The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1920-02-18
SWITCH BLOWED D
ENTIRE VILLAGE
IN DARKNESS
Much Inconvenience Through
Accident at Zylonite
CANDLES IN BIG DEMAND
Local Plant Restored Street Lights In
About an Hour and Commercial
Service Later
CANDLES IN BIG DEMAND
bennington people last evening

Bennington people last evening
were gi,en an upp.4 .dnA.y ~ .. -
ate the utility and convenience oi
Mr.. Ediaon'sl greatest invention. A
few minutes after o'clock he elec
tric current supplying this village
North Bennington and Hoos.ck Falls
was cut off by the burning out OF the
big switch at the zyloni station
The street lights resumed in about
an hour but 1t was shortly at.er y
o'c'ock before the current was
turned on trough the commercial,
and residential circuits. There were
no street nights in Hoos.ck Falls un-
til 10 o'clock.
Not many of the stores are open
"wednesday evenings. The drug
stores, cigar stores and few others
suspended business for few minutes
in he hope that the interruption
would be of short duration but after
learning that hours might elapse be-
fore the service could be resumed
brought out lamps, or candles. A
few OF the places OF business are
equipped with gaslight fixtures and
these experienced no inconvenience.
The business streets presented a
peculiar appearance. People were
wandering aim essly over Main and
North streets as though they did not
know what to do with themselves.
They crowded the lobbies of he two
moving picture theatres and the
opera house and waited patiently or
impatientIy, according to their indi
vidual dispositions, for the ligh to
come on.
Shortly before s o'clock Supt. e. E
Larrabee of the Twin State Gas and
Electric company was assured tha
the service would be resum d in q
few minutes but the sub alton force
failed TO make good It's promise and.
1t was necessary to depend entirely
upon the station here In Bennington.
A partial head of steam is cons ant
ly maintained under one of the boil
ers at the Bennington station. Ad-
ditiona' power was generated with
this equipment and a o'clock the
street lights were again burning. In
the meantime steam was being gen
Grated under the larger boiler and
shortly after 9 o'clock service was re
sumed throughout the village. It Wa
after 10 o'clock when the burned ou
switch at Zylonite was renaired and
current began coming to Bennington
and Hoosick Falls over the h gh ten
sion wire.
The suspension Of service won d
have been much shorter but for the
weather condi ions that have pre-
vailed during the past two months
There is now but little water in the
streams and no power could be Sc
cured from that source. A the pres
ent time the arger portion of the
current furnished by the Connecticu
River Power company is being pro
duced by steam. 1t is probable thu
the current now being consumed ii
Bennington is generated at the bis
steam plant in Providence.
While the entire community was In
convenienced by the suspension by
far the greater disappointment wa.
in evidence at he opera house where
the musical comedy Watch Your
Step" was booked. There had been
comparatively good advance sale of
tickets but many who hnd nlarr :
to purchase their admissions at the
window abandoned their atten ion Of
attending.
Despairing Of being able to put on
the play with electric lights, Manager
J " Hart shortly before 9 O'Clock
secured large number of candles
with which 1t was planned to illumi-
nate the stage. The cand es were ar.
ranged along the line of foot igh 8
ana the matches had been applied to
nearly every wick when the Juice"
came in over the wires.