The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1895-05-16
Let There Be (Electric) Light.

| 1I. IQ1tOI. LII Io6HOuoC w q 40
quest for my views on the question
suggested in the title, / take pleasure
| in, submitting the following refec-
tions, somewhat hastily, though none
the less candidly penned.
The first question to be considered,
as understand the situation, is,
whether the village shall issue bonds
for light at all this year, irrespective
of the particular kind or quality OF
the luminant. E,..,-3..s
It is contented that light should be
voted now, >. ..
lst. Because the money to pay for
it will be raised from, the sale OF
bonds and, therefore, with respect to
means, it will cost no more to raise
them now than later. <'+ '.
End. Because all sorts of material,
as well as labor, is cheaper under
present conditions than they will
naturally be when times are better. .
| 3rd. Because, it is claimed, and
not without good reasons, that an
electric light plant would not only be
self-sustaining, but would amply pro-
lYideafor payment Of interest onsb bonds.
4th. Because the sooner we have
Hight the sooner we will get the bsne-
Efit Of a good thing, without extra
cost to the village.
| 5th. Because electric lighting
gives an air of cosmopolitanism and
thrift to community which tend to
hasten it's growth and prosperity
results in which all citizens, particu-
larly property owners, are interested.
- 9Th. Because the we'll nigh Egyp-.
tian darkness into which the village
is emersed at night, renders it not
only inconvenient but absolutely un-
safe to travel through the streets by
either vehicle or foot, to say nothing
of the danger occasionel by reason
of fire, accident or suddeA commo-
ton. i .
7th. Because darkness facilitates
crime, and the sooner you stop the
facility the better of coure.
9Th. Because well-lighted streets
bring the inhabitants Of the village
out in the evening, and consequently
invites shopping, to the advantage of
the merchants. j.,
9th. Because even if light is voted
next month, it, will hardly be ready
for use until the holidays-when it is
especially valuable to all. To vote it
down now means no light for over
year, at least not until year, from
next fall. -. :,
10th. Because light is life,. and
life is the acme a of all things.
Therefore you cannot get too much
of it nor get it too soon. Waiting
for something better than electricity
as now applied, is like waiting for
the millennium. L may come, but
only through a series of evolutionary
stages altogether too stagnant and
remote for present purposes. The
same argument would have applied
to gas when first introduced. New
tangled generators and conducting
agents, in common with the storage
system, do not give promise of any
further advance in practical applica-
tion than the confines of the labra-
tory and the school for the illucida-
ton of natural phenomena. The
electric fluid long since gave evidence
of being susceptible !, Of many and
varied manifestations, all more or less
curious and interesting, but nowhere
and at no time, since its introduction
as luminant about twenty years
ago, has it risen above the utility of
minor agents, except in connection
with the steam engine and the con-
Quoting wire, -. ~.
.ss ELECTRICITY VS.. GAS:
To those who at first blush would
espouse the cause of the vaporous
luminant- being overcome by gas, as
it were-the following random dis
tinctions are recommended:
l. There is not, to my knowledge,
a single house or store in Worthing-
ton which is piped for gas. Few
would tear up their houses or stores
to put in invisible pipes. and not
many, if any, would consent to run
the ungainly pipes along the walls
and ceilings of their homes, and Ger
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