The Gem worker and the Idaho labor herald. (Boise, Idaho) 1914-1917, 1915-06-03

Many of the smaller cities Of Mis-
souri,, Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebras-
ka have taken advantage of the high
ly efficient fuel oil engines in reduc-
ing the operating expenses. Several
internal combustion engines" are on
the market The oil burned in the en-
gine is an ordinary fuel oil, weighing
about seven and one-half pounds per
gallon and costing on an average of
from two to two and one-half cents
per gallon. The power generated is
used both for operating pumping ma
chinery and running motors for the
lighting load. Wherever fuel oil is
available. as it is in the Central and
Western states, this cheap fuel has
greatly reduced the cost of operation
In one installation in town of
LOO, Russell, Kas., the cost of the
oil per kilowatt hour at the switch
board, when the engine was running
at full load. was two-tenths of a cent.
The plant is a combined water and
lighting installation, and in one month
from July Is to August Is, 1911, when
the water consumption was at its
highest, the total cost of operating
the entire plant for fuel was $40.34.
That city plant is operated at approx
inately one-eigth the cost Of many
plants in other cities Of the same pop
ulation. In recent report to the en-
gineers who designed the plant the
city officials advise that under muni-
cipal ownership they have better rates
from insurance companies. better
economy and we'll lighted streets.
at w CENTS PER KILOWATT
The town of Russell spent $8s, 900
ifs a high type water and light plant.
which produced electricity at a cost
of one and one-quarter cents per kilo-
watt hour at the switchboard In
encouraging local mills and elevators
electric current is sold by the munieip-
ality to these institutions institutions
at one and one-haIf cents per kiIowatt
hour.
In the Scarritt Building in Kansas
City is firm Of engineers who have
themselves installed seventy-five mu-
nicipai lighting plants in the West,
the frsn Of Burns & Mcdonnell.
municipalities have found nicely
| lighted streets. modern, up-to-date
electroller lighting posts and other
form OF street lighting valuable as
sets in advertising municipality A
stranger cannot visit such cities as
Des Moines, Minneapolis, St Paul,
Seattle and Tacoma without being im-
pressed with their system of street
illumination.
A few years ago when many Of
the larger cities desired better street
lighting they were forced to put in
their own plants. Not many of these
earlier plants provided for CONNER
cial lighting, feeling that 1t could not
be handled as advantageousIy as the
street lighting, but the success OF
handling the street lighting led to ex-
pahsion into commercial lighting
Both Joplin and St Joseph have
their own municipality owned street
lighting systems that have proven
so satisfactory that steps have recent
/ II been taken in both cities toward
extending and improving the plants
to do the commercial lighting III
both these municipalities the private
owned companies have repeatedly
made overtures to the cities in their
efforts to acquire q municipal plant.
Other cities without undertaking
commercial lighting. ii addition to the
street lighting, furnish light heatland
power to public buildings. schools. for
1.-THE operation of water works plants
and such uses that greatly reduce the
expense of operation a few such