Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1904-08-08
ELECTRIC LIGHTING.
To the Editor Of the Alexandria Gazette

To the Editor Of the Alexandria Gazette
An article in your issue of Wednes-
day, August 8, headed Electric Light
ing" is interesting reading, but is, ID
way, misleading, and while feel salts
fed that there was no such intention It
does me an injustice, inasmuch as ! am
one OF the minority of the City Council
opposing the sale of the electric light
plant and franchise.
You state that there is not fortune
in electric lighting in Alexandria, at
least not at this time, and base this state
ment upon the small amount received
by The city Tor its one-fifth of the total
receipts Of the Electric Railway Com
pany for the quarter ending with the
mouth of June. Ny contention has
been that current for electric lighting
can be furnished at such low figure
that it will, within short while, depre-
ciate the value of our gas plant to such
an extent that the plant will be practi-
cally valueless to the city. 1t is now
valuable asset and the light committee
expects to realize six per cent. on two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars dur
ing the next year from the sale of gas.
Let us see what this valuable plant
will be worth when placed in competi-
ton with electricity. Sufficient current
to run an electric fan twenty-iour hours
every day for thirty days is furnished by
the Electric Railway Company for the
sum of one dollar and fifty cents, or five
cents per day; the amount of current
required to run this fan continuously for
twenty-four hours would supply ten l6-
candle power incandescent lights. The
same amount of lighting, if gas were
used, would necessitate the burning OF
one thousand nine hundred and twenty
feet Of gas at cost OF two dollars and
thirty cents, or forty-six times the cost
of lights furnished by electricity.
Of course / understand that the pur-
chasers of the electric franchise would
not sell electricity at this low figure, but
it does not stand to reason that the
Electric Railway Company is selling us
electricity at loss, and if they can af-
ford to furnish sufficient current for ten
incandescent lights at the rate OF five
cents per day, the electric plant could
furnish it at handsome profit, and still
at figure SO low as would make the use
of gas out of the question they can
even 90 so far as TO wire and equip resi-
dences and places of business free of
charge, and still make money. Now, is
it reasonable to believe that the con-
sumption OF gas will be just as great in
the face of these facts?
Another misleading statement is that
the City Council has passed an ordinance
allowing the Washington, Alexandria x
Mt. Vernon Electric Railway Company
to furnish electricity for lights and fans.
No such ordinance is 10 existence. Such
an ordinance was passed May IL, 1903,
but it granted this privilege only until
January 1st, 1904, and it has never
been reordained. This privilege has
only been granted the Electric Railway
Company from time to time, and be-
cause of this uncertainty electricity has
never been a serious menace to the gas
receipts.
am heartily in favor of rebuilding
the electric light plant, and of installing
an incandescent plant, but believe that
this should be done by the City of Alex
andria, and not by any private corpora
ton. am unalterably opposed to the
city disposing of any public franchise.
The contention of several councilmen
that the city is not in position to re-
build the present plant--much less to
build an incandescent plant-to my
mind is absurd. An arc and incandes-
cent lighting plant can be established
by this city at a cost of less than twenty
thousand dollars, and there is no ques-
ton in my mind that the City Council
of Alexandria can provide for this sum.
f Respectfully,
F. @. SPINKs, JR.