Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1905-04-22

til'NN YEARS III" IDTltt Ilalu Tor EIS has
averaged ncthird less than that
charged by tn" private company The
reduction In the expense of city light
ing amounts to $l.@JOOUU. The hun
drcdS of men employed in the works
receive higher wages and work fewer
hours than formerly, and it IS worthy
Of note that the record Of tests and the
evidence of consumers prove that n
much better quality of Cas is supplied
now than before the city assumed con
troll
The municipal gas monopoly is com.
plctc, but there are no complaints, and
| heard of no scandals Owing To the
high price Of coal the cost of produc-
tion is much greater than in the United
states, but tn" gas is sold for half as
much. with Il large and Increasing rev
"nue 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 We're near
ly S9Oo,ooo, and were it not that large
sums had to he diverted to interest
and sinking fund payments and to the
assistance of the taxpayers 1t would
be possible today, even with the abnor-
mnl price of materials, to produce and
sell gas at less than 10 cents Il thou
sand feet and leave IL 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 Il com
prchenSive system OF baths. ranging
from open air baths for the poorer
classes to modern Turkish baths The
income amounts to $4,000 year. The
city burial board has charge of Ccmc-
tcricS in which 1000 were Inferred last
year. 1t is the policy of the board to
80 conduct this estate as to make 1t
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 S2.o0o,OOO. Por the
first two years the new management
made so many improvements that there
was Il slight deficit, but the third year
yielded profit, and the last annual
report indicated Il net gain of $l1O,OO0,
which went into the common treasury
The city owns its markets. and they
are source of revenue. Birmingham
is farmer on Il large scale. The mu-
nicipal farm comprises 800 acres and
1000 more are about to be added. This
land is fcrtillZCd by the sewage and Is
largely Ccvotcd to cattle raising and
dairy business There are also i'm
menSc herds of sheep which belong to
the city. There are filtration works
and n plant for handling the hyprod
ucts, and these. with the farm. repre-
sent an Investment of about S2.5OOOO0
The last report shows that the annual
sales of stock amount to $4,000, while
$25,O0o is realized from milk and about
ms much from wool. by these scientific
methods the cost of disposing of sew
nGc is materially reduced
Birmingham purchased its water sup
ply in 1876 under the administration of
Joseph Chamberlain. paying $4,000, 900
for the original plant. 1t has just com
pleted at an expense of nearly $4,000,
600 an extension Of the scheme by
which 1t conveys water from Wales,
eighty miles away. 1t owns outright
l3O square miles OF hills and valleys
which will supply water for n popula
tion of more than a 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 Il hard fight to renew its fran
ChiSeS and has offered to pay - per
cent of its gross receipts for the privl-
lege Of a charter for a limited number
of years American cities which have
a mania for giving such franchises
away may find amusement in cstimat-
ing how much their revenues would
amount to from II per cent of the re
YeiptS 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 on" of the most capable eX-
pcrtS 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 II box freight ear with
stoveppc thrust through the roof. and
when one of them goes putting and
ehurning along the street strangers are
overcome either with fright or amuse.
ment Such Is the service which Biz
minEham proposes to superscdc with a
strictly modern plant. Its experience
with private tramway companies has
been similar to that of a score of other
British cities which in sheer self de-
fense have been forced into public own
ership in order to escape the antique
methods of those stock holders who i'm
aginr that improvements war on dfvi-
dendS.