St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-07-20
PAPERS ARE ALL READ.
ELECTRIC DELEGATES nv THE HANDS
or THEIR FRIENDS.
AN AUTHOR READS A PAPER.

mr.. stearns, OF St. Paul, Shows
That Meter system Is Cheaper
to the Consumer Than the Con-
tract System-Why Municipal
tiles Should Not Own the
Plants.
The Northwestern electrical conven-
ton last evening completed its work of
hearing and discussing papers, and the
delegates are today in the hands of their
friends. Last evening they enjoyed
pleasant outing at Lake Harriet.
B. j. Arnold. of Chicago, read the
first paper Of yesterday. his subject be-
ing, 1.-The Economical Production of
Electric Power" He entered into a
mathematical calculation of the cost of
producing electricity, figuring out that
under specified conditions a kilowatt
hour can be delivered to the consumer
at three aud one-half cents. He made
many practical suggestions of interest
to manufacturers of electricity.
Gilbert Donaldson, of Minneapolis.
Modern Dynamo" but he was unable
to be present. and Charles Chalmers,
his electrician, read the paper instead.
The paper dealt upon purely technical
matters, and was of interest only to the
fraternity.
A. d. Page, of Harrison, n. j.. pre-
sentated a paper on "Incandescent
Lamps; Their Use and Abuse" The
paper dealt purely on the scientific
principles of this feature of electrical
appliance, and was interesting princi-
pally to electricians.
c. K. Stearns. of st. Paul, read an
able paper on Economical Operation
OF Electric Plants From an Electrical
Standpoint" He presented a strong
argument to prove that meter system
is much cheaper to the consumer than
the contract system. Electric meters,
he asserted, are scientifically accurate,
and are not subject to the uncertainty
of measurement Of the gas meter.
The last paper was read by Allen
Ridley Foote. distinguished electri-
elan of Washington, u. c., who is an
author of considerable note. His topic
was ga Question OF Public Policy" He
dwelt at considerable length upon COM
mercial reasons why electric plants
should not be owned by municipalities.
He asserted that municipality would
not be able to produce electricity as
cheaply as a corporation. 1t requires
skilled workmen TO bring the price Of
electricity down to cheap basis. Cor
porations are brought into competition
with each other, anu are compelled to
bring matters down to the lowest fig.
ures. They must employ the most
skiilful men 10 DE had. In the hands
Of a municipality the electric plant
must become more or less of a
political machine. 1t must be
place of reward for political serv-
good deal about electricity. but who in
fact know only spattering of it. and
who lack the ability to acquire deeper
knowledge of it, would easily convince
men at the head of the municipality,
whom they had helped at the polls, that
they were thoroughly competent to hold
important positions at the electric
plant. The public complaint against
the poor service might, of course, have
some effect IN some cities. but all we'll
informed people know the weakness of
the public complaint as against a
strongly organized party. Nothing
short of an uprising of an outraged
public can phase political power. If
the municipality owned and operated
the electric plant. competition would
be at an end; the public
would have no basis upon which to
estimate whether il was paying fair
or unreasonable price for electricity;
and the political power would eXtort
the last cent possible from the public,
for the greater the price obtained so
arouse the public TO an uprising, the
better the political power would be-
served. The paper was very long,
being a condensation of one of the
books of Mr.. Foote.
Ats O'Clock this forenoon the dele
gates will leave the Ryan on foot for the
power house Of the st. Paul Gas Light
company, also the power house of the
Twin City Rapid Transit company on
Hill street. At 1880 the company will
take the steamer Flora Clark for Mime
haha falls. Lunch will be served on
the boat. From MInnehaha the party
will proceed to Minneapolis 10 visit the
electric stations there. The special car
of the Twin City Rapid Transit COM
pany will leave the Nieollet house at
6:2O p. Iii. with the party bound for st.
Paul.
When Travelling,