Loading...
Clinton News-Record, 1974-03-28, Page 20AS THEY MARK 60 YEARS OF T SERVICE CLINTON WAYNE STERLING & STAFF FRED J. HUDIE LUMBER SAWMILL 217' ISAAC ST. CLINTON 482-6855 OUR BEST WISHES TO THE CLINTON PUC 11111191 Congratulations to Clinton. on their 60thAnniversaty of Hydro Electric Development ELECTRIC HEATING EQUIPMENT SALES & SERVICE THE CANADIAN • CHIONIALOX COMPANY, LIMITED 2140exclale Rouliward Rexclale,Ontarlo WOW 1R4, (416) 74 0 34000 Ulm ,27pe 'CLINTON NRWS-HECOHD; THU/MAY; MARCH .28, 1974—,—.8A First PUC superintendent H. B. CHANT 1914 = 1929 Herman Benson Chant was the first superintendent of the Clinton Public li fe, Commission. He was born in 1860. In his early life, he was a very skilled cabinet maker. During the 1880's, he becalne interested in electricity and he took an LC.S. course on that subject. He became very adept, too, at this endeavour and being mechanically inclined, he was responsible for,building a number of electric meters and generators, as well as a number of other electrical in- struments, such as a wheatstone bridge and spark coil medical sets. During all this time, he was mechanical superintendent at the W. Doherty Organ Factory in the plant that was on Raglan Street and later burned down in 1898. He continued on in the same capacity in the new factory. Mr. Doherty called him a mechanical wizzard. In 1913, he was put in as superintendent of the Clinton Electric Light Plant and the water- works department. In 1914, these utilities were put under the Clinton Public Util'itie's Commission of which he was superintendent until his death in 1929, at the age of 69, Electric (continued front page 5A) look ahead during those days when the industry was in its in- fancy and who struggled for it to have a future, Some of the early appliances at first glance do not appear to have encouraged the increased use of electric power; in fact they seem to have possessed lit- tle •advantage over their manually-operated predecessors. It is doubtful, for instance, whether the General Electric Company really expected their 1903 arc lamp to become a household best seller. Arc lamps gave a fierce, un- comfortable glare and although this particular model (in or- namental brass or black enamel) was regarded with envy by those who did not have it, the device consumed either 339 or 550 watts of direct *current (there were two types)—at a time when elec- tricity cost many times what it does today. In those days, the arc lamp was carried from room to room. The cord trailing behind it in- variably was'hung on the wall- mounted gas light brackets or kerosene lamp standards it replaced. The General Electric coffee pots of 1903 were two-part ap- pliances which consisted of a pot which stood on a portable heater. They were advertised as also being suitable for heating small quantities of water. Rapid progress was made in the design of appliances and by 1914 the Northern Electric Company's catalogue was ad- vertising one-piece percolators. These came complete With nickel-plated tray, cream jug and sugar bowl. The price tag • power.... was a whopping $68 dollars for those who could afford to buy them, In the same catalogue were various types of 30-gallon water heaters, rated at from 660 to 3,000 watts. A small bowl type portable heater featured a switch to save disconnecting the heater. • One enterprising company at the beginning of the century in- traduced an electric toaster which had an additional • feature—a hole into which the lady of the house could insert her curling tongs. The electrically-powered washing machine with belt driven wringer was quickly ac- cepted by the housewives of the day. So , too, was the electric stove, which appeared in a wide variety of models. The forerunner of today's modern refrigerator was a two part affair. The motor and cooling unit was installed in the cellar; pipes carried the cir- culating coolant to the wooden cabinet upstairs, One of the electrical pioneers in Ontario who is best remem- bered for his persistent cam- paigning of the populace to use electricity was Sir Adam Beck, first chairman of Ontario Hydro in 1906. A controversial political figure of the times, Sir Adam was howled down with ridicule at his forecast of "elec- tric light in every home." To promote what he believed in he personally toured the coun- tryside with a truck equipped with electric farm machinery (and tempting household ap, pliances for the distaff side) to give on-the-spot demon- strations. Sir Adam's "Circus" as the truck was called, is now in Ontario Hydro's museum in Toronto. The public at the turn of the century needed a lot of convin- cing that electrical appliances were worth having. Household appliances were, gradually ac- cepted—their value as in- teresting novelties soon regar- ded as work and time-saving necessities. As "having the power brought in" became more wor- thwhile, more and more people in the cities had their homes electrified, It became easier, and therefore cheaper for the local utilities to supply elec- tricity. Power lines were soon extended to rural areas and many of the farm chores were eliminated as power was put to work pumping water, lighting barns, separating cream, chur- ning butter, and grinding grain. Today, electricity is something few people are prepared to do without. At-the turn of the century, those who could have envisioned the elec- trical world of 1974 would have been regarded as science fiction dreamers.