The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1909-02-16
Last Evening Council Consent
ed to Allowing Company to
Keep Its Feed Wires on
Trolley Poles.
IN UNDERGROUND FIGHT
IT WAS ALSO WINNER
When the Wires Were First
Placed 1t Was Announced
That the Arrangement Was
Only Temporary.

After months Of discussion, vast
ed words of argument and consider
able ill feeling. council by an all hut
unanimous vote last evening concurr-
ed in the report OF the committee on
franchises and ordinances that the or
dinance providing a penalty for the
retention of the electric feed wires on
Main street be postponed indefinitely.
The ordinance was to become effec-
tive April 1.
The committee reported that no
material benefit would follow the re-
mOyal of the wires. These wires have
been the bone OF contention between
the council. board of public works and
Terre Haute. Indianapolis & Eastern
Traction company for several months.
Council ordered. by ordinance that all
overhead wires be removed from Main
street. The telephone and electric
light companies complied The trac-
ton company erected iron poles and
during the nighttime placed their feed
wires on these poles. The board OF
works entered a protest and was told
the wires were put there only tenn
porarily. Later anchor wires were at.
tached and the fed wires firmly tied
to glass insulators.
The City Was Trieked.
The city had been tricked vigor-
Gus protest was entered in the coun-
Gil chamber and the ordinance was
ordered enforced. Then it was discov-
cred that no penalty had been proyid-
ed. A new ordinance was ordered
prepared which fixed the penalty. II
fwa8 prepared and submitted to coun-
Gil, but the latest turn came last night
when a report was introduced recon-
mending that the penalizing ordinance
be postponed.
sole possessor of the field 1t has
been able to keep from putting its
wires underground or placing them in
alleys. although all other public util-
tiles corporations have been made TO
comply with the original ordinance.
Messrs. Deuker and Engelbert en-
gagged in a lively word tilt over the
adoption of the report of the commit
| tee. Mr.. Deuker returned the report
| as chairman of the committee on
franchises and ordinances. He review
ed the history of the affair and said
the committee had concluded that no.
thing would be gained by requiring
the feed wires to be taken off the
street and placed in the alleys He
said the alleys are SO narrow that in
| creased danger would result He spent
the most of his time in discussion OF
the electric signs across the sidewalks
claiming they will prove a greater
danger to fire fighting than the feed
wires. He said that in case the fire.
and the feed wires are found to be
in the way. the fire department has
the privilege OF cutting them
Enselbert Was Wroth.
Mr. Engelbert was quite wrought up
over the matter. He avowed that
there has been constant complaints
against wires of all kinds on Main
street and asserted il, will be a dirty
shame af Or having compelled the teie-
phone and eleceric light companies TO
remove their wires to let the traction
company keep 1t up. He said Mr..
Deuker went around among the mer-
chants circulating a petition asking
the removal of wires. He said after
the merchants have signed il will be
hard to explain to Ihem why the trac-
tion company is given favors- He
declared that any man with any COM
mon sense knows that ladders cAn't
be raised across the sidewalks ON ac-
count of the wires. He said he be-
ieves they ought to be removed and
!, not go in alleys but in North and
South A streets. He said he favored
that and had just enough backbone tn
stay with it His was the only vote
against the adoption of the report