The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-02-11

its name, but II IL IN a Talr way
TO have focused upon 1t the eyes
~ OF every one interested In mu-
nicipal improvements all over
the world. II Is district Of Lon
don lying Just beyond Jack-ihe-Rip-
per's Whitechspel and populated chiefly
by persons so poor that It's small trades,
men and It's saIooukeepers are counted
aristocrats among them. The West End
knows Of Shoredttch vaguely as Stun.
Politically II is what In Greater New york
would be called a borough. and under the
new London government act II VIII nave
boards OF aldermen and couneimen all
to itself The place Of those boards mas
been taken In tho past by the vestrymen-
Now the London yestryman. as COM
pared with the typical city father IN
America, might really be said TO nave
good deal OF civic altruism. lie gives
much time to his district without asking
es frequently rs his American cousin,
What do / get out OF it?' But he ID
tremendous "argyfer." as Josh Billings
used 20 say. and Is one OF the deadhest
enemies of new ideas. He fights them on
principle and instinct.
so one would not look naturally to such
men for really significant improvements.
Luckily for the shoreditch aggregation,
II had a clerk whose brains were receptive
Of new ideas. Thanks to hts persistence,
this districf with the unloveiy name has
devised a method of making one tax eat
up part OF another tax, and incidentally
OF making itself useful and ornamental
IN other ways at cheap rates, and now
delegations have been sent to humble
shoreditch from model Birmingham ana
cnterprising Glasgow TO see how the thing
was done. and lately New York has been
sending over inquiries about one phase OF
the Improvement.
Tho chief feature of the Shoreditch de-
parture IL a "destructor' that turns all
the household refuse OF the district into
.a.lIxr
OF the garbage into remarkably fine baths
for an exceptionally dirty neighborhood
Lord Kelvin. inventor OF mariners com
pass and the most famous electrician In
England. opened the plant two years ago
md now, after watching u carefully, and
perhaps a little jealously, Il II conceded
by all hands 10 be a success.
Cheapest In the world, Considering.
In fact. shoreditch IA supplying electric
light more cheaply than any other place
In England. or. considering certain CON
dIftpns. In the world. IL this parish had
accepted the offer OF the private company
that originally wanted TO supply II with
electric light II would now be paying ~
cents a unit. or Just what almost every
other London district IL paying. What II
IL paving for the best sort of electric light
"a iust & cents a unit. Districts that are
having the higher rate get their iight
from private corporations.
OF course, the reason that the Shore-
ditch shopkcepers, concert hall managers
and Acknowledgements are getting electricity
at 0Atysa fraction Of cent more than
thc< would have to pay for an Indifferent
qualify 81 gas IL that Shoreditch Is max
ing liz electricity practically out Of moth
ing-out OF absolute waste, In fact. by
means OF It's combined dust destructor
and lighting station. and one ,wopld syAap-
pose that the establishment OF the he<es-
snr, MINT would have sent the tax rate
In ShnsAii tch sky high for time.
Actually however. the rate hasr't In
creaksd one. penuy by reason OF it. The
carFfkf that b,silt them was borrowed
from th< London county council. with the
understanding that about $4,000 was to be
repaid annually as part payment OF prin-
cipaI ard interest on the remainder. Now.
last year the receipts OF the lighting sta
tion, after deducting that payment of $50
GO were s9.0oo and the saving, by reason
OF burning thu parish n refuse on tho spot
Instead OF carrying Il away was practi-
caIiy 81 0n and 60 this sum the Shoreditch
accountants add q further sum OF $3.50 by
reason OF the saving In coal through
heating the public bath and wash houses
with steam from the destraotor.
OF course, had this lighting station been
In the hands OF q private company, that
repayment % capital wouldn't have been
nscessary or even possible, and that
would have meant pront Of $4,000 TO be
chopped up iifo dtSiderds, n
other Csties might no II.
DR. Robinson. the ves;ry clerk, was
anxious 70 make 1t perfectly clear that.
owing TO It's peculiar conditions. Shore
ditch could not be taken for n universal
copy.
ssyou see" he said "sore az the places
IN England Nhpaa communities have
hoard about what we are DONG are sns-
ious 20 copy MS una ~ laitld dust destruc
tors without ever considering that shore
dlteh's tirstructor was bsfnt for the sim
nia reason that IL Involved the expcadi-
lure OF so large a sum TO get rid OF the
refuse 4 city that has body Of water
10 be filled up or land 10 fertilixa has no
real use for destructor That's what
makes Il 80 hard TO say how the actual
rcsuita IL DOR plant cotnpare With others
ali over the world 70 begin with, tho
,,iant has been goiug only two years. and
cyeryboty knows that electricity IA the
one thing that can be produced more and
more cheapiy as the output Of u I'M
rraasrs We started with one consumer
ANA In the nr-t three months We lost
Seso. nov our profit Is tho sum / have
Just named.
$50. after all. the only real measure et
the value % this enterprise Is the fact
that with the heat that would have gone
mn the chimney OF our dsstructor and
been thrown away wa are producing an
nualy saS 5SS units Of electricity, and that.
listed either at our rate or the private