Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1915-01-07
FOR FANCY LIGHTING SYSTEM
Petitioners Ask Aldermen for It
on Church Street.
Cost Would he Not Less Than S5,2O4,
with S1.357 More Each Year and
$4,000 to Remove Poles
and Wires.

One of the features of the regular
monthly meeting OF the board of alder
men last evening was the formal
presentation of a petition of over one
thousand names asking the city fathers
to forward the city's system of street
Hsh'ihG by Installing an ornamental sys-
tenn of lighting on Church street. In
turtherancc of the project a committee
of the Burlington Merchants association
! which had circulated the petition. was
present. Acting secretary of the associa-
uon, James =. Taylor, appeared lcfore
the board and spoke of the movement
lie said the petition contained 1.0s7
! names which represented men engaged
in all kinds of business undertakings and
that all the wards of the city were repro.
sented. He was inclined to think that
the petition indicated the state of mind
of the people of the city on tho subject
! In support of the petition Mr.. TAYLOR
added. that the Merchants association
telt that the Queen City should keen I'm
with the other cities in the State in
! improvements. traveller coming into
Vermont would be impressed by the
brilliant lighting of Brattleboro. Bellows
rails, Springfield and Rutland. and ne
should carry away the same impression
after visit to Burlington. st. Adams
Is now considering a similar project and
! the question has been seriously con-
sldered AT Montpelier. Burlington should
also sense the fact that to ornamentally
hsht It's principal street would be a
good investment. Mr.. Taylor read a
letter from Fitchburg Mass. which has
ornamentally lighted its main thorough
rare the letter stating that 1t had made
ihe highway famous throughout New
England and had transformed a rather
dlsnal street into great white way.
burlington should also consider that its
lighting department must he up with its
other departments We are proud of
advertising our city as beautiful by day
ana we should cndcavor to make II
beautiful by night. The municipal Christ
mas tree has shown what an effective
display of lighting can do for .he city's
life thought and activity.
The estimated cost of installation for
httN ornamental standards on Church
street is So.204. itemized as follows: Cable.
Sl"o; 90 standards, so feet apart. 50 1854 :
incldentals $500; labor, $40; foundation.
sZoo. The cost of operation would he.
yearly 1885,
On each standard there would be a
ilve-light cluster and the plan contem-
plates placing the wires underground.
Mr.. Taylor. concluding said that what
ever the city did it could be assured of
the sincerity of the Merchants associa-
ton and it's cooperation as well.
/ Mayor Burke endorsed the project "a
stated and expressed hope that the
/ liph
clude Main street TO the new union
station.
Remarks were made by ]. o. Adams
ana Max l.. Powell. who spoke OF re-
cent trips to Canada and of what a
marked difference ornamental lighting
made in the appearance of the towns at
night Mr.. Powell spoke Of cities IN
the Canadian Northwest of about the
same size as Burlington which were en-
joying the facilities Of increased lighting
and thought that if places OF such mush-
room growth could afford it certainly
burlington, a much older and richer
city, should he on the map in this re-
spect. r. r. Wright said that there was
no question but what public opinion
would demand the lighting of Main
street to the station when the advan-
tages of ornamentaly lighting Church
street We're shown.
/ Alderman Buell. was inclined to think
that the whole project would come to
nothing if the wires and poles now on
Church street were not swept out. He
was in favor Of doing the thing right at
the start President Platka Of the Mer-
chants association, in reply to this,
stated that the association had not CON
, sidered so expensive project and that
they were not committed to any particu-
| lar plan. They had thought of the grad
ua elimination of poles
Alderman l.amson called attention to
| the congeSted condition of wires on
church street He said Superintendent
NaCBroom had once stated that II the
ornamental system of poles was estab-
lished without removing the present
poles and wires the street would look
as if fire had swept through and simply
cleaned out the brush. Mr.. Lamson
also stated that the wires had become so
thick that the public service commission
would undoubtedly order some of them
removed soon If we are to have the
now system. he said. we should not start
without starting at the beginning.
1t came ont during the discussion that
It would cost $4,000 to clear Church
street of its present wires and poles
On motion of Alderman Dion the
chairman was empowered to appoint n
committee of five to consider the cost
Of installing an ornamental lighting of
Church street also Main street to the
new union station, and to confer with
the wire companies now operating on
Church street, also with the Merchants
association,
REPORTS FROM CITY ATTORNEY.
| City Attorney Sherman made an
oral report on the question of collect
Ing taxes against the 81 shares of
Burlington Trust company stock held
in trust for Mrs. Louise Ward by the
Burlington Trust company. the ques-
ton having been before the board for
two years. Ihe trust company has
taken the stand that the stock is not
/ assessable for city taxes because 1t Is
trust fund. Mr.. sherman reported
that the city would be lame in at
the stock for the purpose of collect
ing the taxes aid ged to be due for the
last two years. for the reason that the
question of whether II was assessable
or not could not be got at owing to
the fact that all the preliminary steps
on the city's part have not heen TAX
en-. To properly approach the ques-
1t had taken all the processes re-