St. Paul daily globe., 1896-03-03
BIDS FOR LIGHTING
FIVE PROPOSALS RECEIVED AND
OPENED BY THE CITY
COUNCIL,
CONTAIN FIVE SURPRISES.
A SHADE BETTER THAN COM-
PETITORs.
SOME OF IT'S FIGURES.

EXPLAINS SOME OF IT'S FIGURES.
The Bids Are Referred to "a Commit
tee to Tabuiate, Consider and
Report.
Forty thousand dollars can be
saved by the city on the next lighting
contract
Five proposals for lighting the city
for the year beginning April l, 1896,
were received and opened by the COM
mon council last night The bidders
are the st: Paul Gas Light company,
Edison Electric Light &d Power
company, Smith & Taylor and e. B.
Smith, the proprietor of the Albion
electric plant in the Seventh ward For
the purpose Of classifying and COM
pairing the bids, the board of public
works as has already been published,
divided the city into four lighting
districts. District No. 1, comprises the
eastern portion of the city; District No.
2 takes in the business district south
of line midway between Sixth and
Seventh streets, and including also the
greater portion of the West side;
District No. 8 includes that territory
north of the line between Sixth and
Seventh streets; and District No.
comprises the Seventh ward and that
portion Of the Eighth now lighted by
gas.
The st. Paul Gas Light company bid
on all four districts, the East Side
Electric company submitted proposals
covering Districts 1, and 3, while the
remaining three concerns bid on a
ci
following tabulated statement, show
ing all the bids on electric lighting.
The figures indicate the various prices
submitted per arc light of 1000 candle
power per year:
Dis. Dis. Dis. Dis.
No. l. No. g. No. g. No.
St. Paul Gas Light Co.$147 50 $69 50 $14S $1So
East Side Electric Co. las 90 105 90 $50
Smith & Taylor ...... ..... 80 W
Edison Electric Light
and Power Co... 80 90 -.
E. B. Smith ......... 80. 49,. -. 125
The StPaul Gas Light company sub
mitted the onl proposal for lighting
the city with gas. They offered to fur
nish gas light for the sum of $23 per
lamp per year, and to light the pub
lie buildings with gas at the rate of
$3.50 per 1000 cubic feet of gas The
bid of $23 per lamp per year is re-
duction of $S.75 per lamp under the
present contract, and the price per
1000 cubic feet Of gas for public build
ings is 20 cents less than the present
rate.
The bids were opened before the
board of aldermen, which met at 1880
o. m. After the clerk had read them
Aid Brady took the floor and pro-
ceeded to criticise them. He said that
he was disappointed in the bids for
electric lighting. He considered them
altogether too high, and suggested
that they be referred to a special COM
mittee Of three, to be appointed by
each body, with instructions to con-
fer with the board of public works
and the city engineer with view to
the city's establishing and operating
an electric plant Of it's own.
This proposition receiving no en-
couragement, Aid Murphy moved that
the contract be then and there award
ed to the st. Paul Gas Light company,
as it was the lowest bidder. This mo-
tion did not meet with favor, where
upon Aid. Ulmer moved that the bids
be referred to the board of public
works, city engineer and corporation
attorney for tabulation, with instruc-
tions to report the result to the board
Of aldermen at its regular meeting to-
night. The aldermen approved of this
course, and the bids were so referred.
Just before the board adjourned E.
N. Saunders presented a number of
petitions signed by citizens of the Sew
enth ward protesting against the light
ing of that district by electricity, and
requesting the council to reject all
bids for electric lighting in the Sew
enth ward. The petitions were referred
to the committee on gas, Aid. Brady
remarking that the Seventh ward
ought to be satisfied with gas, consid-
ering the number of lamps in that dis
trict The board then adjourned
The assembly met Immediately aft
erwards and concurred in the resolu-
ton of the board referring the bids to
the board of public works, city en-
g1neer and corporation attorney for
tabulation
A close perusal Of the bids reveals
some significant facts. The most
striking revelation Is the extremely low
bid Of the st. Paul Gas Light company
for electric lighting in district No. 2,
which may be said to comprise the
heart Of the business district 1t is
$3.50 per arc per year as against the
same company's bids Of $1475O, S14S
and $3.50 in the other three districts.
The gas company, in a communication
accompanying it's proposal, proceeds
to give its explanation of the dis
parity. 1t calls attention to the diff
ferent characteristics of the various
difficulties that will attend the lighting
by electricity Of the first and third
districts, because of their construction.
'sprawling character" and the absence
of facilities with which the second
district is provided, such as poles
wires, etc.
The gas company it will be noted.
has bid in three ways; one for lighting
by electricity by separate districts; two
for lighting the city by electricity as
whole city by gas. According to the
statement of the gas company, the
number of arcs required in each of the
220; District 2, 90; District 8, 106 Dis
trict 4, 154. According to City Engi-
neer Rundlett, the last figures are
wrong, as 10 arcs will be required in
District No. 4.
A computation based on the gas
company's figures gives the following
aggregate prices for electric lighting
by separate districts:
District No. l. $32,450; District No.
2, $6,255; District No. 8, $15,6SS; District
No. 4, $4,000; total STA ,413
The gas companys bid for lighting
the whole city with electricity as an
entirety, which means the furnishing
and maintaining Of $40 arcs, as re-
quired by the board Of public works, is
$125.44 per arc per year, which is
equivalent to the gross sum of $71 800.
Upon examining the gas company'sF
bid for lighting with gas it will be
found that 1T is less than either of the
preceding sums. In case gas is decided
IInOn 091 1aOonc will he rAOIIirad