Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 182, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 August 1913 — CITY WAS GRANTED EXTENSION OF TIME [ARTICLE]

CITY WAS GRANTED EXTENSION OF TIME

Schedule Of Rates And Inventory (of Light And Water Plant j To Be Filed Before Long. Z City Attorney Leopold, who appeared before the state utilities commission for the city, asked and w r as granted an extension of time for filing the schedule of rates charged by the city for electric light and water service and a schedule of all equipment. This is being required of all' companies and the blanks which were sent heer* contained 22 questions, all directed in a manner to indicate that the commission expected the plants to be owned by private capital. Municipally owned plants are also expected to supply the answers and it is probable that rates will eventually be based upon the physical *valuation the same as those of corporation and private ownership. The schedules were to have been filed by July 15th and a fine was provided for failure. It was impossible to answer all the questions without making a complete inventory of the equipment and this took time and the extension asked by Attorney Leopold was granted. Mr. Leopold also discussed with the commission the question of telephone rates and service. The Jasper County Telephone Co. surrendered its franchise some two weeks ago. The franchise would have expired on Aug. 15th. By the terms of the new utilities law the company can continue to operate without a franchise and no other company can be granted a right to operate within the same city. It can not, however, increase its rates and these will eventually be adjusted by the commission based upon thfe valuation of the plant. The city council can require a plant and service of any standard and the operating company can appeal from the demands of the council to the commission. It is the tion of the council to require a modern plant in Rensselaer and this, it is understood, meets the approval of the Jasper County Telephone Co. There may be some disagreemen t wh en the time comes as to the present valuation of the plant, which will be taken into, consideration when the rates are established, but the commission is Working out a fair basis to be applied in all places. It is probable that all telephones and light wires along the -main streets will be cabeled under the .ground. If not they will be required to go down the alleys, thus making the streets free from wires apd much better for the cluster lights which will doubtless be installed before long. »Attorney Leopold says that the commission is working out the provisions of the law, the uncertain wording of which gives frequent room for disagreement and on some matters the members of the commission are not altogether agreed at this time. The visit was a timely one, however, and the city attorney is now in a position to advise the council in many ways that he would not have been had he not made this trip to Indianapolis.

A very strong wind occurred Thursday shortly after midnight, occasioning a drop of probably 20 degrees in the temperature within a few minutes. A friend whd" was aroused from his slumbers by the wind described it as follows to The Republican: “I never observed such a peculiar wind. I had gone to sleep when all of a sudden I was conscious of a strong wind blowing across my body. I jumped to my feet amt' the wind was blowing so hard that I stepped out of the house expecting to see some damage. The sky was perfectly clear, the wind was blowing at perhaps 40 miles an hour. Large trees were whipping in the wind and the air was chilly, the wind blowing almost directly from the north. I was- fearful that the storm would terminate in a hurricane and thought of the storm at Washington, which came out of a clear sky just as this did. It was almost a half hour before the wind subsided. There was no difficulty sleeping after that. A spread of extra covers was necessary to make one warm enough.” There were a number of people who did not know that the wind blew so violently during the night and were surprised when told about it this morning.

Missing Iffff husband shortly after 3 o’clock yesterday morning and suspecting that he. might have become a victom of his own melancholy, Mrs. John Rost of Ft. Wayne hurried to a barn on the rear of the premises,', where she found his dead body hanging from a rafter. Rost had been in bad health for nearly a year. Senator J. Hamilton Lewis has come to the conclusion that, the “old man” of the family has 1 not received proper recognition from a grateful country although the nation hag honored the other members of the American household. As a result he announced yesterday his intention to introduce a bill ratting aside July 29 as Father’s day. Already there Is a Mother's day and a Children’s day.