National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1886-02-06
rSDEuGRouND WIRES.

Inc OutlOfllCS OF clteS Wnefc ClumOf
has been raised against overhead wires
and in favor Of putting them under ground
will find a lesson worthy Of their attention
in the action taken by the councils of Phila-
delphia on the 2sth of December. An ordi-
nance was enacted by councils OF this city
some eighteen months ago, declaring that
all telegraph, telephone, aud electric light
wires within the municipal limits must be
place in underground condults before the
I'd Of january, 1856. This measure
and individuals whose interests It af-
fected, and scarcely Il wire was
put underground except by way Of ex-
pertinent. As the allotted time drew TO a
close public interest In the subject increased
enormously, and developed an eager curiOs-
fly to see whether the city or the electric
companies would yield. The electrical com
mittee Of councils, with heroic resolve
to uphold the majesty Of the municipality,
announced that ON Jan. II would begin TO
cut and tear down every unburled wire In
the city, and actually there is reason to
believe II would have undertaken that
almost inconceiyable folly had not councils
met five days IN advance of the stated day
and extended the time for ono year. The
ordinance, therefore, us II stands at present
provides that the overhead wires shall be
This action Of the Philadelphia councils
is very significant. 1t is Il distinct official
recognition of the difficulties which clectri-
cal companies are cOntcnding against in
their search for some practicable system for
carrying their wires Underground. 1t indi-
Gates also disposition on the part Of the
municipal authorities to deal fairly with
these corporations by giving them time for
necessary tests, ana by protecting their
property against the assaults Of unreason-
ing agitators IN the meanwhile.
That overhead wires in large cities are
nuisance and dangerous nuisance need
not here be argued 1t is admitted by
everybody. But It is one thing TO discover
nuisance and quite another thing to abate
II. If the authorities Of New York, Boston,
Philadelphia, Chicago, st. Louis. and Gin
ciunau were to join in ordering the electri-
cal companies to put their wires under
ground within certain time, and If the
companies quietly Yielded, the result would
inevitably be either the serious impairment
or the total suspension of almost the entire
telegraphic service for a considerable
period, and through that the great CONNER
cial enterprises of the continent would be
clogged and stopped for similar interval.
These results would occur because there IS
no system for carrying wires underground
which has been tried and found thoroughly
reliable for commercial purposes. There Is
in fact no system of subterraneau conduit
which any city in the country would under
take TO use for its fire alarm telegraph
wires upon the strength of any tests
made up 10 this time. An ordinance,
therefore, like that which has been
practically set aside in Philadelphia, Is
simply an effort to make electrical cOmpa-
nies do something which SO far has proven
impossible. There is reason TO hope that
the problem of underground wires will ul-
timately be solved, aud we can only say
| speed the day. But until 1t is solved, and
safe, trustworthy system of conduit Is
| provided, city ordinances ordering the
| wires under ground are nonsense of the
cheapest description. Such legislation sim
| ply aims to put the cart before the horse
| and then beat the animal for not knowing
more than his master.
There is no reason whatever to suppose
| that electrical companies are opposed to
underground wires in cities. On the con-
| trGry, there Is abundant ground for be-
lieving they are In favor of them. With con-
duits safe and reliable, ramifying q city
like Philadelphia or New York, a company
could maintain its wires In working order
for vastly less than 1t costs TO carry them
overhead. Wires would last longer In such
a conduit, they would be In infinitely less
danger of breakage by accident or fire, and
in case Of such disaster they could be re-
| pan Vu IhuSi Hlplt plNhpIly YUAN 10 pOo-
sible with overhead lines. Indeed, Presi.
dent Green, of the Western Union,
IN his letter TO the Philadelphia councils
protesting against the proposed wire.cut-
ting in this city, plainly declared that his
company was ready to bury its wires as
soon as II found the means of doing so
without impairing their service. Without
conceding its obligation to do so-reserving
the question of jurisdiction for judicial de.
cisions-he advised councils that the West
crn Union wires he put underground when
some tried and approved method of carry
ing them was devised. And probably he
meant, If he did not say "and not before"
The whole question, 1t seems TO us, Is
simply one of means. Everybody is against
the unsightly, dangerous maZes Of overhead
wires. Nobody defends them, They must
come down, and the sooner the better.
But the interests of trades, commerce. and
popular intelligence, together with the best
sense of municipal progress, insist that
they must not be torn down until there Is a
place to put them where they will be just
as useful as they are to-day.