Norwich bulletin., 1910-03-15

street was referred to the water com mittee.
 Mayors Veto Sustained. | The clerk then read the mayors ve- | to. with lengthy reasons, of the recent 1 amendment to an ordinance refating | to the appointment of superintend- | ent of sewers. and resolution No. 3S9 | relating to the publication of the same. | Upon motion Alderman Wnltmore sec
 onded by Alderman Shepard. the veto
 was sustained
 The claims committee reported that | the sum of $6 be paid to Henry Pot- | ter for stone taken by the superin-
 tendent of streets and it was voted. A resolution authorizing the printing
 of suitable blanks for the use or the
 street department was adopted, as was
 one authorizing the mayor to borrow | S5,000 for benefit and upon credit or ' the city in such fractional parts as
 may from time to time be deemed nec- | esSary.
 A resolution was adopted whereby | the standing committee on streets will
 advertise for bids for the city team ing.
 More Main Street Paving.
 The council also adopted resolu- l tion to continue the paving of Main
 street from Railroad street westerly.
 same pavement of granite blocks | grouted in cement, as far as the ap- propriation for the present year would | permit.
 A proposed amendment to the ordi- nance relating to sewers and specih- cally to the appointment of super intendent of sewers, was introduced by Alderman Shepard and passed.
 Pole Line Discussion. Mayor Dunn then called attention to the clause in the charter relating to
 the powers and restrictions of the Will limantic Gas and Electric Light com pany and alluded to the methods that
 had been employed by the Rockville Willimantic Lighting company in get ting pole line erected. He told how
 the council had been absolutely ig-
 nored and that the company did not even now know whether it was en- croaching upon city rights as regards
 correct setting of poles, with reference
 to sidewalk laws on Pleasant street.
 General Manager Campbell Explains.
 Alexander J. Campbell, general man ager of the company, was present with
 counsel and he addressed his honor
 and the council, apoIogizing for any wrong that the company had commit
 ted and said that he agreed that there
 were grounds for the mayors remarks. He continued by saying:
 We were told that matters affecting our company were to be brought before you tonight and we want to state our position in relation to the incidents that have caused the apparent trouble as well as our general attitude.
 A few days ago it was brought to our attention that trees belonging to two or three parties had been damaged by Hnemen. The Rockville -Wfllimant1c Lighting company. a holding company onwing practically all of the stock of the Willimantic Gas and Electric Light company. employed contracting firm to build the pone line. The contractors furnished the linemen. Whether we were legally liable for the damage we did not even discuss. As soon as we knew of the damage we saw the par ties who had sustained it and paid them. And am glad to say that those parties are willing to come before you and state that not only are they. satis- fled with our treatment but they also are satisfied that we never intended to injure their. property.
 Necessary to Satisfy.
 The time has long since passed when a public service corporation can sue ceed unless it satisfies the community which it is serving that the corporation is doing the right thing by them. If the Willimantic Gas and Electric Light company succeeds it must satisfy you and the people you represent that it is doing just as well by you as it possi- bIy can. We have been here less than a year-you know, and the people of this city know, whether and to what extent we have succeeded in furnish ing better service, more courteous | treatment and better lighted streets. We have invited complaints of any de- | fects in our service; we have even gone so far as to furnish our patrons | with addressed postal cards so that | without any trouble to them they | could notify us of any dissatisfaction 1 with our service. If there is any just ] cause for complaint, either from the | city or from the community, we pro- pose to remove that cause. And that | is why we are here tonight.
 City the Best Customer.
 The city of willimantic is the best | customer that the WillimaHtic Gas and | Electric Light company has The patronage of the people of this city is one of our most valuable assets. We 1 and believe we can do it to the mutual l benefit of our customers and the com pany. We want to help you to build | up this city. It is to our advantage | to do this, and it is to the advantage | of every citizen of Wiliimantic. We | want to be helpful in bringing new in- dustries here that will use electricity for power. With the unrivaled railroad | facilities that Willimantic has it should | have many more industrial and manu- featuring enterprises. But your water power is all taken up, and steam pow er, in an inland city, is too expensive will make it more expensive in the future. We want to be in a position | to furnish electric power at rates that will bring industries here. We are anxious to unite with your Board of Trade or with any other organizations | the city in bringing in l -hese new industries. And we will do 0ur share in this work
 Today small manufacturing indus .ries do not seek new locations unless hey can be furnished with power without being at the expense of build ng their own steam plants. We expect l o make it an important part of our business to furnish electric power to large or small, so that ack of power shall no longer deter hem from locating here. In short, We fn tlnifa Vxifn IVf11fYnanffO it's l people in bringing in new industries O which we can furnish the power.
 Only Business Relation.
 I have stated as well as I can our ,osition. We want at tho earliest mo- nent to be in a position to furnish the 1 lectric power which we have con racted for with the Uncas Power ompany, and just here let us say that he Uncas Power company has abso- uteIy no connection with us except to 1.~vg T