The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-01-14
MYERS BUYS THEM
Topeka Railway Magnate Gets
Potwin Sewer Bonds.
He Outbids All the Other Com
petitors.
70 REPAIR THE PLANT.
City Electric Lighting Machin.
cry Is in Bad Condition.
Part of City Lights Cut Out
Every Night.

L. E. Myers, the vice president and
manager of the Topeka City railway.
! today was awarded the contract for the
purchase of $4,000 worth of Topeka
bonds, issued to refund the outstanding
Potwin sewer bonds which fall due in
February. Mr. Myers bid $1S315, accru-
/ ed interest. and the cost of printing
the bonds. and it is understood that
his purchase is a private deal, with no
connection with the City Railway COM
pany or the L. E. Myers Construction
company.
The issue of refunding bonds bear AZ
per cent interest, are payable in 20
years, and refund an issue of per
cent bonds made by the city of Pot
win Is years ago, and assumed by the
city of Topeka when Potwin became a
part of Topeka
Mr.. Myers bid was only a few dol
lars better than two other competitors.
The other bids were as follows:
A. Klebolte & Co., Cincinnati, $1S,-
80 and accrued interest.
Seasongood & Mayer. Cincinnati, $19,-
300, and accrued interest.
Lamprecht Bros, Cleveland, o., par.
n. w. Harris & Co. of Chicago, Of
fered to take $4,000 of the issue at par
and accrued interest.
is Figured that Mr.. Myers bid, in
cluding the cost of printing the bonds,
is about $50 better for the city than
that of the next highest bidder Frank
G. Kelly, of the Topeka railway, rep
resented Mr.. Myers at the bidding.
Under authority from the city coun-
Gil, the bids for the bonds were received
. and opened, and the contract awarded
by the ways and means committee. This
is rather an irregular way of doing
+ business, but haste was desirable, ana
some time was saved by this method
, The committee was called together for
, 10 O'Clock this morning, and the bids
opened Those present were Council
, men Neil, Howe, Swendson, Griley and
!, Nellis
The deal is believed to be an ad-
Yanta geOus one for the city, though the
bonds bear Az per cent. instead of
: per cent as MANY people believe To-
! peka bonds should bear. The rate OF
r premium is not quite sosshigh as the
rate received on the $4,000 refundins
bonds sold here a few weeks ago, but
the reason is-probably because. such q
small lot of bonds as $4,000 is not quite
so desirable to the bond buyers as a
REPAIRS ON ELECTRIC LIGHT
PLANT
+ Extensive repairs will have to be
made on the Topeka electric light plant
soon, and the ways and means commit
tee considered the matter this morning
: Tt was decided to recommend to the
/. council that new armature for one o1
the dyndDnOS be purchased 1nIneOlal0iS
at a cost of $500 One of the dynamos
is burned out, and Supt Porter Mitchell
is obliged to cut out about rs street
lamps every night because he can moi
carry all in town. Many people have
noticed during the past week thai
some of the lights were not burning a
night
superintendent Mitchell stated to the
| committee, and Mayor Bergundthal con-
firmed the statement, that the city
plant is getting into bad repair. New
boilers will be necessary very soon, anc
a new dynamo will have to be put il
! before any more electric lamps can be
l installed. The new boilers will cos
81 200 and the dynamo about 81, 200 more
it will also cost about 81, 500 to string
| lot of new wire in the city and recon
= struct some of the lines which are il
bad repair.
: The committee decided that an fnves
: tigation should be made to ascertain
the cost of new boilers, new dynamo
and rewriting of some of the circuits.
Just before ex-Superintendent Good
rich left office, he asked that in
l vestigation be made to determine th'
5 condition of the plant. This investiga
5 ton was made by the electric light com
mittee. together with one or two eXper
electricians and engineers. They re
! ported the plant to be in good condition
superintendent Mitchell states, how
! ever, that the investigation was no
thorough; that it was made in a yer!
cursOry manner, and the defects whicI
f at that time existed were not brough
5 TO light. He says that the plant hat
= been allowed to run down by Mr. Good
: rich for the purpose of making record
for economical operation.
While talking over the question of re
e pairs, the question was raised as to th'
+ advisabiiity of consolidating the elec
t tric light plant with the waterwork!
plant when the city acquires the lat
= ter.
. Superintendent Mitchell made tn,
= sensational statement that this wOulC
Y not be advisable for the reason that tn
- boilers at the water plant are no good
BILE and are an immense expense t
maintain. He quoted Joseph Bromich
a the we'll known Topeka boilermaker al
e authority for this assertion. Mr.. Mitch
d ell also stated that the leakage of elec
: tricity in bringing it into town from
n the water plant, and the large expens'
e involved in sending 1t such a long dis
), tance, would more than exceed the saw
v ing which would be effected by a con
e solidation of the two plants. If thi
l. is true. how is the electrical powe
e from Niagara Falls carried for sucl
long distances?
There were several members of tn
committee who expressed themselves a
opposed to a consolidation of the tw'
q plants.
o PAPER THE COUNCIL CHAMBER.
|, After the ways and means commit
h tee adjourned the buildings committe
5 talked over the Daoering of the counci
: chamber. and decided to get an esti
y | mate on the work.
: The committee then went to the cit,
prison and inspected the work which /
is desired to do there to make tn
premises more convenient and safe 70
- y the tsorses.