Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1905-02-07

A LENGTHY AND FULL HEARING AT
THE LEGISLATURE.

A prolonged hearing was held at Al
gusta last week before the legal affai
,, committee of the legislature, on the bi
introduced in the legislature of 100
and referred to the present Legislature
7 permitting the South Paris Village Co
/ poratiOn to establish q municipal ligh
ing plant, and sell electric light an
power in the town of Paris. The hea
ing opened soon after o'clock Tuesda
afternoon, and continued through til
afternoon, at an adjourned session in tn
evening until nearly IL o'clock, an
was concluded with session of tw
hours or more Wednesday afternoon
Hon. James S. Wright conducted tn
case in behalf of the bill, and Hon. Hel
bert NJ. Heath of Augusta appeared i
Opposition in behalf of the Oxfor
Light Co. Portland aud Biddeford law
yers also addressed the committee brief
ly in behalf of the holders of bonds o
the Norway and Paris Street Railwa,
Co. and the Oxford Light Co.
In opening the case Mr.. Wright show
ed that there had for many years existe,
in South Paris a desire to do its owl
electric lighting, and that this desir,
had been made manifest as long ago a
1887, when lighting charter for Nor
way and Paris was granted to Norwa,
parties, and at the instance of Soutl
Paris section was added specifying
that the company should have no exclu
sive privileges in Paris. 1t was furthe
manifested by protest in 1897, wher
the Oxford Light Co., having become
| nj 20 hi Sha1 Tho frrAnn1 ocEo1 70
have its locations legalized and to be
confirmed in the exclusive rights which
it now has under the law. Mr.. Wright
stated that with the es ablishment Of
such plant in view, twenty citizens OF
South Paris had few years since pur
chased the water power at Biscoe Falls
and have ever since held it ready to
turn over to the village when wanted.
The story of the increase of street light.
ing rates, and the consequent shutting
off of the South Paris street lights on
the first of September 1902, was told,
and it was shown that the sentiment of
the village corporation has always been
practically unanimous against paying
the increased rates.
Quite number of witnesses, all but
one being South Paris men, were called.
n. ID. Bolster presented table of prices
for lights as charged in several villages
in Maine. Part of these were published
two years ago, but the list has been re-
vised and added to. 1t shows the rates
on most classes of lighting to be con-
siderably less on the average than those
of the Oxford Light Co.
A list was presented by Alton G..
Wheeler, giving the rates paid by South
Paris consumers, and showing a great
deal of variation in the prices of those
who pay flat rate.
Several of the business men of South
Paris were called to testify, and all with
out exception described the lights as
very dim and unsatisfactory, especially
during the hours between 4 and 6 p. NJ,
and particularly during the past few
months, though slightly improved with
in few weeks since the new boilers
were put in.
Mr.. Humphreys of Madison was then
called. Mr.. Humphreys is member of
the engineering firm of Snow & Hum
phreys of Boston, of some twenty years
experience, and about year since put
in a municipal lighting plant in Madison,
a village very similar to South Paris as
to population and conditions. Mr..
Humphreys was at Paris short time
since, and looked over the village and
the Biscoe Falls power. He had pre-
pared some maps showing a system of
for the village, and had made
detailed estimates of the cost of building
a plant and maintaining it, also of the
expense Of operating it and the probable
income. He had made a very full re-
port on these matters, which was pre-
sented to the committee. For plant of
100 horse power, for which he consider
ed the Biscoe Falls water power ample,
his estimate of construction was between
$24, 900 and $4,000. This would run
twenty-five arc lights and a maximum
load of 1000 incandescents of sixteen
candle power.
For the opposition Mr.. Heath made
brief opening, stating that the Oxford
Light Co. purchased the power plant
from the Wal!aces in 1897, paying for it
$50, 900 in bonds; that it had never paid
a dollar to the stockholders in any way,
even the officers of the company having
2INCu tuCil oSlNlCCo
ton. The prices charged for lights,
he said, were too low to allow the plant
to be operated at profit. He showed
that proposition was made by the COM
pany to the assessors of the South Paris
Village Corporation in 1908 to submit
the matter of prices to arbitration, to
which no attention was ever paid. He
then presented to the committee an offer
of the company to submit the matter of
prices to arbitration by the committee
before whom the hearing was held, a
of that committee, Or a
of three; or to sell the whole
plant or one-half the plant to the village
at price to be fixed by a
in no case to be less
than the bonded debt of the company.
George E. Macomber of Augusta, rep
resenting the Oxford Light Co.; gave
history of the business of the company.
He said that the company bought the
plant in 1897, paying therefor with
$50, 900 in bonds, supposing that it was
an unfailing water power. In time it
developed that the water power was in
sufficient, and it was necessary to install
a steam plant. The boilers gradually
decreased in efficiency, and it became
necessary to install new and larger boil
erS, which had been done within a few
weeks. No dividends had ever been
paid, nor had any of the officers received
a salary. In addition to the first price
of the plant. about So, 900 had been ex-
pended in additions and improvements.
On ross-examinatiOn of Mr.. MacOm-
Der, it was developed that this additional
cost was not in the form of cash expend-
iture, but in borrowed money for which
the directors had endorsed notes. 1t
has recently been transferred into an
issue of $4,000 of second mortgage
bonds, which are held by the directors.
The Oxford Light Co. has recently been
sold to the Norway and Paris Street
Railway Co., and there is now on the
property SllS,OOO in bonds,-SS0,0 900 of
Oxford Light Co. bonds, $4,000 Street
Railway bonds, and $40, 900 second mort
gage, on the entire property.
Mr.. Macomber said that in years when
they could run by water entirely they
made a little surplus, which was con-
sumed in making up the deficit on the
years when 1t was necessary to run by
steam large part of the time, as it has
been this year.
Mr.. Young, the superintendent of the
light company. testified regarding the
varying fiat rates introduced, that most
of them were made many years ago be-
fore the organization of the Oxford Light
Co., and had been allowed to stand.
Two experts were called to testify re-
garding the construction and operation
of plant-ThOmas Hawkins, superin.