Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, N.D.) 1909-1915, 1912-03-08
LIGHT QUE STION CREATES
STIR AT COUNCIL MEETING
Kern Made Goat of the Evening PowW Of City Dads
-McClory Loses Memory and Rides Down Alder
man Mller's Proposed Removal Ordinance

-
III The regular March meeting Of the
City Dads was held Monday evening in
the council chambers. The lobby took
on the appearance Of a small sized
5side-show if one might judge from the
spectators who were in attendance to
hear the outcome Of the action to- re,
.duce the so-ealled exhorbitant light
and power rates which have been in
force. in the city. Il. .,sg.ss:s 5,.s Il IA
First came the reading Of, the min
sutes Of the last meeting and their. ap-
sproval and after the auditing Of the
bills by the finance committee, 8 they
were passed on by the council and or
sdered paid by the city anditor and the;
mayor. .i=:a " \. 4, y. t;Sz.$ n ;s
J. Halliday, secretary Of the West
minister esbyterian church y made a
claim that the church property had
been overtaxed with sewer assessments
and after due consideration a refund
ing order was given the church for the
amount overpaid, $3s.41. ..5..
n A. B. Kerlin seemed to be the big
topic Of the evening, even more SO
than the act Of lowering the light and
power rate. The opening event was
Alderman Harris 3 beautiful send-
run in which he managed to carry
his motion declarin the gas engine q
nuisance and order that it should be
abated through for a s'touch- down. =
He also instructed the city attorney.
to take legal steps if it was not
stopped in thirty days.
M Mayor McClory reached the climax
Of the evening when he plunged into q
strenuous attack on Alderman Miller's
eight cent light ordinance. The mayor
argued to the satisfaction Of nine
members Of the B council that eight
cents per kilowatt is too low for cleo
}tricity in Devils Lake. At this time
h ha5s seemed to loose. all election Of
I a: report made in the council chamber,
$sbut. q 5 few months prior, by Engineer
Sykes, whom McClory hired, that with
/ modern machinery it is possible to
tFnfanufacture electric current, and de.
liver it to the switch board for one
|: cent, and less, per kilowatt. The word
of the electrical specialist, vouched for
by the mayor, and brought here at the
expense Of the city, together with the
B example Of the city Of Ss, Moorhead,
ggMinn., to which the light committee
4 have referred to SO frequently were
81 chained out in the cold, and the wall
B of neither possessed Sufficient strength
\ to carry it to the scene of activity
4 that it might bring back McC1ory' 9
memory. So
F. T. Cuthbert well deserves a place
q on t''Andy's'' medal list for the man
sner in which he rescued the mayer who
was becoming desperate in his effort
Fl to completely wipe out the ordinance
(which was being fathered by the man
who will oppose him in his coming
election. Mr.. Cuthbert showed sev.
& Seral technical features Of the ordinance
which were. not legally correct, but
very tactfully refrained from any ref.
ferenee to the maximum charge. s.
4s When Alderman Miller arose to in
4: ss:troduce an ordinance calling for the re-
sSsmoval Of the light plant and pumping
station out of the heart of the business
and residence district he declared as a
prelude, that should his ordinance be
constitutional and not worth the pa
sSper required to write it OF, he wished
to read it nevertheless, and he did,
ss Z gang sentenced this proposed city
law to a term in the waste basket and
it was conducted there, ere the meet
ing adjourned. sss# ss 55
In a plain, business.like talk, lacking
q any vitrolic feature, and showing nc
malice, Atty. Sever serumgard ad
dressed the council on the light plant
The speaker was very liberal with The
president Of the Devils Lake Improve
ment Co. Parsonali lities were 8eliminat
led entirely.
Mr. serumgard showed that hii
home which he had built at q cost Of
$l4 900, was being ruined BY the vi
brations Of a gas engine, that The