The Portland daily press., 1896-10-23
ABOUT ELECTRIC LIGHTING
Exhaustive Report Of the Committee
on Street Lights.
VARIOUS PROPOSITIONS THAT
HAVE BEEN SUBMITTED.

The Legislature Has Apparently Given the
Existing Electric Light Company a
MonopoIy-Coal is Higher in This Town
Than Almost Everywhere EIse-Light-
ing Propositi Ons from the Electric
Lighting Company, Mr.. Peterson, Mr..
w. X. Dana and the Welsbach Com
pany-The Committee Makes No spe-
cific Recommendations.
The committee on street lights, to
whom was referred the matter of con-
tracing for lighting the city for the en-
suing year made the following very
thorough sand valuable report to the
City Council last night, through its
chairman Alderman Pagan:
Portland, Me-, Oct 81, 1885,
To the Hon. Board of Mayor and Alder
men and Common Council of the City
of Portland.
AT the first meeting of the committee
on lights for the city of Portland, which
was held Immediately after it's appoint
ment, the matter of amount of appropri-
alton for lights, electric, gas and nap
thai, to be asked Tor of the committee on
estimate for the year 1896 was considered.
BY an examination of the auditors 1e-
ports for 1895, 1t was found that the ab-
preparation for that ss.year was SAB, 800
while the expenditure for the same year
was S49, 142. So The largeness of the ex-
pendisure for that year led the com mittes
TO investigate the cost of lighting other
cities of the United States with a view
that the city of Portland might take
some action whereby the cost of It's street
lighting would be lessened. The COM
mittee have made careful and quite
thorough examination of the matter and
beg leave to present to the City Council
the results of their Investigations
The COMMITTEES has correspondent with
the superintendents of lights, city audi
tors, city clerks and mayors of more than
one hundred cities of the United States
and has received reports from about
seventy. The major part of this report
Is based upon the information thus OBJ
tanned. The committee has also ex-
amined many of the published argu-
ments OF advocates of both private and
municipal ownership of lighting plants
In gathering data to be used in making
this report, your committee has con-
sidered the following propositions; viz,
1. Municial ownership of electric
lighting plant.
to maintain lamps, etc., the power TO be
delivered in such form as the city might
require.
MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP.
The committee has collected but little
data relating to this branch of the IN
vestigation; for, in th6 city's present f.
nancial condition, the appropriation of
money to purchase or install an electric
lighting plant would be Illegal, the city
having already incurred a debt exceed
ing that which it may legally incur. But
as matter OF information, the commit
tee presents few of the principal argu-
ments advanced for and against munich
pal ownership of electric lighting plants
The advocates of private ownership o.
electric lighting plants are more numer-
Gus than those of municipal ownership.
One OF the CHIEF reasons for this is that
many Of the advocates on the private
ownership side of the question are cit her
directly or indirectly interested in light
2Dg trusts. The committee has en-
deavored TO quote largely from unpreju-
diced advocates on both sides.
Here follows the opinions Of Allen r.
Foote, editor of the American Exporter:
Everett ". Burdette, of Boston; Hon
T. Is. Persse. Of Hartford; and Prof.
Vic tor Rosewater on the comparative
advantages Of municipal and private
ownership Of electric lighting plants,
especially as regards the cost of opera
tion, interesting as arguments, but real
]y settling nothing. The report then
proceeds as follows:
The experience Of your committee is
similar TO that of Prof. Rosewater and
Mr.. foote. Definite comparisons are
quite impossible. AS an illustration of
the difficulties Of ascer5aining the exact
cost Of municipal lighting, the case of
Bangor may be cited. The cost of the
plant, as stated by the city electrician of
bangor 10 communication to your COM
laittee was $685. 600. The city auditors
report for 1894 shows that the cost of
maintaining the 152-2000 candle power
lights was $b43l. Is, or about S35 70 DER
light per year. M. j. Francisco, Eso., of
RutlaId, VT. one OF the leading expert
electricians Of the country, paid per-
soRal visit to Bangor and Investigated.
OF this he makes the following report;
The plant cost $35, 0o0, and this does
not Include anything for the water pow
er nor for any portion of construction
OF dam or cost of its maintenance or
for station buildings. Interest on s35,
GO at six per cent. s2100; depreciation
on electrical apparatus, 10 per cent,
$500; broken globes during the year,
$3.50; wall controller burned out, costing
$50; fifteen broken lamps, repairs costing
about $500; damage to mast arms, repair
costing about $780, broken shaft. OF
something of this kind which happened
AZ the station, $500 to repair; also the
$3.50 which they paid for coal Here ia
$1,000. which is part Of the expense of
the electric lights, charged to some
other department., and to get the true
cost there must be added to this the re-
pairs to dam, interest on the cost of the
buildings, wages of an engineer when an
engine Is used, cost of new brushes and
segmsnts; also taxes and water rates.
which the city would receive from a pri-
vase corporation, II running the lights.
which, at the lowest estimate, would be
ever $l000sper year. making total cost
to the city of SIS, 271.S6 for running
the lamps one year, being $1o4. SO per
lamp. and over 28]1 cents per night for