The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1892-07-07
ELECTRICAL SUBWAYS.
Important Resolutions Adopted at
Yesterdays Meeting of the
State Board.
Special to the Jersey city Nelos.

OF Commissioners of Electrical SubwayS
held meeting yesterday in the office of
the state Board of Assessors. President
Allan L. McDermott occupied the chair.
and Irvine E. Mcguire was elected Secre-
from several electrical companies asking
permission to erect wires over and across
streets in cities of this State, as required
by law. The petitions were filed and
will be acted upon at the next meeting.
The following resolutions. which will
prove of interest to electrical companies
generally, were read and adopted:
Whereas, certain corporations have since the
organization of the Board, placed electric wires
and cables over the streets and highways of
n hs Roard "a nre
whereas, the fifth section of an act entitled "An
act providing for the placing Of electrical con-
ductors underground in cities OF this State and
for the creation of a State Board Of Commits
sioners Of Electrical Subways" approved
March TO- 1892, provides that no. telegraph, tele-
phone, electric light or other electric wire or
cable shall hereafter be constructed along,
across or above the surface of any street or ave-
nue. In any city of this State until the Board
created by this act shall, by the votes of q
majority of its members, authorize such wires
to be carried along, across or above the surface
Of such streets or avenues
Resolved, That the Secretary of this Board
and other electric wire and cable companies
doing business in the cities of this State that the
placing of electric wires or cables over the
streets and other highways of cities in this
State, without permission from this board is
illegal, and that this Board will meet at the
State house on Tuesday of each week, at II
O'Clock in the forenoon to receive applications
for permission to place electric conductors and
cables above and below the highways of cities
in this State.
Resolved, That all applications to the Board
IN
above or below the surface of any highway of a
city in this State shall be accompanied by a
cation Of the poles and the distances above the
surface of the highways at which it is intended
to place the proposed wires or other conductors,
if over such highways and plan of the sub
way IL it is proposed to place the wires or other
conductors underground.
Resolved that the Secretary request each
telegraph, telepho ,e, cable and electric light
company doing business in this State to furnish
this Board, on or before the first day of Septen-
Der next, with statement showing the number
Of miles OF wire used as electrical conductors in
this State by such companies respectively.
Whereas, In the opinion of this Board it Is
necessary that all wires and cables used for the
transmission of electricity in cities of the first
class should be placed under the streets and
avenues of such cities;
Resolved, That the Secretary of this Board
notify the corporations owning wires used above
of the cities Of Jersey City and Newark, that
this Board will meet at the State House, on
Tuesday, September s, 1892, at eleven O'Clock in
the forenoon, to hear such matters az may be
presented by the representatives of such corpor-
atoms touching the placing of such wires nder
ground.
VIII Not Stop the Trolley.
President Charles B. Thurston, of
the Jersey City and Bergen Railway
Company of this city, was asked by re-
porter for THE NEWS il the resolutions
l. n n Tod
any waV affect the plans OF his company
with reference to introducing the trolley
system on the company's lines in this
city.
Mr.. Thurston answered that he had not
consulted the roads counsel In the matter,
but he did not apprehend that his pro-
posed trolley system would be at all In
terfered with. He did not think the
Board was composed of gentlemen dis
posed to harrass any business enterprise.
It had been practically demonstrated that
street cars cannot be satisfactorily
propelled by underground electrical
currents. Wherever it had been tested it
had been abandoned. According to his
Interpretation of the. law it simply gave
control OF The placing Of wires-whether
overhead or undergraduate the Board,
and the idea of its passage was to do
away with the great multiplicity OF tele-
phone, telegraph and electric light wires
overhead. The company had not yet ap-
piled for the permission of the Commls-
sioners to place its trolley wires, but
would do so. No wires had been stretched
by the company since last fall, when the
company was restrained by the city au-
thorltieS.
In searching through the printed laws
the reporter detected an important omis-
sion tnat is evidently an error. Section
A, after insisting that "no telegraph, tele-
phone, electric light or other electric
wire or cable shall be constructed along,
across or above the surface of any street
or avenue in any city Of the State" with
out permission of a majority of the State
Commissions. makes this provision:-
provided. That this section shall not be
construed to apply to the repair of wires
owned by any of this State, or used for
fire or police purposes therein"
The word 'comn nany" or corporation"
or s.city' was evidently unintentielly
lie IT out. The same omission is made in
the certified copies.