Los Angeles herald., 1890-09-14
LIGHTING THE CITY.
A NEW COMPANY SEEKING TO GET
IN HERE.
But Confessing It's Inability to Con pete
With the Old, and Asks Few Special
Favors.

the first city in the United States to be
so lighted and the fact served to draw a
great deal of attention to the city. At
first the plant on Alameda street, the
arc masts and the beautiful and far
reaching effects OF the lights were the
admiration of all visitors from the east.
There has been mention made of these
facts in many places. HaskelPs hand
book OF surveying speaks OF
the lights Of Los Angeles being
visible out at sea at distance of sixty
to eighty miles. The city covers an
area of thirty-six square miles, and it
may we'll be doubted if any similar area
in the world is SO we'll lighted for the
cost of lighting this city.
The present company has during all
the years in question, done all the light
ing of the city. Its contracts have been
renewed from time to time in this way
So much is to be paid on each arc
mast OF three lamps Of 3000-candle power
each, or 9000-candle power to the mast !;
so much for each pole lamp of 5000 or
2000-candle power and so much for each
hanging lamp OF 1000 or 3000-candle
power, the company to put in any OF
each sort of light at any point the coun
Gil may desire it. The total cost to the
city is at present about 100000. There
are 33 of the 9000-candle power masts
in the city; there are 20 OF the 2000-
candle power lamps, and there are SO of
the 3000-candle power lamps. The total
is 133 lights Of all sorts. The total is
nearly hall million candle power.
This year the contract comes up for
renewal before the council, and is now
before the committee of that body on
gas lights. 1t will come up before the
council for action tomorrow, and there
will be two reports, majority report
signed by Councilmen Wirsching, Sum-
merland and Hamilton, and a minority
report signed by Councilmen Franken
field and Bonsall. The difference is
mainly as to how the bids are to be
made. There is new company seeking
to do business here, but it starts out
with confession of inability to compete
with the old company, and asks for
special favors at the hand oft he council
in order that it may bid at all.
1t is the part of this new company
that is espoused by the minority report.
The special favor asked for is that the
city be districted into two sections, the
first to embrace circle of a mile rad
ius VIII ose center would be at the inter-
section of Main and First streets. The
periphery of this would run about
Main and Ninth streets; to the
gore where Figueroa and Ca
nal streets come together; about
where the Sisters hospital stands across
San Fernando street at the W est end Of
the viaduct at the Capitol mills, runs
east of the river at Also street, and pass
ing Just east of the First street bridge
goes below the Arcade depot to the place
of beginning. All inside that circle
would be the other circnit. 1t is for this
inside business the new company wants
to bid, and let the outside territory go.
OF course in all ways the inside district
is the crea M of the business.
Most of the lights would be there, and
ten horse power in the engine room will
produce as much illumination inside
this circuit as fifteen horse power would
outside. This is an average estimate
made by competent electrician.
In the inside district as at present
lighted, there are ten arc masts each
with three lamps of 5000 candle power
each, or 5000 to the mast. There are
in this district forty-seven lamps, hanging
oron poles at the intersections of streets,
each of 1000, candle power. In the out
side district there are twenty-three of
the arc masts as above, and fifty-three
intersection lamps Of 5000 candle power
each.
The new plan deals entirely with the
inside system, and proposes to take
down all the arc masts inside the mile
circle described above, and to remove
,1 %hA t,,tn lot,N nf
candle power, substituting in the
of 1900 candle power each. 1t provides
for lamps of this sort at each street
crossing along Spring street, along Main
from Ninth to the Plaza and along
Broadway to Ninth. The rest of the Cir
cult is to have such lamps at such
places as the council may direct. So far
certain points are designated, but so few
that it must be the intention to add
largely to the number. At II O'Clock
each night each alternate light on the
streets above are to be extin-
guished, the others to burn until
it becomes light. In the outside
circuit all the masts are to come
down and their places to be taken
by lamps of 2000-candle-power each on
a 60-foot pole. There are no specifica-
tions as to how many of them are to be
put in nor as to where they are to go.
Santa Barbara is lighted by the Hous-
ton-Thompson system, the new one
seeking to gain foot-hold here. They
tried there to use 1200-candle-poweI
lamps, but had to take them out and
put in lamps of 2000-candle-power
There are scarcely half dozen cities in
the United States that use lamps of SO
small power in the streets. They are
really store lamps. They are rather
small for that purpose.
These are about all the facts succinct,
ly stated, and in view Of them it will
not surprise intelligent people to learn
that a majority of the committee on
lights in the council prefer to hold on tc
the old system. They seem to be right
The people outside OF the mile cir.
cult are naturally little uneasy. All
they know is that they are about to lose
their high masts, that shed light all ovel
the country so that all the people gets
of it. They are fearful that their homes
will be left in the same zimmerman
darkness the plans leave their district
in. To show how general this anxiety
is, here are few interviews had with
the residents left in utter darkness by
the minority report:
Mrs. Judge Brunson, northwest corner
Grand avenue and Fourth street
"DOn't want mast taken down under any