Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-12-26
Let Us Have Light.
To the Editor Of The Evening Star:

To the Editor OF The Evening Star:
Why do not the District authorities bring up
the Electric Lighting Company with a sharp
turn, for the shameful manner in which it vio-
lates its obligations and puts at peril the COM
fort and safety Of tie public? 1t used to be
quite the thing, and quite the proper thing,
too. for the press Of the city and indignant
correspondents to rail at the gas company for
the poor light it furnishes and its general short
comlngs. and that concern richly deserved all
the censure that was visited upon it, and prob
ably more; bur, in the way of disappointing
just expectations, not doing what it undertakes
to do, the new corporation can give the old one
good many pointers, and it was generally
supposed that the managers Of the gas
company had nothing to learn in
that respect. Taking advantage of the general
dissatisfaction with the poor quality of gas
furnished FOR some years past and its exorbi-
| tant cost the new electric company was able to
| start OH with considerable public sentiment in
its favor and it thus secured privileges it never
would have obtained if popular and official
foresight had been good as its hind sight.
From the new concern the public was led to
believe that it would obtain relief from abuses
that otherwise seemed ineradicable 80 long as
| the gas company was without competition: but
what has been the result! From the yery fret
| the electric light has been inferior in quality
and much poorer than that supplied to most OF
the cities OF the country. and now the average
incandescent loops in Washington are little if
any better than the gas, which has been the
subject OF SO much just complaint.
Furthermore. the electric company grossly
violates Its distinct obligation in failing to fur
nish any light at all in streets and buildings
where 1t had undertaken to supply 1t. For
many nights past some of the most important
and thickly travelled streets Of the city have
been left in zimmerman darkness, and at a sea-
| son of the year, too. and at hours of the even
ing when they are more frequented than
at any other time. In an equally
shameful manner has the management disre-
garded its undertakings with its private Gus
toners. 1t is, for example, wholly due to that
cause that the Corcoran Gallery Of Art has not
been opened to the public on Friday evenings
in December, as its trustees intended it should
be. and in this way grave wrong has been
perpetrated, not only upon the people Of Wash
ington, but upon large numbers of visitors to
the national capital, as well.
1t is stated, know, that the company has
not sufficient power to supply all its cir
cults and is earnestly trying to supply the
deficiency. But this is no excuse. The expla-
nation is, in truth, only an aggravation of the
offence After securing the removal of gas
lamps from the streets and gas fixtures from
the Corcoran Gallery and other buildings, pub
lie Oh private. under promise that
furnished instead. the managers of the new
company had no right legal or moral, to un-
dertake to supply new customers until they had
first obtained and put in operation sufficient
additional power to ensure decent fulillmeut
Of their old contracts The existing state of
things il dissraceful on the one side and dan
gerous on the other, and it is high time for the
press and the taorities to take the matter Wig
Orously in hand FIAT LUX.