The Anaconda standard., 1899-12-22
He HAS TROUBLES.
The Sad Experience of Superintendent
Dickinson of the Power COMPANY.


Great Falls, Dec. 21.-There are times
when life is not a happy uream to the
superintendent of street car and cleo
trlc light companies, and in Great
Fails this be one Of the times. AT
least 1t would seem so if the superin-
teDdentS suffering is To be gauSed by
the sorrOWs Of other men.
Manager Dickinson Is superintendent
and manager of both the electric light
and street car company in this city,
and in consequence his troubles are
doubled. All last week he put in the
time thinking thoughts which should
benefit the public and incidentally aud
little Christmas money to the Inning
of the pockets Of the stockholders If
the corporations he represents. All last
week the dynamos wafer wheels, casn
registers and various machinery inc
dental to running street cars ana III
candsscsnt lights We're gone over and
thoroughly renovated. On Friday last
the work was completed and the power
plant tit to do battle for a pennant.
Behold said Manager Dickinson,
as he surveyed the completed work
we shall make a record; two mora
motor men will jerk electric Juice on a
couple of extra cars and from this 18th
day OF December until the glad new
year will We have a 15-minuIe service
on all the lines Of the city-except, Of
don't count-and a steady procession
or cars will trail along the trail for the
beneht OF holiday shoppers; and be-
SIDES this the electric lignt in the stores
shall be brighter than ever before, in
order that the shoppers may see and
be happy. Everything VIII be as merry
as marriage bell and the people will
rise up and call us blessed. Oh, thsy
certainly VIII, and We viii make a rec
ORD and have our pictures took while
making it,
And he went cheefulIy to bed and
got up early the next morning to start
everything off with boom-but the
pipe went out, So did the electricity
and few fields and an .'arnat turap
and a section of trolley wire, and a few
more fields" and another "arma ture"
borrowed for the occasion from the b.
~ M. people. And the people who got
up early to take advantage of the l5-
minute service waited until noon and
then walked. And that night the lights
We're dim
Never had such a thing occurred!
Ihe undertow caused by the ice had
filled the headgate and sluice and ma
chinery of the power house with debris
OF all kinds and everything went IN
with a puff. The power was switched
& 20 me 3. d NJ. ana short circuit
caused by broken trolley made an
other puff. And. another armature
burned out. All night the crews If
men worked at repairing, and Sunday
morning everything started off all right
but it stopped, and 200 men riding
10 work to the smelter swore audibly
and by the telephone At Intervals
during the day the cars run and every-
one in the employ of the company from
the manager down to Billy Andrews
worked overtime and every other kind
of time. And Monday morning every
thing started, and stopped Tie river
had run dry-and again several hun
dred men swore. All day long everyone
worked at repairing and Manager Dick
inson telephoned to the waterworks,
asking that they pump water into the
river until things began to get in nor
NAL condition. But by night the high
water mark Of profanity had been
reached. TIE street cars ran OCCASION
ally, but the incandescert lights were so
dim as to be but slight relief to the
darkness. The display of holiday
goods in the shops remained in dim
obscurity. In the electric light and
street car office the gloom was relieved
by a continuous string of blue fire from
the neighborbood of the telephone. The
young lady receiver refused to stay in
the same room with the instrument, the
ear piece of which got so hot as to
make it impossible to hold 1t long; at
least no one connected with the Office
did hold it long. and every time the
receiver was hung IN a few choice Sc
lections Of profanity dropped out on
the floor. 'Oh, yes, we're ma,1fng a
record" said Manager Dickinson
wearily, 'but not Christmas record
by considerable; l am going home and
going down III the cellar TO spend the
night; If any one wants me, tell them
you havn't seen me all day. No, tell
them you haNnt seen me all winter
d.
Wednesday the cars began to run on
15-minute schedule, the water began
rising in the river again, the lights to
burn and everything run like clock
work, but Manager Dickinson is not
at ease; he does not feel a himself
The burning out of the armatures were
all right, and so was the short circuit
ing of tine trolley wire-they were to
be expected and were in the nature of
ordinary troubles, but when the river
went dry on him and knocked out his