The San Francisco call., 1896-06-10
FILL YOUR PORCH LAMPS
Reasons Given by the President
of the Gas Company for
Lack of Lights.
The Funds Are Exhausted and the
Supervisors Were Forced to
Economic.

Because of an empty City treasury the
street lamps will fail to reflect lights upon
the belated citizens from and after next
Monday night until the 1st of July.
This darkened condition during the fif-
teen nights of the present month is caused
by the street light fund in the City treas
ury having been exhausted: or in other
words, overdrawn, leaving no funds with
which to pay the Gas Company for sup
plying lights for the balance of the month.
The situation of the City as contract
ing party with the San Francisco Gaslight
Company can be best explained by quot
ing the words of Joseph B. Crockett, presi-
dent of the gas company:
EYES," said Mr.. Crockett, I'VE will shut
off gas from the street lamps on the
10th inst, and will not again turn on gas
until the 1st of July.
1.-The cause of this is brought about by
the conditions OF existing affairs at the
City Hall.
'iYou see, by a decision of the Supreme
Court contractors with the City must in
form themselves as to the condition of the
fund out of which they expect payment
for the line of material for which they
have contracted; and If that particular
fund should be exhausted, then the con-
tractor supplies the articles at his own
risk, without any legal claim against the
City. In other words, he cannot legally
demand payment, no matter how just his
claim may be.
''The gas company, on investigation of
the street-lIght fund, has discovered that
| that fund is now overdrawn $4,000, and to
| continue supplying gas for the balance OF
| the month would just be so much money
| lost TO the company.
| ''Nor is this all. The department fund
&c "a OT1rIo Tod for on
plying the Fire Department, prisons, jails,
| hospitals. school buildings and other insti-
| tutions belonging to the City-is also over
| drawn or exhausted 10 about $500. But
as a matter OF public convenience we can
not shut off the gas in those institutions,
but must depend upon payment from the
| general fund at the close OF the fiscal year,
| which will then amount to about $1,000.
This shortage in the street-light fund
we discovered as early as last March, and
! then, with the consent of the Supervisors,
we shut off the gas four additional nights
| in each month, making eight nights alto
gether. That is, we are allowed four nights
! at the full of every moon upon which no
| lights are lit in the street lamps. To these
we added four more in the hopes that this
| economy on our part would help tide over
| the deficiency, but it did not. Hence we
suggested to Supervisor Hirsch, the chair
| man, to offer the resolution, which he did
on last Monday.
Even with this retrenchment the gas
company will lose alone $1500in the fifteen
days in which there will be no lights.
| Our lamplighters are paid by the month,
| work or no work, and our payroll shows
that we pay out $4,000 for lamplighters
alone. Now one-half OF this is given to the
men for no services rendered to u.s.
well, how wasit last year. The Super
visors passed just such resolution as the
| one passed on Monday, and the gas COM
| pany simply ignored it?' was asked.
ooh, yes, that was entirely under differ
| ent circumstances" said Mr.. Crockett.
"Last year when the Supervisors passed
that resolution we found that there were
ample funds in the treasury to pay for the
gas to be supplied, and interpreting the
Supreme Court decision we came to the
conclusion that we could not nullify our
section of the contract even when the
contracting parties on the other side vio-
lated theirs. Hence we paid no attention
to the resolution, but went right along
and lived up TO our contract"
1t will thus be seen from the interpreta-
tion given the contract and the decision OF
the Supreme Court on the question of con-
tractors with the municipality that there
will be no street lamps lighted after next
Monday.