New-York tribune., 1903-04-08
Land Required for Plant IN New York City Cost
s5.75 per So. f.; IN Boston, 50 Cents.
Statement Made by Mr.. Bowers on Behalf
of Consolidated Gas Company at
Legislative Hearing at Albany,
April 7th. 1908.

submitted to the Mayor or the CITY OF Nc"
York report bearing upon the question OF pub
lie lighting of the City of New York, recon-
mending, among other things. that legislation
giving to the City the power to establish ana
maintain an electric plant for street lighting
should be had. This report was based upon rep
reservations concerning the cost OF street light
ing in other cities, and the claim was made that
the cost to the City of New York for public
lighting was greater than the cost in the other
cities selected by Mr.. Monroe as basis OF COM
parison
The question whether or not the public light
ing of the City of New York may be best OBJ
tained by municipal plant or by other means is,
of course one for the authorities OF the City to
determine but is felt that certain facts should
be laid before this Committee for its assistance
in determining legislation.
The main points suggested in the report OF Mr.
Monroe are the questions of the cost to the
Municipality of ordinary gas lamps, the cost to
the Municipality of incandescent mantles and
the cost to the Municipality of electric lights.
STREET GAS LAMPS.
The average cost to the City in the Borough of
Manhattan for ordinary street lamps as fur
nished by the Consolidated Gas Company, the
Standard Gas Light Company and the New
Amsterdam Gas Light Company, is S157O per
lamp. The cost for similar service in other
cities as tabulated in Chart D of Mr.. Monroes
report runs from $3.50 in Wilmington. Della
ware TO S16.75 in Cincinnati; then to Sl7oO IN
Hoboken. and thence by various grades running
through four cities to SD in New Haven, Con-
necticut. The highest cost i'll the Borough or
Manhattan is $3.50 per lamp. This is lower
than the charges made In most olher ciIes luz
the same service.
It is true that the cost Of gas lamps TO the city
in the Borough of The Bronx is SO per lamp,
and in one instance S24 per lamp; but IN these
districts the City Is furnished with gas iioiii
mains where the consumption per mile 1s nuch
smaller than in the Borough OF Manhattan ana
such charges will be found on investigation 10
compare most favorably with the cost IN other
cities for gas furnished under similar conditions
Thus the cost per lamp in Boston IN 1888. the
year before the incandescent gas lamp contract
went into effect was S24S2 per lamp.
It will thus be that the greater part OF
the public lighting by gas lamps In the Borough
of Manhattan is at low prices even when COM
pared with the cities selected by MIR. Monroe 1or
his comparison With the cost Of public lighting
in Roroughs other than Manhattan and the
Bronx the Consolidated Gas Company has noun
ing directly indirectly TO do
In all cases the Consolidated Gas Company Is
compelled to attend to the lighting and eX-
tinguishing the repairing, the painting and the
cleansing of the lamps and the supplying ana
| renewal of the burners.
IT cannot therefore, be seriously questioned
| that the furnishing of gas and the maintenance
| of the lamps, above specified, at the rate or
$3.50 per lamp less. is reasonable and less
than the cost of supplying similar lamps by any
| other method under any other circumstances
| the City can devise. Not only is gas furnished
| at this reasonable rate, but the Consolidated
| Gas Company extends its mains when requested
! by the City authorities TO do. AS matter Of
| fact. the Consolidated Gas Company alone mas
| over forty miles of mains upon which there IS
practically no private consumption, and miles of
| these mains have been laid through solid rock
for the mere purpose of lighting the streets at a
| cost the annual interest upon which at four per
cent is not repaid by the City by the allowance
! per lamp. AS example, the section running
| from Seventh Avenue at 10th Street to lo3ro
Street was constructed in the year 1892 at cost
Of S14471 This section lights twenty lamps.
There never any private consumption OF
gas from this main, until within the last year.
The interest upon the cost of this section at four
per cent. per annum is S5lS.S4 The cost palu
| by the City for the twenty lamps is s5oo-a
deficit of S22S 81 without allowing anything for
| the value of the gas towards the expense the
company is put 10 in caring for. lighting, ex-
tinguishing repairing, painting, and cleaning
the lamps
| And also the section 18th Street from Ave-
nue. to the East River was constructed In 1893
|
| lamps There has never been any private con-
| sumption Of gas from this main. The interest
| upon the cost of this section at 4 per cent Is
| s159SS The cost paid by the City for the nine
lamps is per annum S157.5O. deficit of S23s,
without allowing anything for the value Of the
| gas. etc.
There is very little in Mr.. Monroe's report
criticisng the above charges for the furnishing
| of gas lamps; but he complains that the cost of
| incandescent mantles is far cheaper in the City
| of Chicago than in the City OF New York and
states that it costs Chicago $40 additional a
wear for a lamp with incandescent burner,
| while in the Borough OF Manhattan it costs
| S11.50.
| INCANDEsCENT GAS MANTLE LAMPS.
| AS to the question of incandescent mantles,
| the gas companies neither own nor supply them.
| They are patented Notwithstanding that the
| Consolidated Gas Company has no interest or
| ownership in such patents, it has constantly
| been engaged in making tests concerning the
| advantages OF the different incandescent lights.
| and has in to-day in front OF its ofhces in
| the City of New York the lamp known as the
| Scott Smell and is entirely ready to adopt to
| the service of the City any incandescent mantles
| or lamps the City may desire
| The incandescent rnantles in Chicago of
| a totally different character and are main
| tanned by what is called pilot light, which
| burns gas all of the twenty y-four hours. when
the lamp is not in use for illumination of the
streets. The City of Chicago simply adapted
| its old fat-famed burner lanterns to the incan-
| descent service by placing therein an incan-
| descent mantle with mica chimney for the
| purpose. as are informed, of avoiding pay
ment to the owners of the patents. The light