Jonathan Tindale > Quotes

“One of my favourite anecdotes is the first electric street lighting in one Nelson suburb that was powered by a small hydroelectric generator, in the hills above the city. To switch the lights on and off, a chicken run was added to the power plant. At dusk every night the chooks would go inside their coop and roost on a special hinged perch. The perch sank under their weight, and connected a switch which turned on the street lights. At first light the hens would leave the coop, the spring-loaded perch swung back and the lights went out again.”
― Jonathan Tindale, Squashed Possums: Off the beaten track in New Zealand