The San Francisco call., 1899-04-13
Mutual Electric Light Company
May Erect Their Poles.
A Majority of the Board Are Said to Be
Now in Favor of Helping the.
New Company.

districts would quickly settle the difficult
ty arising over the refusal of the board to
allow the Mutual Electric Light Company
to erect and maintain poles in the dis
tricts outside of the fire limits. "
do you believe as the representative
of the Merchants Association, that mu--
niGipa ownership Of electric ght ana
would solve this problem asked the
Mayor.
Il know nothing OF the technical nature
of the proposition now before us, return
ed Mr. Dohrmann, but speaking or 1t In
its general nature I should think it would:
1 see no reason why the light, power and
telephone and telegraph companies should
object to placing their wires underground
as far as possible within the fire limits,
but / believe in giving them sutflclent time
in which to effect the change. Overhead
wires are menace to firemen in the per
formance of their duty, and 1t is time
some steps were taken to place them un-
derground.
President Crockett of the San Francisco
Gas and Electric Company was called
upon and he stated that his company
was placing its wires underground as far
q possible in the downtown districts, and
had been doing so wherever it had an op-
portunity during the last three years. Mr.
Crockett, in answer to a question put to
him by the Mayor, stated that he could
not estimate the length of time which
would necessarily have to elapse before
all wires could be placed underground.
Mr.. Green, who represents the electric
ISul DIdiCH "a AIOCh6lI > COlupdlly, SldI-
ed that If the board ordered the company
TO place all its wires underground it would
be compelled to abolish its Townsend
street plant.
asked Supervisor Holland.
WELL, said Green, I'VE would have to
abolish fully thousand arc lights now
operated by an overhead current New
lights would have to be purchased and
erected. and we would be compelled to fit
up this plant for an underground sys-
tenn"
Louis Glass, general manager of the Pa
cific Telephone and Telegraph monopoly,
was called upon by the committee to fur
nish information concerning the overhead
telephone system, and on the possibility
of compelling his company to share the
same poles with the light and power COM
panies in the event of the municipal own
ership idea being adopted by the board.
1T would be practically impossible" he
said, for our company to string our
wires on the same poles as the light or
power companies. 1t would mean ruin to
both our service and our system. Joint
occupation of poles is simply out of the
question. The induction when we run
parallel to light or power lines is strong
and patrons. Fully so per cent of our
telephone lines have been placed under
ground, and it is only in places where
we are compelled to run our lines up on
the side or over the top of frame build
ings that we use poles within the fire
limits. The distribution of our current
and wires is the difficult problem that
we have to contend with"
L. D. Storror, representing the Postal
Telegraph Company, ana Frank JayneS,
superintendent of the Western Union Tel
the committee and expressed a willingness
to place their wires underground at any
time or under any conditions which the
board saw fit to impose.
"All we want is reasonable length of
time in which to make the change" said
Mr.. Jaynes in accommodating tones.