The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1905-08-30


After spending -four and one.half
months IN the chief cities - the
United states and Europe at the
expense 81 Seattle. investigating
municipal matters. city Engineer
Thomson. who returned on Tuesday
night il not ready to way whether
or not municipal ownership OF all
public utilities il success.
lie states. however. that he ~ an
der the Impression" that the eK-
tenalvely quoted interviews with
James Ualrympie. the Glasgow mt
Hieipal tramway expert. who was
called 10 Chicago by Mayor Dunno
10 make recommends tons regarding
Chicago.s lately acquired system, in
which the seotehman gives such o
gloomy view OF a municipal owner
ship Boa Chicago. are exaggerated.
Thomson saw Daifymple for few
minutes. but Is 90 learn the lattef's
views on municipal ownership in q
letter not yet received.
That statement ta the only iutima-
ton which Thomson viii give re-
RardlnK hia Impressions. but Judg-
iuf from the We've which he has
herstofors held on the subject, he
viii probably. IN HE report 20 the
council. express mis- liking for mu-
nieipal ownership Of most public
utilities without tying himself down
too closely lie says that he has
not diEeeted the subject get that he
IL fuiI Of concrete ideas. which.
however. be has not anslmilafed.
analysed arranged and reduced to
clear. tangible and practical form.
A. FAR as the main object Of his
visit - eoncerusd-the gathering 81
data relating 10 the collection and
disposal q EarhaEe-it was. he says
attained.
My fears that many garbage de-
structoFa are a failure" he said on
"Wednesday morning proved 20
have ample foundation Although
learned beyond a doubt that gar
bhFe can be economically handled,
also discovered that IA many In
stances such attempts were a fan
ure. Garbage can be profitahly
handled IN seattle, too. but lust what
method wiii be the best am not
yet prepared TO say.
There are two ways OF handling
garbage tn Europe that are success
fuI one o. 70 destroy q b. inein-
GRAFTON. The other is 60 put In
through a process that viii extract
the grease. ammonia and other sub
stances. or % use IL for eurichInR
agricultural ground. have not yet
determined which would be the most
effieacious or economical system to
use IN this city.
~IiyerrooIs tnriuerating plant o.
nos used for generating half the
power consumed in operating it,
street railways Preston operates l.
miles 81 railways with ROVER gen
Grated exclusively by the burning Of
refuse. I secured diagrams Of the
lncincratorH ia use ia Hamburg aud
other German cities. spending sew
eral days watching their operation.
but found that the English cities
had most completely solved the
problem.
No. regarding municipal owner
ship | cannot say a word. he con-
cluded. as he sat down again 20 q
meeting Of the board Of works. al
though III tell you all I could find
out about municipal cemeteries.
parks, pavement and sanitation"
Net only ala Thomson bring home
with him "a fund Of Information re-
hating 10 municipal matters. but also
three trunks fun OF books on that
subject. which he viii turn over TO
the city. n the latter has the room
20 keep them His report 20 the
council VIII probably be so volumin-
Gus and scientifically exhaustive as
20 put the solons 10 sleep. He has
some brand new ideas. regarding the
handling nf fire apparatus partieu-
larry IN reference to the automobile
feature. and CHIEF Cooks eyes viii
probably pop out Of their sockets by
the time he mas been told them all.
lie also says that the skyscraper
Is doomed. that it egts too much
llRht of the streets. and that some
cities are restricting the height TO
the same length as the width Of the
street