Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1923-08-06
SEES S25,0DO,0IDD
IN ELECTRIC WIRING
Increase Estimated for
Lighting Service to Million
New Patrons.
By J., & ROlIE.
Dispatch to Tho Star.

Special Dispatch to Tho star.
NEW YORK. August 1.-THE electric
central power stations Of the United
States will serve we'll over 1000, 900
now customers by the time 1928 draws
10 a close. This estimate is based on
the number of new patrons secured 30
"ar. New building construction and
tho natural JuCrsdx1 in the use of
electricity Tor lighting are re:ponsi-
bic
These new customers viii he, -.SsI-
tate the expenditure of $2J.O00.000 in
Installing meters and making service
connections. This expense docs not
include any part of the huge cost of
the necessary enlargement of gen
Grating plants and extension of trans
mission and distributing lines. So far
this year the amount paid out for ad-
ditional service by electrical compa-
MES has been approximately S602.N00.-
HDo, according to the figures COM
piled by the New York state commit
tee on public utility information.
Expense for Wiring.
The s25,000.000 expense will he for
running wires from street lines and
cost of setting meters just complete ed
by the Empire State Gas and Elec-
trio Association shows that the aver
age cost of meter. materials and labor
Is SIS The cost varies according TO
location and market conditions.
meter in use in the average house
hold costs ST. to ST.. Copper wire
costs - cents a pound. and the aver
age length of the connecting lines in
this state is nifty feet of double wire.
q
Labor costs differ in communities. AS
some have overhead and some under
ground wiring systems. but the aver
age cost is about $40 for the job.
This cost the electric company must
incur before receiving one cent from
the new customer
There are more than 10000. 900
homes and it is estimated that about
100000 are wired for electricity.
Electrical company executives say
that tn" cost of wiring old houses.
which tho householder must pay. is
the chief obstacle in preventing fur
ther expansion of service. as the cost
of current on the average of n year
is only 10 per cent of the cost of
wiring. Wiring an old house is 20
per cent more expensive than wiTinS :
new house during construction.
Cost of improvements.
Expenditures for improvements
have been divided among tho four
main branches OF the industry as fol-
lows: Steam generating plants. 5000
$4,000; hydro electric plants. Sta
$4,000; transmission systems. $125,-
100000, and distributing systems,
S193.13O.0O
Establishment of telephone con-
nections and installation of instru-
ments has been almost equally ex-
tensive. The Hawthorne works Of
the Western Electric Company alone
turned out over 1900, 100000 feet of
copper wire for communication con-
duction. There have been $4,000
telephone receivers made. Nearly all
of these instruments were for new
installations, as only a small number
were required for replacements
Machinery Waste Gets Attention.
Possibility of reducing costs
through increased efficiency Of ma
cninery and management is being
given increased consideration by
manufacturers. President H. NJ
keasbey of the National Fireproof-
ing Company said, in discussing OPP
eratiors of his company:
owing to the installation of labor
saving machinery and other plant
improvements, our production costs
have been reduced in spite of several
advances in wages. All our plants are
operating at capacity and shipments
are in excess of production and or
ders on the books are sufficient to
keep them in operation at capacity
for the next three months"
A. r, Erskine, president of the
Studebaker Corporation, said:
There is no doubt that the adop-
ton Of modern machinery and meth
DDS would reduce costs in small as
we'll as large production. There is a
gross lack of these things in thou
sands OF plants"
Ford has demonstrated that, at
the right price. Americans viii buy
. standardized article in quantities
He has proved that wages can be
raised and production costs reduced
Many of us in the motor industry
have done the same thing" said Rov
-. chaplin, chairman of the board of
the Hudson Motor Car Companv