s. Cd. per ton
delivered at the works. Financially, the undertaking has been a
complete success, notwithstanding the losses made on the first two
years' working.
The deputation was enabled to ascertain from a report made by the
Chairman of the Electric Lighting Committee to the Council at a
recent meeting on the electricity accounts for the half-year ended
December, 1892, that electricity had been sold to the value of
£4,548 19s. 4d., which was somewhat over a thousand pounds more
than was sold in the corresponding half of the previous year. Coals
cost very little more in the half-year referred to than in the
corresponding six months of the previous year; repairs of work an d
plant £143, as against £21; and repairs of machinery £189, as
against £11. The sum of £577 was paid through the sinking fund,
as against £398, and for interest on loans £719, as against £545.
The result of the half-year's working of the electricity department