The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1914-08-28
Moulding Public Sentiment
By Giving Best Of Service
Stone & Webster are Operating Utilities in
Keokuk in a Way to Please the
People.
, HERE are various kinds Of crea-
tive work. The author creates

Er.H.g .ENtEat
~ HERE are various kinds OF crea-
tive work. The author creates
the characters of his novel.
the illustrator creates the characters
Of his sketch, and often the manufac-
turer creates a demand for his goods.
This power to create something that
does not already exist is usually call
ed talent" and, if developed sufficient
ly by the owner, this talent may fire.
~quently be converted into a market
able product and becomes a valuable
asset. At best, though, it always rep
resents hard work.
Right here In keokuk there is a
type of creative work new in a way,
that is going on. It is not being
pushed forward with the dynamic
force often necessary to carry a bust
ness to the front ranks but by the
slow methods known only to experts
whose duty it is to mould public opin-
ion. What Stone & Webster are do
ing to create the right kind OF sentt-
ment in Keokuk through the operation
of the public utilities here is what
this story deals with. 1t is something
big and means much to Keokuk's
future welfare.
The Old Way.
To handle the story right it is nee
essary to go back a few years n
describe, in a limited way h manner
in which the big corporations, operat-
ing public utilities, treated both the
public and their customers. The
usual attitude of such corporations
was one of absolute indifference to
the opinion of the public regarding
it. Their main desire was to give
only the quality Of service that was
absolutely required Of IL n to Keep
rates as high as it was practical to 90
so. The employees of these corpora
tons were not trained to regard them
selves as the real servants OF the
people, whom they were supposed to
serve. They were frequently unclV1l
and discourteous. The street car
conductors did not believe that 1t was
necessarily part of their duty to assist
on and off cars or render
such other assistance as the passen-
gers might need. If something GOT
the matter with the customers lights
at night, or the electric apparatus at
his place of business became balky,
the took their time about
making the necessary repairs. very
little regard was had for the feelings
of the people. The corporations pro-
posed to extract money from the
public purses for just as little in re-
turn as could be given and still oper-
ate.
Today this idea has changed en-
tireIy; the public utility companies
have found, by experience, that they
were supposed to be the real servants
of the people whom they serve in tact
as well as in name. They realize that
the public demands not only quality or
service but courteous treatment from
both the officers and employees.
The New Way.
The firm of Stone e Webster, one
of the greatest operators of public
utilities in this country, were among
the leaders In adopting this new at
titude. They realized that the pub
lie were becoming very much dissat-
listed with the old way the pubic
utilities had of doing business and
that a very radical change was necs-
sary.
Naturally, one Of the most import
ant things is good service. Stone &
! Webster have equipped the local
| utilities in Keokuk in a way far SUI
perior to what they were before
this company took them over. Street
car lines have been extended,
old lines have been rebuilt, new cars
have been purchased, the small gas
mains have been replaced with larger
ones and many miles Of new mains
run, and in a half hundred other
ways there has been growth and de-
velopment. This was all necessary
before good service could come.
The text thing is the right attitude
on the part of the employees, and to
get this the company had to do quite
a bit of educational work. One OF
the men in charge, ip speaking of the