The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1905-06-06
Icopyright. 190l. b. Frederlek Ipham Adarns.l

1 The municipal gas monopoly is COM
4 plete, but there are no complaints, and
l heard of no scandals Owing to the
/ high price of coal the cost of produc-
ton is much greater than in the United
/ States, but the gas is sold for half as
much, with a large and increasing rev.
enue to the city. When the bonds are
all paid and the city becomes the abso-
Lutte owner Of the property the price
will be yet further reduced In the
meantime the profits will have more
than paid the cost of the plant
The gross profits last year were near
| " 5000, and were it not that large
sums had to be diverted to interest
and sinking fund payments and to the
assistance Of the taxpayers 1t would
be possible today, even with the abnor-
NAL price Of materials, to produce and
sell gas at less than 40 cents a thou
sand feet and leave a handsome profit.
There is no theory about this. 1t is
being done on an enormous scale in one
Of the worlds largest cities.
have space only to note the other
enterprises in which Birmingham is
engaged. The city maintains COM
prehensive system of baths, ranging
| from open air baths for the poorer
classes to modern Turkish baths. The
income amounts to sos, 900 year. The
city burial board has charge of GENE
teries in which 1000 were inferred last
year. 1t is the policy Of the board to
so conduct this estate as to make it
self sustaining, and successive years
show alternating profits and losses in
small amounts.
-Four years ago Birmingham pur-
chased the electric light and power
plant, paying the owners Of the fran
chise more than 100000. For the
first two years the new management
made so many improvements that there
was slight deficit. but the third year
yielded a profit, and the last annual
report indicated net gain of $150,O00,
which went into the common treasury.
The city owns it's markets, and they
are source of revenue. Birmingham
is farmer on large scale. The mu-
nicipal farm comprises 1900 acres, and
600 more are about to be added. This
land Is fertilized by the sewage and is
largely devoted to cattle raising and
dairy business. There are also inn
mense herds of sheep which belong to
the city. There are filtration works
and a plant for handling the byprod-
ucts, and these, with the farm, repre-
sent an investment of about $2,500,000
The last report shows that the annual
sales Of stock amount to $4,000, while
$4,000 is realized from milk and about
as much from WOOL By these scientific
methods the cost Of disposing Of sew
age is materially reduced.
Birmingham purchased its water sup
ply in 1876 under the administration of
Joseph Chamberlain, paying $6,500,000
for the original plant. 1t has just COM
pleted at an expense Of nearly $4,000
600 an extension Of the scheme by
which it conveys water from Wales,
eighty miles away. 1t owns outright
100 square miles Of hills and valleys
which will supply water for popula-
ton of more than million.
Birmingham has owned its tramways
for years, but has pursued the policy Of
leasing the lines to private companies.
These leases are now expiring, and the
city has decided to take over their con-
troll The British Traction company is
making hard fight to renew its fran
chises and has offered to pay 10 per
cent of it's gross receipts for the priyi-
lege Of a charter for limited number
Of years. American cities which have
mania for giving such franchises
away may find amusement in estimat-
ing how much their revenues would
amount to from IS per cent Of the re-
ceipts of those companies which have
the free use of their streets. But the
Birmingham authorities have rejected
all terms. They proceeded to employ
Alfred Baker, formerly In charge Of
the London tramways and Justly re-
garded as one of the most capable ex-
perts in Great Britain, and have placed
him in charge of the proposed munich
pal system. Instead of electricity,
which they refused to install until re-
Gently, the company which held the
lease used steam power. The motor
looks like a box freight car with a
stovepipe thrust through the roof, and
when one of them goes putting and
churning along the street strangers are
overcome either with fright or amuse-
ment Such is the service which Bir-
mingham proposes to supersede with
strictly modern plant Its experience
with private tramway companies has
been similar to that Of score Of other
British cities which In sheer self de-
Tense have been forced into public own
ership in order to escape the antique
methods Of those stockholders who Inn
agine that improvements war on divi-
dends.
HANOVER.
Miss Anna Hartner visited in Jersey
Cifv over the holiday