New-York tribune., 1905-02-03
CITY HAS A LIGHT PLANT.
TRUST COST CUT IN TWO.
Municipal Electric Lamps a Success
on the Bridge Since 1883.

After all the bother of going outside Of New
York to find data to prove that the city Is
paying too much for its lighting. 1t was dlscoV-
cred yesterday that the city is producing elec-
trio arc and incandescent lighting for the Brook
lyn Bridge at less than one-half the cost I'M
posed by the New-York Edison Company for
equal number of lights. Moreover, it would
seem, after an honest comparison, that the
bridge lights superior.
Ever since 1898 the city has owned an electric
lighting plant for the Brooklyn Bridge To-day
it is up to date in it's equipment and that 1t
works without friction breakdown is patent
to hundreds of thousands of people using the
Brooklyn Bridge for the upper loops In the
Manhattan terminal run right by the generat-
ing plant.
An analysis of the figures would seem fully
TO warrant the following statement:
The plant owned by the city to light the bridge
produces 200 inclosed arc lights of 1000 candle
power EACH and 1.S00 incandescent lights Of 16
candle power each. at annual maintenance
cost of $4,000 in round numbers.
This maintenance cost makes the cost Of each
arc light year $;,S and of each ncandescent
light so. The city. under the contract signed
quietly by Commissioner Oakley. and, in fact,
under the old rate, is paying the New-York Edi-
son Company S146 ye5r each for are lights and
SO year each for incandescent lights.
To make the lights cost the city as much IS
charged by the New-York Edison Company the
entire yearly charge for production would be
$4,000. AS a matter of fact, the cost al
ready stated, is. in round numbers $4,000
The bridge plant engines are fired with hard
coal, and this is another item to he considered in
connection with the cost of lighting the city. j.
c. Baylies. electrical engineer i'm the Depart
ment OF Street Cleaning. in formal report 10
Commissioner Woodbury., says that the citys
waste will generate the necessary power for its
lighting, that in figuring the cost of mainte-
nance, a considerable percentage he figured
off the present cost of production by the city.
should it build a big plant, proposed
Not only is the electric lighting for the bridge
done by the city at a good deal less than half
the rate charged by the private companies but
the city pays its employees in charge of the light
ing much higher wages than are paid by the
lighting companies. For instance. according to
the figures furnished yesterday by Archibald
Mclean. in charge of the city's plant, the city
pays its trimmers So 30 a day for eight hours
work while the New-York Edison Company
pays its men from $12 to SIS a week for nine
hours work a day. The city pays 30 cents an
hour to nnemen for services on the Brooklyn
and Williamsburg bridges while the companies
! pay 80 cents an hour for the same kind Of work.
The interesting and suggestive fact was re-
| vealed yesterday that Commissioner Oakley and
! his engineers had this data at hand when the
| Commissioner signed the contracts with the
lighting companies ninding the city to pay
| about S1150OOO for the city's electric lighting
! for one year
| The bridge lighting plant has been in the New
! York terminal but ii is to be moved this month
to the Brooklyn terminal. to afford more room
| for loading passengers on trolley cars at the
! upper loops the Manhattan side.
There can be little doubt about the ability
of the city TO cut its lighting bill in half If the
| officials want TO get right down to business and
| build a city plant" said Mr. Mclean yesterday.
| while the bridge plant is comparatively small,
still it is large enough to afford an object les
son of the actual cost of producing electric light
| ing. In fact. l think we are using better and
more scientific appliances than the Edison COM
| pany. Our arc lamps are 1nclosed ana are re
! the recent blizzard the fierce wind wrought a
| lot of damage to the Edison COmpany's wires
! around the city and many of the lights were
| put out The lights on the bridge burned brill
iantly and uninterruptedly all through the
| storm"
| The annual appropriation for city lighting for
! 1903 was S3.3O6.346 %. The corresponding ap-
preparation in 1898. the first year of the life Of
/ the greater city. was S2,alOoOl ~ The increase
in five years w-s SI36.344 81, or between 2S and
| 90 per cent. Unless there is material reduc-
tion in price il is estimated that the apprOpria-
tion four years hence will be fully S5OO00OO
More than half of this will be for electric
| lighting.
! Plans have been filed with Superintendent
Hoppe1 for the new rubbish inCinerator to be
erected for the Street Cleaning Department and
used in connection with the proposed munich
pal electric lighting plant in developing electric
| ity for the Williamsburg Bridge The incinera-
tor is to he on a plot 90 by 100 feet in Delaney
Slip between Tompkins and East SITS. 1t will
face the Slip 1t will have frontage of 40 feet
and depth of $50 feet It's height will be 3T1A
feet The facade will be of buff brick II is to
have a chimney of brick and moulded blocks.
200 feet high. The cost OF the plant is estimated
at $4,000.