Tue correspondence between the Elec-trio Company and the Municipal Coancil, which was published in the last minutes of the latter body, has created great interest in the community. Woe believe it has been road with general regret, Even the shareholders in the Gas Company must have felt that the decision which the Council bad arrived at would disappoint the majority of the residents. The electric light had been employed for several months to illuminate the band, and had been shown in other streets in the Settlement. On the Band it had proved snccsssfal; giving to it all the appearance of being under the brightest moon. Locomotion of all kinds was made pleasant and much safer than when the rows of feeble gas lights only made darkness visible, and concealed the difficulties or dangers which might lie between the lamps. Beside the electric lights, the yellow twinkle of the gas was probably the most forlorn looking thing in the way of imagination that people hero Lad But the Municipal Council as guardians of the purse of the community considered the proposals submitted by the Blectric Compavy from a purely economical and business point of view. So far, they were, to some extent, in the right. Bat we submit that there are other considerations beyond those of expense which skoald have weight with residents. The superiority of the electric light is chief of these, and the desirability of the best possible lighting being provided forourthoroughfares is another. It is highly probable that these among other points in favour of electric lighting were duly considered by the Council, but of that we have no evidence, all that we know of their deliberations being their result, which was made known to the public in the official letter of the Secretary. Oar attention has been drawn to what we are assured is a mistake in that communication, where the number of gas lamps at present used to illuminate the three districts specified, are stated to be ninety-seven. We are informed that the actual number of gas lamps in ther lets is over one hundred fifty. If the latter number be accurate the difference in the cost of lighting the -three districts, which are referred to in the letter of the Secretary of the Council, will diminish the disparity between the cost of the two systems by some two thousand taels per aunum, Should an error of such consequence have crept into the statements upon which the Council have "based their decision, it can hardly be expected that the community will rest satisfied with matters as they have boon placed by the Secretary's letter. Indeed, we should expect that, if this error -has been made, the Council will consider that they ate again in 9 position to re-open the question. Should they do so we would enggost that the original proposal of the. electric. company, to light the Settlement by means of towers, should again be taken up and fully considered.
So far as our information goes this tower system of illuminating has been found completely successful in America, and we understand further that there is no instance of street lighting by electricily having been abandoned after it had once been fairly tried. An arrangement could, we should think, be made tween the. Council and the Electric Company of a conditional character, by which the former would be released from their agreement if the lighting by towers, was, upon fair trial, found to be insufficient, or unsuited to the settlement. Such @ proviso would i deed be necessary, as Bleotrio lighting is og yot in its infancy, and even those who have made themselves best acquainted with its working, such as Dr. Siemens, deal more with conjecture than with the results of their experi+ ence or the experiences of others, in As @ proof of this, that gentleman in a recent address to the Society of Arts said,—" The technical questions involved are hardly yet sufficiently understood to admit of immediate operations on a large scale, The area which each lighting district should comprizo varied according to the opinion of different witnesses before the recent Pat ary Committee, from his own estimate of @ quarter of a milo to estimates suggested by others of as much og four square miles." -Now while admitting the authority of Dr. Siemens, we at the same time say that electric lighting is too new @ science for any one to be considered as supreme authority in it, A portion of Dr. Siemens's address will be found elsewhere, from which it will be seen that his calculations of the relative cost of establishing gas and electric works were based on the circumstances of the parish of St. James, whioh differs as greatly from Shanghai as do any two places under the sun. The great point which has to be borne in mind here, is that the Settlement requires to be lit by the best method, Eoonomy is of minor importance. The Council may be trasted to look after the public expenditure, and to seo that the community gots fair value for its money. -'That being secured, residents will not care to ask whether we might not have. gone on for a. fow years longer with gas lights.
There is not an argument that can now be advanced against the Municipal
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.