The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1895-08-23
THE FREE PRESS INDICATED.

THE FREE PRESS INDICATED.
The position which the FREE
PRESS has maintained upon an cleo
trio light plant owned by the city has
been fully indicated by the remarks
of Prof. Shepardson, the electrician,
whom the council brought here to
prepare plans and specifications Tor
the proposed plant, and whom one OF
the aldermen informed the FREE
PRESS Saturday, was one of the best
electricians in tue country, thoroughly
acquainted with every phase of the
subject, ands knew what he was talk
ing about.
The FREE PRESS has honestly main
tanned from the first that a plant
could not be put in suitable to do the
city lighting, for the $4,000 bonds
voted, and that it was not just to
the taxpayers to assume that it could,
and it finallyMrung from the advo-
Gates of a municipal plant that the
cost would be somewhere above SlO,-
900. In his remarks to a member
of the council Saturday evening,
Prof. Shepardson stated that plant
solely for city lighting, with a capacity
of 100 arc lights, 1000 candle power,
could not be put in for less than
900, and he told the council
that the cost of lighting would be
from 800 to $3.50 per lamp, thus being
anywhere from S25 to S75 per lamp
more than the city would have to pay
a private company for the same SER
vice. The professor further stated
that those cities which report low
price for city lighting from their own
plants, obtain it by charging up a
large share of the expense to other de-
partments, a point which the FREE
PRESS raised previous to the bond
election and cited instances. Alder
man Zimmerman stated that a
plant which would do commercial
lighting in connection with street
lighting would cost not less than
$4,000.
No wonder the light which their
own man cast upon the working of a
municipal plant made it's advocates
tired, and Aid. Zimmerman suddenly
remembered it was late and time to
60 home.
1t would have paid the city to have
taken the offer it had last spring, of
S75 per lamp and 4 of cent per hour
for incandescents for private con-
sumers, and so saved expense to the
city besides the wear and tear of ma
chinery and the additional trouble
which comes from additional officers
to look after, and so secured private
lighting at one-half what it can now be
obtained. 1t is not just to private en-
terprise nor to the company which
has been to great expense in putting
in large plant to enter into CONNER
cial lighting even were the city able
to do so, and there were illegal ques-
tions in the way which would doubt.
less have to be decided in the courts.
In dividing up the electric lighting
of the city, Mankato will pay more for
it's street lighting than it would have
to pay a private company. Pri-
vate lighting will cost our citizens
from so to 100 per cent more than it
would if one company could furnish
all the electricity needed in the city.
Further than this the city is deprived
of a power company which could fur
nish electric power cheaply for street
car purposes, and for all private pur-
poses for which it might be wanted.
In short Prof. Shepardson, an expert
electrician, who has no private in
terest to serve, who is working for the
advocates of municipal plant, tells
these gentlemen and our citizens just
what the FREE PRESS has honestly
maintained from the first, and had
the request of the FREE PRESS been
needed and expert testimony secured
in the first place as to cost of plant
and service, the city would have been
the gamer thereby and doubtless es-
capped the penalty of paying dear for
it's whistle.
II