The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-09-06

Iorce. ElecCrlclly mas sucA Wlue apDll
cation that men who arc perfectly familu
with all its branches are somewhat rar
and for that reason electrical worker
must be, to great extent, specialists.
No doubt the greatest need for ski
and export knowledge exists in the elec
tric light and power branch Of the elec
trical business because the dangers re
sulting from improperly installed elec
tric light wires and appliances are moi
fully appreciated by city and town au
thoritles and tho great thinking and un
thinking public.
"Owing TO the cheap construction o
electric street railway systems the water
and gxs systems Of many towns and citie
have been menaced and irreparabls injury
done, which may not be discovered il
many cases until fires occur and lives ART
lost through tho medium Of leaky gas
mains, weakened by electrolyic action.
"There is no branch of the municipal
service that equals in Importance the FIRE
and police signal services as bearing on
the safety and welfare OF the community
except the police and fire departments, of
which they are the nervous systems. q.
"The position Of superintendent of fire
and police telegraphs should bs coun ted
among the assets OF the spokesman. While
1t is perfectly proper that these official 8
should be selected from among those of
the same political creed as the appointing
power. they should be qualified in every
way to perform the duties and should be
obliged to prove their ability before some
authorized person or board competent to
decide impartially
"The timo has come when municipali-
ties must undertake the supervision OF all
classes Of electrical construction many
are already doing so.
Some Of my own personal experience,
I he said, with persons entrusted with tie
i care of electric light and power plants was
| and Is enough to make one shudder at the
possible consequcn cea. due either to mis-
placed confidence or parsimony of their
employers.
II believe 1t to be he duty Of all who
are engaged in any branch of the electrical
business. particularly the members Of this
association. 70 do everything possible to es-
:ablish in every State in the Union sys-
TEN OF license for electrical workers.
A vote of thanks was tendred Captain
Brophy.
Tho paper was discussed by C, L. Pills
bury, of Minpeapoli,; I. W. food, Of Bos-
ton, Mass, and +. c. Mason, of Brooklyn
Mr. Philsbuy described the working of
the new state law in Minnesota providing
for a Board for licensing electricians.
There are three classes of licenses.
Municipal Government, Now and
Century Since; What will it DO Century
Henco?" was the subject of an excellent
paper read by Clinton Rodgers Woodruff,
of Philadelphia secretary of tho National
Municipal League.
He used Philadelphia MS an Illustration
of the strides made in municipal govern
msnt in the present century. As to The
future lie said:--
"Ihe instinct for territorial expansion
satisfied, tho various world Powers and
their possessions will tend more and
more to assume condition of permanent
equilibrium. Constructive craftsmanship
liberated from consideration OF expansion
and colonization, will be free to devote H.
self to the great questions of in nternal i'm
provement. Our municipalities will cor
respondingly bsnefl', and Will have at
their command Il q geEils and that
ability which seems to DO chief charac.
terstic of the Anglo-Saxon race, but
which hitherto has been absorbed by ma
tional and international activities"
He said that the progress OF the cities
had been along extensive lines and we
have beard Of greater New York, greater
Pittsburg and we have had greater Phila-
delphia for some years. Cities will in the
future work along extensive lines. He
warmly defended civil service and said
his hearers should not confuse 1t with tho
system given the people by selfish poll
ticians. He said it was more aptly called
offices were few and the system was not
needed. A century hence, there would
be many more officos and tho system will
be indispensable. Mr., Woodruff was
thankful for his able paper.
G. II. Macdonald, superintendent fire
alarm systom, Ottawa, Canada, read an
interesting paper on progress and De-
velopment of the Fire Alarm and Police
Telegraph in tho Dominion of Canada"
He said: 1.-The first alarm and police tele-
graph in Canada was established In Mon.
treal in 1868, just thirty-six years ago.
The "A. B. c. or dial Instruments were
used for police purposes. Montreal started
with ffty-three boxes; today that city has
255. Montreal introduced the modern pc
Fee alarm on street corners in 1854. To-
ronto installed the alarm in 1871 with for
ty boxes; todny it has 1888 with ten circuit
and one of the most complete telegraph
and underground systems to be found
anywhere.
Thanks were returned to Mr.. MacDon-
aid for his Interesting paper and the con-
gention adjourned for the day
THIS MORNING S BUSINESS.
This morning s session was OPEN
ed by President Aydon appointing
Mr.. Mead, of Pittsburg, Mr.. Mason,
If Brooklyn and Mr.. Thompson, of
committee on exhibits.
The report of Treasurer Adam
Byrch. was called for, but Mr..
8yrch reported that he was unable
o respond, as the trunk containing
he papers had failed to reach this
.ity. President Aydon thereupon
that the Convention
would have to meet at the Clayton
House tomorrow morning to hear '
he report, provided it reached the |
ity by that time. {
John Wiegel read a paper on /
The History of the Police Tcle. '
'raph System of Boston. y S
]. 0. Leary, president OF the !
Telegraphers Mutual Benefit Assoc {
iation, addressed the Convention, i
pcaliing of the fraternal policy of /
he Association, and asking the t
ordlal support Of the Electrical f
association in their work, Mr.. S
cary said the association he rep c