L HE CAMERON COUNTY FIIKSS. ESTABLISHED BY C. B. GOULD, MARCH 1866. VOL. 37. Hessage From his Honor, the Burgess. To the Common Council of the Borough of Em' porium, Pa. GENTLEMEN:— As you will doubtless bo called upon, more or less frequently during the com ing year, for action of various kinds, relating to our Municipal Electric Lighting plant I -assume that a brief re sume of the work of the past year rnaj' prove of service. OUR ELECTRIC LIGHTING PLANT. After a few week-? of friendly contro versy in tho local press a vote was taken at our borough election held in February 1901, on the proposition to bond tlie borough $7,000 for the con struction of an electric lighting plant to furnish street lights and incandes cents. The proposition carried by a majority of nearly four to one, and Council of 1901 at their first meeting in March appointed a committee to take immediate action on the subject. This committee was composed of Messrs. Catlin, Balcomand Murry, and was requested to act with the Burgess. The committee selected Mr. J. C. Vail a well known Electrical Engineer of Philadelphia, to prepare plans and specifications. Mr. Vail looked over the ground personally about the middlo of March, and, at once prepared plans and specifications which were accepted by committee and by Council at regular meeting in April, and bids advertised for in tho PRESS and Independent of Emporium, and the Engineering Re cord, of New York City. Bids were opened April 30th. The lowest hid was §3,759.00, but the bidders were un able to show that the engine they pro posed to putin would fulfill therequire ments of tho specifications, nor could they refer to a single instance in which their engine had been used for electric light work. Next, bids were $6,849, and §6,949, both by Geo. Metzger, Jr , of Emporium; from Oioan came a bid of §7,430; Philadelphia, §7,612; Philadel phia, §7,892; Philadelphia, §8,132; New burg,N. Y., $8,507; VY illiamsjjort, §8,760; Pittsburg, §3,807. About this time Mr. 8. S. Hacicct, was appointed to Council And also placed oa the light committee to fill a vv.caney caused by Councilman Murry'A change of residence. The con trac'; wai finally awarded to Geo. Metayer, Jr., at his bid of $6,849, for complete plant except power house and connections. Mr. Metzger's band in the sum of $2,000 was accepted and contract legally closed May 13th. Owing to un avoidable delays in shipment of engine and other apparatus the contractor did not pronounce his work finished until Ssptomber 28th, and same was finally accepted by the borough Oat. 28, 1901, after au inspection by eugiuear Vail, of Philadelphia, who pronounced all the apparatus to bo first-class and as re quired by the specifications. Tha line work has stood the high winds and storms of tho past six months without a break or a cent's worth of repairs and may fairly lie considered to bo properly con 'traded. COST OF PLANT. The contra jtor received $6,767.00. Expense and bills ": n account of Elec trical Engineer lor plans and specifica tions, blue prints, inspection and etc., also bills for lumberand laboron power house, gas, water and sewer connec tions, etc, were §785.00 to which should be added §129.61 for pipes, plumbing, labor and apparatus which though purchased since the borough accepted the plant, are really a part of construction expenses, making the en tire cost of plant complete §7,681.61. OPERATING EXPENSES. Operating expenses for October, Nov ember, December, January less above items charged to construction, §432.74. Included in this, however, is §54.50 in surance for full year and payments for oil and carbons (still on hand. We find that the overcharge on these four months for supplies bought and on hand but not yet used is §21.00 and in surance for eight months to come is §36 33, reducing actual running ex pense for the four months to §375.74. Expenses for February including in surance §4 54, is §Bl 89, expense for March §93.08. making a total of 558.91 for six month or §93.12 per month for 31 arcs, or about §36.00 per year per arc To this should be added §280.00 per year interest on bonds, bringing the cost to the borough of a single arc to §45 00 per year. According to the guarantee given by the manufacturers of our apparatus,we have sufficient surplus power to furnish private lighting to tho amount of §900.00 per year. I fully agree, however, with your lighting committee in its conclu sion to defer further action regarding inside lighting till the engine bed iu the power house is reinforced. WEAK FOUNDATION. The fact that the engine bed shows signs of weakness is very much to be regretted, but I fail to find that council or the contractor can be blamed in any way for this condition. The size of the foundation and the construction of it are in every respect equal, and in the matter of the cement employed, better than the requirements furnished by the engine builders who probably lost sight of the fact that tho foundation would stand in water whenever water in tho branch was high, although their atten tion was drawn to this several times. I have recently learned that the same thing occurred when a new steam en gine was putin at the Iron Works here about two years ago. The foundation was built on precisely the same level »s related to the creek, and it was built according to specifications, hut after a few weeks use it began to shake so that its reinforcement became noces'iarj. This was accomplished by sure >u ting the foundation on .-ill aides wi'h a stone wall 18 inc es thick, about four or five feet from the foundation. This apacv was then fiile.l with slag or cinder and flooded with cement. Since this time, about two years ago, the foun lationhas remained perfectly solid. . I would suggest, Gentlemen, that your committee investigate this case, and if practicable adopt a similar plan as if this should prove efficient and economical it would certainly bo very convenient as not interfering with the continuous service of the plant. The engine and generator are repre sented and guaranteed by their respec tive manufacturers to furnish a certain amount of power, and it will at once occur to you that it is very important that,at once onour reinforcement of the foundation, inside lights be put on sufficient to test the full capacity of the plant before the expiration of the guarantees. STItEET DEPARTMENT. I wish to congratulate you gentlemen on the good work done by your street commissioner during the past year, and especially on the efficiency of his de partment during the winter. I am con vinced that there are very few if any towns in the state of any size where the sidewalks were kept in better con dition so far as snow and ice is con cerned than they were right here in Emporium. As usual, in the spring there are a large number of wooden sidewalks that need immediate atten tion, but your street commissioner will no doubt give you full particulars re garding these. FOURTH STREET. I wish to call your attention to the condition of Fourth street. For years repairs have been mado by dumping cinders and dirt in the street, and the center of the road has been gradually rising till in many places it is higher than the sidewalks. This is very notice able in the square between Broad and Chestnut streets, and is particularly to be deplored at this point, as the brick business blocks in this square cannot be raised to keep pace with the upward movement of tha road. GRADING AND REPAIRS. In this connection gentlemen 112 would most earnestly recommend that a defi nite grade line be at once established from the upper end of Fourth street, to the railroad crossing at the Junction, and that hereafter when repairs are made they he made by cutting clown the high points and filling in tho low ones till the roadway conforms to one regular grade from end to end We have right hero in the Borough, at the furnace, and free of charge, some of the finest road making material in the world. I refer of course to the slag or cinder from the iron works, and it seems to me that this ought to bo utilized while we have the opportunity. Dumping cinder here and there on top of the street, however, is of very trifling temporary benefit. The read should be excavated where necessary and filled in with 10 to 12 inches of cinder, coarse on the bottom and fine on top, and then rolled with a heavy steam roller. The fine cream colored granular cinder, which may be obtained at the furnace at bare cost of granulat ing it, would make an ideal top dress ing for the heavy cinder and give us a roadway equal to any paved street in existence. lam of the opinion, how ever, that the granular cinder by itself is of no use tor road making unless placed on a solid foundation. If you can see your way clear to be gin work at either end or in the middle on some such plan as this, while we may not be able to finish it this year and perhaps not even next year, there will bo 3ome prospect of eventually having at least one street that we may be proud of. I hope, gentlemen, that you will agree with me that all patching and repairing on Fourth street and West Allegany avenue ought to stop and every cent of money hereafter ex pended on this line of roadway should be devoted t > permanent improvement. BICYCLE SIDE PATH. Dr. Baker and Mr. Hockley have al ready secured subscriptions sufficient to warrant them in commencing the con struction of this work as soon as the weather will permit. It has been stat ed, that we would not have the author ity to protect a bicycle path from being encroached upon and damaged by horses and vehicles that are by law en titled to the road-way. This is a mis take however as a special act, applying to Emporium only, was passed by the State legislature in 1871, and signed by Governor Geary, which act reserves fifteen feet on each side of 80 foot streets and eleven feet on each side of all streets between sixty and eighty feet in width, this reserved strip is not a part of the road-way and cannot be legally encroached upon by horses and carriages which have no more rights thereon than bicycles have on the side walks. It is patent, therefore, that if the bicycle path is built on this reserved strip the Burgess will have ample legal authority to protect the path. In con clusion, gentlemen, I wish to congratu late you most heartily on your selection of officers for the coming year. Yours respectfully, E. O. BARDWELL, Burgess. Emporium, Pa., April 7th, 1902. To the School Directors of Cameron County. Gentlemen:—ln pursuance of the forty-third section of tho act of May 8, 1854, you are hereby notified to meet in convention, at the courthouse, in Emporium on the first Tuesday in May, A. D. 1902, being the 6th day of the month, and select, viva voce, by a ma jority of the whole number of directors present, one person of literary.and scientific acquirements, and of skill and experience in tho art of teaching, as county superintendent, for tho th: -o succeeding years, and certify tha re sult to the State Superintendent, at Harrisburg, as required by tho thirty ninth and fortieth sections of said act. MATTIE M. COLLINS, County Sup rintemlent of Cameron County. April 4th, ICJO21 C JO2 —7-4t. "Liberty and Union, One and Inseparable." —WKßSTKß. EMPORIUM, PA., THURSDAY, APRIL 10,1902. Letter From Prof. Coleman. The editor of the PRF' I is in receipt of a personal letter rom Prof. J. J. Coleman, formerly of J driftwood, who is engaged in educational work in the Philippines. Mr. Qnleman enlisted with Uncle Sam and remained there afterwards. Who Will Erect Houses. The growing and daily demand for dwelling houses in Emporium, with none vacant, is a great disappointment to persons who locate in Emporium. Why do not some of our citizens, with means and plenty of land, erect some j comfortable homes that will rent at j reasonable rates'? Don't all start at, once. A Hark of Appreciation. A former very prominent resident of Emporium, having removed to Buffalo and taken sick there, after unsuccess fully doctoring with Buffalo physicians for a time, sent to her former family physician, Dr. R P. Heilman, for treat ment. After a few days' use of reme dies sent, reports come back of great improvement and were accompanied with profuse thanks and a double fee. Baptist Church Notes. Preaching morning and evening by the pastor. Morning subject. "Two plus two equals four." Evening topic, "Parrots." Biblo school at the close of morning worship. C. E. Crandell superintendent. Y. P. S. C. E. (5:30. B Olmsted Pres. Prayer and praise meeting Wednesday evening 7:80. All welcome. Don't miss the Peoples Popular Happy Hour Service Sunday evening 7:30 to 8:30. 28th Benedictory song service. Distinguished Visitors. Last Friday a number of promi nent tanners, interested in West Vir ginia, visited Emporium and met many of our citizens. The party was com prised of Charles Gleason, Boston; Wm. F. Mosser, Westover, Pa.; Chas. Irvin, Big Run, Pa.; I. W. Gleason, Gleasonton, Pa.; and L. W. Gleason, Driftwood, Pa. The party, who were in charge of Mr. W. M. Lawler, of Emporium, had returned from visiting the tanneries in this section of the State. They left on mail cast to visit at Driftwood and Gleasonton. Buffalo Trade Excursion. Last Monday about seventy-five of Buffalo's business men started on their annual trade excursion to be absent one week. The train arrived at Em porium at 4:30 p. m., and was met at the junction by the Burgess and sever al of our citizens, who accompanied the excursionists to Broad street Sta tion, where a large number of our business and professional men met and commingled with the gentlemen until 5:10, when the train departed for Wil liamsport, where they remained over night A delegation of Williamsport board of trade members met the excur sionists at Emporium and accompan ied them to the Saw Dust City. They were a jolly party and met many cus tomers, as well as friends. Reporters accompanied the party, representing all the Buffalo papers. We had the pleasure of meeting Richmond C. Hill, of the Times, and F. E. Davis of News. The Close of the Star Course. With the Copley Square Trio of Boston the People's Star Course of the Season of 1901-1902, formally closed. The entertainments furnished from time to time have been uniformly of a high order of excellence and have represented not only much hard work on the part of the committee, but a large out lay of money, as only the best attractions in the Lyceum field have been listed. We believe there is a general desire that the enterprise, so successfully operated for the last two seasons, should be continued and made permanent. It is not unlikely that an effort will be made at the proper time, to enlist the co-operation of our citizens in the furtherance of this end. Ofthe Copley Trio itself only words of praise may be said. It combines elements of musical variety and novelty, beyound anything previously presented and includes only artists of decided merit. Miss Blanche Sears is a pleasing violinist and cap tivated her auditors with her masterful interpretations of classic and standard compositions; Mis 3 M. Isola Sears ex cells as a pianist, having a finished touch and is equally at home with I!, guitar and xylophone; Miss Mario:i Whitaker's skillful manipulation ofthe sleigh bells and xylophone was a highly appreciated feature, as her frequent recalls indicated, while her whistling solos won instant and emphatic favor. In fact the entire entertainment was worthy of the occasion and of the artists giving it. Letters from tlic People. [All communications under this head must be accompanied by the writer's name. We will not be held responsible for any expression in this department.]— Editou. "Patron" is After Somebody. Who? Editor I*reHß: The Mothers' Meeting, organized for the good of our schools was so taken updiscussing the "curfew" law last Friday that the following questions were considerded of not enough im portance to act upon, but were put over until the meeting in September. As they are of great importance to the majority of patrons of our schools, I send them to you for publication that those in authority may answer if they choose. 6.l.—Would it not he well for our directors to de mand the resignation of each teacher employed, as a sate guard against incompetency? 2.—ln your opinion are not the directors guilty for continuing in office a lax instructor, whom they know to be deficient? 3.—Teachers in the lower grades complain of over crowding of pupils, each room averaging