El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-04-13

hibIting the erection of any telegraph
telephone or electric light pole or
s.rinpipg wires at a less height than
thirty-tive feet and imposing fine oil
from So TO $50 for each offense.
Attorney Leigh Clark, OF the new
electric light company, came before
the council The poles to be used oy
them were twenty-five foot poles and
according to the best Information OBJ
tainable this WAS the height used 10
nearly al the large cities. he sa q
that in case of fire the wires would
have to be cut anyway and they could
be caught just as well at twenty-five as
at thIrty-five hence the ooJectlon OF
the FIRE department was groundless.
No one sd ever raised the question In
Ell Paso until the new company pre-
pared to turn on its lights. While he
accused no one of improper motives he
urged the council to consider the
ordinance well before it was passed.
Mr.. Clark submitted letter from 81.
q. Humphreys, of ST. Louis, the cleo
trical engineer employed by the com
pany. In it he said:
with reference to the height Of
poles for supporting street lamps,
would say At IL is the esta blished
practice where the new style enclosed
arc lamps are used to hang them lower
than was the former custom with the
old style open arc lamps. This fs done
for the reason that the enclosed lamp
throws more light in a horizontal direc-
tion aud throws the light much
greater distance, lighting the middle
of the block much better than with the
old style of lamp and distributing the
light better than the old lamp, which
threw a ray of bright light Immediate
ly under it, while the light at dis
tauce droDDed off Verp RAPIDLY.
You see from this the reason of sus-
pending the old style of lamps as high
as possible and also for hanging the
new style lamps as low as possible,
still keeping them GU. Of the reach of
loaded wagons, etc.
THE lamps installed in the present
underground district in st. Louis,
about 325 in mum Der, are on iron poles
with the light itself less than 20 feet
from the ground and the new contract
which calls for ,0C0 lamps will doubt
less call for the same height above the
street, as the supervisor of city light
ing mas already approved the use OF the
present piles throughout the balance
of the district.
''For Ell Psso, where the lamps in
some Sses will not be at every street
intersection, but will be required TO H.
Illuminate more toan a block in either
direction in some cases, we would ad-
wise placing the lamps no. to exceed
% feet in height, ard not less than 20
feet, meeting the ideas of your city
lighting mmittea as regards the ex
act height for placing the amps
President J. P. Dieter, of the In
ternationsl Light & Power company,
pleaded earnestly in behalf of mis- com
pany. To pass the proposed ordinance
would be equiva leut TO prohibiting the
company from doing business IS IL was
now too late to secure new poles in the
time allowed by the contract with the
city. Later, he said. II the poles were
found By experience to be unsatisfac-
tory they would replace them with
others. But now that was impossible.
The old electric light company aud the
telephone company were already fight
ing them and If the council came to
the aid OF their Opponents il would al