The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-04-09

~ - |ONbSf a patent elANbA i4Sss anu a
publio-splrited citizen OF the District, in
a communication addressed 20 the Com
missioners, handles the Board. and partic-
( ularly Commissioner John b. Wight, with
out gloves in the matter of the use OF
naphtha in lighting the streets.
/ Mr.. Dodge first complains that he re-
/ ceived no answer to a communication sent
/ to the Commissioners more than a month
/ ago. in which he urged the Importance Of
an early decision on the question whether
the tanks burners etc. should be fur
nished by the District or by the contrac-
/ tor. Through the newspapers Mr.. Dodge
| says he learned that Commissioner Wight
/ had recommended to the Board that THE
/ best interests of the District are served
/ by requiring the company furnishing
naphtha to furnish the tank and burner,
/ rather thal TO have them furnished by the
District"
The reasons assigned for this says Mr..
: Dodge, according to the newspaper report
/ were that the burners considered best
for naphtha lamps cannot be purchased"
( But the Dodge communication ACIDS that,
according to the report Of the Superintend-
I ent Of Street Lighting. The Wellington
: burner formerly used is the besi, for in
( his report he states that with the burner
! formerly used. which was the Wellington
/ burner, a 20-caadle power light was fur
nished with less naphtha than is required
1 by the present burners for l6-caadle
/ power light.
If by his statement Mr.. Wight means. %
| continues Mr. Dodge. chat the Wellington
burners are not kept In stock sufficient 10
furnish TIE 1855 burners az once. that is
/ true anu it was for that reason / urged
I an e1rIy decision. so that il the best burn
/ course. it would be. there would be tine
TO have them made. whether furnished by
the District or the contractor. But If Mr..
Wight means. as his language would seem
20 imply, that the burners considered best
to wit: the Wellington, cannot be had.
then I have TO say the statement is IN
correct for shown by a letter from a
responsible company, under date OF March
l, 1860. they say. We can furnish the 300
brass outfits for the street lamps. etc and
this was In reply to an enquiry by an in
tending bidder, as 10 whether they could
furnish the Wellington burners. In case
IL should be decided by your Boadr to
adopt it, so that he could bid with a GER
tainty OF getting the burners IL called for
copy Of the letter referred to is en-
closed in Mr.. Dodge's communication.
If IL bc true" as Mr. Dodge saws he Is
informed, that this letter bearing date
as above stated WIS placed before your
bhAlu AlLlAlle4-iatN4I AtlAlL rs 4ENELDls ana
that Commissioner Wight had his atteu-
zion specially called Ia it in connection
With this matter. a. is difficult to under
stand how he could truthfuuy say that
the burners Considered best could rot DO
bought
Mr.. Dodge referring again 10 the news
paper report which says Mr. Wight be-
leves that the kind OF burner and tank
10 be used should be specified by the Com
missiOners, and the contractor required
20 furnish such as i'm his opinion seems
best" continues as follows
1t may be that the reporter accidentally
substituted the word his for the word
their in the sentence quoted. or other
wise the statement would be absurd But
suppose the Commissioners are 10 specify
the burner which they and not the contrac-
tor consider best, then Is IL not important
that the burner be decided upon in time to
enable the contractor TO procure themg
a second reason assigned BY Commits
: sioner Wight. as cited by Mr.. Dodge. from
the published report lis that by requiring
{ the contractor to furnish the burners the
municipal authorities are at liberty any
{ year TO call for such burner as may seem
best II, as stated by the Superintendent
J of Street Lighting. the Wellington burner
formerly used is the best. why then should
, not the Board call for it. and why should
IL not be done in time TO enable the con-
tractor to obtain Them IL Is difficult 10
understand why not. unless the idea is 10
delay the matter until IL is too late 10 OBJ
tain them. when. OF course. there would
be nothing that could be done but 20 con-
tinue the use OF the inferior burners fur
nished by the present contractor.
If II were the intention TO so manage
the matter Of the naphtha lighting hat u
shall be continued in the hands Of the
present outside contractor. to the exclu-
|. ! sion OF citizens OF the District il il DIM
a
. accomplished than by adopting the recon-
, mendatiOn OF Commissioner Wight"
, Mr.. Dodge admits the possibility that the
newspaper reports referred TO do not cor
rectly state Commissioner Wights position
but II so Mr.. Dodge declares that the fault
lies at the Commissioners own door. for
had he furnished me a copy OF his recon
mendstiOn 10 us associates. as he said he
supposed he had done. and as he promised
me at an interview had with him some time
! before this was published he would do al
r once there would then have been no
J chance for any misrepresentation in the
natter
In cOncl lsion Mr.. Dodge refers to several
: matters IN connection with naphtha light
ing for the District that would seem to re-
quire Investigation. asking how il was
, and why tine lamps and burners owned by
2 the District were allowed to be dismantled
! by the company which formerly had the
contract. and allowed to substitute its
!, | own2
. Why is It not as desirable for the Dis
! I trict to own naphtha lamps as for it 10
own gas almps?
why is the present contractor permit
ted to use a burner which the SuDerin-
tendent and experience shows to be infe-
riOr2
Why, in a former year, the contract was
. awarded TO the highest bidder on the
ground that the test showed his burner
4 and the naphtha furnished to give an ex-
/, cess Of light over that Of the lowest bid
I, der, while, in last years award when the
: tests showed a much greater excess no
consideration was given to that fact2
: Why the District should not have the
!. best burner and the most attainabIe
= light?'
!, These are matters which Mr.. Dodge
: thinks the citizens and taxpayers are in
terested in, and he intimates to the Com
missOners that they are matters which
!, should receive careful consideration at the
hands Of the Board.
= ARMENIANS FOR HoUSEWoRK.