Coeur d'Alene evening press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1907-1929, 1908-09-22
FIRST STREET LIGHTS
City Illumination Began In tie
Time Of the Revolution.
LINKBOYs AND LANTERNS.

These Were the Precursors Of the Bril-
liant Thoroughfarss Of Tcday-The
Tax on chimneys That Gave New
Orleans It's First Public Lamps.
To one walking abroad at night in
New York or any other American city.
traversing highways made as light as
day by artificial illumination. 1t seems
beyond the realms Of the possible to
believe that only within the last hun
dred years street lighting has come
into general use and that not until the
Introduction OF gas has 1t been enjoyed
on an extensive scale and sufficient
light been obtained to make outdoor
walking after dark anything but dis
agreeable experience. Yet such are the
nation began practically at the same
time that the age Of light In popular
government dawned-with the Ameri-
can Revolution
At first glance there is apparently
no connection between popular gov.
eminent and street lighting, but close
reading Of history shows the relation
to have been intimate. The American
Revolution gave freedom to the COM
mon people and made all men equal
before the law. Before that era privi-
legged classes held sway, and the com
mon people were deprived of many
rights. Among them was the right to
/ walk the streets at night. When cur
few rang all except the privileged
classes were obliged to stay indoors,
and as the privileged always had plen-
ty Of slaves or other servants to carry
torches or lanterns for them when
| they were called abroad at night the
need for street lighting was not felt.
at least by the ruling classes. The de-
mand for street lighting was met first
by lanterns burning tallow candles,
then by lamps fed with fish or vegeta-
BILE oils. These gave place to kerosene
oil lamps on the discovery of petrole-
UNI, and they in turn to gas.
The history of the United States
shows that in only few of the large
cities was any attempt made to light
the streets prior to the Revolution. In
New York, Boston and Philadelphia a
few open fame oil lamps were main
tained at the public expense in the
principal thoroughfares, but In the
majority of towns and In the cities out
side Of the principal streets night way
farers either carried lanterns or had
their way lighted by linkboys bearing
torches. New Orleans, one of the old
est cities in America, depended upon
lanterns and linkboys entirely until
1892, when the Spanish governor,
Baron Carondelet, inaugurated a crude
system Of street lighting Louisiana,
| It win be remembered, was stIll
Spanish province when the United
States gained its independence and did
not come into the Union till some years
later A writer In the New Orleans
Plcayune recalls the interesting fact
OF Carondelet's innovation in that city.
One Of the new governors first sug-
gestions to the cabildo. or council. was
to provide street lamps and watchme1
the police of those days-to protect
the lives Of citizens venturlng out after
nightfall. The suggestion was approx
ed, but the question of raising money
to pay for the lamps and oil and the
wages Of the watchmen proved a seri,
GUS problem. The yearly revenue of
the city of New Orleans in those days
did not exceed $1,000, and none of II
could be spared for such luxury as
street lighting. Baron Carondelet. how
ever, proved himself financier as well
as progressive governor. He decided
that every householder who could af-
ford a chimney on his house could n.
ford to pay something toward lighting
the streets. At his suggestion the cabfl-
do levied a tax OF $112la on every CHM
ney-in the city, and this supplied the