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5
ELECTRIC LIGHTING.
In July, 1892, the Royal Assent was given to an Act of Parliament confirming
a Provisional Order granted by the Board of Trade to the Shoreditch Vestry for
supplying electricity in this parish for public and private purposes. As explained
in my last Annual Report the Vestry resolved to apply for this Order themselves, to
prevent the monopoly of electric lighting being granted to a private company, two
of which save notice of their intention to apply for Orders in July, 1891.
The Ordor being obtained, at the request of the Parliamentary Committee I
prepared a report on the present position of electric lighting in this country from
the municipal point of view. This report dealt with the history of the question, the
corporations which had undertaken the supply, and the question of transferring the
Order to a private company. The opinions of experts, and some facts relating to
the comparative cost of gas and electricity, the advantages of the electric light, the
probable loss to be incurred in starting the undertaking, and the probable demand
in Shoreditch for electricity were collected and commented on, and statistics
shewing the working of the municipal installations of Brighton, St. Pancras and
Bradford were given. The combination of a small electric light installation with a
dust destructor at Southampton was described, and the importance of extending
this principle to a large central station was emphasized.
The report concluded with the following suggestions :—
1. To engage a practical consulting engineer experienced in electric
lighting and independent of any special system or company, at an agreed
fee, to advise the Vestry—
(a) Whether this district and class of property therein is such as to
justify the Vestry in establishing a central station and installation.
(ib) What would be the best system for meeting the requirements of
the district, and the best site for a central station, and whether
the heat from a dust destructor could be advantageously
employed in generating steam for the station.
(c) What capital would be required in the first instance, and what
loss might be anticipated before the undertaking became
remunerative, and
(d) Generally as to the best course to be pursued by the Vestry
under their Provisional Order.
2. To confer with the Dusting and Scavenging Committee as to the
question of erecting a dust destructor at the central station.
3. To view certain stations and installations specified as types of the
different svstems.
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