The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1891-05-31

Contracts will be let this week by the
United States Electric Light Company for the
construction of an addition which necessity
demands that they make to their plant, now
located at the corner of Thirteen-and- a-half
and streets northwest. The new building
in structure and size will be,nsarly counter
part of the one now occupied by the company.
The present building covers about $4,000
square feet of the 10000 owned by this corpo-
ration. The addition will be located just north
of and connecting with the present shop and
will occupy about $4,000 square feet. The
plans will be practically the same, except that
more windows will be supplied and the venti-
lation improved by every possible means.
Work will be begun at once and will be pushed
as rapidly as possible A committee of the
company composed of President Thomas, Mr..
Robert Boyd, Mr. George w. Pearson, and
Mr.. A. NJ. Renshaw have been making an ex-
tensive tour of investigation of the electric
light plants and shops in cities East and West
with the object of obtaining for the extension
of the plant the most improved engines and
electrical appliances. President Thomas has
just returned from the trip, while some of the
members OF the committee, who have not yet
completed their investigations. are still alb
sent from the CITY,
''We have found it necessary" said Capt.
Thomas to HERALD reporter yesterday, "to
enlarge our present plant in order to meet our
growing business and supply our patrons with
the best light at the lowest prices. The inn
provements will give us duplication in size
of our present works, but a duplication of
power. This we will accomplish by putting in
the new shops the best machinery we can OBJ
tain. The great struggle in electric lighting
to-day is to obtain the maximum of power
from the minimum amount of coal which the
engines consume. 1t is the large amount of
this fuel which it takes to run the engines
which now makes the cost of electric lighting
what it is. Our endeavor is to reduce this
price We do not know that we can accom-
plish this, but by the use of the best engines
we will try to do so and if we can the con-
sumers will receive the benefits in a reduction
of prices. Electric lighting has been the baby
invention, but it is now getting beyond the
experimental stage and the daily tendency
is toward saving of expense and
reduction of cost. In the new building
we will place the most improved compound
eondensing engines, with safety water-tube
boilers, which we hope will so reduce coal
consumption that we will be able to cut rates
considerably. Wenow have $500, 900 invested,
and during the coming year we will put in
100000 additional capital, 100000 of which
we intend spending in this city. We now
have between twenty and twenty-five miles of
underground conduits laid and this year five
more will he added. Without speaking
egotistically sincerely believe that o,lr street
lighting is the best in the United States.
Everything is completely systematzed. AS
sit here in my Office in the Atlantic Building
am completely in touch with our entire
plant. l am informed each hour of the exact
steam pressure on every boiler; a daily dia-
gram of the load carried by all the engines
is constantly before me. If a single light gets
out of order know it at once, and, in fact,
everything is so arranged that am kept thor
oughly posted as to everything that trans
pires. Our company recognizes that they are
the servants of the public, and that they
should give the best service obtainable at the
very cheapest rates. Our employees will al
ways be found courteous, and the officers are
ever willing to rectify errors and listen to
every complaint. We now supply the current
for $4,000 lights.'