St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-01-28
BY ELECTRIC LIGHTING COMPAN-
les WITHIN THE BUSINESS OR
SUBWAY DISTRICT.
About the New Lighting Project, Re-
trenchment Report and Kim
dred Municipal Topics.

there are some mistakes in the report
which will be apparent to all when GER
! tain Of the recommendations are put
! to the test. He criticises certain re-
/ quirements embodied in the specifica-
! lions and cites statistics to prove that
! the report contains incorrect estima tes.
! AS a final objection to the principal
feature of the report namely, the SUBJ
! Stitution of electric for gas lighting,
MI. Livingston contends that $40 arc
| lights cannot cover the territory now
| lighted by gas and IS electric lights
In conclusion, Mr.. Livingston said that
it was by no means certain that the
| st. Paul Gas Light company would
submit any bid this year. He certainly
would not advise such a course if it
were his company.
I'm the first place, without reference
to any details of the report" said Mr..
Livingston, II wish to say that the
gas light company is giving the city
a good service, and has been doing
SO in the past. 1t should be remem-
bered that this city presents two
difficulties to gas light companies. One
is its uneven topography which renders
it far more difficult and expensive to
maintain an equal pressure through
out the city, than is the case in a
! town located on level grounds. The
second obstacle is the climate Our ex-
IRENE cold weather often freezes the
condensed gas inside the pipes, and
frosts the globe. This necessitates the
| employment Of many extra men in the
winter season, whose duty it is to thaw
out the pipes. The quality of the gas
used has always been good, and the
light has been likewise, except when
interfered with in this way. Last
year we expended $4,000 alone for alco-
| hol with which to thaW out the street
| lights.
Eyes, sir; consider that the present
service is as good as. can be asked for
If L were to remain with the ST. Paul
gas company during the rest Of the
present year, I"should like nothing
better than to see one Of the bidders
on electric light secure the contract.
Then the public would soon begin to
appreciate the present service
referring then to the report, Mr..
Livingston disputed that section which
says that by comparison with other
cities, st. Paul ought to obtain gas
lighting at rate not exceeding S18
per lamp per year. Mr.. Livingston
deemed this an absurdly low figure. AS
for the recommendation that the gas
contractor, if gas be decided upon,
should be required to pay the entire
cost of caring for and lighting the
lamps, and that the city no longer pay
as now for half the cost of lighting
the lamps, Mr.. Livingston said:
~ u
the contractor has to pay the entire
cost of lighting the lamps, then he
must add the amount in his total bid,
so the city will gain nothing by in
sorting such a provision
Il notice." continued Mr.. Livingston,
that the report estimates that the
| average cost per year for an arc light
of 1000 candle power in cities having
municipal electric plants is $75. chal-
| lenge the board of public works to
name city of any size in the United
States owning it's electric plant in
Which the cost per year per arc is
| only SIS. Detroit, Mich, has $3.50 900
invested in it's electric lighting plant,
| whose written-not printed. but pri-
waterproof to the lighting commits
sion of the city shows that the bare
cost of labor and material and a small
interest charge makes the cost per
year of each arc lamp $3.50. They have
l,5OO arc lights in service in that city,
but to the cost of $50 should be added
the full interest on the cost Of their
plant, insurance, depreciation of ma
| personal damages, etc. In letter
which l wrote, and which was pub
lished in the Detroit Free Press, 1
demonstrated the fact that by add
ing but a few of these items, the cost
to the city per year for each arc light
was over S12O instead of $50. Besides,
they pay only S2.11 per ton for their
coal, and they get 2,240 pounds to the
ton, where we get 1000.
proceeding, the report says that it
Wouldr require $50 arc lights to light the
district now Illuminated with gas. and
the tWenty-eight electric lights now
in use. In answer to this, I will SIM
| Ply refer the board of public works to
| Minneapolis, where it takes 6S6 arc
lights and 4,036 gas lights to illum-
mate territory of about the same ex-
tent as that it is proposed to light in
this city with only $40 ares"
Speaking Of the estimates of the
cost to the city of an electric lighting
plant, Mr.. Livingston said
| These estimates are in nv opinion
too low. By that mean that proper
electric plant cannot be built for such
money. And in this connection L notice
| that estimates were received on the
basis of an overhead system of wiring
as well as underground. Inasmuch as
there is an ordinance compelling all
wires to go underground within a Ger.
tain district, 1 do not see the value of
such an estimate
Enough Mr.. Livingston did not dwell
upon this last point, it was subsequent
| ly learned that in case any lighting
company was permitted to string wires
overhead in the prohibited district,
mat the St. Paul Gas Light company
would sue the city for damages.
Mr.. Livingston called attention to
that provision Of the electric lighting
| specifications which empowers the CITY
to order additional lamps, not to eX-
coed 10 per cent of the number of
lamps in each district
No responsible and prudent con-
tractor could enter into such an agree
| ment," said Mr.. Livingston. ''inasmuch
as he would be compelled to put in
the additional lamps if ordered, but
could not possibly receive his pay in
case more lamps were added than the
amount allowed in the tax estimate
provides for
MI. Livingston was asked if there
was any truth in the rumor that the
| st. Paul Gas Light company contem
plated purchasing any of the electric
| plants likely to compete with it for the
city lighting
mot a word of truth in It," replied
Mr.. Livingston. 1--WE could have
absorbed some of them had we so de-
sired. The Bohn Manufacturing plant
was offered to us at reasonable fig
ure, and so We're some of the others,
such as Smith & Taylor's, and that of
Mr.. Smith at the Albion, but we did
not care to purchase them. In fact,
as L said before, 1t is doubtful wheth-