The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-03-14
HE'LL Be READY.
Mr. Stewart Will Give Estimate
on City Lights.
To Submit Figures at Council
Meeting Monday.
GREEN FAVORS ACTION
Mayor Would Bring Up Question
at Earliest Date.
Expert Looks Over City Plant
This Morning.
GREEN FAVORS ACTION

cost of the enlargement of the city
electric light plant will be available
for the council meeting Monday night
by w. c. Stewart, the city electrician
and superintendent of the municipal
lighting plant of St Joseph, Mo-. who
has been engaged by the city to fur
nish plans and estimates for this pur-
pose. If the city council wants to
vote for the ordinance calling a spec
tal election on April Z, Monday night
1t can do so. Nc real excuse can
operate against a failure to act at that
time.
Mayor VIM. Green indicated his ap-
prevail of the council taking action
Monday night by saying to Mr.. Stew
art in a conference this morning:
You will be able to give us some
sort of an approximate estimate by
Monday SO that the council can take
action if it wants o?''
ooh, yes indeed replied Mr.. Stew
art. II can tell in very short while
about what it will cost"
You see it will be really an easy
matter for Mr.. Stewart to do this
from the fact that he has done prac-
tically the same thing at st. Joseph
to a reporter of the State Journal.
HE rebuilt and enlarged the plant
there along the same lines that we are
planning"
Mr.. Stewart, accompanied by Mayor
VIM. Green and H. K. Goodrich,
superintendent of the city electric
light plant, made an inspection of the
plant this morning and the pole lines.
The same party continued their ex-
animation this afternoon.
You have got q good engine down
there. 1t has the same horsepower
as ours at st. Joseph
How many lamps do you think
that engine could handle?'' was asked.
well, 1 should say about 500 mag
netfte lamps, replied Mr.. Stewart.
Mr.. Stewart is boosting me up to
the ceiling, 1 had not counted on more
than 200 lamps" laughed Mr.. Good
rich.
Mr.. Stewart suggested that the
building should be enlarged somewhat
on the west side to give added room
for the installation of new dynamos.
This would be nominal expense.
Mr.. Stewart also suggested that five
dynamos should be installed, each
dynamo having a capacity of about
lao lamps, this would give a reserve
dynamo to be used as the demand for
lamps increased in future years.
The city is figuring on furnishing
800 lamps at the present time which
represents an increase of over a third
over the present installation
1t can readily be seen therefore
that with an engine capable of taking
care of 500 magnetic lamps and
plenty of dynamo capacity the city
will be able to grow for years to come
and still be enabled to provide light
as the demand increases.
Charges of graft were recently
made against the municipal electric
light plant of st. Joseph of which Mr.
Stewart is the superintendent the
charges claiming a padded paw roll
a m IA 1, iaI,
Mr.. Stewart was relieved from his du-
ties, report was made to the coun-
Gil which completely exonerated him
and the council took action in accord
ance placing Mr. Stewart back in
charge.
firm of accountants was engaged
on the books of the plant at the time
the investigation was being carried on
and this firm brought in a statement
that the cost of the lamps per wear
amounted to $62.S9 instead of the
$54.97 reported by Mr.. Stewart. This
former figure was printed in a ST.
Joseph newspaper in February in
connection with the story which told
of the report of the investigating
committee.
The figures given Mayor Green and
counci1men at st. Joseph, S5497.
were the average for the calendar
year 1907. And this average was
large on account of certain emergency
causing expense of changing poles.
LAS a matter of fact" said Mr.
Stewart today, 1.-The accountants in
securing the average figures of s62.S9
charged all sorts of things into the
cost, things which do not belong in
the cost and which aggregate about
S11 per lamp per year. making our
cost really only about S51 per lamn
for the average yearly period cover
ing the new plant"
he nf he
ing idea in Topeka were overioveJ to
get a hold of the first named figures
and are using them here now as an ar
gument in favor of giving the Edison
company contract at s55. A morning
newspaper said today that a number
of the Topeka council had received
from ST. Joseph the figures on the cost
of operating the municipal electric
light plant there by a council commit
tee and that the total average cost Of
operating each individual lamp was
s62Ss
The State Journal was prepared for
this very thing and expected that
these figures would show up in the
fight.
In the month of February when the
article was noticed in a ST Joseph
newspaper giving these figures for the
first time letter was written to w.
between the s54.97 submitted by hin,
and the $62.S9 arrived at by a firm OF
accountants. In reply to this Mr.
Stewart wrote on March 1 as follows:
'.St. Joseph, Mo-, March 1, 1908.
Frank p. MacLennan, Topeka Kan
Dear Sir:-Replying to your favor
of the 18th, will say that the prices
per lamp given you on your visit to
ST. Joseph are correct. I have been
trying to find time to go over the ac-
countants' figures and find if possible
how they arrive at their conclusions
know Of one or two items charged