The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1903-01-03

The people of Duluth who use cleo
e1ac lights werermade happy this week
~ the announcement of the Duluth
General Electric company that there
would be a material reduction in elec-
trio light rates after the New Year.
The company has been doing an i'm
mense amount Of costly improvement
during the past year in bringing it's
plant up to the highest modern STAN
dard, and after several weeks investi-
cation Of the conditions existing in
other cities, now voluntarily offers
electric lights to the people of this city
cheaper than they have ever been
offered before, and at rates which can
be shown to be more favorable than in
any other city in the Northwest any,
where near the size of Duluth.
This reduction in the price Of lights
has been made only after the expendi-
ture Of 5000 900 in improvements dur
ing the past eighteen months, and in
the face of the great advance In the
cost Of fuel.
1t would be difficult TO give in this
column detailed statement Of the re-
auctions made, owing to the space re-
CURED, but this is fully explained in
the advertisement which appears at an
other place in The Labor World. One
instance will serve to show something
of the scale Of this reduction, although
the new schedule is made out on the
basis that the more lights used the
lower will be the rate.
Under the oil drate a person using
10000 Watts at 20 cents per Kilo Watt
was presented with a bill of 81, which,
with Is per cent discount for cash.
made IL net cost to the consumer of
$3.40.
Under the new rate of IA cents per
K;lo Watt, the same person using TO-
900 Watts will receive :, bill for $3.50,
which, with q 10 per cent discount for
cash, will make his net cost Of lights
S2.52. This will be saving of exactly
SO cents to the customer.
A still greater reduction in the rate
is made to the consumers of larger
amounts of electricity, as shown by the
schedule published in the ADVERTISE
ment.
The Duluth General Electric COM
pany has bought an entirely new out
side equipment for it's plant one that is
thoroughly up to date. It's new ma
chinery Is the costliest made, and the
ols A1lls eugIne that mas been installed
the largest at the head of the lakes,
comes from the factory of the best
engine manila cturers in the world.
Nla al
made by the General Electric company
and has horse power Of 2000 as COM
pared with 800 horse power in the old
generators.
The three engines and generators
now in operation give the plant a total
capacity Of 1000 horse power, enough
to supply the city with electric lights
fo< every home and business house.
The old generators have been sold for
junk, All transformers and electrical
apparatus outside the power plant have
been changed for new equipment. Fiji
teen carloads of copper wire were used
in making the changes and running the
new circuits
The company has put in new
switchboard with expensive instru-
ments. The engines arc now all run
lin STEP" so that each engine takes
up exactly the amount Of load" in
to it's capacity. By this
means the circuits can be switched on
and off and changed, without stop
page Of the lights, feature which Is
considered very important owing to che
which was sometimes
occasioned by a stoppage Of the lights
while changing circuits, under the old
system.
Another interesting feature to be
kept in mind regarding the present
changes, is that this is the third time
within fourteen years that the electric
light company has made complete
change in all It's electrical generating
apparatus to meet the demands for
more lights, but chiefly to keep up with
the important changes in electrical
The Duluth General Electric company
believes that it is entering on a new
year Of prosperity, and is Offering to it's
Duluth patrons the benefits to be de-
rived from a far better equipped cleo
trical plant and reduced prices. The
is g. large employer Of union
labor and it's employees work on the g.
hour a day basis.