Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-08-02
The Tower system OF lighting
streets.

10 The Editor Of the 4ispotch;
notice in this mornings Dispatch let-
ter slnpea by Mr.. r. r. Glasgow which
makes one or Two statements rather mislead-
ing 20 the public and should be answered.
lido not care 20 90 into comparative STATES
ment a. to cost OF gas and electric ight.
Any one who cares TO GO truthfullr at work
can find ont Just what every city 10 tnc
Union IL doing IN the why OF lighting ana rs
cost. The scheme for lighting this city was
entirely worked out by myself after having
thoroughly gone over the whole subject, ana
believe truly that II the city adopt my
recommendation they will hsve one OF the
bgs,.ligh,ed cites In the Union. found
after going over the streets Of the city
that a very large portion was entirely
without HIGHT OF any kind. The ter
ritcry was not very thtckiy ffffsbitea, as
conpared with ths portions already lighted,
and / made up my mind that q system OF low
towers seycnty-nye feet high, used where
there was but little foliage, on the ouhkirts
OF the city, would he the most economical
and best possible way u could be lighted,
and then IN in, so 10 speak, With street In
tersection lights like those already IN opera
ton here. calculated that II would taSe
the Twenty-Five towers as mentioned M the
bid, aud at least 100 more arc-hmps, pisceu
at street Intersections, besides THOSE now IN
operation. have noticed In nearly an OF
The rsports about the city lighting that no
mention Is made al ai Of the most irnpor-
tant paIt OF the street-lig hting-yiz., the 225
lights TO be placed at street intersections,
They convey (Nr. Glasgow falls into the same
error only the idea thst the proposition Il
entirely for tower-iighting. This is mis-
take. I do not advocate tower.lightlug ex-
cltisiveiy and do not believe 1t would be snfis-
iactorr atone. In fact my experience In tbese
matters leads me to say positively that unless
the conditions exist as they 90 hure, where
large area with scarcely any foliage, WIN
broad streets, is TO be lighted, towers couid
not be used 10 advantage. They can be used
here, however. reseryins enough sueet-in-
tersoction lights to light up such places as
the rays from the towers will not touch.
I think Mr. Glasgow has hardly treated
the proposition or this company fairly when
he speaks Of "ths fAncifu scheme for light
ing by towers, elsewhere condemned"
As 10 making a comparison between gas
and the electric light, and for that reason II
no other comparison between their cost,
one might lust as we'll make one between
taIow-dip and gas-iet. The proposition is
about the same.
submit tue names Of q few cities that
have adopted the "ianciful scheme" and
your readers may judge for themselves
whether II " condemned or not.
List Of some Of tie cities using electric
lights, where both tower and intersection
lights are used: Adrian, Mich; Akron,
Ohio; Albaay, y. y; Ashevffle, y. e.;
Bloomington. H.; Boston, Mass. /; Buffalo,
v. Y: Chattanooga, Tenn; Cleveland,
Ohio; Counci! Bluffs. Iowa; Davenport,
Iowa: Denver. Col; Eau Claire, Wis. FL
gin, ill.,: Evansville, Ind. Fargo, OAK;
! Fond Du Lac, Wis; Fort Wayne, Ind;
Houston. Texas: jacksonville, H.; Joliet,
ILL.,: La Crosse, Wis; Macon, Ga; Mobile,
Ala. ; New Orleans, La; New York city
Peoria. ILL.,. Rock Island, ILL.,; st. Joseph,
Mo: san Francisco, CAL. Savannah. Ga;
Utica, n. Y; Winona, Minn., and many
others.
The above is only partial list OF those
using the tower and Intersection system,
and does not include the HUNDREDS 81 cities
using electric lights IN one way or another.
But why draw n comparison? People 90
not compare the cost OF gas with that OF
candles nor the price OF pheasant with
that of q mutton.cho People do not ask
COR the electric light altogether because II
is cheap, but becanse it is saie, healthy,
pure. soft, natural, and II csndle-power Is
considered is very much cheaper.
In 1870 there WIS not singh lamp lighted
bv electricity, and TO-DAY there are IN this
country over 100000 in operation. IS not,
then, the topic OF electric lighting 1--we
oncy Is It fair TO Insinuate that the sys-
TEN we offer ;, a visionary one or an eX-
pertinent? Has this company not demon
strated their ability 10 carry out any con-
tract or statement they have nader
Yours very truly,
". II. Co1s, Electrical Engineer,
supprintendeui Virginia Electfic.Light and
Power Company.
August 1, 1888.