Pleasantville weekly press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1890-1911, 1898-12-07
A LETTER FROM THE
CITY BY THE SEA.
The Necessity for putting
Electric Wires Under
ground.
LITTLE FIRE 1alI hight HlNE been 4 Big oHE
THE COUNTY SEAT REMOVAL AGAIN BEING
TALKED OF.
LITTLE FIRE That hight aAE BEEN 4 Big ONE
THE COUNTY SEAT REMovAL AGAIN BEING

How long, oh, how long, must we
wait before the City Council compels the
electric light and telephone companies
to put their wires underground Have
we not had warning upon warning OF
the danger of allowing them to be
strung upon poles Indeed we have,
and the latest one was only Sunday
evening, right in the midst of the terrific
ssoutheaster" that made things rattle
around this sandy old town as they
have seldom ratified before. Young's
Pier caught fre-presumably from an
electric current from crossed wires-and
but for the promptness of the Fire
Department, which is always prompt.
there might have been another big fire
with great loss of property. Suppose
the fire had gained few minutes head
way in such hurricane as was blowing
at the time Where could it have been
stopped? No man can tell, and the
possibilities are appalling to think of
Suppose the same fire had broken out
week before when the streets were block
ed by snow There are times, occasion
ally, when it is next to impossible to
get steam fire engine through the
streets, and that is the time, generally,
when a fire is likely to break out. Be-
tween i'll luck and s'frebugs" plans to
burn, many cities have had disastrous
fires at times when it was most difficult
To fight them on account of blockaded
streets, or frozen plugs, or other causes
that worked for delay. 1t should never
be forgotten, for single moment, that
this city is a vast tinder-box, with a few
brick and stone exceptions, and that q
fire once beyond control means some
thing awful TO contemplate. There have
been several times when the flames have
been kept within control only by the
most heroic work on the past of our
Fire Department, and fortunate change
safe to assume, however, that these for
tunate conditions will always be met,
and there ought not to be any needless
hazards taken in dealing with such an
unrelenting enemy as fire. Now let the
Council 60 to work and take all the
companies who string wires around the
city, by the hair, and compel them to
put their wires underground, where they
belong. There need be no hesitancy
about it for fear that some poor fellow
will be robbed. Not a bit oft. The
telephone companies are overwhelming
ly rich, and they don't hesitate to ssock
it, to everybody they can, and then
give them just as poor service as they
will stand. These bloated monopolies
are always as defiant as they dare to
be, and it would do them good to be
compelled to plant their wires and give
us decent service. The same reason
ing will apply to the electric lighting
companies and when they have been
made to put their wires in underground
conduits we shall be Just that much
safer from these little blazss that are
continually threatening to develope in
to destrustiue conhagrations.
WHAT OF THE COUNTY SEAT REMOVAL :?
That is the question frequently hear
meeting of the state legislature. The
overshadowpd it for the time being, but
now that the election is over the subject
bobs up again, as it always will, until
some less inconyenient locality than
Mays Landing is selected for the County
Seat. Every succeeding term of Court
only calls public attention to it, and
still further emphasizes the arguments
that have been put forward in advocacy
of it. The people of this City are the
greatest sufferers and they ought to
unite and demand the removal as soon
as it can conveniently be made. An
overwhelming percentage of all the
Court business comes from this city
including attendance of counsel, wit
nesses, and litigants, besides the innum-
cradle trips that have to be made con-
cerning real estate and other records.
When there was no Atlantic City but a
handful Of huts it was all right to have
the County Seat where it is !; but the
phenomenal growth of this city has COM
pletely changed all the conditions and
necessities until now three-fourth or
more of all the business done at the
County Seat has it's origin right here
These conditions will be only more
marked in the years to come. With a
few exceptions the County towns are
practically standing still, and all the
business they have at Court is more
likely to diminish than to increase. On
the contrary this municipality is all the
time growing, and growing rapidly.
Why then, should everybody here be
put to inconvenience, expense aud de-
lay. merely to crafty few hangers on
at Mays Landing ? There is no valid
reason, and as sure as sunrise follows
night the time will come when the peo-
pie will demand their rights in this mat
ter. The cost Of new buildings, willsnot
be an obstacle. They can be built for q
sum of money that the average cost of
maintaining the old buildings for the
last ten years would pay the interest on.
The County owns an elegant site, near
the new Asylum, aud not a dollar need
be paid for new ground. 1t would be
but fifteen minutes ride from this city,
and the railroad company would put on
half hourly trains, or even oftener, and
instead OF remaining all day at a place
after transacting few minutes business
one could come back here inside Of an
hour. There is every reasonable reason
why the County Seat should be moved
There are none against it. ARGUS.