Weekly journal-miner., 1917-12-12
|. OF |. FAILS ID GET ACTION ON
 LIGHT PLAN
QUESTION AS TO WHAT ATTITUDE ORG ANIZ A TON SHALL TAKE ON STR EFT ILLUMINATION MATTER IS TABLED.
(From Fridays Daily.)


 Prescott ought to devote all of their
 energies toward building up the pop ulation of the city and allowing the necessary incidental municipal i'm provemcnts to follow after the growth of the city is attained, or whether the city should go ahead and make the municipality as attractive as pos sible and depend upon this method to attract additional residents, was the mooted question at last nights Chamber of Commerce meeting.
 The discussion along these lines was touched off by the filing of the report of the special street lighting committee which had been appointed some time ago to consider the feas- ibility of the installation of a system of ornamental light clusters through out the business district Some of those present were of the opinion that the city was not in a position to af- ford such luxuries as an ornamental lighting system while it was still so badly in need of sewers, pavcments, a water plant and other improve ments. which, while quite as ncccs- sary as the new lights, would per haps not add the picturesque touch 10 the beauty of the Havapai capital as would the latter. Others present took issue with the advocates of the road and sewer building, and con- tended that if the town were made a thing of beauty and transformed into a municipality fair to look upon, the people of other sections would ma turally regard the city as good place in which to live, and that the population would accordingly in crease to a point where the more commonplace improvements such as those above mentioned would take care of themselves.
 It was the belief of some present that the city ought to use all of its financial overplus toward backing the construction of the proposed Jerome Prescott highway, some being under the mistaken impression that the pro- ject had died in the shell, but when 1t was shown that the much-nccdcd highway was by no means in any danger of being sidetrackcd, this fea- turc of the opposition to the street lights was effectually silenced. Every one there seemed to fully realize that the new lights would be about the most desirable thing that the city could acquire just now, although some were held back from a full en- dorscmcnt of the scheme by the fact that they felt that Prescott did not actually need the handsome lights, and that it could continue to get along with the few lights that arc scattered about the business section.
 In view of the fact that no definite understanding could be reached re- garding the lighting proposition, the meeting did not make any recom- mcndations as to what attitude the C. of C. should take in the matter, the proposition having been pigeon- holed following a bit of argument as0 to what method should be taken in paying for the improvement, in event it should go through-whether it should be paid from the general fund or financed by special assessments. The complete report of the lighting committee, which was submitted last night, is as follows:
 Your special committee on street bcgs to report that for a variety of reasons it decided to de- part from the plan of lighting sub mitted by Mir. Norris and subsc- qucntly submitted to the City Coun- cil a new plan together with sketch showing the district to be lighted and the method of lighting.
 The plan submitted covered Cor tcz Street from the Depot to Good win Street, Gurley Street from the Library to the Bridge and around the Plaza. Instead of lighting by single standard lamps on the opposite side walks, it was decided to light by standards which carry two-lamps placed in the center of the street, by this method the number of standards would be cut in two, standards being placed approximately seventytive feet apart and yet the same number of lamps would be used.
 The cost of conduit and wire would be reduced about one-half, the ditohing very materially reduced, in fact, the whole system installed for approximately S5,50000
 At the depot and at street inter sections there would be standards carrying five lamps, four hanging downward and one pointing upward. All would burn until midnight and the single upper lamp in each cluster from midnight until six o'clock in the morning. If l00 watt lamps arc used the power cost would be about $500 per night and ii POO Watt lamps arc used the cost would be double that amount.
 In addition 10 the first cost saving mentioned above, by placing the lamps in the center of the street there are two other great advantages 10 be gained.
 First: It k suggested that as funds are available a parking strip fifteen feet wide be put in the center of our streets which would still be amply wide to take care of all traffic that could be expected in any reaSon-, able number of years; this parking strip could be filled with grass or shrubbcry or local varieties of cactus. The cluster lights on the corners could be surrounded with plat fif-