The Municipal Light and Water Plants of Bluffton, Ind. B By T. R. Johnston LUFFTON, known as the "Parlor City of Indiana" because of the fact that even back in 1900 it had the highest percentage of paved streets of any city in the state, has always displayed no small amount of civic pride. Fine streets and attractive homes have been two sources of this pride, but in the last several years the city-owned water and light plant, with about the lowest rates in the state for a city of Bluffton's size, has occasioned just about as much home-town boosting as any other one thing. to take care of commercial and industrial lighting and power. From that time its growth has been gradual year by year. The combined plant valuation in 1926 was $522,995.43. This is divided between the light plant at $325,912.26, and the water-works at $997,083.17. The municipally owned plant has suffered from depressions, much the same as any other business, but in spite of minor difficulties it has prospered. Municipal ownership was continued despite offers from many of the utility companies which were coming into existence in INTERIOR OF MUNICIPAL LIGHT AND WATER PLANT AT BLUFFTON, IND. The machinery shown from left to right are a 600 Kw. G. E. generator, Sullivan electric-driven air compressor, 1000 Kw. Westinghouse generator and Worthington steam-operated Uniflow air compressor In September, 1886, the city installed its own water-works system at a cost of $17,755, having then only 24 miles of water-mains and 30 fire-hydrants. The electric light plant was established by private capital a few years later, only for street-lighting purposes, but after operating about five years was purchased by the city and moved to the site of the water-works plant near the corporate limits. About a quarter of a century ago the plant was enlarged the Middle West rather rapidly. In 1914 the plant, which had been just about paying expenses, was put in charge of C. W. Clark, who had been superintendent of a traction line operating into Bluffton. Clark began by scrapping some of the old machinery and installing more up-to-date equipment. At the same time he introduced various changes which started the plant on the road to becoming a paying business. This action put the plant "over WATER SOFTENERS AND FILTERS USED AT BLUFFTON, IND., WATER-WORKS FOR RIVER WATER USED IN BOILERS the hump," so to speak, and from then to the present time it has been on the up-grade. A 600-kilowatt General Electric generator was installed in 1914 and a 1,000-kilowatt Westinghouse generator in 1921, so that if one is out of service the other is ready to operate. J. S. Gardner succeeded Clark as superin tendent in 1918. Three years ago, the present superintendent, Ed Hans, assumed charge. Mr. Hans has superintended extensive repairs and replacements. Practically $40,000 was spent for new machinery and equipment, which included a battery of five water-softening tanks with filters, from the Wayne Tank and Pump Co., of Fort Wayne, Ind. These tanks have a daily capacity of 50,000 gallons and fit the river water for the plant boilers. One large smokestack was installed in place of three smaller ones, and other changes made to eliminate waste. Both pumps are electrically driven, and two more, authorized in May by the City Council, will be driven the same way. The Worthington Uniflow air-compressor installed in 1921 is driven by steam, while the Sullivan aircompressor is electrically driven. The three Sterling boilers, of 300 horsepower each, are hand-fired. The success the plant has enjoyed has been due to the sympathetic cooperation of the Mayor and the Council and the faithful work of the employees. Expansion of Business The expansion of business has been constant during the last six or eight years. Rural lines are supplying service to a growing list of farmer patrons. This city-owned light plant is keeping pace with privately owned concerns in extending its lines and service to the large group of farm folks who really are part of the Bluffton community in Indiana. The Public Service Commission keeps pretty close watch of city and utility affairs, and a report to this Commission last November asking for transfer of funds to help pay for a new community building, gives the following statement on earnings, expenses and depreciation for the last six years: Reports January 31, 1927, indicated that the city light plant had approximately $30,000 in its depreciation fund, enough to take care of any ordinary event, and a surplus of nearly $10,000, and had paid in cash $55,000 of the $120,000 due on the community building. The profits of the light and water plants have continued large and in 1926 they earned $29,082.27, nearly $10,000 more than in the previous year, and prospects are for as large a business the current year. The Bluffton home lighting rate is 62 cents per kilowatt-hour, going as low as 4 cents when more than 400 kilowatt-hours are used. The power rate for city industries ranges from 41⁄2 cents to as low as 22 cents, and the rate on rural lines is from 72 cents to 12 cents, with 20 per cent discount on farm lines if bills are paid within ten days. The city patron discount is 5 per cent. City Water Plant The water rate was formerly $6 a year, and the water business generally showed a loss. Three years ago the rate was boosted to $9 minimum a year, still a small figure when compared to the average city rates. Since then the water-works has shown a substantial profit. Its patrons have grown from a few dozen when the system was started in 1886, to more than 1,450, with 10 miles of water-mains. All services are metered. E Seeking "The One Best Pavement” By H. J. Baum City Engineer, Altoona, Pa. VEN before the officials in that little German village agreed "to get our heads togedder and make us a block pavement," the question of the "best kind of pavement" had become perplexing in many municipalities. If there were only one best pavement, the problem would be easier than pondering upon "Concrete for Permanence," "Select Asphalt Base for Durability," "The Vibrolithic Method," "Vitrified Brick Outlasts the Bonds," "Warrenite-Bitulithic-the Best by Every by Every Test," "Kyrock-the Perfect Pavement," "Granite Lives Forever," "From Mastodon to Motor-the History and Romance of Asphalt," etc., etc. It becomes apparent that the problem is too big for one luncheon and that sufficient tobacco smoke cannot be produced in any one meeting to bring much enlightenment on this all-absorbing subject. The idea gradually evolves into a desire for outside information, and a questionnaire is sent to many city engineers over a wide area, asking each one's opinion as to the kind of pavement he would recommend, its expected life, service, etc. the sum total of each professional man's life experience in paving to be expressed in a few words to decide the allimportant question of that "one best pavement." Why are pavements permanent? "Clothes wear out, automobiles depreciate, houses need paint and show signs of wear and tear; even our bodies age in time, and the succeeding generation soon has us slated for the shelf. "Permanency" is the one fallacy in the theory of solution. The question is simply one of time, and the speed of going is determined very largely by adequacy of design, thoroughness of subgrade preparation, selection of materials, care in construction, character of use, climatic effects, and the ensuing care through the years continued that should save the surface. Paving service at a minimum cost is the problem of the trained municipal engineer, and those cities fortunate enough to have trained engineers of wide experience in paving types and paving service are in a position to make the most logical selection of desirable types for each specific location and traffic requirement. It does not follow that a type recommended will be equally successful in another locality where traffic conditions may be different, where the subgrade may be less stable or more poorly prepared, where materials used are of inferior quality and the workmanship of lower order. Service must be built into a pavement in all its many steps by the intelligent and conscientious care of the guiding mind-a processing responsible for the success or failure of every type which enjoys a wide use today. There are still persons who seek valuable medical advice from those who were cured, only to find that what will cure one person may kill another who is suffering from a similar set of symptoms. It seems just as logical to seek engineering advice from distant points where obviously no opportunity is given for the personal observation and inspection of the many factors that enter into a proper selection of paving types, as it is to hope for a successful remedy from a distant physician who is prescribing on the basis of someone else's interpretation of symptoms. Not that there is any aversion among engineers to speaking of their paving experiences within their own municipalities, but there is the most evident hopelessness of their being able to give the desired information without knowing the local conditions. Competent Advice There are many engineers in the municipal and consulting service who have spent the greater part of their careers in the study of all pavements and who can advise competently as to "the best pavement" for the specific use to which it is to be subjected. The cost of competent advice is the smallest item of all, and the lack of right guidance in the selection of types and the lack of right supervision in the construction are jointly responsible for a very great number of failures. For the want of intelligent direction and construction, the life of the entire improvement is shortened. For the saving of a small fraction of cost in T engineering guidance and control, the entire investment in paving is imperiled. Paving costs are not large when compared with the investment in the improved section. It would interest many a resident owner to know that the fee he paid for the privilege of buying an inside property amounted to more than the entire cost of his paving, and yet there is no quarrel with the real estate man about the amount of his charge for the selling service. Paving totals, however, mount into staggering sums, and the first cost is not the last cost. Many interested parties are eager to give favorable advice tending toward the use of their products, but the only safe procedure for those who must seek advice is to consult some reputable engineer of wide paving experience who, after studying the local situation, can advise impartially as to the types that will best suit the needs of the community. The responsibility of the local official after the selection of the "one best type," instead of being finished has only begun, and not until the work is completed under the most intelligent and exacting supervision, can there be any assurance that the goal of "The One Best Pavement" has ultimately been reached. Five-Cent Fare Made Available to Holders of Weekly Passes HE Northern Texas Traction Company, of Fort Worth, Texas, with the consent of the City Council, has recently instituted a new scheme of fare-paying, along with an increase in unit fares, in an effort to bolster up its revenue without losing traffic, which was already at a low point. The former fare was 7 cents straight for adults and 32 cents for children, with a 10-cent fare on motor-busses. The new fare schedule, which was approved on February 1, provides for a 10 cent cash fare on the street-cars; three tokens for 25 cents, thus amounting to 83 cents each; half fares for children, 5 cents cash with six tokens for 25 cents; and a weekly pass costing 40 cents which entitles the holder to ride for 5 cents a trip. The straight 10-cent bus fare, with transfers, is retained. This form of weekly pass is a new departure. The form that is sold for an initial sum, sometimes as low as $1.00 but frequently in the neighborhood of $1.25, and entitling the holder to ride during a given week without further charge, is met with in many localities.* The psychological appeal and the convenience of the 5-cent fare are universally recognized. The combination of the weekly pass and the 5-cent fare in the Fort Worth experiment is meeting with much interest in the street-railway industry. An intensive campaign of education and sales was put on by the company, including the free distribution of an explanatory pamphlet containing a reproduction of the pass which was honored for a *See "What Fares Are Best?" by Walter Jackson, in THE AMERICAN CITY, November, 1926, Page 669. period of about 41⁄2 days. Sales of passes for the following week exceeded expectations, reaching almost 8,000 in number. The free demonstration, which in effect was a trial of a straight 5-cent fare, is stated to have been accompanied by an increase of 10 per cent in riding and a decrease of 20 per cent in revenue. In the April issue of Electric Traction there appeared letters from four electric-railway officials in various parts of the country, commenting on the above scheme as described in the previous month's issue. They were guardedly favorable to the idea, at least as compared with the other form of weekly pass, particularly from the standpoints of more tangible revenue and easier passenger registration. Vice-President Blackhall of the Chicago & Joliet Electric Railway Co. stated, however, that he preferred a monthly to a weekly pass, his company having used such a monthly pass since 1922; it is sold for 75 cents and entitles the holder to ride for 5 cents instead of 10 cents, the saving to the rider beginning after fifteen rides in a month, while at 50 rides per month the fare averages 62 cents. He believes that the lower rate obtained by the monthly pass, as compared with what could be charged for a weekly pass encourages more rides, besides being more convenient to patrons. On May 1 the Tacoma Railway & Power Company, of Tacoma, Wash., adopted a pass similar to that of Fort Worth, charging 30 cents instead of 40 cents, however. Houston, Texas, is also reported to be considering a weekly pass on the above principle. Τ Roads and Snow Removal By John H. Wertley HE importance of good roads to every industry in this country cannot be exaggerated. Every mile of improved road puts dollars in the pockets of business men, manufacturers, merchants, workers, professional men, farmers, cities, towns and rural communities. In the areas congested with snow in winter, highway departments have taken preventive measures against the drifting of snow onto the roads, by the erection of temporary snowfences on the windward side of the highway. These have given good results in some places. This plan is expensive, as it means the pur use of a Model-A 30 Cletrac, equipped with icegrousers. In many localities it is thought necessary to start work while the snow is falling and during the storm. In many cases, however, these roads are closed in spite of such battles, which usually are not continued because of the discomfort to the men, and the trips are not frequent enough to keep the roads really open. Snowdrifts in such places can be opened in very short time after the snow has stopped falling, if proper methods are used. The prime factors of a good tractor to open snowbound roads are speed and drawbar pull. OPENING A 4-FOOT SOLIDLY FROZEN DRIFT OF SNOW WITH CRAWLER TRACTOR chase of fences, cost of erection, ground rentals, damages and cost of removal. In spite of all this fence protection, roads in many places are still drifted to a depth of 12 feet and the fences blown over. During last winter there were two severe snow-storms which have shown the value of snow removal by means of tractors. The roads were covered with four or five inches of solid ice before the first blizzard, which made it necessary to use a snow-removal outfit that was positive in its traction. Drifts from four to seven feet deep were encountered, but in every instance they were opened quickly by the No slow tractor is very effective, even of the crawler type. It should develop as high a drawbar pull as possible on high speeds. The tractor's ability to push snow is also governed by the power that it is able to develop on the turn. In other words, when operating at high speeds, it is possible to use a high and narrow snowplow which will go through deep snow and yet which is able to widen the swath by plowing another half plow width. Drifts two and three feet deep have been plowed from gutter to gutter with seven-foot plows. One of the worst blizzards of the winter came after three weeks of mild weather, which |