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A MUNICIPAL
EXPERIMENT
or
THE HALL OF RECORDS
POWER PLANT
by


REGINALD PELHAM BOLTON
1917
NEW YORK
THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC SERVICE ECONOMICS, INC.
55 LIBERTY STREET




COPYRIGHT 1917
BY
R. P. BOLTON




Reader,
Some theories and policies are in much the
same situation as a baseball-it has been hit so
hard by both sides interested that it is most of the
time out of sight of the disinterested observer.
Hopeful anticipations and pleasing illusions
must be brought to earth to enable ordinary
people to discover their value for practical assimilation.
The worth of a Policy, such as that of Municipal Ownership, or a Method, such as that of the
operation of isolated plants, is not to be determined by mere argument or assertion, but by
proven value and positive results. Thoughtful
minds ought not to be expected to accept any
principle as sound that is incapable of supporting
itself by practical achievements.
The acid test of any economic problem is its
financial outcome, and, applying to such matters
the age-old advice of a wise student of human
affairs, the best method of dealing with such
problems is to
Prove all things.
The Author.


[31




I
I
I




ILLUSTRATIONS


THE HALL OF RECORDS................... Frontispiece
FACING
PAGE
THE GROUP OF CITY BUILDINGS, CITY HALL PARK..  22
THE TAXPAYERS' INVESTMENT IN MACHINERY......  44
THE COUNTY COURT HOUSE, TWEED'S MONUMENT...   66
THE CITY HALL OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK........  88
ASH DISPOSAL BY MUNICIPAL METHODS............ 106
SURPLUS EXHAUST IN COLDEST WEATHER.......... 132
A CITY OF WASTED STEAM.....................  148
WASTE STEAM IN THE PUBLIC SEWERS.............  176
BURNING CHEAP FUEL......................... 204


/


[5]








CHAPTER I.


THE TEST AND ITS LESSONS.
D     URING the year 1913, a remarkable trial
was conducted in the important building
known as the Hall of Records, in the City of New
York, to determine the cost, including all financial elements, of installing and operating the mechanical power plant which is in that building,
by which the lighting, the heating, and the elevator service of the Hall of Records, and of several nearby buildings had been for some time provided.
The result of this trial, which was unusually
extensive, and included most interesting details,
has not heretofore been published, although an
exceedingly voluminous report has been issued by
one of the parties engaged in the trial, which includes practically all the documents, papers, computations and records which were produced during the trial, and the correspondence and discus[7]




A  U N I CIP A EXPERIMENT


sions of the several parties interested in the operation.
This report, however, is so excessively voluminous that in itself it precludes a clear understanding by the ordinary reader of the essential features of the trial, and the definite results established thereby; nor does it include a discussion of
some of the most interesting economical, financial
and physical results derived from the trial.
These are now to be presented in a more conpact, and perhaps more readily understandable
form.
The particular interest attaching to the test is
the establishment of the economic conditions
under which a first-class isolated power-plant may
be operated, when its control is placed in the
hands of thoroughly trained engineers, and its
operation is directed by them with a special effort
towards the highest economy, and the least possible current expense. Moreover, this plant, although designed and installed for the service only
of the building in which it is placed, was afforded
the opportunity during the trial of increasing its
output so as to provide light and heat to other
[8]




THE TEST AND ITS LESSONS


buildings in the vicinity, thus largely increasing
its opportunity for economic results, since the
plant was of ample capacity for such extended
service.
The trial also determined the capital expense
to which a municipality is put in the establishment
of such plants and the fixed charges that must be
provided by the taxpayers upon money borrowed
for its purchase. Further, the comparative economy of the purchase by a municipality of service
from public systems of steam and electric supplies, was disclosed in a conclusive manner. The
facts for these determinations have heretofore
been limited to observations over a short period
of time. In this trial they included every physical
and financial element existing during a whole
year.
This test has, therefore, a very unusual value,
in its presentation of all the features which enter
into a municipal ownership operation of a character which can be readily understood, and which
involves less complexities than larger projects,
such as the operation of public utilities and railways.




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


The circumstances which led to the trial were
somewhat involved, and the decision to conduct
the test was the outcome of discussions, which had
extended over a considerable period of time, between the city officials responsible for the operation of this and other municipal buildings, the
particular department of the city government
which is charged with the duty of providing for
the lighting and electric service of municipal
buildings in the City of New York, the Public
Company supplying electric service in the region
in which the building was located, and finally, a
voluntary association interested in civic affairs.
These parties respectively are, The Borough of
Manhattan, the Department of Water Supply,
Gas and Electricity, the New York Edison Comlpany, and the Bureau of Municipal Research.
While this test dealt with a technical subject,
and was conducted with a considerable degree of
scientific detail, it is nevertheless a matter in
which the broad principles involved can be
grasped by the non-technical reader if divested of
unnecessary scientific terms and descriptions.
The details with which it dealt, the main results
[10]




THE TEST AND ITS LESSONS


attained, and the broad effects of the facts which
were brought to light, are matters of interest to
the intelligent citizen, and directly affect to a
very substantial extent the operation of municipal
affairs and the expenditures of taxpayers'
moneys
The average property owner and taxpayer is
usually unable to follow the operations of the
municipal authorities in the disbursement of the
funds which he and his fellow contributors provide, and is often unable to account for the inexplicable extent of expense involved in the conduct
of municipal undertakings.
If light can be obtained upon one phase of this
subject, such as the cost of operation of public
buildings, the taxpayer may obtain therefrom
some insight into the general methods which are
being followed by those whom he has helped to
elect to public office, and one of whose most important duties is the honest and economic administration of the funds provided by the taxpayer
for the conduct of municipal affairs.
Owners of property also should take a particular interest in any matter which is concerned with
[11 ]




A M UNICIPAL EXPERIMIENT


the operation and expense of buildings, in which
their pockets are directly interested.
The expense of maintaining city buildings is
a subject that directly appeals to the general body
of taxpayers, the majority of whom are owners
of real estate. Under our form of city government they are the main contributors, through the
value of their real estate, to the support of city
institutions. In addition, the facts and figures
brought out in a trial of such unusual extent,
and dealing so comprehensively with certain interesting parts of the operation of buildings,
affords information directly bearing upon similar
operations under private ownership. In a word,
therefore, the test of the plant in the Hall of
Records from many points of view, possessed an
extraordinary value, and warrants the attention
of the public, especially of taxpayers, and of
owners of real estate, so that the lessons which it
affords may be directed to their own benefit and
profit.
The mention previously made of the parties
who united in the arrangements for conducting
this trial, indicates the widespread interest in its
[12]




THE TEST AND ITS LESSONS
results. Thus, the City officials recognized the
great importance of ascertaining the most economical conditions under which municipal machinery could be expected to operate, and the best
results obtainable therefrom, with a special view
towards their guidance in the future establishment of plants of similar character, and the elimination of wastage and unnecessary expenses in
the operation of the numerous installations of machinery already owned by the city.
The particular Department which is charged
with the duty of providing electrical service for
public buildings was peculiarly interested in ascertaining whether the policy of maintaining and
operating such plants as that in this particular
building, as well as those in many others, was productive of more economical results to the city than
the alternative method of the purchase of steam
for heating and of electricity for light and power
from public sources, and also in determining the
extent to which such services were economically
utilized in city buildings; and what wastages and
negligences in the use of these services had become established.
[ 13]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
The Public Service Company was equally interested in the foregoing enquiries, on account of
the bearing of the results upon the value to the
city of their supply of energy, and they were also
keenly alive to the importance of definite information upon the relative cost of their service in
combination with that of other companies, such
as the steam supply, and upon the opportunities
afforded by some re-combination of apparatus or
re-arrangement of methods which might be productive of equal or even superior results.
The Civic Association was interested in all the
foregoing subjects from the point of view of the
public interest in the disposition of its money in
the form of capital investment in such machinery,
and in the building space which it occupied, and
was also concerned as to the current expenditures
upon the services which it provided.
Outside of these parties, directly concerned in
the conduct of the trial, were others who had a
considerable indirect interest in the results. The
great body of real-estate owners were doubtless
those most directly interested in a pecuniary
sense, and as has been previously said, they are
[14]




THE TEST AND ITS LESSONS


those to whom the results ascertained present a
very positive benefit.
The organizations interested in labor were
greatly concerned in the subject, on account of
the question of the labor involved in such municipal operations, and the rate of their remuneration. Engineers in general were interested in the
problems of operation which the test was planned
to dissect, and in the facts which were to be established over so unusually extended a period, enabling comparisons to be made of permanent technical value, and establishing standards from
which the expense and value of operations of similar character might be measured.
The determination of the cost and the test of
the operation of this plant is of permanent value
in all these directions.
The trial extended over the entire year 1913,
but the passage of time thereafter has not detracted from the practical value of the circumstances which were determined, which by ordinary
processes of comparison can be utilized perma.
nently as a basis for computation and information. Thus, the figures brought out in regard to
[15]




A MIUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
the heating of these buildings during the particular year in which the test was made, are readily
applicable to other seasons, and to other climatic
conditions in different localities.
The facts in regard to the production and the
use of the electricity made by this particular machinery can readily be applied to the operation
of other machinery of a different character.
The analyses of the figures which were made
after the trial by engineers representing different
points of view of the elements under discussion,
are of great value in bringing out the points upon
which divergent opinions may be based, and in
affording the means of analysis of their value
and importance.
Altogether the results of this trial are of such
general interest and importance that it would
seem to be a very unwarrantable waste of valuable material if they should not be presented for
general public reference in such a form as to be
understandable and readily applicable to other
circumstances, which so far has not been the
case.
The author was one of those engineers charged
[ 16]




THE TEST AND ITS LESSONS
with the duty of conducting this trial, and was
able to devote personal time and attention to observation of the results as they were progressively
secured and developed. Being engaged in the
designing and control of the operation of similar
plants in many types of buildings in the same city
in which the trial took place, the facts and details
were subjected to analysis and comparison derived from experience with the same class of subjects, and it may be added that the points which
have been determined have proved of extreme
practical value in dealing with similar problems
under other circumstances.
With these premises it may be hoped that the
reader will appreciate the importance of a clear
understanding of the facts which are now to be
presented in as plain and untechnical a manner
as such a subject can be set forth.
[17]




CHAPTER II.


THE BUILDING AND ITS NEIGHBORS.
IN the vicinity of the City Hall of New York
City there are several municipal buildings
which have been constructed from time to time, located in a very haphazard manner, partly on public park land and partly on sites recently purchased by the city. These buildings comprise the
County Court, the City Court, the Hall of Records and the new Municipal Building, the last of
which was, at the time of the test, in an incomplete
condition, and was not included in the circumstances of the trial.
The other buildings had been connected by a
system of underground piping for the conveyance
of steam and water, and also with electric conductors both for light and for power purposes;
all of these supplies being derived from the plant
in the Hall of Records building.
The City Hall, which is the oldest building of
the group, is the center of municipal government,
18 ]




THE BUILDING AND ITS NEIGHBORS
being occupied by the Mayor and the President
of the Board of Aldermen, and having two large
halls used by the two representative bodies which
divide between them the functions of government,
the Board of Aldermen, and the Board of Estimate and Apportionment.
This little building, which is one of the architectural adornments of the city, has an area of
22,000 square feet, having a basement, two stories
and an attic, the latter used by the Art Commission. The buildinr" was constructed between the
years 1803 and 1812, at a total cost of one-half
million of dollars or about 33 cents per cubic foot.
It was originally heated by stoves, and has now
been provided with a modern equipment of steam
radiators. The gas chandeliers which long ago
displaced the original oil lamps, are now serving
a new lease of life as electric light fixtures.
The restoration of the interior of this building
has only recently been completed, and was proceeding during a part of the period of the trial.
This circumstance involved some irregularity in
the service of heating and lighting, but the
amount involved was not of an important extent.
[19]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
A noticeable feature of the use of steam and
electricity in this as in the other buildings is the
wastefulness which prevails. Thus it was observed in the winter season prior to the trial, that
the doors and windows of this building were left
open in cold weather, wastefully condensing
steam in the radiators, and it is, of course, a common experience to find electric lamps burning in
broad daylight in this, as in other city buildings.
The conduits providing these services connect the
City Hall with the basement of the County Court
Building, which stands immediately in the rear
of the City Hall.
This is a rather widely known structure, whiclh
was erected under the administration of Mayor
Tweed about 1872, and in the construction of
which the improper diversion of public funds was
exposed to a considerable extent. The total
moneys expended in and about the construction
of the building are alleged to have been in excess
of ten millions of dollars, or at least $3.00 per
cubic foot, a figure which, of course, is largely in
excess of the real value of such a structure.
Compared with much more modern methods,
[20]




THE BUILDING AND ITS NEIGHBORS
however, the extravagance does not seem to be
so great, since wasteful and expensive methods
still prevail, and extravagant plans and unnecessarily expensive materials are often found in municipal undertakings.
The County Court House has an area of about
37,000 square feet, and occupies a space of about
250 by 150 feet. It is lighted by electricity and is
heated partly by steam radiators and partly by
indirect heaters warming air which is blown into
the court rooms. Until the year 1910, the heat
was supplied by boilers located in the building,
and a contract was then made with The New
York Steam Company, whlich corporation extended one of its steam mains along Chambers
Street and connected it to this building, supplying steam at about 100 pounds pressure per
square inch. This steam was used to operate the
pumping engines which supplied power to two
hydraulic elevators, and the exhaust steam from
these pumps was partly used in winter time to
supply the radiators.
Prior to the trial of the Hall of Records plant
this contract was abandoned and pipes were con[21]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
nected from the Hall of Records into the County
Court House. At the same time the hydraulic
elevators were changed to electrically-operated
elevators, and the pumping engines were abandoned. These changes were all in the direction
of economy if accompanied by a sufficient reduction in labor, but the methods of municipal operation are not contributory to economies of that
character, and the men whose services were no
longer required were in part retained in the building and in part transferred to other buildings, so
that no actual saving resulted.
The use of this large building is quite irregular,
as it is fully occupied only when the Supreme
Courts are in session. On the ground floor there
are offices which are in regular use daily throughout the year by the City Clerk and other departments, involving the maintenance of heat and
light and elevator service at all times, although
during the summer season other parts of the
building are almost out of active service.
Close alongside of the County Court stands the
City Court, sometimes described as the Municipal
Court Building. This is an old-fashioned brick
[22]




The Group of City Buildings, City Hall Park.




4
v C~, o
I




THE BUILDING AND ITS NEIGHBORS
structure of about 105 feet by 78 feet, which was
erected in 1852, as a fire-house, and has been extensively altered and increased in height for use
by the inferior or local trial courts.
It is provided with two hydraulic elevators,
and is heated by steam radiators and lighted by
electricity. For the purpose of operating the elevators hydraulic pressure pipes were laid underground from the Hall of Records Building.
The building is a great disfigurement of the
appearance of the City Hall Park, and has long
been destined to removal, which has only failed
of accomplishment on account of the financial
situation. Its operation by the services provided
by the Hall of Records plant cannot therefore be
considered a permanent condition.
The Hall of Records Building is by far the
largest of the group of four structures described.
It was built between the years 1901 and 1906 and
is eight stories in height above the street, and has
a basement below the street level, underneath
which a sub-basement was provided for the purpose of housing the plant of machinery that was
the subject of the trial.
[28]




A M U N I CIP A   EXPERIENT
The building occupies a site 194 feet by 151
feet, or an area of approximately 29,000 square
feet. This was purchased by the city at a cost of
$62 per square foot, and the building erected
thereon, including the cost of the power plant, involved an expenditure of $5,979,343, or an approximate cost of $1.30 per cubic foot.
The building is ornate, its exterior overloaded
with decorative features and statuary, and the
whole structure disfigured by a disproportionate
mansard roof, in which the two upper stories are
inconveniently located. The interior is arranged
around a central well or court, which is not of
sufficient proportions to secure satisfactory interior lighting, and yet makes the means of access
from one part of the building to the other extremely inconvenient. This condition is aggravated by the arrangement of all of the elevators
on one side of the building.
The artificial light required in the interior of
the building is excessive, and prior to the time
of the trial the demand was increased by the nature of some of the fixtures in which the electric
lamps were installed. These were extraordinarily
[ 24 ]




THE BUILDING AND ITS NEIG HBORS
elaborate and massive bronze chandeliers, the design of which appeared to have been dictated by
an effort to detract as far as possible from the
effect of light, and to cast as much shadow as
possible therefrom.
The lighting of some of the offices, however,
had been extensively modified and improved by
temporary additions, but was utilized in the usual
wasteful manner which has been described in connection with the same subject in the City Hall.
The building was, at the time of the trial, occupied by the Register of the County of New York,
the Surrogates Courts and offices of the Commissioner of Records. On the ground floor the Tax
Department of the city was at the time installed,
and several floors in the upper part of the building were occupied by the Legal Department of
the city. The two latter departments have since
been removed to the Municipal Building, and
other municipal organizations have been installed
in their place.
The building at the time of the trial was already overcrowded, and the space available for
the storage of the public documents for which
[ 25 ]




A M UNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
the building was primarily intended, was found to
be inadequate.   Additional filing space was
provided in the roof attic, and if it had not been
for the presence of the machinery in the subbasement, that large space would have been
available for the same purpose.
The plant of machinery installed in tllis building was conceived in the same spirit of prodigality
as the interior furnishings and exterior adornments of the structure. In so far as its proportions were concerned, it was approximately four
times as large as was necessary, and its various
appurtenances and the proportions of its piping
were all upon the same scale of liberality. The
general result of overproportions in apparatus of
this character is naturally in the direction of inefficiency of the machinery which is too large for
its duty, and is thus operated at only a small
portion of its capacity, and in boilers, engines,
piping and pumps, this always results in some
loss of efficiency.
This overproportion of apparatus, however, is
a not uncommon feature in municipal installations, which are usually large for the work that
[26]




THE BUILDING AND ITS NEIGHBORS


they may have to do. This effect is brought about
by the natural conservatism of city employees and
their desire to protect their own actions from
failure by economy, and the further fact that they
are not influenced by considerations of economy
in the use of capital for such purposes.
The machinery is of excellent design and firstclass material, and has been maintained in good
operating condition. The circumstance of its
over-proportion for the service of the particular
building in which it was installed was of advantage in affording a capacity for providing the
services required by the three exterior buildings,
connected to the plant.
The result of this addition was an increase of
the electrical service by fully 50 per cent., and an
addition to the work of heating in winter of 175
per cent. Under these conditions the plant was
operated at a desirably economical capacity, and
still retained a sufficient excess to provide for
emergencies in case of failure of any part of the
apparatus.
The space which the machinery occupied was
nearly the whole of the sub-basement. This
[27]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


space, about 14 feet in height, had been excavated
and constructed at a large proportion of the expense of the erection of the building, and answers
no other useful purpose than to house this machinery, except to afford a small space for the
storage of disused interior furnishings.
The machinery space is very similar to other
installations in the lower parts of modern buildings, and consists of a boiler room, other rooms
devoted to the electrical generating engines and
dynamos, to hydraulic elevator pumping machines, and other space is filled with small auxiliary appliances, chiefly in the form of pumps for
sundry auxiliary services.


[ 28 1




CHAPTER III.


THE MECHANICAL PLANT AND ITS DUTIES.
THE mechanical equipment in the Hall of
Records building was planned for the purpose of providing that building with heating,
lighting, elevator and water services, and also
with a system of ventilation. The most essential
element in such operations is that of raising
steam, and this is effected in the Hall of Records,
as in many other high-class buildings, by the use
of high-pressure boilers.
At the time of the installation of these boilers
there was no available public supply of steam, but
at a later date the New York Steam Company's
mains were extended to the immediate vicinity
of the building, and thereafter the value of these
boilers as an investment by the city for the purpose of generating steam, was limited by the
price at which steam could be purchased from the
mains in the street, which was at the time avail[29]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
able at the rate of 42 cents per 1000 pounds
weight of steam.
The capacity of the boilers which were installed
was very considerably in excess of any probable
requirements of this building alone, especially as
sutch boilers may under proper conditions be expected to develop a larger capacity than that at
which they are rated. It is not uncommon in
boilers of this character to obtain as much as onethird more steam from a given capacity than the
designed type, and this can be done also without
loss of efficiency.
Thie plant consists of five separate boilers, three
of which were of 206 horsepower, and two each
of 238 horsepower, aggregating nearly 1100
horsepower. If a boiler plant had been installed
for the sole purpose of heating these buildings,
any two of these boilers would have afforded a
very ample capacity. The additional boilers may
be, therefore, regarded as having been installed
for the expected additional demands to be created by operating electric generating engines and
power pumps for the elevator service.
The boilers as originally used, were supplied
[80]




THE MECHANICAL PLANT AND ITS DUTIES
with coal of a large and expensive grade, which
would burn freely with the draft afforded by the
chimney. This chimney is constructed of steel
plate and extends up through a well or shaft in
the interior of the building to a point about 16
feet above the mansard roof.
Burning fuel of this grade under such conditions of draft, is, however, an expensive process,
and like many other similar plants, a re-arrangement was made by the city engineers, by which
a cheaper and smaller grade of coal could be employed. In order to burn such small coal, it is
necessary to increase the draft, because the air
must be drawn or pushed through a bed of coal
very closely packed together.  Therefore, a
blower or fan was provided, operated by a steamengine, which forced the air underneath the
grates.
The use of this apparatus afforded the means
of using coal of the grade known as No. 1 Buckwheat, which is the larger of the three smallest
grades of coal, obtained by screening the waste
or broken coal that used to be thrown away in the
anthracite region, but is now utilized in increasing
[ 31 ]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


quantities and at gradually increasing prices.
During the term of the trial an effort was made
to use a mixture of "soft" or bituminous coal with
this anthracite, which can be economically done,
provided that no objectionable smoke is generated thereby. It soon became apparent that the
smoke was excessive, and public attention was
drawn to it by the newspapers, so that a change
was made and thereafter the trial was conducted
with the use of anthracite coal, the average price
of fuel during the entire year having been $2.90
per ton. The expense for fuel was $15,296.
It is scarcely necessary to say that since the
year of the test progressive increases in the cost
of production, and especially in the transportation of coal have largely enhanced its cost, so that
at the present time the same grade of fuel is costing more than double the amount above mentioned. Such an increase would add over 50 per
cent. to the cost of steam production, and would
have increased by nearly 25 per cent. the total
cost of operating the entire plant.
The supply of fuel to these boilers is provided
in storage vaults located under the sidewalk,
[32-]




THE MECHANICAL PLANT AND ITS DUTIES
having a total capacity of 500 tons. This large
capacity is a source of economy in the purchase
of fuel, as the coal may be bought in large quantities at a lower price than it can be secured in
smaller quantities, and the capacity of a coal
barge is about 400 tons.
During the trial the fuel was drawn from these
vaults through an iron door which allowed the
coal to run into a wagon by which it was transported into the fire-room. On its way to the firing floor, the wagon passed over a weighing machine so that every wagon load of coal was
weighed and the amount of fuel was thus accurately recorded. The arrangement is good, in
that it relieved the firemen of much of the labor
of lifting coal into the furnace doors.
The ashes are taken away from the boilers by
being raked out onto the floor and shoveled into
cans which were then wheeled to an hydraulic
elevator situated under the sidewalk, by which
the cans are raised to the street and are there
lifted and dumped into wagons.
The boilers are supplied with water through
pipes which are connected with pumps, known as
[33 ]




A M UNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


feed-pumps, and on the way the water passed
through a meter which accurately recorded upon
a chart the rate at which the water passed
through, at any given time, to the boilers. This
water is drawn from several sources, the chief of
which is, of course, the public mains. But this
water, which is cold, is economically mixed with
hot water derived from the condensed steam collected from different parts of the machinery and
piping, and in particular during the winter time,
with the water coming back from the heating radiators in the several buildings.
In the operation of a plant of this kind, however, there is never a complete return of all the
water that has been made into steam, because
some of the water becones greasy and must,
therefore, be discharged to the sewers, as the
presence of oil in the boilers would injure their
operation.
Froi  the boilers the steam is directed into
steam-pipes which in this plant extended around
the machinery spaces in the form of a rectangular
ring, the object of which was to provide for security in case of leakage or failure of one part
[34 ]




THE MECHANICAL PLANT AND ITS DUTIES


of the piping, which while very desirable from
the point of view of security, is not a source of
economy. The size of the pipes was proportioned
with the same liberality as the other parts of the
apparatus. Such large and extended pipes containing steam act as radiators, and thus a considerable proportion of the steam traveling in the
piping to the machines is condensed before it
reaches the machines.
One of the most interesting facts ascertained
by the trial was the extent of this loss by condensation, which for the first time afforded very
definite information as to the amount condensed
under different conditions of operation.
It was found that over the whole year of the
trial more than 10 per cent. (10%) of all the
steam which was made, was condensed in the piping before it reached the machinery. It would
have required a boiler of 33 horsepower working
at full capacity every hour of the year to produce
this steam, and would have consumed 550 tons of
coal. The condition is not unusual, and in fact
is often exceeded in other plants. When the
demand for steam is variable the condensation
[ 35]




A AMUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


actually increases in the piping as the total steam
used falls off, and in the Hall of Records there
were times when the proportion rose to over 15
per cent.
It was greater in volume in July than in February.  Comparing two such conditions in two
weeks:
February 24-March 2. Total steam made was
2,277,741 pounds and the steam condensed in the
piping was 168,191 pounds.
In the week, June 30 to July 6, the total steam
was only 1,280,000 pounds, or about one-half, yet
the condensation was 199,960 pounds.
The machinery to which the steam is supplied
and which it is utilized to operate, consisted of
three parts-the electric engines, the elevator
engines, and certain auxiliary or minor pumps
and engines.
The electric engines are installed in the center
of the sub-basement space in a large and lofty
engine-room, which is ventilated by fans blowing
air in, and other fans drawing air out, in order to
reduce the temperature in the room.    The engines were four in number, each being provided
with an electrical generator or dynamo, and any
[36]




THE MECHANICAL PLANT AND ITS DUTIES
one or two could be independently operated, or
all could be operated in unison.
The engines are of a high class of manufacture,
two of them being of what is known as the Corliss type, of 240 horsepower each, and having
generators with a capacity of 150 kilowatts. The
smaller were respectively 160 horsepower and 100
kilowatts, and 80 horsepower, connected to a 50 -kilowatt generator.
The electric energy generated in these machines is first led to a switchboard where any part
of it may be diverted to one or other purpose.
Part of the energy is used for electric lighting
and part for the operation of power motors, of
which there are no less than nineteen in the Hall
of Records building alone. These motors operated ventilating fans and water pumps, and one
of them was used to operate another small generator which produced electric energy at a somewhat higher pressure, and delivered the current
into a storage battery which occupied a separate
room. This storage battery is practically a reserve of electric power, which can be used at any
time when the engines are not in operation, but,
[37 ]




A M UNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
of course, only to a limited extent. The intention
of its installation, which involved an expense of
several thousand dollars, was to use this stored
energy (during the night time, to maintain lights
in the corridors of the building when the engines
should be closed down.
At the time of the trial, however, it had become
the practice of these buildings to operate one of
the engines all night, because under city methods
of the employment of labor, it was necessary to
keep an engineer on duty at night, whose services could as well be utilized in operating the engine. The battery, therefore, was practically out
of service, and only.sufficient use was made of it to
keep it in operating condition.
The next large part of the machinery is that
which is devoted to operating the hydraulic elevators. This consists of three large duplex steam
pumps, arranged in a separate room and so proportioned that any two would suffice to maintain
the hydraulic elevators in full operation. The
water which is pumped by these engines, is reused, passing under pressure to the elevators and
being discharged by them to a tank from whence
[38]




THE MECHANICAL PLANT AND ITS DUTIES
the pumps again draw it. In order to maintain
a regular pressure the water is pumped into large
steel drums or cylinders, in which air is also
pumped by two steam-driven air-compressors.
Thus the air acts as an elastic cushion and prevents the shocks which would otherwise be felt
in the elevators by the reversals of the pumps.
At the time these elevators and pumping machines were installed, considerable developments
were taking place in the improvement of electrically-operated elevators, the use of which in this
building would have rendered unnecessary the installation of these pumps, tanks and drums.
Since the time of their installation successive improvements in the electric type of elevator have
rendered it much superior to the hydraulic system, both in operating convenience and in economy of cost.
The effective period of life of such elevator
plants has been shown by the course of events in
other buildings to be about fifteen years, and
not to exceed twenty years. The time is not far
distant, therefore, when under natural conditions
these elevators would be removed or remodeled
[ 9]




A  UNICIPAL EXP E RI ENT


into a system of electric operation, as has been
done in many other buildings. Under such circumstances it would then follow that the operation of the elevators could be effected by using
electric energy purchased from the public service,
which of course could not be done so long as they
are of the hydraulic form.
These remarks apply also to the elevators in
the City Court Building, which together with the
building ill which they stand, are probably
doomed ere long to disappear.
The elevators in the County Court Building
had already been removed and replaced by electric machines, at the time of the trial, bult these
machines were necessarily operated by electricity
purchased from the system of the New York
Edison Company.
The next service provided by the machinery in
the Hall of Records plant is that connected with
water supply in several forms. IWater for sanitary purposes and for the use of machinery is
brought into the building from city mains from
three points. Owing to the deficiency of pressure which has prevailed, especially in the lower
[40]




THE   EC HANICAL PIANT AND ITS DUTIES
part of the city, water from the mains will not
rise in buildings much above the second story
during the hours of the day when the greatest
demand is made upon the city supply. This situation, of course, is now being modified and improved by the introduction of the Catskill water
system, which reaches the city under a greater
pressure.
During the trial, therefore, it was necessary to
pump this water up to large tanks situated in
the roof attic of the Hall of Records, involving
the pumping of the water up to a pressure of
ninety pounds per square inch. On its way into
the building the city water passes through filters
and is thence connected to the pumps. It is directed partly to the tanks in the roof and partly
to other purposes.
The water supply in the other buildings, each
of which is provided with its own tank, was connected by pipes to the tanks in the roof of the
Hall of Records, so that all the water for all the
buildings was pumped in the Hall of Records.
Part of this water was heated for sanitary purposes, passing down through a pipe into a large
[41]




A MUNICIPAL IE EXPERIMENT


heater provided with steam pipes inside, in which
the water is brought to a high temperature and
led by piping to the hand basins in the several
buildings.
The circulation of this hot water through such
long pines was defective and it was, therefore,
necessary to have a special pump operated by an
electric motor, which forces the hot water around
through the piping.  Another portion of the
water supply was used for drinking purposes,
and in accordance with an old idea that prevailed
at the time of its installation, it was considered
desirable to cool this water in sumnmer time, and
in the Hall of Records a refrigerating apparatus
was installed of the form known as the absorption t)pe, which reduces the temperature of the
water from the prevailing degree in the mains
to approximately 45 degrees at the faucets in the
Hall of Records building.
This apparatus was, of course, in use only a
part of the year, and it involved the operation of
an ammonia pump and a water circulating puimp
both of which were driven by steam.
Other large pumps were provided for fire pur[ 42]




THE MECHANICAL PLANT AND ITS DUTIES


poses, which naturally are not in use excepting
in such an emergency as a conflagration.
Another phase of the water service is that of
discharging from the lowest part of the building
the drainage of sanitary fixtures located below
the level of the sewer. It will seem strange to
readers who are not acquainted with conditions
in New York City, to learn that such a necessity
exists. The sewer system of the city, however,
was laid out upon an old-fashioned idea that the
depth of the cellars of buildings would not exceed
a single basement and, consequently, the sewers
are at a fairly uniform depth of only 13 feet below
the level of the street. When, therefore, a subbasement is constructed, as has very frequently
been done, any water or drainage collecting in
that lower level must be lifted by pumps to the
sewer. Thus in the Hall of Records it was necessary to install two large sewage-ejectors, which,
by means of compressed air produced by two
steam-driven air-compressors, forced the drainage from the sanitary fixtures in the lower part
of the building, up to the sewer. In addition, in
case of the breakage of a water main, or the fail[43]




A M U I I PA I EXPERIMENT


ure of steam piping, it is necessary to provide
means to discharge a flood of water, and two
large steam pumps were installed in the Hall of
Records for this purpose, these being, of course,
very rarely in operation.
Finally, the discharge of the waste waters of
the machinery plant required the operation of
steam pumps to lift this foull and greasy water,
together with the water blown down from the
boilers, up to the level of the sewer.  It will
be observed that these appliances were all involved in the construction of this sub-basement,
the purpose of which was the providing of space
for the operation of the machinery plant, consequently they become burdens upon the cost
of operation of that plant, or from another point
of view, are an expense attached to the value of
the sub-basement space.
The same remarks apply to the ventilating apparatus rendered necessary by the operation of
machinery, in order to keep the temperature
down to a point at which workmen can be expected to conduct their labor. This naturally becomes a charge upon the operation of that ma[44 ]




(2) Engines for
producing
electricity.


(1) A roomful
of auxiliaries
a
and Piping.
(3) Boilers for
generating
steam


(4) Pumps and
tanks for hydraulic elevators


The Taxpayers' Investment in Machinery.




. a;:
I...




THE MECHANICAL PLANT AND ITS DUTIES
chinery, and in the case of the Hall of Records,
the test determined the extent of this expense.
The apparatus further included the blowers or
fans which afforded ventilation to the upper portion of the Hall of Records building, and this
consisted of two chambers in the- sub-basement
in which these blowers were located, and large
openings by which air could be drawn down into
the building from the street level, warmed in winter time and discharged by the blowers up flues
or stacks into the various offices. These blowers
were rotated by electric motors receiving their
energy from  the electric generating engines.
The arrangements in this regard were neither
wholly effective, nor satisfactory in operation.
The draft set up by the operation of these fans
was objected to by the occupants of the offices.
Moreover, the dust brought in with the air which
was drawn from the sidewalk was excessive, and
involved continual care in screening, which at
the best, was not entirely effective. Thus, especially in the winter time, the fans were not utilized and air was allowed to find its way up in the
shafts by natural draft.
[ 45]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIM ENT
This modification of the interior arrangements,
of course, reduced the amount of work which had
to be done by the electric plant, and the boilers.
The movement of the air thus described, was
effected by keeping other fans in constant operation in the attic of the building, these fans having been installed for the purpose of drawing air
out of the offices and discharging it to the atmosphere. The effect of stopping the blowers which
were intended to force the same air into the offices
was to produce a partial vacuum in the officespaces, the tendency of which was to draw air in
undue quantities through every crack and crevice
in the windows and through the doorways of the
offices.
This condition in the City of New York is productive of the introduction of dust in excessive
quantities into a building, and in a structure devoted to the purposes of the Hall of Records the
effect was much to the disadvantage of the occupants, and of the valuable documents which they
have to preserve and handle. It also increased
the work required to be done by the vacuumcleaning apparatus. The difficulty is increased by
[46]




THE MECHANICAL PLANT AND ITS DUTIES


the immense quantities of fine ash and cinder
which are constantly emitted from the chimneys
of power and heating plants in this city. The
weight of such deposits varies from one to two per
cent. of all the fuel burned, and is estimated to
amount to about five hundred tons of ash per annum spread over each square mile of the city's
area.
The final feature of the machinery plant consists of those small auxiliary apparatus which
were connected with the minor functions of the
steam machinery. These consisted of the feedpumps to which reference has been made, which
supply the water to the boilers, the drainage
punmps which drew the water condensed in the
heating radiators from the piping, and again discharged it to the boilers, and other pumps which
received the condensed water out of the steam
piping and discharged it to the boilers. All of
these, it will be readily seen, were appliances the
object and purpose of which it is to make practicable the operation of the steam boilers and the
engines which they operate, and these are, therefore, as far as their cost is concerned, a burden
[ 47 ]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


upon the services provided by the plant.
The division or the proportion of the burden
of expense of operating these appliances between
the several services provided by the plant was
one of the interesting studies developed by the
trial. Some idea of the complexity of these minor
appliances may be gained by a statement of their
number. Of steam operated pumps, chiefly of
the duplex pattern, there are twenty-one besides
the elevator pressure pumps. There are seven
air-compressors, six of which are driven by steam.
Nineteen electrical motors of various sizes up
to 40 horsepower operate fans and sundry other
appliances. There are sixteen closed tanks and
seven open tanks, besides feed-heaters, purifiers,
separators and the accompanying maze of piping
and valves.


[48]




CHAPTER IV.


THE TEST AND ITS METHODS.
THE task which was assumed by the Board
of Engineers charged with the duty of carrying out the trial, consisted in establishing the
entire cost of the installation of the machinery
and the full expenses of its operation. The
ascertainment of the money directly expended
upon operation was a comparatively simple process, inasmuch as it involved only the maintenance
of accounts by the Department, of its disbursements for labor, fuel, repairs and supplies. In
connection with this matter, which involved the
separation of accounting details on the books of
the City Department, a committee of accountants
was selected by the three parties in interest, and
these gentlemen proceeded to establish a system
of Cost Accounts, which were used in the Department during the year of the trial, in which were
entered these separated expenditures.
The Board of Engineers also appointed a com[ 49 ]




A MAUNICIPAL EXPERIMIENT


mittee which went to work to ascertain from past
records the amount of money that had been invested in the plant, and also to decide what was
the rate of interest that the city was paying upon
the money borrowed for the purpose of building
the Hall of Records and its equipment. The
Committee also decided the proper rate to set
aside for the depreciation or annual reduction in
value of the machinery as it became antiquated.
These facts and figures afforded the cost of the
plant as a whole, and it then became necessary to
divide the cost between the services which were
provided by the machinery.
Inasmuch as the particular point at issue was
the question as to whether the plant could produce steam cheaper than it could be bought, or
electricity cheaper than it could be purchased,
it was evident that the trial must involve complete measurements of the quantities of steam
that were generated and the quantities of electricity that were produced, together with determinations of the uses to which these were put, so
as to decide the expense of each of these services.
Moreover, a divergence of opinion had existed
[50]




THE TEST AND ITS MIETHO)DS
as to the amount of steam which was really involved in the heating of such buildings as those
included in the trial, and some engineers were in
the habit of estimating upon quantities of steam
required for the heating in the climate of New
York, which other engineers maintained were
largely in excess of those actually required.
The.dvocates of the operation of these small
power plants in municipal and private buildings
have maintained that the amount of steam required in heating buildings could usually be provided by the waste steam passing away from the
engines after it had been used to generate electric energy. Other observers pointed out that
this would be all very well if the generating of
electric energy took place exactly at the same
time and exactly in the same quantity as was required to provide the amount of steam necessary
under all the variations of our extremely erratic
climate in New York, a condition entirely impracticable of attainment.
The advocates of electrical elevator operation
believed that the use of elevators operated by
electric energy was more economical than that of
[51]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
the hydraulic apparatus, and this involved the decision of the number of trips made by the elevators and the amount of steam and other expenses connected with their operation.
No one, prior to this trial, had ever thought it
worth while to consider what it cost to pump city
water for use in the sanitary fixtures, and comparatively few people had any idea of the expense involved in cooling water for drinking purposes. All of these features and a number of
other important points involved a close and detailed measurement and record of the several operations conducted in the plant from hour to hour,
requiring provisions for a large number of measuring appliances, some of which were quite comnplex and expensive, and others of simple and
usual character, together with arrangements for
a corps of observers, who should maintain strict
watch over all the details of the operation, without the least cessation of their attention.
First, a study was required of all the piping
and valves controlling the flow of steam and
water, and the switches controlling electric energy, and these were made the subject of plans
[52 ]




THE TEST AND ITS METHODS
by which the movement of the steam and water
could be traced in advance. At the necessary
points the pipes were then cut open and meters
placed in them, so as to record the flow of the
fluid, and electrical meters were placed on every
line of conductors from each generator, and the
storage battery, and upon each line, extending
to the purpose of power or lighting. Most of
these appliances were self-recording devices
which were kept under lock and key, in charge of
the particular observer on duty.
The observations further extended to the
weighing of all the fuel and all the ashes in and
out of the boiler-room, also the recording of the
variations in pressure of the steam, and the observation of exterior temperatures, of the barometer and wind pressure, all of which have some
effect upon chimney draft and upon the heating
of the buildings.
The extent of this work may be judged from
the fact that upwards of twenty meters were required to record only the movement of water, and
nine meters were installed upon steam supply
lines, with fourteen special electrical meters, be.
[53 ]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


sides those in regular use on the switchboard. The
records from all these meters were removed daily
and filed in an office provided for the purpose by
the Department of Public Works, in the care of
an official.
Visual observations and readings of thermometers were made every two hours, day and
night, and these were also filed daily.
The work of observation required the attendance of two observers on duty at all times, and a
corps of assistants was constantly employed in
checking, comparing and recording, and computing the results of the observations. A weekly
summary of the daily observation was prepared
and submitted to the Board of Engineers, who
thus were made acquainted with the progress of
the observations and the progressive effects
which they disclosed.
To conduct the trial and direct the preparation of the figures and results, the Board selected Dr. Herman Diederichs, of Cornell University, under whose charge the observers at the
plant and the computing and recording staff at
Cornell University were engaged.
[54]




THE TEST AND ITS METHODS


One of the most anxious and difficult tasks
entrusted to the test engineers was the maintenance of the accuracy of the devices used in measurements. This work involved constant observation, in order to discover any tendency towards
error on the part of the different devices, and required the testing of such devices from time to
time, to ascertain their accuracy. In the case of
certain meters of similar size on similar apparatus, where divergencies appeared that were not
readily explainable, the devices were removed and
placed in each other's positions, and then again
replaced. Others were taken to the laboratory
and tested, all of which involved considerable
labor and care, but rendered the general results
of satisfactorily dependable character.
With all preparations made, the observations
and records commenced at midnight on December 15, 1912, and for the period of an entire year
thereafter, the record of two-hourly observations,
supplemented by the automatic records of the
various meters, decided the following details of
the operation of this plant:


[ 55 1




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


The weight of the coal and of the ashes.
The character and heating value of the coal.
The moisture in the coal.
The measurements of the water used by the boilers and its temperature.
The volume of the steam discharged from the
boilers.
Its pressure and the amount of moisture it contained.
The condensed water drawn from the steampipes.
The distribution of the steam to the various apparatus and the proportional amount of the steam
used by each of the total. (This item included
the amount of steam taken direct for the purpose
of heating buildings in the winter season, which
was a separate measurement from the amount used
for the heating purposes, drawn from the waste
or exhausted steam of the engines and pumps.)
The steam used by the engines for generating electricity.
The steam used by the pumps for operating the
elevators.
Tile steam used for the smaller services such as
pumping sewage, heating hot-water, operating the
refrigerating plant, and pumping house-water.
The steam used by the feed-pumps, drip-pumps,
return-pumps, and all auxiliaries used in and about
the steam power plant.
In addition to the foregoing, observations were
taken of the travel of the elevator-cars in all the
[ 56]




THE TEST AND ITS METHODS


buildings, the amount of water used in the buildings for sanitary purposes, the amount of icedwater cooled and used, and many other details,
such as tests of the gases discharged from the
boiler furnaces, observations of the smoke emitted from the chimney, determination of the
amount of electricity required to operate fans to
ventilate the boiler and engine rooms, and the
steam involved in operating apparatus necessary
to circulate the heating-steam in the radiators of
the buildings, with other records such as the
wastages of steam drawn from the engines and
pumps and discharged to the sewer.
In connection with all this work the division
of the cost of labor and the materials required by
different parts of the apparatus was of great importance, and daily reports were made upon these
items.
The most important part of the work was the
determination of the quantity of steam used by
each apparatus, and the proportion of exhausted
steam returned to heating purposes. These facts
were ascertained and presented in the following:
[57]




A   U   I C I P AL EX P ER I E N T


SUMMARY OF RESULTS OF THE TEST OBSERVATIONS FOR 52 WEEKS, BY THE
TEST ENGINEER
LIVE STEAM DISTRIBUTION
Per
Lbs.     Cent
Total steam generated.............. 81,656,863
Absorbed by condensation losses in piping, etc. (clean drips)............  8,736,125
Proportion of total steam generated       10.7
Absorbed by boiler auxiliaries (feed
pumps, etc.)....................  8,416,435
Proportion of total steam generated       10.32
Absorbed by exhaust heating appliances. 3,822,004
Proportion of total steam generated       4.68
Absorbed by electric power-engines... 36,275,352
Proportion of total steam generated       44.48
Absorbed by elevator-pumps......... 12,509,868
Proportion of total steam generated       15.33
Absorbed by minor services (sewage
pumping, house pumping and refrigeration).....................  8,694,615
Proportion of total steam generated       10.64
Absorbed by live steam to heating
services........................ 3,202,897
Proportion of total steam generated        3.92
Diverted in auxiliaries and drips..... 19,205,044
Proportion of total steam usefully
utilized....................          76.40
Total steam used in house heating and
hot-water heating................ 31,396,978
Proportion of total steam generated       38.40
Exhausted steam used in above....... 27,609,926
Proportion of total heating......         87.95
Proportion of total steam generated       33.8
[58 ]




THE TEST AND ITS METHODS


Live steam used in heating and hot
water..........................  3,537,038
Proportion of total steam generated        4.34
Proportion of total heating steam         11.28
Steam delivered to electric engines.... 36,275,352
Proportion of total steam generated       44.1'8
Contribution of engines to heating.... 11,250,956
Proportion of total steam delivered to engines..........           35.87
Total steam absorbed by exhaust-heating, vacuum and drip appliances...  3,822,004
Proportion of total steam generated        4.68
Proportion  of  exhaust  steam
utilized.....................         14.06
EXHAUST STEAM DISTRIBUTION
Total exhaust available for heating
work (house heating, hot-water heating and refrigeration plant)....... 52,587,835
Exhaust steam utilized in heating work 28,484,000
Proportion of total exhaust steam
available...................          54.1
Proportion of total steam generated       84.7
Exhaust steam discharged to atmosphere.......................... 23,852,128
Proportion of total exhaust steam
available....................         45.4
Proportion of total steam generated       29.2
The operation of the machinery was maintained by the regular staff of fourteen men, under
the direction of the chief engineer of the building.
The duties of these men and the details of the
maintenance and supply of the plant were super[59]




A    U N I C I P A L E XPEIE N T
intended by a mechanical engineer detailed for
the duty by the Department of Public Works.
The general effect of the trial was to provide
the means of determining the working conditions
of the various services over the period of a year,
with particular information as to its operation at
any time during that period, thus affording a
complete picture of the variations and conditions
at different seasons and under climatic changes,
and with the variations which are due to the
working and non-working hours of the building.
After the completion of the test on December
15, 1913, a period of about three months was occupied in the re-checking and tabulating of the
whole of the facts and figures for the presentation of the Test Engineer's report, which was extremely comprehensive.  Thereafter, considerable time was occupied by the members of the
Board of Engineers in an individual study of the
results, and the preparation of their opinions
thereon.
Some further delay resulted on account of a
divergence of opinion as to the bearing of the
conclusions of the trial upon the question of alter[60]




THE TEST AND ITS METHODS
native operation of these buildings for another
year by means of purchased steam and electricity,
as had been agreed upon. This and other delays
resulted in retarding the presentation of the facts
until 1916, when a brief statement of the main
financial facts was published by the Author. This
was followed in the year 1917, by a very voluminous compilation of all the material connected
with the inception of the trial, its conduct, the
reported details, and a large amount of correspondence and briefs, which was published by the
Bureau of Municipal Research, and failed to
present the facts and figures in summarized
form.
It is in the hope that a review of the essential
features of the trial, and of its unquestionable results, may be found more readily accessible and
comprehensible, that this story of the test has been
prepared.


[61]




CHAPTER V.


THE FULL COST OF THE PLANT.
T     HE widest feature of the subject dealt with
by the trial at the Hall of Records, is the
question of what desirability or advantage results from an investment in such plants of machinery, and the bearing which the result would
have upon further investments of a similar character.
The taxpayer would naturally be less interested in the question of the continued operation
of a plant already installed than he would be in
the question of the advisability of having expended his funds in its establishment. The results provided by the plant must be weighed
against the capital expense which was involved,
and if those results could be obtained with equal
or less cost by some other means which do not involve the use of the capital provided by the community, then there is no good reason why the ex[ 62 ]




THE FULL COST OF THE PLANT
penditure should have been made, or why a policy of similar expenditures should be continued.
The expense involved in purchasing and installing machinery under municipal conditions is always greater than that of similar operations
under private control, and the Hall of Records
was no exception to this condition. The money
which has thus to be expended upon machinery
by the municipality, is not available, as in the case
of private enterprises, from the usual source of
free capital, but it must be borrowed upon the
credit of the community. That credit is of course,
limited by the law, and in the State of New York
it is restricted to one-tenth of the current assessed value of all property within the municipal
limits.
Another effective limitation is that of the actual credit of the municipality, which is reflected
in the rate of interest, demanded by financial interests and by investors, upon loans made to the
city. Thus the larger the indebtedness of the city
grows the higher the rate of interest required, and
if the money thus expended is fruitlessly invested,
the result is that money required for necessary
I Q8 3




A M UNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


purposes, or for more productive purposes, is not
only more diffiriclt to obtain, but is more costly
when secured.
In addition, all investments in machinery are
short-lived. Complex moving machinery in isolated plants, such as that in the Hall of Records,
does not have a useful existence of more than at
most, twenty-five years. But in order to secure
money at reasonable rates it was found necessary
at the time of the installation of this plant to borrow the funds for the purpose of the construction
of the building and its equipment by the issuance
of bonds having a life of forty years.
The issuance of long-term   bonds of this
character bearing interest at the rate of 31~ per
cent for forty years, involves the eventual payment for each one hundred dollars, of $140 in interest and $47 in sinking fund.
In expending money thus borrowed upon machinery it will be evident that at the time the machinery has become worn out or has to be replaced, the indebtedness will not have been paid,
so that the interest and sinking fund charges will
continue for another period of years, and mean[64]




THE FULL COST OF THE PLANT


time, a second issue of bonds must be made to replace the superannuated machinery.
The borrowing of money for such purposes by
a municipality, always involves the return of the
capital at the end of the stipulated term of the
bond. The only way in which this can be accomplished is to set aside each year, out of the taxes
paid by the taxpayers, a sum which invested at
compound interest will, at the end of the term of
the bond, repay the capital to the lenders. Thus
in the end, the taxpayers pay every dollar of the
expense involved, and in the case of machinery,
they are for a great part of the term of the bond,
paying for something that has passed out of existence.
The process is entirely different from private
investment in the stock of commercial corporations, which is a continuing investment, not involving repayment at any particular date.
In the case of the Hall of Records the large
sum of $5,979,000 was borrowed and expended
upon the construction of the building, by the sale
of corporate stock, the major portion of which
matures in the year 1940. In addition to this,
[65]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


$1,610,000 was borrowed to pay for the land occupied by the building, making the total expenditure nearly seven and a half millions of dollars,
repayable in about thirty-five years.
Of this borrowed money, about $118,532 was
expended on the steam and electric power plant,
at a rate of interest averaging 3.48 per cent. The
annual interest on the plant thus amounted to
$4,125, to which the annual amortization charges
or contribution from the taxes to repay the capital, added approximately $835 a year, making a
total of $4,960.
A large sum of money was expended in providing the space in the sub-basement for housing
the plant of machinery.
This space having a certain practical usefulness in a public building of this character, may be
regarded as a proper expenditure if used for its
particular purposes, but it must be evident that
if it be occupied by machinery, then its use for
practical purposes such as the storage of documents or goods, is rendered impracticable. As
the city is compelled to pay rental for space in a
number of buildings for just such purposes, and
[66 1




'.  k


The County Court House-Tweed's Monument.




0 It.I
11      I
I - -:




THE FULL COST OF THE PLANT


loss which the city incurs by taking away private
property which is paying taxes, and diverting it
to public purposes which do not pay taxes. In
the case of this building it was ascertained that
the land and its improvements brought in to the
city an annual income of $70,830, which of course
ceased when the land was taken over by the city.
Another element which enters into the cost of
the operation of all such municipal buildings and
their equipment, is that of supervision, which is
as necessary under municipal conditions as under
private control, and is always relatively an expensive item. The cost of this duty in the case of
city buildings is not difficult to ascertain. They
are all placed under the direction and charge of
a special bureau, known as the Bureau of Public
Buildings, which is a part of the organization of
the Department of Public Works.
The accounts for these Departments are all
available, and the expenditures which are made
therein upon salaries, office expenses and contingencies, are distributable over all the operations
conducted by the Department.
It was found that these expenditures repre[69]




A M1UN-ICIPAL EXPERIMENT
sented an addition of 6.38 per cent. to the cost of
the upkeep or maintenance of all the public buildings and their equipment, and therefore, that this
percentage should be added to the expense of the
operation of the Hall of Records building and its
machinery.
For the year of the trial it was found the total
operating expense of the entire building, including the machinery, amounted to $60,572, and to
this the expense of supervision added $3,852, of
which six-tenths was required by the supervision
of the machinery.
We now reach the last of the large items of
standing cost in the operation of this public building, which is the somewhat difficult element
known as depreciation. This is a financial provision which is often misunderstood, because the
term is frequently misapplied to the physical failure of a building or of machinery, which is properlv to be described as deterioration and obsolescence. This latter term describes the change
which takes place in the commercial value of a
building or a machine, due to changes in the use
of either, or to the development of other methods
[70]




THE FULL COST OF THE PLANT


of accomplishing the purposes for which the
building or the machinery was erected. The provision for the result of these processes is what is
known as depreciation.
As regards machinery, the circumstances which
may have to be provided for are less readily foreseen and calculable than they may be in the case
of a building. Thus a building may be useful for
fifty to one hundred years, with reasonably extensive changes and alterations, although no one
could say that at the end of a century it would
still be as commercially valuable as it is at the
present time. In the case of a municipal building, for instance, radical changes may take place
in the convenient location of city government, or
even in the character and the methods of that government, which cannot be foreseen.
In so far as its mechanical equipment is concerned, however, past experience indicates that
within a period of less than a quarter of a century all machinery becomes antiquated and wornout in vital parts, and should be removed and
superseded by other and more modern apparatus.
Thus the provision for the loss of this machinery,
[71]




A M U N I C I P A L EXPERIMENT
as well as some eventual decline in the usefulness
of the building, should properly be made in any
thorough study of the financial expenses involved
in their construction and maintenance. This is
the process known as depreciation, which is a
financial system of providing in advance for loss
of the value upon which the capital has been
expended.
The subject is further misunderstood by those
who represent that inasmuch as the original capital invested by a municipality in the form of borrowed money upon the building or plant, is to be
repaid out of the taxes at the end of the term of
the bonds, that the property then belongs entirely
to the taxpayer, and has been paid for in full out
of his pocket, and, therefore, no necessity exists
for the establishment of a depreciation fund,
which at that time or any other time shall be accumulated so as to replace the machinery or building, which has then been paid for.
This view is mistaken, because just as in the
case of a privately-owned property provision for
a depreciation fund is entirely necessary, the only
difference between the two financial processes is,
[ 72 ]




T Hl FULL COST OF THE P LANT


that the commercial or private investor has paid
out the money for his building or his plant in cash
at the time of the construction, while the taxpayer
has borrowed the money and repaid it in annual
contributions. At the end of a certain term the
building and the machinery become useless and
the private investor and the taxpayer finds that he
has spent his money for something which represents now a decreased value. Where will the
money come from that shall replace the building
or the machinery?
Unless a fund has been accumulated out of the
earnings of the building or the plant, or out of
suitable contributions by the owner for the purpose, then another new borrowing has to be made
to replace the building or its plant.
Thus the proper and careful consideration of
the circumstances of the plant in this building as
in all others, include a charge for depreciation.
There was no division of opinion between the
engineers engaged in the test, upon this general
subject. The proper rate to be applied was
studied very carefully, and varying rates were
applied to the machinery, having regard to the
[73]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
probable useful life of the various parts of the
plant. In this way they arrived at rates which
total $7,407, as representing the depreciation of
the steam generating plant and machinery.
The foregoing considerations thus afforded the
means of summarizing the total yearly cost of
operating the Hall of Records building, which aggregated $521,000.
The ascertainment of these several features of
expense now rendered it possible to proceed to
the consideration of the total cost involved in the
operation of the machinery as separated from the
general operation of the building. The determination of the exact amounts expended on the
plant during the year of the trial, was a sum of
$39,311. This represented what is known as the
operating costs of the machinery plant, and covered only the payments made for fuel, supplies,
repairs, and labor in the engine and fire rooms.
There were a number of items to be added to
this operating expense, in order to afford a complete statement of the total expenditures, in which
the city was involved in installing and operating
this plant.
[74 ]




THE FULL COST OF THE PLANT


Thus, the annual payments of interest were......  $4,960
The depreciation upon the plant, added........  7,407
The expense of the floor space was.............  7,828
The supervising expense was.................  2,520
And the operating disbursements, with some small
items of unapportioned supplies...........  89,514
Making a total of.................... $62,229
This was the full expenditure of the taxpayers
upon the operation of this plant for the year 1918.
For this sum of money the results secured are the
following services and their cost:
1. The heating during the winter season of the
four buildings, including the heating of warm
water supplied for sanitary purposes...... $16,786
2. The generation of electric energy for lighting
the buildings as follows:
The Hall of Records..................  12,480
The County Court House..............   5,802
The City Hall.......................   2,955
The City Court Building...............  1,875
The operation of the ventilating fans in the
Hall of Records and sundry small power
purposes..........................   1,270
The operation of the storage battery....  1,004
The lighting of the machinery spaces and
boiler room, and the operation of fans
for ventilating those spaces..........  5,008
8. The operation of the elevators in the Hall of
Records and the City Court Building.......  10,238
4. The pumping of a supply of city water to the
several buildings for sanitary purposes....  1,980
[75]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


5. The cooling of drinking water for use in the
Hall of Records........................  2,799
6. The pumping to the sewer of the drainage from
sanitary fixtures in the sub-basement of Hall
of Records..........................  1,214
The costs thus ascertained represented the
value of the net services secured by the operation
of the plant. Those items which were merely contributory to the operation of the plant itself, are
not useful products of the machinery. All that
was obtained for the total sum expended was, in
brief, the heating, the lighting of the several
buildings, the partial ventilation of one building,
the elevator service of two buildings, the provision
of hot and cold water service for all buildings, and
the cooling of the drinking water in one building.
In considering the division of expenses among
these services, it will be evident that unless a fair
distribution be arrived at, the cost of one may be
unduly enhanced, while the cost of others is reduced.
It would be unproductive of a common-sense
result to assume, for instance, that the electricity
produced was without any cost, on account of
part of its steam having been used in the heating
[76]




The costs of the services divided between the several buildings were as follows:


Building
' Hall of Records.....
Y   County Court.......
City  Hall...........
Municipal Court....


Electric  Lighting
eating and  Electric  Power and  and   Elevator   Water   Drinking  Pumping
Warm     Lighting  Storage  Ventilating Operation  Supply  Water  Sewage
Water              Battery  Machinery
$10,042.10 $12,480.00 $2200.00 $2,275.00 $8,190.66  $900.15 $2,798.98 $1,214.83
8,816.40  5,802.00......  1,550.00......   613.14............
1,874.18  2,955.00......   765.00......   808.50............
1,004.14  1,878.43......   410.00  2,047.66   168.54............


r    $4
1


Totals   n
0
W0,051.21  W
11,281.54
5,897.68  I
4,998.77


$16,786.82 $22,060.48 $2,200.00 $5,000.00 $10,288.82 $1,980.88 $2,798.98 $1,214.87  $62,229.20  M
t"
to
^



A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
of the building. The result of such an assumption
would be to throw the burden of cost upon the
process of heating to such an extent as to make
it more expensive than it would have been if conducted by steam purchased from the Steam Company. Inversely, if it were assumed that the heating of the building cost nothing on account of its
having been accomplished in great part by exhausted steam, then the effect would be to cast
the burden of the greater part of the expenditures
upon the production of electricity, or other services.
The test, however, established the relative
quantities which were used for each service, of the
fuel, the supplies, the repairs and the fire-room
labor, so that the distribution of these expenses is
readily made.
The test decided that the steam was used in
the following proportions:
Per Cent
Heating............................  40.57
Electricity..........................   39.82
Elevators...........................  12.05
Water  Pumping.....................  8.8
Cooling Water.....................  2.85
Sewage  Pumping.....................  0.91
[78]




THE FULL COST OF THE PLANT


This disposed of the expenses of the production
of steam, and left only the engine-room labor,
supplies and repairs. In great part these items
were distributed by the daily labor time sheets,
and with small exceptions the department
charged the cost of supplies and repairs to each
service.
Thus, one-half of these items were decided in
the following proportions, and the remainder,
which was chiefly composed of the salary of the
chief engineer and his three assistants, could be
fairly apportioned in the same relation.
Per Cent
Heating............................  30
Electricity.......................... 48.6
Elevators...........................  16.3
Water Pumping......................  3.6
Cooling  Water.......................  4.4
Sewage  Pumping.....................  2.1
The expense of space, and the interest and depreciation charges could be readily dealt with by
separating those relating to the steam plant from
those of the machinery.
These fixed expenses connected with the steam
plant are divided in proportion to the use of steam
by each service.




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


Those relating to the machinery are directly
proportioned to their size or the space occupied,
their original cost, and their probable term of
useful existence.
The total cost demonstrates that the production of steam and the generation of electricity and
the other operations were conducted at an expense considerably in excess of what might be accomplished by other methods, combined with the
purchase of electricity, even with the maintenance
of the present fixed charges.
In point of fact, by the city having gone into
the expense of installing this plant for these purposes, the operation was conducted at a loss,
amounting during the year of trial to fully $30,000.
The result of the investigation of the expenses,
whatever be the division of the cost to one or other
of the services it supplied, could lead to no other
general conclusion than that the investment of the
city in this plant was a financial mistake, and that
the policy of the establishment of such plants in
municipal buildings is not justifiable from any
financial standpoint.
[ 80]




Distributon of the total expense of installing and operating the power plant in the Hall of Records. Year of 1913.
iHouse heat  Electric light  Elevator  Water    Cooling the  Pumping
Services provded by the plant  and hot Water  and power  operation   pumping   drinking water  out sewage Totals       Summa
Per cent of steam used        40.57       39.82       12.05       3.80        2.85        0.91         100.
Coal        $6,203.59   $6,091.00   $1,822.00     $581.21    $459.58     $139.20    $15,296.58
Ash removal       495.00     485.80       147.00      46.36       34.72       11.10      1,219.98    prpentn of
Cost of                                                                                                             production pt
Gas            102.25      100.30       30.36       9.68        7.42        2.29       252.30        steam
the          Boiler repairs                                                    228,022.98
production     rad supp378.10                 370.80      111.60       35.30       27.99        8.46      932.25      Per.000
of          Fire room labor  3,505.65    3,438.00    1,041.10     328.30      249.60       78.60     8,641.25      produced.,
steam        Production cost  10,684.59  10,485.90    3,152.06    1,000.85      779.31     239.65     26,342.36. cents
Supervision      681.00      669.00      201.00       60.32       54.00       15.30     1,680.62
Labor as
apportioned      415.60     2,309.75    1,040.02     147.67      193.08      109.15     4,215.28
Remainder                                                                                            Expeae  o{
Cost of       on ame basi       639.09     3,557.52    1,600.50     226.10      298.00      159.54     6,480.66      Epense
operatlng
operating      as apportioned    35.62       786.56      606.14       50.94      417.76       31.78     2,288.80      machinery.  O
the             oRemander          31.60      63.20       49.10        4.15       33.48        4.95       186.48      $14,011.22
on same basis                                                                                          Adds per
Cm nlachines          ancos         1,481.83    6,717.03    3,295.76     428.86      942.32      30542      13,171.22    i.ooo lbs. oC
Supervision                       94.40      427.50      210.50       27.30       61.30       19.00       840.00      steam.
17.3 centS
Total operating expenses     12,941.82   18,299.43    6,859.32    1,517.33    1,836.93      579.37    42,034.20
Cboilr space,    1,495.00   1,466.00     422.00       140.00      104.00       57.00     3,684.00       FIxo
Fixed           achinp'....    2,636.00    1,196.00....       156.00     156.00      4,144.00      Charge
or           boiler plant     962.00      943.00      285.00       90.00       68.00       27.00     2,375.00     boiler pat,
Overhead         nterest o....              1,773.00     420.00       42.00      210.00      140.00      2,585.00    on machines,
$10,835.00.
Expenses        n boiler plant  1,338.00    1,313.00     396.00      125.00       94.00       35.00     3,301.00      Adds 50%
Depreciatia                                                                                              to
onaDeecinsn                 2,830.00     660.00       66.00      330.00      220.00     4,106.00      operating
expense
Total fixed charges        3,795.00    10,961.00   3,379.00      463.00      962.00      635.00    20,195.00
Total annual expense.       16,736.82   29,260.43   10,238.32    1,980.33   2,798.93    1,214.37    62,229.20
Per 1,000 Ibs.  Per k.w. hr.  Per car mile  Per water  lee       cu.tt.
h.. r                                          Saying by purUnit        Quantity produced  50.4 cents  4.25 cents  62 cents  10.4 cents  33 cents    $15.60                   chased electritti
an           to brebougltrd  62 cents  5 cents.......................    $47,406.20    $14,823.20
\Talue        pubice o      40.4 cents  1.92 cents   18 cents    7 cents     17 cents      $9.40




CHAPTER VI.


THE COST OF PERSONAL SERVICE.
NASMUCH as the city had already made the
investment involved in the installation of this
plant, and the fixed expenses in connection with
the capital could not be brought to an end even
if the plant should be put out of service or removed, the next question of interest is what economy might be found in the partial or complete
substitution for the operation of the machinery of
purchased supplies of steam or electric energy.
Naturally, in connection with such a consideration, the largest element which would affect the
results would be that of labor. This would be
true to a great extent in any commercial plant,
but it is particularly prominent in the case of
municipal operations.
The cost of labor in this, as in other municipal
plants of machinery, is relatively high. It was by
far the largest single item of expense, being fifty
per cent. of all the operating disbursements. In
[82]




THE COST OF PERSONAL SERVICE
well managed private plants of a similar character the expense of the labor employed about the
plant has been generally found to be about equal
to the cost of fuel, prior to advances in price more
recent than this test.
In some plants under private management of
the size of that in the Hall of Records, labor
would in the past have cost considerably less than
fuel, but under municipal management it is always the case that the cost of labor has exceeded
that of fuel, sometimes very largely.
Upon the prices of coal which prevailed until
quite recently, the labor in city buildings will be
found frequently to cost twice as much as the
fuel. In point of fact, in the Hall of Records,
prior to the investigation which resulted in the
test the labor cost $28,000 a year, as against the
fuel cost of nearly $14,000.
During the period of the trial, when every
effort was made to economize, both in labor and
in fuel, the former was reduced to $19,100 as
against a fuel expense of $15,296.
The comparison may be more clearly understood by relating the cost of the labor employed
[88 ]




A  U NI C I P A L EXPERIMENT


in the fire-room in handling the fuel, to the weight
of the fuel. In this building the cost of fire-room
labor was $1.67 per ton of fuel handled. The
average cost under private operations in well
managed plants, varies front 55 cents to 85 cents,
upon the same character of fuel and in the same
locality as the Hall of Records.
It will, of course, be observed that the rate of
pay of firemen under municipal operations, is
much higher than that paid in private service. In
the latter the average wages paid to firemen per
diem vary from $2.15 to $2.50 for a day of ten or
twelve hours, while in lmunicipal service the firemen receive $3 a day for eight hours' labor. But
even so, the amount of work accomplished by the
firemen is much less than would be expected in
the case of private operations.
During the conditions prevailing prior to the
trial, it was observed that the firemen in this plant
handled an average of only two tons of coal per
day per man. As an illustration of the amount
that mav be handled by a less amount of labor under private management, one building may be
mentioned in which the average amount handled
[84 ]




THE COST OF PERSONAL SERVICE


per diem per man is three tons, and during short
periods of very cold weather, it has not been uncommon to observe as much as a ton and even a
ton and a half an hour, being handled by a single
fireman, aided by a coal-passer, or helper.
The relation which the labor bears to the
amount of fuel handled, of course, varies with the
seasonal demands for the production of steam,
and thus in summer time when the amount of fuel
consumed is very greatly reduced, the same force
of labor is, under municipal conditions, usually
maintained, and the relative cost in the Hall of
Records rose to no less than $2.40 per ton handled, nearly doubling the cost of the fuel.
A similar condition of expensive proportion of
labor during the summer season is to be found in
nearly all private power plants operating under
conditions such as the service of office, business
and mercantile buildings. The demand for electric light and for steam for heating purposes, of
course, is greatly reduced, and yet the plant must
be kept in operation, and the services of valuable
men may have to be maintained, in order to insure
their employment in the winter season. It fol[85]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


lows, therefore, that labor is often most uneconomically employed under such circumstances
during one-half of the year.
In comparing the cost of steam production by
private installations with the cost of the supply
of the New York Steam Company, it is, therefore, necessary to look into the conditions in the
fire-room during the entire year, and in day and
night operations.
The circumstances are less advantageous to the
operation of a private plant under municipal
management, on account of the legal restrictions
upon the hours of labor. It was necessary in the
Hall of Records, as in other municipal buildings,
not only to employ three sets of firemen to
complete the twenty-four hour service, but to
maintain a licensed fireman on duty at night
in the plant, whether there were any boilers
in actual service or not. It thus came about in
the Hall of Records, that during the summer
nights, when the boilers were standing with
banked fires, and rendering no service whatever,
a gang of licensed firemen were maintained on
duty. The same conditions apply to the labor
[86]




THE COST OF PERSONAL SERVICE
employed on and about the machinery. These
men are paid higher wages than are obtainable
in private service, the assistant engineers receiving four dollars and fifty cents a day, and even
oilers, an unskilled form of labor, receiving three
dollars per diem.
All of these men work only for eight hours, and
in their case also a licensed engineer is required
to be on duty in any engine-room where highpressure machinery is installed, whether the machinery is in operation or not.
During the summer season, with the employment of the storage battery in this plant, it was
not necessary to keep any of the machinery in
operation at night, yet a full staff, composing an
engine and fire-room watch, was on duty every
night.
It may well be imagined that organizations interested in labor conditions for the benefit of the
skilled workmen, are actively interested in the
continuance of the operation of such plants, as
affording the means of employment to a number
of their members. The effect of any economical
changes are keenly scanned by those thus inter[87 1




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


ested, with a view to opposing any reduction of
the labor which may be employed.
The staff had been reduced to fifteen men, and
under ordinary circumstances wollld probably
have included a greater number. Some complaint was made during the trial by the representatives of labor, that the number had been too
much reduced in the effort to secure economy during the period of the trial.
Advocates of the maintenance of such plants,
both in municipal and private operation, usually
hinge their arguments for the continuance of the
use of such machinery upon the necessity for the
continued employment of labor, even if the operation of some part of the apparatus be dispensed with, by the purchase of steam or electricity, or refrigeration, or water, from other
sources. Thus in the case of the Hall of Records
the question as to the amount of labor that would
necessarily have to be retained in employment
upon the disuse of the electrical generating engines, or of the steam-generating boilers, became
the subject of considerable discussion and of
some divergence of views between those regard[88 ]




1.


I


wB~imU.  -


16.-       t.1..


II


" c   ",         L   -.


The City Hall of the City of New York.








THE COST OF PERSONAL SERVICE


ing the matter from a practical or commercial
standpoint, and those viewing it from a departmental point, or from their interest in the operation of isolated plants..The item of labor in the department was, therefore, that upon which the main contention
centered.
Only part of this labor was charged daily in the
Department accounts to the separate services,
leaving about one-third undistributed.
The effect on unit prices, of leaving this undistributed expense out of consideration, would be
as follows:
Per Cent
Service           of Total    Unit Cost Affected
Cost
Heating. $639       4      2 cents per 1000 lbs.
Electricity  3557   12      5/10 of a cent per k.w.hr.
Elevators. 1600    15      9 cents per car mile
Water...   226     11      6 cents per 1000 cu. ft.
Cooling..  298     10.7    31/2 cents per 100 lbs. ice
Sewage..   159     13      $2.00 per 1000 cu. ft.
And it still leaves tie operating cost only of
electricity, exclusive of any fixed charges and
space, at 2 cents per k.w. hr.
The minimum reduction which was proposed
by those whose view it was that the operation of
[89]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
the plant should be maintained, provided that
upon the discontinuance of the electrical generating apparatus, the services of two oilers could
be dispensed with, and the fire-room staff reduced
to three men for the two hundred and fifteen days
of the summer season. This made a total reduction in expenses of $4,125, out of $19,102, or
about 20 per cent.
A closer investigation of the actual work of
these men, as recorded in the labor sheets, indicated that a much larger reduction could be made.
and that with the electrical engines out of operation, it would be quite possible to so reduce the
hours of day and night labor as to operate the
staff with a complement of eight men in the winter service and five men in the summer service,
which would have had the effect of reducing the
labor cost by $8,760 per annum, a reduction of
more than 45 per cent.
This was largely due to the unquestioned fact
that the amount of fuel required to be handled
would be greatly reduced, and that there would
no longer be the least excuse for the maintenance
of the operation of machinery at night during all
[90]




THE COST OF PERSONAL SERVICE


times in the year, and that during the summer
season, by utilizing electricity for the elevators
and house pump services, there would be no reason for operating steam boilers at all.
By the purchase of both steam service and electrical service, the labor conditions could be still
further modified, and it was suggested that if this
course were followed the force could be reduced
to four engineers. These views were, however,
resisted very strenuously by the representatives
of the Department, who were admittedly affected
in their views by the influence of labor organization representatives, who were constantly on hand
during the trial, and kept themselves familiar
with the conditions obtaining there, and were
careful to let their views be known to the officials.
The question was practically solved by the proposal of the New York Service Company, an organization which is engaged in maintaining a
number of steam-power and heating plants in
this city, who upon a careful investigation, offered to undertake the operation of the steam and
pumping plant, in combination with a purchased
supply of electricity, for figures which were sub[ 1]




A MUNICIPAL EXPER I          ENT
stantially less than those disclosed by the test for
any given amount of steam which might be found
to be required under the changed conditions. This
offer included the employment of labor of the city
employes to the necessary extent, upon the same
rates of wages and the same hours of labor as
under direct municipal management.
The entire expense of the operation of the plant
for the year of trial was $62,229, inclusive of all
elements, and the offer of the New York Service
Company, together with the cost of electric energy as disclosed by the trial, in the quantity
necessary to maintain all the services of equal extent, amounted to a total of $50,533. This was
upon an estimated amount of steam which the
representatives of the New York Edison Company considered would amply supply the equivalent of the services developed during the year
1913.
An alternative offer was made upon another
estimate of steam requirements, made by representatives of the Bureaul of Municipal Research,
the total cost being $51,640.,A third offer was made, based ulpol) the value
[92




THE COST OF PERSONAL SERVICE
of liberal estimates of requirements for steam
made by the representatives of the City Department, at a price of $53,326.
It will be observed that all these proposals
were substantially less than the total cost of operation of the plant during the period of the trial.
Accountants who made an independent investigation of the figures determined by the test, also
demonstrated that if new buildings of the same
character, and with the same requirements, had
been constructed, and no power plant had been
installed, the steam plant could have been operated for the heating of the building, and electric
energy could have been purchased for exactly
equivalent services, at a total annual cost of from
$43,400 to $46,200. These figures confirm the
general conclusion that the installation of this
plant and its operation, even under the most careful and economical municipal management, involved the city in a continuing loss of the difference between its existing total expense and that
which would have obtained if no such power plant
had been installed.


[ 93]




CHAPTER VII.


THE COST OF PRODUCING STEAM.
T     HE production of steam under pressure is
the process which underlies all the operations of such power plants as that in the Hall of
Records building. It involves the employment of
skilled labor in the firing of coal, the purchase,
storage and handling of the fuel, the removal of
ashes and clinker formed in the process of colbustion, the supply and heating of the water
which is to be evaporated into steam, and finally,
the lighting and ventilating of the space occupied
by the firing staff. There are in addition to the
foregoing, expenses in the upkeep of the boilers,
the repair of worn or broken parts, the renewal at
regular intervals of various parts of the furnaces,
especially of the grates, and the inspection and
cleaning of the exterior and interior of the boilers,
much of which work must be done by skilled mechanics, whose services are an addition to the expense of the firing labor.
[ 94 ]




THE COST OF PRODUCING STEAM
In the Hall of Records the combustion of the
fuel also involved the operation of a forced draft
blowing fan, operated by a steam-driven engine,
the expense of operating which naturally became
a charge upon the cost of the steam which was
produced.
During the trial a special effort was made by
the Bureau of Public Buildings to secure an efficient operation of this part of the plant, with
fairly good results in the effective combustion of
the fuel. This fuel varied in character during the
test. For the first five months, a mixture of bituminous or "soft" coal and anthracite or "hard"
coal, was utilized at an average cost of $2.86 per
ton of 2,000 pounds. The use of this mixture,
even with the most careful methods of control of
the air supply, resulted so frequently in the emission of volumes of black smoke from the chimney,
that the attention of the public press was
drawn to it and some articles appeared in the
papers, reflecting upon the Department in charge
of the building, as being violators of the regulations of the Department of Health in this respect.
As a result of this situation the Bureau of Pub[ 95]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
lie Buildings abandoned the use of the soft and
hard coal mixture, and for the seven succeeding
months used anthracite fuel of the size and quality known in trade as No. 1 Buckwheat, the average price of which was $3.30 per ton.
Throughout the entire period of the test the
average cost of fuel thus became $2.95 per ton,
and the total amount which was burned was 5,166
tons, by means of the combustion of which a total
of 81,653,979 pounds weight of water was
evaporated into steam.
The relation of the fuel to the product was of
a fairly satisfactory character, being 7.9 pounds
of water evaporated per pound of fuel burned.
This result was partly secured by a method employed by the Bureau, which stimulated the interest of the firemen in aiding the demonstration
of efficient operation of the plant. A large blackboard was hung in the fire-room, upon which was
written at intervals the result of the work of the
firemen during each watch. This induced the
men to effect the best results during the period
of their watch.
A part of the observations of the trial extended
[96]




THE COST OF PRODUCING STEAM


to the analysis of the gases discharged from the
boiler furnace to the chimney. A very elaborate
apparatus was provided for this purpose, and
careful note was taken of the efficiency of the
combined process of burning the fuel and transmitting its heat to the water.
The average result during the entire period of
the test was an efficiency of 69 7/10 per cent.
This may be regarded as a good result under commercial conditions.
As has already been mentioned, the effort made
by the Department towards efficient operation of
this plant resulted in a reduction of the labor
which had been previously employed in the fireroom; the number of men being reduced from
eleven to eight. This very plainly indicated the
extravagant extent of the employment of labor
under normal municipal operating conditions,
the reduction of the number to those who were
found to be sufficient for the work done during
the trial, being 37 per cent.
Even under these conditions the cost of labor in
relation to the fuel handled was excessive in comparison with equivalent conditions under private
[97]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


management, due in great part to the municipal
system of eight-hour service, involving three
watches of the firemen per twenty-four hours.
The result of this arrangement was a total cost
for labor per ton of fuel handled of $1.67, or an
addition to the average value of the fuel of more
than 50 per cent.
The employment of an ample staff of firemen
upon a three-watch basis, results in much irregularity in the extent of actual labor exerted by the
men. The total number employed is naturally
that which will be required to handle the maximum amount of fuel expected to be consumed at
some particular time. The result is that these
men have very little to do at times of minimum
demand for steam. The observations during this
prolonged test showed that a maximum condition
existed only during one week of the year, the
eighth of the test, the period being that of the
very coldest weather. At this time and under
these conditions, the fuel required to be handled
was very easily within the capacity of the men
who were employed.
It happened that shortly after the conclusion
[98]




THE COST OF PRODUCING STEAM


of the trial a very unusual combination of extremely cold weather with a strong wind arose on
the 14th of January, 1914, bringing about a demand for the consumption of fuel which was most
unusual in extent. Observations on that day in
the Hall of Records showed a consumption of 35
tons of fuel, which was more than double that
which was consumed during the day of greatest
demand during the period of the test. This unusual quantity, however, was handled without
difficulty by the same staff that had been employed during the trial.
It will be evident from these observations that
the cost of the same labor when employed upon
the combustion of the much lessened amount of
fuel in summer time would very greatly enhance
the cost of steam production during that period,
and it was found that the cost of labor per ton of
fuel consumed during the summer rose to $2.40,
practically doubling the cost of the fuel.
Under such circumstances, which will be found
to be existing to some extent in all plants in business buildings, it becomes a question whether the
cost of the steam in such reduced quantity is not
[99]
t




A MUN ICIPAL EXPERIM IENT


in excess of that at which it could be purchased
from a public supply, even at a relatively high
price or rate. So pronounced is the cost of the
production of the small amount of steam often
required in small buildings, that it even becomes
probable that the use of gas at prevailing prices
may be a source of economy. In particular, during many hours of summer night service in the
Hall of Records no steam at all was raised, and
the watch of firemen employed during that time
were performing no productive service.
One of the special objects of this trial was the
comparison of the cost of the production of steam
with that of a supply purchased from the service
of the New York Steam Company, the supply
provided by which Company would have avoided
the entire expense of labor and fuel, and would
also have rendered unnecessary the use of the
steam blower, the feed-pumps, return-pumps,
blow-off or drip-pumps, the feed-heater, and the
use of the electric ventilating fans and the gas
and electricity for lighting the fire-room. It
would also have rendered unnecessary the cost of
the removal of ashes and the use of city water.
[ 100]




THE COST OF PRODUCING STEAM
Further, had this service been adopted prior to
the installation of the boilers and their appurtenances, it would have saved the entire investment
in boilers, the cost of which was approximately
$32,850, and the fixed charges on which amount
to $3,056 Der annum.
Further, the amount of steam thus required to
be purchased would always have been less than
that which was required to be produced in the
boilers, because no steam would then have been
required to operate the auxiliary pumps, which
alone consumed 10 7/10 per cent. of all the steam
which was generated during the trial. It would
thus have come about that the amount of steam
required to be purchased would only have been
87 per cent. of that which was necessarily produced in the plant. It would have been quite possible to utilize the New York Steam Company's
supply to continue the operation of electric and
hydraulic engines and pumps, or it could have
been purchased for the purpose of the heating of
the buildings if those engines and pumps should
be discontinued.
It would also have been possible to arrange for
[101 ]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
the supply of this steam during the summer season, continuing the operation of the steam boilers
during the winter or heating season. This arrangement, however, presented the difficulty of
dispensing with the firemen's labor during the
summner season, and their re-engagement for the
winter season. This is a process which can be,
and frequently is done in private operations, as
many of the firemen find employment during the
sulmmer season on steamboats, and at its conclusion are available for employment in the buildings and power plants. But municipal employees
cannot so readily be discharged and re-engaged.
It nust be noted that the price at which the
New York Steam Company would sell steam to
the city, which at the time of the trial would have
been about 42c per 1,000 pounds weight of water
in the form of steam, would be accompanied by an
advantage to the city of the payment by the Conipany for the water which is thus used and turned
into steam. The New York Steam Company has
been paying for water used in this manner for
many years about $40,000 annually, at the regular price of $1 for each 1,000 cubic feet of water.
[ 102]




THE COST OF PRODUCING STEAM


Thus in purchasing its steam supply from the
New York Steam Company, the city would be
securing an additional revenue from that Company by payment for the water used for its
supply.
It may be noted that the Steam Company naturally uses more water per 1,000 pounds of steam
sold than the actual weight of the amount thus
delivered, since it has various losses by condensation in its plant and piping, which have to be provided by water purchased from the city. But
even taking the net amount in question, it will be
found that the city gains 4 per cent. upon the cost
of the steam by this return in the form of payment
for water.
The expense of the operation of steam production involved that of the removal of ashes from
this plant, the process proving during the period
of the trial to be one in which the element of humor
was somewhat conspicuous. It was alleged by the
Bureau in charge of the operations that the disposal of these ashes could be effected without any
expense to the city, and that in point of fact,
they might even be made a source of profit by
[ 10 ]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
being sold for building purposes, and that in any
case they would be removed by wagons hired and
utilized by the Department of Public Works at
less expense to the city than by the usual means
of the wagons of the Department of Street Cleaning.
The latter was the method of their removal
prior to the trial. That Department conducts
this operation for all city departments, as well as
for the general public, at a cost which averages
74 cents a wagon load, or about 5 cents per 100
pounds weight. The quantities have become so
large and the expense so heavy, that the Department has of late years refused to undertake the removal of the ashes from large steam plants, and
has required their owners to make arrangements
with private contractors for the purpose.
The prevailing price paid for this work is the
same figure, 5 cents per 100 pounds.
For the purpose of economical utilization of
the ashes the Department of Public Works hired
from a contractor a team and driver at a cost of
$3.50 per diem, and started a process of removal
of the ashes which they claimed were worth at
[104




THE COST OF PRODUCING STEAM
least $5 a day for filling-in purposes of the Bureau of Highways.
A little observation of the circumstances that
followed readily indicated that the ashes were being disposed of in a very different manner, and
without informing the officials or the teamster in
charge, the movements of the latter were followed
by observers, whose reports became most amusing in their disclosure of the methods that were
followed. These observations showed that approximately one-third of all the loads of ashes
were taken directly to the scows of the Department of Street Cleaning and were thus disposed
of at public expense, that approximately another
third were dumped on vacant city properties under conditions adverse to their appearance, if not
to the public health, and only about one-fourth
was usefully utilized in some municipal building
operations then in progress.
No. of Loads or
Portions of Loads Per
Destination of Ashes    Carted Away Cent
Used at the New Municipal Building  21    25.8
Strewn under Manhattan Bridge.....  17   20.5
Strewn at rear of Children's Court
Building.......................  10    12.1
[ 105 ]




A MU I C I P A EXPERIME N T


Scattered  in  Street................  9      10.8
Carried to the East River Ash Dump
of the Dept. of Street Cleaning...   26      31.3
83     100.0
The methods under which the removal was
effected by the municipal employees were illustrated by the following observations, being one
of a number made from time to time over a period
of seven months of the trial.
May 6, 1913
"We reported at Reade street side of Hall of Records at
7:50 a.m. on the 5th instant, and found single cart marked
'Bureau of Highways, Manhattan, No. 80,' loaded with
ashes; left at 8:02 a.m., went to Clinton street dump, arriving at 8:23 a.m., dumped same on scow; came out at
8:33 a.m., went to Kelly & Lowery saloon, 259 South
street, where driver entered at 8:40 a.m.. came out at 8:45
a.m.; driver entered saloon, 51 New Chambers street at 8:55
a.m., out 8:58 a.m.; returned to Hall of Records at 9:05 a.mn.;
left at 9:40 a.m., went to Clinton street dump at 10:03 a.m.;
came out at 10:11 a.m., went into saloon 259 South street
10:20 a.m.; came out at 10:24 a.m.; went into harness store,
68 New Chambers street, at 10:28 a.m., out at 10:30 a.m.;
returned to Hall of Records 10:35 a.m., left at 11:00 a.m.
and met another driver; they both entered saloon 199
South street at 11:19 a.m., out at 11:24 a.m., Clinton Street
dump at 11:28 a.m.; came out at 11:40 a.m., drove to pier
85 East River, where he stopped and fed horse at 11:45
a.m.; left at 12:40 p.m., returned to Hall of Records at
1 p.m.; left at 2:03 p.m., went into saloon, 51 New Chambers
street, at 2:14 p.m.; came out at 2:17 p.m.; Clinton street
dump at 2:35 p.m.; came out at 2:42 p.m.; left cart in
[ 106]




II


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C 1118.LS "4-'5. ""~, 4,.
 b *i$6
 i,
 `-
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Ash Disposal by Municipal Methods.




II...
0
at




THE COST OF PRODUCING STEAM


front of dump and rushed the can with driver of cart
marked 'Dept. of Ferries, No. 12'; left at 3:20 p.m., went
into saloon 259 South street 3:30 p.m.; out at 3:86 p.m.;
went into saloon 59 Stanton street at 3:54 p.m., out at 8:59
p.m.; went into saloon 598 Second avenue at 4:40 p.m.
with another man, came out at 5:00 p.m. and went to stable
at 820 East 85th street, arriving at 5:10 p.m."
These investigations were finally brought to the
attention of the Department and led the Department to admit that the cost of the removal of
ashes had been found to be as much as would have
been the case had they been removed by the Department of Street Cleaning at the regular rate
of cost.
The cost of removal during the year of trial
was found to have been $1,219.98, or about
23 6/10 cents per ton of coal.
This may be compared with the average cost of
the removal of ashes in similar power plants under
private management, which would be 14 to 17
cents per ton of coal.
The average proportion of the weight of ashes,
which was ascertained during the year of trial,
was 18 4/10 per cent. of the fuel, which indicates
a fair quality of coal. The cost of removal by
the methods employed was, therefore, about 40
[107]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


per cent. in excess of the commercial cost.
The removal of these ashes, which amounted to
a total of 949 tons during the year, involved in
this building, as in many others, the use of an hydraulic elevator. In the Hall of Records the floor
of the boiler-room is twenty-five feet below the
level of the street, and an hydraulic plunger elevator is provided for the purpose of lifting ashes
up to the sidewalk and returning the empty cans
to the boiler room. A record of the operation of
this ash elevator was made during the year of
trial, and it was found that it ran a total distance
of 1881/2 miles. Its operation formed a part of the
work of the elevator power plant, and its cost
could thus be reasonably ascertained, the value
of the steam used for its operation being $41, and
the share of the total expense of elevator operation about $117, or 21/4 cents per ton of coal used
in the plant.
In order to ascertain the full cost of the removal of the ashes, there should also be considered the cost of the laborers' time in handling the
cans and loading the ashes in the wagon. About
one-half of the time of a laborer in the fire-room
[ 108




THE COST OF PRODUCING STEAM


was thus occupied, at an expense for the year of
the trial of $460.
These figures thus afforded a total cost of
$1,797 as the expense of getting rid of the ashes
from the fire-room, or per ton weight of ashes,
$1.89, or per ton weight of fuel burned, 84 8/10
cents.
A minor element of expense in this as in other
plants is the use of gas in the boiler room, and in
the rooms containing the pumping and auxiliary
machinery, as a supplementary supply of light in
case of the failure of the electric service. The
maintenance of light under every possible contingency in a generating plant where high-pressure
steam is employed, is of vital importance. In this
plant it was found that the consumption of gas
during the year amounted to 341,200 cubic feet
at a net cost to the city of $252.30.
With the foregoing information in hand, it became possible to determine the total cost of the
production of steam by the fuel and labor thus
employed, and to compare the results with the
purchasable price of an equal supply.
The cost of production was as follows, during
[ 109




A U N C I CPA L EXPERIM ENT


the test period of the year 1913:
Fuel...................................  $15,296.58
Labor in  the fire-room.....................  8,641.25
Removal of ashes.........................  1,219.98
G as....................................  252.80
Supplies, repair work, and the repair of the
boiler and auxiliary apparatus, by Department records, was......................  982.25
Supervision..............................  1,680.62
Total.............................  $28,022.98
Representing an expense per 1000 pounds of
water evaporated into steam, of 84 cents.
In addition, had no boiler plant been originally
installed there would have been saved the annual
expense for interest and depreciation upon the
investment in these boilers, amounting to approximately $5,676; and the space that they occupied could have been realized for other purposes,
at a rental value of $3,684.00, a total of $37,882.98.
Turning now to the cost of equivalent service
from the public supply, it would be found that,
owing to the lessened demand for steam by reason of the elimination of the auxiliary machinery,
it would only have been necessary to buy from
the New York Steam      Company a total of 70,972,879 pounds weight of steam.
[110]




THE COST OF PRODUCING STEAM


This at the price of 42 cents per 1000 pounds,
would have cost........................ $29,808.00
This supply would have brought back to the city
in the form of payment for the water used
by the Steam Company, a sum of..........  1,120.00
The net expense for this steam, therefore,
would have been........................ 28,688.00
To which should be added the cost of supervision
at the same rate as that required in connection
with the plant, or......................  1,824.00
The total cost of this purchased steam supply,
therefore, would have been..............  30,512.00
Against this the cost to the city of its own
plant's operation with supervision, interest, depreciation, and the rental value or annual expense of the space occupied by the boiler plant
was $37,383.00, representing an annual loss of
$6,871.00.
This makes it perfectly evident, therefore, that
the City's investment in this boiler plant has no
commercial value, since it effects nothing that
could not have been equally well done at the
same, or less cost, by the purchase of the supply
without the necessity of the investment of the taxpayers' capital. Moreover, it may be noted that,
as later observations will indicate, several other
available methods of operation in combination
[ iI ]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMIENT


with the public service of electricity, would have
reduced the amount of steam required to be taken
from the New York Steam Company to a very
substantial extent, and it would have been possible to purchase no more from that service than
that required to effect the operation of house heating and the warming of hot water.
This situation disclosed by the accurate figures
secured during this prolonged test, is a conclusive demonstration of the undesirability of the
investment of municipal funds in machinery, the
purchase of which can be equally effectively performed by the utilization of the services of public corporations, where these services are available.
There are indirect advantages, of course, which
increase the desirability of the purchase of such
services from an enfranchised corporation, inasmuch as the city thereby gains whatever increased
amount of taxation or franchise returns accrue
from the increased business placed with the corporatioqn.
By engaging upon the operation of production
of steam as well as of electric energy the munici[ 112]




THE COST OF PRODUCING STEAM
pality embarks in competition with its own partner, the corporation which it has authorized to
conduct the same line of business for the general
convenience of its citizens. A community thus
discounts its own interest in the utilization of its
franchise property, to the extent to which it invests in machinery that reduces the business of
the public system.


[118]




CHAPTER VIII.
THE HEATING OF THE BUILDINGS.
HE interior of the Hall of Records and the
three exterior buildings is warmed by the
use of radiators which are supplied with steam
through piping connected to a common point of
supply in the Hall of Records. The pipes between the several buildings are laid under-ground
in trenches and consist of a supply-pipe large
enough to allow of the flow of the exhausted
steam, and a return-pipe which contains the water
or condensed steam after it has passed through
the radiators and is thus conveyed to the Hall
of Records and pumped back into the boilers.
The operation of conveying the steam to radiators situated at a considerable distance from
the point of supply, involves some pressure in the
steam, usually from five to ten pounds per square
inch. This pressure is required to overcome the
friction developed in the passage of the steam
through long lengths of piping and around a num[C14




THE HEATING OF THE BUILDINGS
ber of bends and turns, and it is also necessary in
order to expel from the radiators the air which
collects inside those appliances during the process
of condensation of the steam. The air, which is
always more or less present in steam, finds its way
into the steam boilers with the feed-water, all
water being charged with some quantity of air in
the form of minute bubbles.
This air has to be forced out from the radiator,
usually through a little device known as an airvalve, which is placed on the end of the radiator
opposite the point of supply of steam. This operates by opening a very small orifice when air is
collected near the valve, but closes the orifice as
soon as steam reaches it. Usually the air thus
expelled is driven into the room in which the radiator is placed, but where exhausted steam is used
the air is often quite foul-smelling, due to the
presence of some oil in the steam, so piping is provided by which the air is led to some point where
it may be discharged without causing annoyance.
It is possible to operate these devices by the use
of steam at the moderate pressure mentioned
without any mechanical devices other than the
[ 115 ]




A  r  - I CIPAL EXPERIMIENT


air-valve described, but so soon as an attempt is
made to operate at less pressures such as are nee.
essary when exhausted steam is used, then some
special apparatus must be provided whereby the
air may be withdrawn from these radiators by mechanical means, as the steam will not have sufficient pressure to force it out. When therefore,
it is desired to utilize exhausted steam from engines or pumps, this supply must either be maintained at a pressure in excess of five pounds,
which would be detrimental to the economical
operation of the engine or pump, or special arrangements must be made for the purpose above
described. The use of exhausted steam therefore,
for the purpose of such heating work is accompanied by the necessity to provide and operate
air-pumps or air-ejectors which draw out this foul
air, and in certain cases also draw away the water
from the radiators. It will be seen therefore, that
the operation of these pumps is an additional expense involved in the use of exhausted steam and
reducing its value to that extent.
The use of exhausted steam from appliances
such as pumps and engines, would be as fully
[1161




THE HEATING OF THE BUILDINGS
economical as could be expected if it were possible
to so proportion the operation of the engines or
pumps and the amount of steam which they use
at all times, as to fit in with the requirements for
a supply of steam for heating purposes, but this
unfortunately can never be wholly accomplished.
Climatic conditions in the first place, vary by
locality and by all the numerous gradations in
temperature which are found in different parts of
the country, and it will be evident that the demand for heating steam would be in greatest
volume and extent and for the longest period in
the northern sections of the country, while there
would be little or no demand for such purposes
in the southern states.
In the latitude of New York the situation is
about half way between these extremes, and the
variations in temperature range during the heating season from 70 degrees, at which no heat is
required, down to a rare and limited occurrence of zero temperature.
The average temperature during the entire
heating season, which extends over a normal
period of about two hundred days, is 38 degrees,
[117]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


and therefore, the average increase in the temperature inside the building over that prevailing
outside, is the difference between 38 degrees and
70 degrees. But this statement is a mere broad
view of the average conditions, and by no means
conveys an impression of the extraordinary variations which in this climate occur from hour to
hour, between day and night, and from day to
day during the season of cold weather.
It will readily be seen therefore, that the use of
the wasted steam exhausted from engines or
pumps can only be expected to be proportioned
to meet some one or other of the numerous conmbinations which are thus brought about in the demand for heating steam. Thus the greatest
requirement for the work of the electrical engines
in a public or business building occurs in the
early evening hours, and yet the coldest part of
the day is usually the early hours of the morning.
If elevators are operated the steam given out by
their pumps is fairly constant throughout the
hours of the business day, whereas the demand for
steam may vary from a requirement for the whole
of such steam, or even more, down to nothing at all.
[118]




THE HEATING OF THE BUILDINGS
There are some small appliances in connection
with a power plant which are in quite constant
operation, such as the feed-pumps and small
auxiliary apparatus which give out steam often in
somewhat wasteful proportions, at all times of
the day and night, while the plant is maintained
in operation. This limited supply of exhausted
steam however, can usually be utilized best in
another service of an economical nature, namely,
the warming-up of the water which is fed into the
boilers. It is rarely in sufficient quantity to afford any surplus available for the purposes of
house heating. The combination therefore, which
was chiefly under discussion in connection with
this test, is that which contemplated the utilization of the exhausted steam of the elevator and
house pumps, and especially that of the electrical
generating engines.
As regards the quantity of steam which is required in a heating service in the climate of New
York City, a number of observations prior to this
test had established the fact that the average
use during the five thousand hours of the heating
season was 4/10 of that which would exist upon
[ 119 ]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERI MENT


the very coldest day. In other words, supposing
that the heating system on a zero day in February should condense 1000 pounds of steam, it
would follow that on days when the temperature
was higher it would use less than that amount,
and as the temperature rose near 70 degrees, the
demand would cease altogether, the result of the
operation being that throughout the entire period
of heating the average quantity used per day
would be 400 pounds.
The test in the Hall of Records, conducted with
the utmost exactitude by measurements from hour
to hour over the whole heating season, confirmed
this conclusion. W0hen the plant was originally
installed in the Hall of Records Building, it was
arranged that the exhausted steam froml the engines and pumps should be supplied to its heating radiators. This afforded a situation in which
the exhausted steam during the working hours
of the day was substantially in excess of the
heating requirements, excepting in very extreme
weather, when it was necessary to add to the exhaust a certain amount of steam taken direct from
the boilers, commonly referred to as "live steam,"
[ 120]




THE HEATING OF THE BUILDINGS


which is reduced in pressure to the same pressure
as the exhaust by its passage through what is
known as a reducing valve.
The proportions of the four buildings are
about 10 million cubic feet, of which the Hall of
Records was about 45Y2 per cent., the County
Court, 31 per cent., the City Hall, 15-3/10 per
cent., and the City Court, 8-2/10 per cent. The
use of steam did not follow these proportions,
because the Hall of Records was found to use
60 per cent. of all the heating steam due to the
effect of its ventilating system.  The other
buildings may be assumed to have used the remainder of 40 per cent. of the total, in proportion to their dimension, or 57 per cent. in the
County Court, 28 per cent. in the City Hall and
15 per cent. in the Municipal Court.
The addition to the Hall of Records services
of the work of heating the three exterior buildings, increased the possibilities of the use of the
exhausted steam by 175 per cent., and thus rendered it a much more economical combination,
since it then became possible to utilize to a greater
extent during the milder weather the wasted
[ 121 ]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


steam of the engines and pumps. But the difficulty of interrelating the heating apparatus to
these machines and the extent of their work was
found to preclude a greater utilization of the
steam which they afforded than about 54 per
cent. Out of the production of steam during the
whole year, only about 35 per cent. of the entire
quantity produced was utilizable in the form of
exhausted steam for heating purposes. It had
been claimed by advocates of the combination of
exhaust-steam heating with electric generation,
that at least as much as one half if not more of
the total steam supplied to the engines could be
thus utilized.
The amount of exhausted steam in relation to
the electrical output will of course, vary with the
type of steam engine employed. The more economical the engine the less quantity of steam will
be used for any given amount of work, and therefore, the employment of a wasteful engine will
give more steam in the form of exhaust. The
more wasteful is the engine, the more apparent
gain there is in the form of the use of exhausted
steam. The process is similar to that of wasting
[ 122]




THE HEATING       OF THE BUILDINGS
at the bung and saving at the spigot.
The engines in the Hall of Records building are
fairly high class, economical engines, of what is
known as the Corliss type, and used a fairly average rate of steam in proportion to their work.
They consumed about 481/ pounds weight of
water per hour in the form of steam for each kilowatt of electric energy they generated. On account of the fluctuation in the demand for electricity it was necessary to operate a smaller engine of a more wasteful character, which during
the time of small loads, as at night, operated with
a fairly constant load and near its capacity. This
little engine used 751/2 pounds weight of steam
per k.w. hour, and it was the source of much of
the exhausted steam that was utilized.
The general result of this system of operation
was that the average consumption became 50.9
pounds weight of steam per kilowatt hour. So
the steam which was available for the purpose of
heating was procured not only from the economical engines, but from the much more wasteful
type of engine.
The small engine used 75.5 lbs. per kilowatt
[128 ]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


hour as compared with 48.5 lbs. used by the
Corliss engines, or 27 lbs. per k. w. hr. more than
the latter. It produced 62,665 k. w. hours out of
712,763 or about 9 per cent. of the total electricity, using 13 per cent. of the steam.
The contribution by the wasteful engine to the
work of heating was not wholly economical. It
represented steam that had been used in a wasteful way of generating electricity, which thus created additional exhaust steam available for heating. This had no more economic effect than
would have been effected by passing that amount
of steam direct from the boilers to the radiators.
In considering the proportion which the various
appliances provided waste or exhaust steam for
heating purposes the Board of Engineers concluded that it would be proper to regard the exhaust provided by the house, sewage, and elevator pumps as being that which was the main
source of supply, inasmuch as these pumps wsould
be continued in operation should the electrical
plant be dispensed with, and the exhaust derived
fiom the electrical engines was regarded as an
addition to that available from the pumps.
[124 1




THE HEATING OF THE BUILDINGS


It was found that the contribution to the work
of heating provided by these electric engines was
32 3/10 per cent. of the total amount of steam
which was supplied to those engines during the
two hundred and twenty days of the heating season. This result was one of the answers to the
main subjects involved in the discussion which
had led to the determination to conduct this test,
and it very clearly demonstrated the exaggerated
nature of assertions as to the results to be
secured by the use of exhausted steam, made by
those who had not fully studied the subject in all
its details. Such assertions have sometimes assumed that the electricity generated in power
plants in which the exhausted steam was used in
the work of heating, was produced without any
cost, but inversely, those who are more interested
in economies of steam heating than in those of
electric generation, assumed that the heating
work had been produced under such circumstances for nothing. Both views are, of course,
fallacious in that neither took into account the
limited extent to which the combination can be
made to coincide in production and use.
[ 125 1




A MUNICIPAL EXPER I ENT


Part of the work of heating in which a minor
use was made of exhausted steam was the heating
of the warm water required for sanitary purposes.
This was not a very large amount, requiring during the entire year, only 1,548,050 pounds weight
of steam, or out of the total exhaust utilized in
heating work, only about six per cent.
It may be noted in this connection that the use
of hot water in these public buildings was extended throughout the entire year, and it would
therefore, have appeared possible to carry on this
small service entirely by the use of exhausted
steam. But even this small demand could not be
fitted in with the supply of exhausted steam available at all times, and it was necessary to add from
time to time seventeen per cent. of its total in the
form of live steam.
It was observed that the greatest demand for
hot water did not occur in the period of coldest
weather, but in the week ending April 20th, when
the demand reached 65,785 pounds. The average weekly consumption during the year of the
test was 36,200 pounds, and in the warmest summer weather there was still required as much as
[ 126]




THE HEATING OF THE BUILDINGS


18,192 pounds in a single week.
The entire demand for the work of heating
and hot water involved the use of 32,317,287
pounds weight of steam, of which 27,497,764
pounds was provided in the form of exhausted
steam, or nearly eighty-five per cent., the difference being provided by steam taken direct from
the boiler. Of these totals the heating of the Hall
of Records building involved only 11,136,638
pounds, or less than thirty-five per cent., and it
is interesting to note that the work of heating this
building required only 13 6/10 per cent. of the
entire quantity of steam raised during the trial.
The largest demand in the building for a single
week of severely cold weather was 716,000 pounds
weight of steam, which could have been provided
by any one of the five boilers installed in the building. The largest requirement for the heating of
all the four buildings was found to be 233,000
pounds of steam in one day, which was approximately equal to 310 boiler horsepower, and was
well within the capacity of any two of the five
boilers installed in the building. It is evident
therefore, that the larger part of the investment
[ 127 J




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMrENT
involved in this large steam-generating plant,
both as regards its space and apparatus, was attributable to the addition of the power-generating
plant and was not required for heating purposes.
Moreover, the heating of these buildings, if tinaccompanied by power apparatus, could have been
effected by low-pressure boilers of a Iuch cheaper kind of construction than those that are installed.
Reference was made in the earlier part of this
description of the heating of the buildings to the
additional apparatus involved in operating the
air-systems of these radiators. The three exterior buildings were provided with apparatus
known as the Webster Vacuum System, by which
a suction is maintained upon the outlet-valves of
each of the radiators, through which the condensed
water, and also the air that collects in the radiators, is drawn. The suction is produced by steampumps in constant operation, and these pumps
used during the heating season, 2,451,847 pounds
weight of steam, which was 13 per cent. additional
to the steam used in heating these buildings. It
is true that the steam thus used was in part ex[128]




THE HEATING OF THE BUILDINGS'
hausted back into the pipes from which the heating steam was drawn, but inasmuch as it thereby
displaced the use of exhausted steam to some extent from the main engines, it reduced the amount
to be credited to the operation of the electrical
plant, of which it practically formed a working
part.
The circulating system in the Hall of Records
building was of a different nature. It is that
known as the Paul system, by which a suction is
maintained upon each of the air-valves of the radiators connected through a system of piping to
steam jets blowing high-pressure steam through
ejectors, which steam is of course, entirely wasted.
This apparatus used 275,678 pounds weight of
steam, or 21/2 per cent. additional to the steam
used in heating that building.
These circulating systems are, therefore, to be
regarded as forming a part of the necessary additions to power plants, being accompaniments of
the use of exhaust-steam heating, which are not
required if the same results were to be effected
by a direct steam supply.
It would be unnecessary to use either of these
[ 129 ]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


systems should the power engines and pumps be
shut down and the use of exhausted steam be
abandoned. It is, therefore, proper in considering any distribution of the costs of operation that
the expense accompanying these circulation systems should be added to that of the operation of
the generating and pumping apparatus and
should not be charged to the cost of the work of
heating, the commercial value of which is clearly
no more than would be the cost of purchasing the
steam for equal heating work, or of a direct
process of raising low-pressure steam sufficient
to circulate throughout the system, without the
use of these appliances.
These considerations and facts brought together the figures of the cost of the work of heating the buildings and warming the water for sanitary purposes, which was found to be as follows:
Steam, 40.57 per cent of all produced......... $11,365.59
Engine-room labor, supplies, repairs........  1,576.23
Cost of space, interest and depreciation....... 8,795.00
Total............................ $16,736.82
The average cost per 1,000 pounds being thus,
50 4/10 cents.
[180]




THE HEATING OF THE BUILDINGS


The determination of the volume of steam required for this service made possible a definite
comparison of the cost of operating the same
heating systems by the use of steam purchased
from the New York Steam Company's service,
which service would eliminate the pumps and
steam jets, and would thus reduce the requirements to a quantity which at 42 cents per 1000
lbs. would have cost only $13,180.00.
The return to the city paid by the New
York Steam Company for water would then
have been $520, leaving the net cost at..... $12,660.00
To this should be added supervision at the established rate, amounting to.............  805.00
The total cost of the New York Steam Company's service would therefore have been
only.................................  13,465.00
Or only $520 more than the actual expense of
the production of the steam used during the
year of trial, and cheaper than its total cost
by....................................  3,271.00
According to the point of view of the subject,
the exhausted steam was either a gift or a large
by-product of the power plant to the work of
heating, or inversely, it was an unavoidable expense at its full value to the work of heating, and
[131]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


the other services became partly by-products of
its use in that work.
If the exhaust steam had not been utilized and
debited to the cost of steam heating and thereby
credited to the cost of each of the other five services, the effect would have been to charge back
to the machinery $10,025 as the cost of the exhausted steam, which was provided out of the machinery in the following proportions:


I
S.  (


Service     Steam, lb
To the electric
engines.... 11,118,656
To the elevator
pumps..... 5,207,772
To the house
pump.....    8,137,552
To the refrig

'er Cent  Cost  Adding to
)f Total Divided Their Cost.74 of a cent
58    $5,300 per k.w.hr.
15 cents per
24      2,400 car mile
50 cents per
15     1,500 1000 cu. ft.


erating
pumps.....
To the sewage
pumps......This shows tf
tion of exhaust
unusually adva


16 per cent
890,306    4.4     440 on the cost
30 per cent
785,624    3.6     360 on the cost
le limit of the value of the utiliza-;ed steam, even upon such very
Lntageous circumstances as the


increased heating surface of three buildings being added to the original opportunity for use of
such steam.
[ 132]




z z * x f t. t ', <.
A. 'a,.
@ ' '.......... < ',....:..,,., 4., ' ' ',.. 'a
S.,,, <
'. OAg.........,;>, i+ e Z e * be,,f;t.. -
-,>sK AX /, digs, h:
II -:Ji;


Surplus Exhaust in Coldest Weather.








THE HEATING OF THE BUILDINGS
On the other hand, if the view should prevail
that the exhaust is a gift to the heating system,
then it reduced the cost of that service by $10,025.
out of $16,736, or 60 per cent. But either view is
incorrect. The fact is that the exhausted steam
had no more value than the price at which it could
have been bought, which was less than $8,800, and
it formed a part of a combination, each element
in which is relatively expensive, and which could
be reduced in expense as a whole by a change to
other methods. Under such a rearrangement it
might even pay to purchase or produce steam for
heating at a relatively high cost, provided that
economies could be effected in other directions resulting in a total less than that which was found
to prevail.


[ 18 ]




CHAPTER IX.


THE COST OF ELECTRIC ENERGY.
IN the subject of the electrical energy generated and used we reach that part of the
trial which was of most particular interest. The
electrical service was that on which centered the
discussions that led to the establishment of the
test, and the determination of the real character
and the true cost of this particular part of the
work of the plant was perhaps the most important feature of the observations.
The use that was made of electric energy produced by the plant was noted hour by hour on
recording instruments, which determined the
exact amount utilized in the requirements of the
several buildings. An independent record was
maintained of the amount of energy used in operating ventilating appliances for cooling the engine and boiler-room space, also for the lighting
of the spaces occupied by the machinery, and the
[ 134]




THE COST OF ELECTRIC ENERGY
energy involved in the operation of the storage
battery.
As an illustration of the self-imposed burdens of an isolated plant, it was found to be consuming 14 per cent. of all the energy which it created for the purpose of lighting and ventilating
the space in which the work was carried on.
Most of this energy formed no useful part of
the work accomplished by the machinery, inasmuch as the larger part would not have been required if the plant had not been in operation. The
quantity of electricity generated during the year
of the trial amounted to 712,763 kilowatt hours,
of which amount 136,310 kilowatt hours represented energy diverted to the purposes of service
of the plant. A subdivision of this amount
showed that the mere lighting of the spaces occupied by the machinery absorbed 39,777 kilowatt
hours, or 51/2 per cent., and the ventilating fans
84,266 kilowatt hours, or nearly 12 per cent.,
while the losses due to the operation of the storage battery amounted to 12,267 kilowatt hours.
The net amount of energy which was distributed
for the service of the buildings in the form of light
[135 ]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


and electrical power, was only 576,453 kilowatt
hours, or about 80 per cent. of the total that was
created.
It must be recalled here that the original purposes of this plant for which it was planned and
proportioned, was the service of the Hall of Records building alone, and this was found to be but
seven-tenths of the entire energy created during
the trial. If the plant had been thus limited in
its service, the proportion which the maintenance
of light and ventilation in the sub-basement would
have borne to the total would have been nearly
thirty- er cent. The information thus secured
was very illustrative of the burdens which are supported in the operation of power plants for such
restricted purposes as the service of a single
building. It also demonstrated the usefully-employed amount of electricity which would have
been required to be purchased for equivalent
service, if the supply had been derived from a
public system.
A study of the circumstances resulted in the
determination of these net requirements for the
I-all of Records and the other buildings, which it
[ 136]




THE COST OF ELECTRIC ENERGY


was found would be covered by about 84 per cent.
of the total which had been generated, or approximately 593,763 kilowatt hours. This amount
made a fair allowance for necessary lights in and
around other parts of the machinery spaces than
that in which the electric engines were situated,
and also provided for part of the energy being
used in ventilating the boiler-room space should
the boilers be continued in operation. By this
means definite information became available upon
a part of the original question at issue, namely:
what was the actual value of the energy generated
per kilowatt hour, on which basis the electricity
would be purchasable from the public service.
It will be readily seen that if the entire amount
which had been created should be divided into the
entire total cost, the result would be a low price
per kilowatt hour, or as it is technically described,
"per unit," whereas, if the net amount which
would be required to be purchased be regarded as
the useful product of the plant, and that amount
be divided into the total cost, it would show that
the cost was a higher price per unit. Such a
higher figure is, of course, favorable to the alter[ 137]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
native system of the purchase of the electrical supply. In many cases it will be found that those
who are operating such power plants are basing
their ideas of the apparent low cost at which the
energy is produced, by assuming that all of the
product is of a necessary character, and is usefully utilized, which cannot in any case be the
true situation.
There is in addition to these considerations, another feature of considerable importance in the
case of a municipal plant producing electric
energy in competition with the supply of a public
company which is paying taxes to the city. In
such a case the municipal operation is competing
with the output of its partner and reducing the
total business performed under a franchise, thereby reducing the tax-paying capacity of the public
service corporation.
The payments of taxes over a period of years
by the New York Edison Company to the City
of New York were investigated and it was found
that the taxes paid bore a proportion to the
amount of energy sold by that company sometimes as high as 3/10 of a cent per kilowatt hour.
[ 138]




THE COST OF ELECTRIC ENERGY
The Committee of Engineers agreed that the relation which existed between the output and the
taxation paid was not less than 2/10 of a cent for
each kilowatt hour of energy that had been sold,
and this figure was adopted by the Board of Engineers as representing the minimum return that
would have been made by the New York Edison
Company to the City, in respect of the purchase
from that Company of the energy required for
these buildings if the plant had not been in operation. It could most easily be understood and
could most properly be regarded as a credit to
the purchase, which is equivalent to a reduction of
the price of purchased energy. Upon the amount
which was found to be required it represented an
annual return or reduction in cost to the city
amounting to $1,187, or a reduction of the price
per kilowatt hour to 1.92 cent.
At the time the trial was undertaken, the contract then in operation in regard to the group of
City buildings was based upon the lowest prevailing price for energy, or three cents per kilowatt
hour. In order to reach the quantity which justified this price under the contract, an agreement
[ 139 ]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
had been made to include in the bills for these
City buildings the quantity of electricity used in
lighting the Brooklyn Bridge and its approaches.
When the trial was undertaken and the City
buildings were supplied from the Hall of Records power plant, it left the service of the Brooklyn Bridge as the only one of the group supplied
by the public service, and this necessarily involved
a higher rate being paid during the year of the
trial for that service, which was found to have
amounted during the year of trial to $279.34.
This, of course, added to the real cost to the municipality of the operation of the plant.
During the period of the trial the methods under which the electric energy was used were carefully observed. It was noted that the prevailing
habits of city employees were continued, resulting
in the operation of electric lights during the daytime in places where they might, with due regard
to economy, have been discontinued, but while
some directions were issued, which had the effect
of some greater degree of care in this matter, the
prevailing use of energy may be regarded as
practically the normal situation in municipal
[140]




THE COST OF ELECTRIC ENERGY
buildings, which would probably have continued
had the energy been purchased or produced in
any other manner.
The determination of the cost of the production
of electricity during the test involved very considerable care, and comprised a large proportion
of the attention and expense involved in the trial.
The plant itself has already been described, as
well as the space in which it was installed. The
methods under which it was operated were those
which had been maintained up to that time, very
careful attention being devoted to the most economical operation of each of the engines, using
the larger engines when a sufficient load existed,
and smaller engines at times when the load was
decreased.
In order to effect as extensive a use of the
wasted steam as possible, which would then become a credit to the cost of the operation of the
engines and would be charged to the cost of the
heating of the buildings, the operation of the
smaller engines was continued during the night
time, and as all the other machinery was discontinued at that time, the result was considerably
[141 ]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


to the advantage of the economy of the electrical
generating plant. The storage battery was operated for periods which would apparently contribute to this general result, and was also found
useful during short periods of repair required in
the engine plant. The battery, however, proved
to be of little economical value, as it involved a
wastage of 12,267 kilowatt hours, and its useful
effect was, therefore, only 50 7/10 per cent. of
the energy which it absorbed.
The methods applied to the observation of
these engines and generators were unusually complete and careful. A recording meter of the St.
John type was connected in the steam supply of
each individual engine, and marked on a paper
tape the rate of flow at all times. A record was
also maintained showing the period of time during
which each engine was in use and the amount of
steam absorbed in proportion to the electrical
output of each engine was thus carefully ascertained. It was found that the steam used by the
combined plant, for the entire year, was at the
rate of 50 9/10 pounds weight of steam for each
kilowatt hour generated, which represented the
[ 142]




THE COST OF ELECTRIC ENERGY
consumption of 6.45 pounds of coal, but to this,
of course, had to be added that proportion of
steam condensed in the pipes leading to the engines, and also the steam that was used by the
auxiliary appliances required in the operation of
raising steam for the engines. These items added
nearly 20 per cent. to the fuel which was consumed, making the total 7.78 pounds of coal per
hour, per kilowatt produced, or over 10 pounds
per electrical horsepower.
The total expense of this service was determined by giving credit to these engines for the
full expense of so much of the steam which they
used, as was found to be utilized in the work of
heating the buildings. This amount was ascertained by considering the contribution of the elevator engines and other lesser appliances, as having formed the first contribution to the heating
work, the remainder being that credited to the
electric engines, and forming the portion which
would have to be supplied by high-pressure or
"live" steam if the engines should be discontinued
and the electric supply purchased from the public
service.
[143]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


The engines were found to have actually received during the year a total weight of 36,275,352 pounds of steam, which was 44.43 per cent.
of all the steam that was generated.
The proportionate share of the steam condensed in the pipes and the auxiliary pumps and
appliances, was found to be 7,620,855 pounds
weight of steam, so that the engines really absorbed 43,896,207 pounds weight of steam, or
over 50 per cent. of all the steam raised. Of this
amount the wasted steam from the engines which
was used in the work of heating, was about 26
per cent. Even this result, restricted as it is, was
only brought about by the abnormal addition to
the requirements for steam in the heating season
of the three exterior buildings, which had added
to the actual work of the Hall of Records building, for which the plant was originally designed,
about 175 per cent.
It is doubtful if even this moderate result would
have been secured had it not been for the practice
maintained in these buildings of continuing the
supply of heating steam during the night hours.
This afforded the opportunity of using the small
[ 144]




THE COST OF ELECTRIC ENERGY


electric engine during the entire night hours, and
exhausting its wasted steam into the house-heating system, but in commercial practice it has been
found that the heating of such buildings is more
economically effected by discontinuing the supply
of steam during the night hours, allowing the
buildings to cool down, and then restoring the
heat by a new supply of steam in the early hours
of the morning.
Under such methods many buildings are now
being heated by the use of steam during only
3,000 hours out of the total 5,000 hours of the
heating season, but where it appears to those engaged in operating such plants, to be an advantage to the apparent economy of the production
of electricity to create a means for the use of
wasted or exhausted steam, as in this case, the
process of night heating is carried on, although
its value from the point of view of economy in
the cost of heating is very dubious. In other
words, by creating the wasteful condition of one
service, an apparent economy may be effected in
another service, and a fictitious appearance of reduced cost may be created by the process, which
[1453




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
is similar to that of filling a vacancy in one pocket
with coin extracted from another.
Since one of the particular objects of the trial
was to determine the effect upon the cost of operation of the cessation of the use of these engines
from the combined service of the plant, leaving
the remaining apparatus in operation and contributing as far as they were found to have been
adding to the service of heating, the results of the
apportionment of the steam contributed by the
engines to the work of heating, are not in any
respect unfair or detrimental to the real expense
of the maintenance of this electrical plant.
The other expenses which were involved by the
operation of this plant consisted of labor, supplies
and repair. The two latter were readily determined from the Departmental accounts. The
labor employed about this part of the plant included the chief engineer, three watch-engineers
and three oilers. The question of how much of
this force would be necessarily retained if the operation of this part of the plant were discontinued,
was one which presented some difficulty of decision.
[146]




TH E COST OF ELECTRIC ENERGY
It was generally agreed that a substantial part
of the expense of this force was directly involved
in the operation of the electric machines, but some
difference of opinion arose as to the question of
dispensing with the services of some of the four
engineers. The Department representatives insisted that it would be necessary under any circumstances to maintain a licensed engineer on
the plant on each eight hours of service, whether
the electrical engines or any machines were in operation or not. It was, however, generally conceded that the three men employed as oilers,
whose time was practically wholly employed by
the engines, could be dispensed with if the engines were not in operation, which would effect a
reduction of $3,295 a year. It also seemed probable that a less rate of wages could be paid to a
chief engineer, in charge of a reduced extent of
machinery, which would have had the effect of reducing the labor bill by a further sum of about
$365, or a total of $3,660.
The final enquiries which were brought out by
careful investigation in regard to the operation
of this plant related to the fixed charges which
[ 147]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


the city was involved in by reason of the purchase
of this machinery. It was found that the cost
of the plant had exceeded $60,000, and that the
present value of the plant was represented by a
sum of $50,655. A rate of depreciation was also
carefully determined, and found to average 51/2
per cent. per annum.
These facts and figures thus afforded a view
of the two sets of circumstances relating to the
operation of this plant:
(1) The total cost in which the city had become
involved by its investment in this machinery,
as represented by the amount of energy produced that would have to be purchased from
an outside system of supply.
(2) The cost at which the energy was now produced, assuming that the fixed charges upon
the investment were a continuing expense in
the event that the machinery should be shut
down and its further use discontinued.
These results are shown in the following statements:
Operating expenses according to the Department view of the labor cost:
[ 148]




''


A City of Wasted Steanl.








THE COST OF ELECTRIC ENERGY


a Production cost of the steam used after deducting the exhaust used in house-heating...... $11,154
b Supplies and repairs, as charged in the
accounts..............................    786
c Engine-room labor, charging only the three
oilers.................................   3,285
Supervision on items b and c @ 6.38.....   261
$15,486
Without any fixed charges, this results in cost of
the production of energy of 2.17 cents per
kilowatt hour, as compared with a purchasable price of 1.927 cent.
But this figure by no means represented the
full cost to the city of electric energy produced
in its plant.
The total expense to the city included:
Interest on the investment...................  $1,773
Depreciation...............................   2,830
Rental value of space occupied by the engines....  2,636
Share of the fixed charges and space of the boiler
plant.................................   3,722
The operating expense according to the Department's view as above stated..............  15,486
Extra expense on Brooklyn Bridge service......  279
$26,726
Making the cost per kilowatt hour as produced, 33/4 cents
per kilowatt hour.
If the electric plant were charged as it should
be with its fair share of the whole expense of engine-room labor, then the total cost would be[149]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
come $29,260, and the cost of the energy as produced, 41/4 cents per kilowatt hour, and of the net
utilized quantity, 5 cents.
The division of the cost of electric production
is as follows:
Per Cent of  Share of
Electricity  Cost
Hall of Records................. 42.48   $12,480
City Court Building.............  4.43     1,296
County Court House.............  18.12     5,802
City Hall.......................  10.10    2,955
General Power..................  4.34      1,270
Cellar Lights and Fans...........  17.10   5,003
Storage Battery Operation.......  8,43     1,004
Sewage Compressor (partial).....
$29,260
The price at which electric energy could have
been purchased from the public service system
under the rates prevailing prior to the year of
the trial, was 3 cents per kilowatt hour. This was
later modified by a new and reduced scale of rates,
which came into operation during the year 1914.
This provided that over and above a certain quantity of electricity the energy supplied would be
charged at the rate of only 2 cents per kilowatt
hour; therefore, at the end of the trial it became
apparent that any quantity of energy which
would have to be purchased if the electrical gen[ 150]




THE COST OF ELECTRIC ENERGY
erating plant were to be abandoned, could be secured at the price of 2 cents. To this should properly be added the charge for supervision at the
rate of 6.38 per cent., making the cost 2.127 cents.
But upon this rate the return of taxes to the city
was found to be at the rate of 2/10 of a cent per
kilowatt hour, thus reducing the cost to the city
to 1.927 cent per kilowatt hour.
Stating the figures in totals, the cost of purchasing the required supply of 594,000 kilowatt
hours, would be:
For energy  at 2c...........................  $11,875
Add supervision............................   745
Total...............................  $12,620
Credit return by taxes.......................  1,187
Cost of New York Edison Company's service.... $11,433
This is to be compared with the Department's figures of operating expenses only.............  15,486
and the total expense, including fixed charges,
of......................................  26,726
And the real total cost, including a proportionate
share of the engine-room labor, of...........  29,260
These statements very clearly demonstrate:
First. That the cost in which the city was involved in establishing and operating this plant
[ 151 ]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


was not a source of economy, but rather of continuing loss.
Second.,That, after the mistake had been
made and the investment had been sunk in the apparatus, it would nevertheless have been profitable to the city to cease the use of the apparatus,
and to purchase the necessary supply of energy
from the public service.
The extent of the annual loss to which the city
was exposed during the period of the test was at
least $15,000 according to Department figures,
and nearer $18,000 a year, if all expenses are
properly considered. This could have been saved
had the plant never been installed. This result
very plainly demonstrated the fallacy of the policy of installing such expensive plants in cityowned buildings, in view of the continuous decrease in the cost of purchasable energy, and the
continuous increase in the expenses of operating
such a plant, and particularly in the cost of labor
attendant thereon.
The conclusion is enforced by the developments
in additional expense since the period of the trial.
The price of fuel has risen from the average of
[152]




THE COST OF ELECTRIC ENERGY
$2.90 to a figure in excess of $5 per ton. The cost
of the electricity generated has been increased by
this item $4,400, while the price of purchasable
electricity has remained stationary. The operating expense of the production of electricity would
thereby be increased nearly thirty per cent.


[ 153 ]




CHAPTER X.


THE COST OF ELEVATOR SERVICE.
T    HE five passenger elevators in the Hall of
Records were installed at a time when a
change was developing in the methods of operation of such appliances, and when the tendency of
improvement was all in the direction of the use
of electricity, rather than water pressure, as
a means of more effective service. The developments that have taken place since that time have
demonstrated that the electrical elevator in its
modern form has overcome difficulties which had
been experienced in the early period of development, and has become not only more economical,
but much more effective in carrying any given
amount of traffic. This is due to the fact that the
electric motor has the capability of developing
power in proportion to the resistance with which
it has to contend, and when applied to the movement of a car containing variable loads of passengers, it will operate at practically the same speed
[ 154]




THE COST OF ELEVATOR SERVICE
when the car is full as it will when the car is only
partially filled. In particular, its capabilities in
this direction are of great advantage in the saving
of time which it effects in starting the car from a
standstill and bringing it up to its proper speed.
The hydraulic elevator is provided with a sufficient power for this purpose, but it is not capable
of any increase to meet an excess load, and moreover, the movement of the water through pipes,
passages, valves and cylinders at high speed, sets
up a degree of friction which retards the movement of the car and renders the whole combination relatively sluggish. This is most noticeable
in the case of what is known as the plunger elevator, a form that became very popular at one
time on account of its apparent security in the
form of the plunger or steel rod under the car,
extending down into a long cylinder let into a hole
in the ground.,The ordinary observer not unnaturally assumes
that this rod is of solid steel, and is capable of
sustaining the car if anything should occur which
might cause it to lose its support in the shaft. As
a matter of fact, the rod is quite flexible, being
[ 155]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


composed of piping screwed together in short
lengths. It is closed at the bottom end and actually floats in the water inside the cylinder, and the
elevator is mainly supported by the ropes attached to the top of the frame, which are connected to an enormous counterweight, nearly
heavy enough to raise the plunger and car when
empty. The pressure of water when applied to
the bottom end of the plunger is just sufficient to
balance the rest of the weight of the empty car,
and the load of the passengers inside the car. In
this condition the weight pulls the car and passengers upwards, but the great weight of the ropes
and the plunger, together with the water following the plunger, constitute a mass of material,
which has to be set in motion and then speeded
up to the full rate of motion of the elevator and
then retarded by gravity to a state of rest, making a very cumbersome and sluggish combination.
As a result, elevators of this type will not give
as much service in the handling of traffic as will
an electrical elevator of similar proportions.
The work of any elevator mainly consists in
stopping and starting, and the electric machine
[156 ]




THE COST OF ELEVATOR SERVICE


has superior capacity in this regard over any hydraulic apparatus.
The successive improvements which have been
made in electrical machinery have also substantially reduced the amount of electric energy required to operate elevators, and such machines as
those in the Hall of Records, which stop at every
floor, could be depended upon at this time to operate, with a fair amount of traffic, upon a consumption of electricity of approximately 41/ kilowatt
hours for every mile of travel by the car.
This situation had been so far recognized by
the city authorities that when changes were made
in the building of the County Court, the hydraulic
elevators in that building were removed and two
electric elevators were substituted. It happened
that these were planned to be supplied by electric
energy derived from the system of the New York
Edison Company, which for such work is at a
pressure or tension of 240 volts, and thus it was
found that when the test was contemplated, that
they were not suited to be supplied by the energy
generated in the Hall of Records' plant, the pressure of which was only 125 volts.
[ 157 ]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
This is a situation which frequently occurs in
connection with such mixed installations of power
and lighting apparatus, and in several city-owned
buildings has brought about very confusing conditions, whereby part of the plant and the lighting may be provided by generating machines and
engines, while the remainder is necessarily operated by purchased energy.
During the trial, therefore, the two elevators
in this County Court building were operated by
electricity purchased from the New York Edison
service, and it was found that they had used during the year of the trial, about 45,000 kilowatt
hours, which would have added about 6 per cent.
to the total output of the plant if it had been
served thereby.
In designing the equipment of the Hall of Records, it would have been much better from the
point of view of an economical operation, if electrical elevators had at that time been installed,
which, with some modernized improvements,
might have well been served by the generating
plant, and would have eliminated from the plant
the rather inefficient apparatus necessary for
[158]




THE COST OF ELEVATOR SERVICE
pumping water for the hydraulic machines. On
the other hand, the two elevators in the City Court
building were also of hydraulic pattern, and it
was found that these could be operated from the
Hall of Records, and pipes were connected for
that purpose, so that the plant in the building
during the period of trial, operated the five passenger cars in the Hall of Records, the two cars
in the City Court, and the ash-hoist in the boilerroom. Four hydraulic book-lifts had been provided, one in each corner of the building, the intention of which was to operate dumb-waiters to
carry documents from floor to floor. These were
found to be so entirely unpractical that they have
never been used during the entire period of their
installation.
The pumps which supply such hydraulic installations are usually of the form which is known
as a direct-acting, reciprocating pump, and they
are usually of what is known as the "duplex pattern." This form of pump is very simple and
inexpensive in first cost, but under customary
conditions as the pump becomes worn, the tendency increases towards wasteful conditions by
[159]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


reason of the shortening of the movement
of the pistons and water-plungers, under which
condition the piston in the cylinder does not quite
complete its stroke, and steam is required to fill
this space at every reversal of its movement.
Furthermore, when this kind of pump is utilized in connection with a house-heating system,
any rise in the pressure in the heating system will
operate in this same direction and will further
tend to decrease the movement of the piston and
increase the wasteful operation. It thus becomes
very important with this kind of pump, to reduce
the pressure required for heating buildings with
exhausted steam, and as in the case of the electric
engines, apparatus is necessary to facilitate the
circulation of the steam in the radiators and the
piping, and prevent the pressure rising above a
maximum of about a pound per square inch.
When these pumps are used in irregular elevator service, they suffer from another difficulty
arising from very frequent stopping and slow
movement, during which circumstances steamn
continues to be condensed in their pipes, passages
and cylinders, and the total consumption related
[ 160




THE COST OF ELEVATOR SERVICE
to the work which is done, becomes unfavorably
expensive. Thus under favorable circumstances,
it has been found that the combination of such
pumps with hydraulic elevators of standard form
would require approximately 550 pounds weight
of steam for every mile traveled by the cars of the
elevators, but in the case of the Hall of Records,
as probably in many others, it was not surprising
that the trial demonstrated a considerably larger
use of steam, which during the year was found to
average 796 pounds per mile of car travel, an addition of approximately 50 per cent.
There were times when for a period of a week
this figure was further increased to a maximum of
960 pounds of steam per car mile. Such results
are not unknown to those familiar with the operation of elevators, but it had not been practicable
prior to this trial to determine the further expenses attached to such pumping plants by the
cost of operating the auxiliary appliances which
provided the means of the steam supply, and also
the loss of steam in condensation in the piping
leading to the engines.
During the trial this interesting point was very
[161




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
definitely determined, and it was found that these
additional demands added 25 per cent. to the average amount of steam consumed, and brought the
total for the year to an average of 1,004 pounds
weight of steam for each mile of car movement.
Such a fact very simply and readily determined
the inefficiency of the apparatus from a monetary
point of view, because it was evident that the mere
cost of the fuel required to raise the steam
amounted to 19 cents.
The test observations determined the quantity
of this steam which had been reused in the heating of the buildings, and which could, therefore,
be deducted from the cost of the operation of the
elevators, and charged against the cost of house
heating. This was 6.19 cents, which left the net
cost for fuel only of a car mile of travel, at 12.88
cents. Inasmuch as an electrical elevator would
have operated the same service at 41/2 kilowatt
hours per car mile, and this could have been purchased at the time when the trial was started, at a
cost of 3 cents (and later for 2 cents), it will be
seen that the price of coal alone was practically
the same as the cost of purchased electricity, with[162




THE COST OF ELEVATOR SERVICE


out regard to the labor and upkeep involved in
the operation of the plant, and of the generating
of the steam by which it was operated.
The elevators in the two buildings were found
to have traveled during the year of trial a distance equivalent to the movement of one car over
16,424 miles. Such a figure may seem surprising
to those who do not realize the immense distances
covered by the movement of elevators, which in
the City of New York vastly exceed the entire
travel of railways and surface cars within the
area of the Greater City.
The trial brought out the actual operating costs
of this part of the plant in very definite form, the
details of which are shown in the table on page
81. The actual cost of operation, inclusive of
steam, supplies and repairs, and that portion of
the engine-room labor charged in the departmental accounts to this service, aggregated
$4,999.22, to which must be added the share of
other labor and supervision, bringing the operating expense, without any fixed charges, to
$6,859.32, or over 41 cents for each mile of car
travel.
[168]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
The fixed charges upon the installation of the
pumping machinery, tanks and piping, amounted
to a further sum in excess of $3,379, so that the
total cost of the operation of the elevator plant
thus involved an expenditure of $10,238, or 62
cents for every mile of car travel.
The operation of these elevators by the electrical method could have been effected by electricity generated by the plant, by utilizing the
storage battery to neutralize the effects of the
sharp demands for energy. At the total expense
of 4~4 cents per kilowatt hour, the energy required for the elevator operation would have cost
$3,140.
There would have been no need for steam, nor
for any pump and other appliances, so there
would have been no current or fixed expenses, nor
labor on those items. Supplies and repairs, with
labor thereon being estimated at $1,500, the total
expense would have been $4,640, or about 28 cents
per car mile, or less than one-half the cost of hvdraulic operation. If operated by energy purchased from the public system a still more economical result could have been secured, the ex[ 164 ]




THE COST OF ELEVATOR SERVICE
pense for current being reduced to $1,400, and
the total operating expense to $2,900, or 18 cents
per car mile.
The installation of the hydraulic form of elevator was thus clearly a mistake of judgment at
the time of the construction of the building, but
it did not constitute the same kind of error as the
installation of the electrical generating plant, because the elevators were a necessity to the building, and the only question that required careful
prevision was the method of their operation. If
careful foresight had been devoted to this part of
the subject, it would have been considered that
with the declining prices of electrical energy provided by a public service, or even with the installation in the building of an electrical generating
plant, the probable future economies of the elevator service lay in the direction of electrical operation.
The mistake, however, having been made, the
question that arises, in view of the investment
having already been made in the hydraulic form
of machine, is whether a sufficient advantage can
be gained by the investment of a further sum of
[ 165 ]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


money in the reconstruction of these elevators in
electrical form. In such case, whatever economy
may be effected in the cost of operation, must be
discounted by the fixed charges that would result from the expenditure of further capital upon
the new apparatus.
In order to decide this interesting point, a special study and test was made to establish the maximum demand for power which the elevator service created, and this test decided that the largest
demand for the seven elevators operated was not
in excess of 192 horsepower in the form of water
under pressure.
An estimate was then made by the manufacturers of the elevators of the cost of remodeling the
whole of the elevators into the electrical form, and
it was found that this would involve an expense
of about $48,000. Making due allowance for the
fixed charges of interest and depreciation upon
such a new investment, it is found that the elevators in this form could be operated at a total
cost of $7,800, a saving of about $2,450 a year.
Such a change would, moreover, effect other
indirect economies. Besides a direct saving over
[ 166]




THE COST OF ELEVATOR SERVICE


the cost of the existing system, the removal of the
pumps, and the reduction of the use for steam
would eliminate the last requirements for maintaining the most expensive part of the labor force
employed by the plant, if at the same time the
electric generating engines should also be dispensed with. From every point of view, therefore, the result of these observations indicated
that the operation of the hydraulic elevators in
these municipal buildings was relatively expensive, and although any change for the better is
hampered by the necessity for the expenditure of
a large sum of money upon a new form of apparatus, it would be productive of economy.


I ]67




CHAPTER XI.


WATER SERVICES.
B    USINESS buildings of the character of the
Hall of Records require a number of minor
services involving the use of machinery in connection with water. As has been explained, the
deficiency of pressure in the public water supply
necessitates the pumping of water up to the tanks
located in the roof of any buildings, the height of
which exceeds a few stories above the street.
In addition to this, part of the water so pumped
has to be heated and circulated for use in the lavatories, and for cleaning purposes. It is necessary
also, in the case of buildings provided with deep
cellars, to pump out waste-water, and to lift sewage from any fixtures that may be situated below
the level of the public sewers.
In the Hall of Records a part of the water
which was pumped was also filtered, cooled and
circulated in separate piping for drinking pur[ 168]




WATER SERVICES


poses involving the use of refrigerating maehinery.
The pumping of water from city mains, which
so long has been necessary in the City of New
York, appears a strange accompaniment of conditions of sanitation in a great modern city, which
has spent more than three hundred millions of
dollars upon its water systems, only to provide
it in so ineffective a form that it fails to reach the
upper floors of buildings of moderate heights.
The deficiencies in this respect are due to two
causes: first, the inadequate height of the reservoir system supplying the down-town portion of
Manhattan, and secondly, the inadequate size,
and the complexity of the system of underground
water piping.
These deficiencies were, of course, aggravated
in their effect by the continually increasing demands upon the supply, largely due to the use of
water for commercial purposes, and particularly
for use in such power plants as that in the Hall
of Records. The situation has only been modified
by the new supply derived from the Catskill system in regard to one feature, namely: the height
[169]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
at which the reservoir is situated.
(The same system of underground piping remains in use, much of it being of inadequate size
so that the increasing demands for water reduce
the pressure to a large extent and nullify the advantage provided by the additional height of the
new storage reservoirs.
One of the fundamental elements in the provision of municipal water service seems to have
been largely ignored in the operation of the water
service of New York, and the facts disclosed in
the trial threw considerable light upon the subject. A municipal water supply is provided at
the expense of the community, as a necessary
public service, or a general obligation for sanitary and fire protection purposes. Its use in commercial processes is for profit-making purposes,
and the diversion of the public supply to such operations as the generating of power in private
buildings, or even in municipal buildings, clearly
goes beyond the general intention of the investment of public funds in a public necessity.
The regulations of the Water Department ever
since they were formulated, prohibit the use of
[170]




WATER SERVICES


the water in the mains as a means of motive
power. Water must not be taken from the city
mains and used to set in operation an elevator or
a water-wheel, or any other machine which may
be directly operated by water pressure, but the
practice has been allowed to grow up of using the
same water in vastly greater amount to be evaporated in a steam boiler, utilized to drive machinery, and then discharged to the atmosphere, or
condensed and run into the sewers.
The small utilization of power for any domestic
purpose is therefore barred, but any person may
take the same quantity of water or much more,
turn it into steam, and use it for the production of
a larger amount of power, without any restriction, and for no greater rate of payment than that
which is paid for water which is absolutely necessary for sanitary purposes.
The most aggravated situation in this regard
is the increasing use of water from the public
mains for use in refrigerating apparatus. In this
service the water is merely used for the operation
of condensing or cooling the gases used in the
process, and vast quantities are run over piping
[ 171 ]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


and through tanks, and are wasted directly into
the sewer, at rates of as much as 12 to 15 tons a
day for each ton of rated refrigerating capacity.
In many hotels, restaurants, stores and business processes such apparatus is operated for the
purpose of decreasing expenses in the purchase
of ice, and it is not infrequent to find machines
of from 25 tons to 100 tons capacity, using from
a hundred thousand tons to half a million tons
of city water every year. The price which is
paid, of one dollar per 1000 cubic feet for this
profitable use of water in what is really a manufacturing process, is no more than that which is
paid by the domestic consumer for the requirements which are forced upon him by the necessities of public sanitation.
Such excessive demands upon a water-system
which was planned for and expected to be limited
to necessary sanitary purposes, has resulted in
reducing the available pressure at various points
in the system to such an extent as to necessitate
additional work in other buildings to pump the
water required for the sanitary service.
The same excessive demand for water for such
[172]




WATER SERVICES


purposes has brought about a far wider effect.
The occasional shortage of water reserve, aggravated by the intensive demands for water for
these commercial purposes, brought about
an agitation which involved the city in the construction of additional water supply and storage
capacity. It was mainly these circumstances
which led to the enormous undertaking of the
Catskill water system, which was represented as
of urgent necessity at the time of its inception,
and is now recognized to have been undertaken
many years in advance of its real necessity.
The recent expenditure by the city of one hundred and thirty-five millions of dollars in the establishment of that water service, for which there
is no new demand that was not capable of being
served by the existing systems, may thus be attributed at any rate to a considerable extent, to
the utilization of water in business, and for power
purposes.
After the construction of this vast system was
under way, economies were effected, by the elimination of leakages and wastages, which brought
about a substantial decrease in the amount of
[173]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


water then required, which reduction was especially marked in the Borough of Brooklyn,
where the use of water had been the most wasteful.
The new investment has, however, loaded the
operations of the Water Department with a financial burden of fixed charges and expenses
which has entirely absorbed all the profits that for
many years were derived by the City from the
sale of water, and has brought about a very heavy
deficit, amounting at the present time to upwards
of seven millions of dollars per annum. The effect is far-reaching, since the issues of the bonds
for the purpose of water service, were heretofore
self-sustaining, and were thus released from the
constitutional restrictions upon the borrowing
capacity of the City. It is now necessary to regard
them as being incapable of sustaining their own
fixed charges, and it seems doubtful whether they
will regain that condition within many years, unless a higher price be charged for water, or some
additional revenue be secured from the use of
water for commercial purposes.
These facts bore directly upon the question
[ 174]




WATER SERVICES
which arose in connection with the operation of
this plant, as to whether or not the water that was
used in its operation constituted an expense to the
city or not. Investigation disclosed the fact that
the several departments of the city made extensive use of water in various municipal operations,
but never accounted to the Department of Water
Supply for the expense, nor made any charge
against their own operations for the water they
used.
The result of the discussion, while it was of interest in bringing out these points, led to the conclusion that under this existing system the water
involved no present expenditure on the part of
the Department in charge of the building, and it
was not therefore included as one of the costs of
operation. It was, however, readily recognized
that in the case of the purchase of steam from a
public system, as well as in the purchase of electricity from the public service, the city gained a
return by the water that was used in the processes
of generating steam and electricity, and in considering the purchase of steam in particular, this
return constituted a substantial reduction in the
[175]




A MUNIICIPAL EXPERIMENT
cost of the public steam service to the city.
The water that was used in the Hall of Records
for general sanitary purposes in a year was about
three million cubic feet, and would have cost, if
purchased at the regular rates, $3,000 a year,
and the water used and wasted by the plant of
machinery was 662,000 cubic feet, worth $662.
These costs would not have represented its entire
expense, since the operation of pumping it, circulating it, and cooling part of it, had to be carried on.
The machines provided in the Hall of Records
for pumping the water were of two forms: one
being a steam-operated, direct-acting pump, and
the other an electrically-operated motor-driven
pump. Small steam pumps of this character are
notoriously wasteful in their use of steam, and it
therefore became a matter of considerable interest to secure during the trial, a determination of
the actual amount of steam used in relation to the
water pumped in these buildings, and to compare
these with the cost of operating an electricallydriven pump.
It was found that the water, in order to be
[ 176




Waste Steam in the Public Sewers.








WATER SERVICES


pumped to a height of about 110 feet, involved
a pressure at the pump, equivalent to 200 feet,
the increase or difference representing the friction created in passing the water through the
pipes and bends in the piping. Steam was consumed in this work at the rate of 266 pounds for
each horse power represented by the water lifted.
This involved a consumption of 33 pounds of coal
per hour, the value of which alone was four and
three-quarter cents for each water-horsepower
exercised over a period of one hour.
The full expense of the service during the year
included the following items: The cost of steam
used (after crediting that utilized in house-heating), with supervision, was $1,061.17; the share
of the engine-room labor, supplies and repairs,
with supervision, was $456.16, and the fixed
charges added $463.00, making $1,980.33 in all.
This represented an addition of 54 per cent. to
the value of the water which was used, and a cost
of nearly 10-4/10 cents for each water horsepower hour. An electrical pump could have been
operated by purchased electricity for an expense
of $730, and adding the same share of labor,
[ 177 ]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


supplies, and repairs, or $456, and with interest
and depreciation continued as at present, $108,
the total cost of electric operation becomes only
$1,284, which is less than seven cents per water
horse-power hour, and seven hundred dollars a
year less total expense.
These figures make it clear that the process of
pumping house-water by steam power is not as
economical as it would be with the use of a pump
operated by electricity, even though the steam
pump provides some part of its steam for heating
purposes.
The expense of operating an electrical pump
may be substantially reduced if the apparatus
be provided as is customarily done, with an automatic controlling device, thus reducing the attention required to an occasional cleaning and oiling
of the machine. Under such circumstances the
expense for labor, supplies and repairs which was
incurred in the Hall of Records process, could
have been substantially reduced, and it is probable that the same amount of water could have
been pumped in that building for a cost, including the fixed charges on an electrical installation,
[ 178]




WATER SERVICES
of less than $1,000 a year, or practically one-half
of the ascertained cost of the steam operation.
As there was an electrical pump installed in
this building which had been placed there as a
reserve, the opportunity was afforded of making a direct comparison between the expenses of
the two systems, but unfortunately the gearing
of this pump, which was of a somewhat antiquated pattern, was broken by accident, and repairs were not effected by the Department during the rest of the period of the trial.
This little incident throws considerable light
upon one of the fundamental deficiencies of municipal operations in connection with machinery,
namely, the delay in providing for necessary repairs, and even for necessary upkeep in advance
of accident or failure of the machine. This is
due to the very methods of municipal reform
which have been set in operation to protect the
city's finances from unregulated expenditures. It
is, under this system, necessary to secure an appropriation, or to make provision in a budget for
repair work, processes which occupy considerable
time, and in the case of a budget cannot be al[ 179 ]




A M UNICIPAL EXPERIM ENT


ways foreseen.
Thus necessary repairs are deferred until an
accumulated amount has been reached which
renders it worth while to secure an appropriation,
and in the meantime the operation of machinery
is conducted at a disadvantage, and often at a loss
to the taxpayers.
A portion of the water, about one-tenth of the
whole quantity drawn from the city mains and
delivered to the house tanks, was warmed for
use in the sanitary systems of the buildings.
Part of the warm water in business buildings is
required for the purpose of scrubbing the floors,
but a greater quantity is used in the lavatories.
The quantity of water used for that purpose is
found to be very variable, and fluctuates according to the methods under which it is circulated,
and also doubtless by the habits of wastefulness
of the occupants.
It is difficult to say which of the two is productive of greater wastage. Waste exists under
any conditions, and it is not only a loss of the
value of the water, but of the cost of its pumping,
and the cost of its heating and of its circulation.
[ 180]




WATER SERVICES


Where efficient circulating arrangements are
lacking, it is the custom of those who use the supply of water to draw off water until the supply
runs hot, and thus a considerable quantity of
water, which has previously been heated and has
lost its temperature by lying idle in the pipes, is
thrown to waste at every use of a hand-basin by
an occupant.
If an effective circulation is provided, as was
done by mechanical means in the Hall of Records, then this wastage of the water may be
greatly reduced, but on the other hand, a much
larger amount of the heat, which has been absorbed by the water, is lost in the process of circulating the warm water round and round in the
system of piping. Moreover, the cost of that
circulation becomes an addition to the expense
of the process.
In the Hall of Records the pump which circulated the water was operated by electricity.
The steam that was used to heat the water was in
part exhausted from the power apparatus, but
of course, the full value of that steam is charged
to the cost of heating the water.
[ 181 ]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
It was a notable fact in regard to the use of
warm water, that even in the summer months
there was little reduction in the use of heated
water. This was doubtless due to the fact that
the larger part of the heat that was absorbed by
the water, was lost in the process of circulation.
In heating the water 1,548,050 lbs. of exhausted steam and 334,069 lbs. of high-pressure
or live steam were used. The cost of producing
this steam was $647.
The water which was heated was approximately 300,000 cubic feet. The bare cost of
warming this water was thus more than two dollars per one thousand cubic feet, or twice its
original value. Adding the expense of the opera,
tion of the electrical circulating pump, it appears
that a supply of warmed water costs about $3.50
per thousand cubic feet, or three and a half times
as much as cold water.
Some economy may be effected in the Hall of
Records by the more simple system, such as that
by which the water was originally heated in these
buildings, of using separate heaters, supplied by
purchased steam, the water being circulated by
[ 182]




WATER SERVICES


gravity, thus reducing the losses involved in the
long system of circulation, and in the expense of
the operation of the electric pump.
Although the service afforded by warm-water
appears expensive, it assumes a relatively
economic aspect compared with the expenses involved in discharging sewage and waste-water
out of such a building as the Hall of Records,
which service answers no economical purpose
whatever. It is in point of fact, an obligation
wholly resulting from the fact that the subbasement in this building, constructed for the
purpose of housing the machinery, was necessarily far below the level of the public sewers.
Such spaces are in themselves, relatively expensive, especially under such circumstances as
their construction in the rocky soil of the Borough of Manhattan, where every part of the
space has had to be blasted out, and where every
part of the walls and columns is necessarily of the
largest and most expensive proportions.
In the absence of a machinery plant, the use
of such a space might have been dispensed with,
but when constructed for this purpose, it must
[ 183 ]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


be rendered habitable, and its use by employees
involves the installation of sanitary apparatus,
also provision for dealing with the breakage of
piping, or possible flooding of the exterior vault
spaces which provide the sub-basement to some
extent with air and light.
In this building, as in a number of others, the
drains leading from these sources of rejected
water are led to a pit sunk below the floor, in
which the sewage, etc., is collected alternately in
one of two closed receptacles, each having a
capacity of sixty gallons.  These are automatically discharged by admitting compressed
air to the interior of the receptacle, which presses
out the collected sewage through a pipe to the
public sewer. The air under pressure is provided
by steam-driven compressors, which are customarily very wasteful in operation. Measurement applied to this compressor during the first
thirty-two weeks of the year, demonstrated its
average use of 4,620 pounds weight of steam per
day, which was equal to the continuous operation,
day and night, of a boiler of six horsepower
capacity.
[184]




WATER SERVICES


The Department then decided that an electrically operated air-compressor would be more
economical, and purchased and installed such an
appliance, which was tested and utilized after the
thirty-second week to the forty-eighth week. An
interesting comparison was thus afforded between the cost of steam power operation and
electrical operation for equal service, and it was
found that the average amount of electric energy
which was required for each 6,000 gallons discharged by the sewage-ejector was 4.32 kilowatt
hours. The cost of operation of the steam system was found to be as follows:
Covering the period of test during which
4,667,100 gallons, or 77,800 cubic feet of sewage
were discharged, the steam (after allowing for
such as was utilized and charged to house-heating) was 733,310 pounds, the cost of production
being $254.95, or $3.30 per 1000 cubic feet which
is to be compared with the cost of 3360 kilowatt
hours of electricity at 2 cents, which was less than
$1.00 per 1000 cubic feet. The cost of steam
alone was thus at least three times as expensive
as that of purchased electricity would have been.
[ 185 ]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


Labor, supplies and repairs, with supervision
added $324.42. The fixed charges of the apparatus and space it occupies, are $635.00. The
total of $1,214.37, thus represents an approximate cost of $15.60 per 1000 cubic feet.
A change to electric operation under existing
circumstances would be of economic advantage,
by the purchase of an electric pump, which is an
effective appliance for such purposes, and is in
use in many other buildings.
The entire expense of operation of such an apparatus, even with the existing charges for labor, and for interest and depreciation on the
abandoned ejectors, would be only about $730, or
40 per cent less expense than that of steam operation.
The cost of this unremunerative service of sewage removal represented a daily expense of $3.33
and for each man employed in the machinery and
fireroom space an annual expense of eighty
dollars.


[186 ]




CHAPTER XII.


THE COST OF REFRIGERATED DRINKING-WATER.
O \NE of the refinements of convenience
which has been provided in some commercial and residential buildings, is a system of water
supply for drinking purposes, which during that
portion of the year when the public supply has
risen in temperature, is cooled by artificial means.
This service could, of course, be conducted by the
simple process of purchasing ice and circulating
the water through pipes in contact with the ice, or
more simply still, by the usual process of ice
placed in water coolers. But complicated machinery is often adopted without regard to alternative
and simpler methods of securing equal results,
and thus some buildings are provided with an
installation of expensive refrigerating apparatus,
by which the cooling effect that could be equally
well produced by melting ice is produced by
steam power.
[ 187]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
The process in the Hall of Records involved
the use of steam to evaporate ammonia into a
gas. Cold water is then used to cool the gas before it is allowed to expand in a system of piping,
the expansion resulting in an absorption of heat
from the pipe surfaces, whereby a refrigerating
or cooling effect is produced. A steam pump is
used for returning the ammonia to the boiler or
evaporator. The process is thus quite elaborate
and involves considerable investment in the installation, and care and expense in its operation.
The extravagant use of water which is made in
the process of cooling the gases, has already been
referred to. The value of the entire operation
must be limited by the purchasable equivalent in
the form of ice.
Refrigerating apparatus is largely used in hotels. In some it has been found that their expense is much in excess of the cost of an equivalent amount of ice, but the machinery is maintained on account of the convenient form in which
the cooling effect is distributed, and the various
degrees of temperature that can be secured. Thus
in certain processes, such as making of ice-cream,
[ 188]




THE COST OF REFRIGERATED DRINKING-WATER


very low temperatures must be maintained, but
in some other culinary processes ice would answer just as well. The expense of machinery,
therefore, is really chargeable to some special
process such as the manufacture of ice-cream,
which might be purchased at less cost. So far as
drinking water is concerned, only a moderate
amount of cooling effect is required, as the temperature of the general public supply only rises
from an average of about 40 degrees to an average slightly over 70 degrees, and in the summer
time requires to be cooled only from the latter
temperature down to approximately 45 degrees
Fahrenheit.
The habits of occupants of business and residential buildings in New York are adverse to
economy in the use which is made of this convenience, and it has been found that excessive
wastefulness prevails. Thus in one large hotel
where the iced-water faucets were placed over
sinks, it was found that the help were in the habit
of using the cooled water in summer time for
washing their hands, and even for cleaning tableware.
[189]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


In most cases the water must be circulated constantly around an extensive system of pipes, in
order that it shall not increase in temperature
while remaining stagnated in the piping. Such
losses are similar to those experienced in circulating heated water, but they are intensified in
the case of refrigerated water, since the process
of reducing temperature is greatly more complicated and expensive than the process of increasing the temperature of water.
Some of these facts might have been known to
those who were responsible for installingthe system
of drinking water piping in the Hall of Records,
but nevertheless the installation was made, and
was arranged with features which contributed to
the greatest extent of wastefulness, inasmuch as
the iced-water faucets were placed over the hand
lavatory fixtures. Moreover, the maintenance of
the supply is not confined to the warm season of
the year, but a circulating apparatus was kept in
motion throughout the larger part of the winter,
to circulate the water, which would otherwise become somewhat warmed by remaining in the
piping.
[190 ]




THE COST OF REFRIGERATED DRINKING-WATER
The use of the refrigerating apparatus is limited, of course, to the warmer portion of the year,
and in the case of the Hall of Records the appliances were in service only during a period of
twenty-four weeks.
As soon as this apparatus was set in motion
observations were made of the use by the occupants of the building of the cooled water, which
threw very interesting light upon the character
and extent of the wastage, and the limited value
which such a service afforded, compared with the
expense of its production. It was found that the
employees in the building had discovered that by
tying down the spring lever of the faucet on the
drinking water supply with a rubber band, a flow
of the cooled water could be continuously maintained into the wash-basin, in which they were in
the habit of placing bottles of milk for their
luncheons. It was ascertained that probably 75
per cent of all the water that was cooled was diverted in this manner from its intended purpose.
A comparison was fortunately available with
conditions existing in a commercial building in
the vicinity, in which a similar service is in use by
[ 191]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


a large number of tenants and a staff of manufacturing employees. In this building it was found
that the use of the water was conducted in a much
more economical manner. The water which was
actually drawn from the system in this building
represented 20 per cent of the total cooling effect,
80 per cent having been lost in the process of circulation around the piping.
In the Hall of Records only 5 per cent of the
work of refrigeration was represented by the
water withdrawn from the system, and 95 per
cent of all the work effected by the apparatus was
lost in the process of circulating the water around
in the piping. Even this statement fails to indicate the extent of the extravagance of the whole
process, for the amount which was drawn from
the system in the Hall of Records was the equivalent of a consumption of 15,000 drinking glasses
of water during a business day of about eight
hours. This represented approximately thirty
glasses of water a day for each occupant of the
building.
The expensive character of the process of refrigerating by this class of machinery was very
[192 ]




THE COST OF REFRIGERATED DRINKING-WATER
well determined by the records of the trial, and by
a special test which was conducted during a
period of five weeks. During these observations
it was found that the capacity of the apparatus,
which was 10 tons of refrigerating effect, or 5
tons ice-making capacity per twenty-four hours,
was utilized only to the extent of 56 per cent, representing the equivalent of the melting of 2-8/10
tons, or 5,600 pounds weight of ice per twentyfour hours.
This was the cooling effect required to maintain the low temperature upon the whole body of
water circulated around in the piping, and also to
reduce the temperature of such additional water
as was drawn from the house tanks to replace
that which was drawn out of the faucets. The
same effect of cooling the water could, of course,
have been effected in receptacles for ice in each of
the offices, in which case the actual work that was
effected in cooling the water that was used, extravagant though that amount was, would have
been accomplished by purchasing 700 pounds of
ice a day, the cost of which would have been about
$1.40. The only inconvenience accompanying that
[ 198]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


method, which is in common use elsewhere, is that
of the introduction of ice into the building and its
carriage up to the point of usage.
Under the circumstances described, it will not
be a matter of surprise to learn that the work of
maintaining this drinking-water service was very
costly.
The cost of steam, labor and supplies aggregated $1836, and with all expenses and fixed
charges the service involved a total of $2,798, to
which should be added the cost of water used in
condensing, about $200, making a total of
nearly $3,000.
Ice could have been bought, equivalent to the
total cooling work which was effected, for a sum
not exceeding $1,600, and the City would have
been saved the investment in this plant, of about
$7,500.
In the actual use that was made of the service
in the form of drinking-water, the supply of ice
for the season's service could have been purchased
for about $450.
Allowing two glasses, or a pint of water, as
a reasonable amount to be consumed by each
[194]




THE COST OF REFRIGERATED DRINKING-WATER
occupant daily for every working day in the year,
the expense of the system for an average of 600
occupants in the building was about $1000 per
one thousand cubic feet of water, or about eighttenths of a cent a glass.
While this refrigerating system was in operation, its evident extravagance led the departmental officials to adopt a method whereby the
cost of production might be somewhat reduced
through the use of exhausted or waste steam, instead of the live steam for which it had been
planned and installed.
In order to effect this purpose a change was
made in the piping of the pumps and appliances
in the room in which the refrigerating apparatus
was situated, the effect of which was to close up
the outlet of the wasted steam from some of the
pumps so that the steam would be forced into the
refrigerating apparatus under a pressure of
about 15 pounds to the square inch. This pressure is necessary, in order to properly effect the
process of evaporating the ammonia, but it of
course, had some reflex effect by retarding the
operation of the pumps, and by increasing their
[ 195 ]




A    UN ICIPAL EXPERIiMENT
demands for steam, so that it was not entirely an
economical gain.
Moreover, the larger part of the steam used by
the apparatus was still required to be high-pressure steam which was necessary to operate the
ammonia pump or compressor. The little experiment, however, led to much wider developments
in an unexpected direction.
The imagination of some of the departmental
officials was fired by this apparent economy, and
expanded into the conception of a large plant
for the manufacture of ice, to be operated by the
exhausted steam of all of the electric engines and
the pumping machinery. They went so far as to
suggest that an ice-manufactory large enough to
utilize the exhaust steam during the summer
should be installed in the Hall of Records, regardless of the character of the building, and of
the danger attending the introduction of ammonia-using apparatus in the lower part of a
public building containing documents and records of priceless value. Nevertheless, this proposition was communicated to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, and a resolution was
[ 1964]




THE COST OF REFRIGERATED DRINKING-WATER


introduced in that body proposing that steps
should first be taken to utilize the existing apparatus in the Hall of Records to manufacture
ice, as well as to conduct its existing duty of cooling water.
This statement was supported by the assertion
that twenty-five tons of ice a day could thus be
manufactured, which of course, was absolutely
impossible, as the full capacity of the machine was
only five tons a day, and of this, 56 per cent was
already in use upon the work of cooling water.
Moreover, the apparatus had no means and no
appliances for the manufacture of ice, for which
it was neither planned, nor designed, nor was
there any space available in a suitable position for
such a purpose.
Notwithstanding all these facts, statements
were given out to the press that ice could be made
under such circumstances, at a cost of $1.50 a
ton, and an application was actually made to the
Board for an appropriation of $40,000 for the
purchase of ice-making apparatus, which dubious
experiment might have been carried out had not
the facts brought out during the test, as to the
[197]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


real circumstances surrounding such a proposition, been brought to the attention of Mayor
Gaynor.
At the prices of fuel at the time of this discussion, the items of coal, labor and supplies alone
amounted to from $1.25 to $2 per ton of ice in
well-arranged and economical factories manufacturing ice in large quantities. It has always
been the case that ice is manufactured on a very
narrow margin of profit, which is invariably restricted by the competition of the natural supply.
It was naturally absurd to suppose that ice could
be produced under municipal conditions, and at
the rates of city wages, at prices competing with
commercial rates. The cost of steaml, of labor
and supplies in the Hall of Records plant was
about $3.50 per ton of ice-making capacity.
These points appealed to the Mayor, who
responded to communications sent to him in the
following characteristic letter:
CITY OF NEW YORK
Office of the Mayor
June 10th, 1918
Dear Mr. Bolton:
I am not surprised to receive your letter about the proposed new city ice plant. The statement given out is that
[198




THE COST OF REFRIGERATED DRINKING-WATER


certain engineers approve the enterprise. The Board of
Estimate and Apportionment never appointed any engineers
to examine into such a matter, that I am aware of, and I
never heard of any reports to that Board. You say that
you were appointed by Borough President McAneny, with
other engineers, to look into the matter, and that you are
convinced that the city could not profitably manufacture ice.
If the city is going into the manufacture of ice for the poor
we ought to do it after a committee has examined thoroughly into the matter. But you know an election is coming on and the matter is deemed one to catch votes with, and
some people do not want to wait for a careful investigation.
And I must say that I do not understand that there are so
many poor people asking us to make ice for them. As soon
as the matter is mentioned you hear it said by officials and
others that the poor people on the East side must have ice
made for them. I think I am as familiar with the East side
as any member of the present city government.  I have
taken occasion to look all over the East side. I deny that
the people on the East side are paupers. On the contrary, I
find them to be an industrious well to do community. The
percentage of pauperism among them is small. This continual libel on the East side of their being paupers and
criminals is annoying to those who live there, and to a
great many other people. I happen to know that there are
very few people that are asking that the city provide them
with ice. During the last three years I have advertised to
the public through the newspapers that anyone who is too
poor to pay for ice at the prevailing rates may go to any
of the charitable societies, or head-quarters of the settlement
workers, and obtain ice tickets without charge. I expect to
do the same thing again in a few days. I am not at liberty
to reveal the name of the person who provides these tickets.
I hope he will let me reveal his name this year. But the
quantity of ice that is taken in this way is extremely small.
[199]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
It would surprise you to learn how small it is. I have not
the figures in my mind just now, but if you are interested to
know them I will have them sent to you. Let us have an
end of all this libeling of the people of the East side by
talking of their pauperism, and of their need for the city
to furnish them with free ice and free this and free that.
There are some people very solicitous about the condition
of the people on the East side. especially one day each
year, namely, election day.
Very truly yours,
(signed) W. J. Gaynor,
Mayor.
In a later communication the Mayor stated
that about 900,000 pounds of ice were given away
free during the year 1912, through the agency of
the Department of Health, the whole of which
was a free gift on the part of the Knickerbocker
Ice Company, which has conducted this charitable undertaking for a number of years past.
It was a rather interesting comment upon this
discussion that an investigation was made at the
time into the circumstances of a municipal icemaking plant which is operated on North Brother
Island, chiefly by prison labor. The product of
the plant in this not wholly savory situation, was
found to be disposed of by shipment on the boats
of the Department of Correction, to other city
institutions. It was ascertained that during the
[200]




THE COST OF REFRIGERATED DRINKING-WATEB


process of transit, 40 per cent of the volume of
the ice was melted, and approximately 50 per
cent of the remainder would have been unnecessary under economical management.
These facts and disclosures rather pungently
illustrated the fallacy underlying the hopeful anticipations of municipal management and conduct of such commercial processes as the manufacture of ice, and throw a rather informing sidelight upon the point to which such enthusiasts
might better direct their attention, namely: the
economizing of prevailing wastages in the use of
expensive products and conveniences.


r20ao




CHAPTER XIII.


THE COST OF PUBLIC SERVICE.
T    was one of the anticipated effects of the
test of the power plant in the Hall of Records that it would provide the basic facts wherewith a direct comparison could be made of the
cost of operation during another year of trial.
During this second period the services of the
building, to the same extent and of the same
character would be operated by means of the public supply of electricity, either with or without
the use of the public supply of steam. The figures of cost determined during the first year of
trial were to afford the means of deciding the
question of the comparative value of the continued use of the boiler plant, or of the purchase of
steam. This anticipalion was embodied in an
agreement under the conditions of which the trial
was undertaken by the three parties in interest.
The expectation that this comparative trial
would be undertaken added greatly to the interest
[ 202 ]




THE COST OF PUBLIC SERVICE


of the observations conducted during the year of
test, and had it been carried out it would have
afforded a very clear demonstration of the methods, and would have settled any and all questions
as to the details of the change of system. It
was not, however, necessary to conduct such a
trial to decide the relative cost of the supply of
electricity and steam, because the facts obtained
during the test provided complete information
as to the quantities of steam and electricity
which were generated, and those which were
utilized in each service.
There was practically no element which afforded any opportunity for divergence of opinion
as to the effect of discontinuing the use of the
generating plant, except that of the extent of
labor which would be found necessary under the
changed and reduced operations.
The Department conceded only a reduction of
$2,944 in wages, and the engineering advisers of
the Bureau of Municipal Research estimated the
saving at $4,683. Both of these fell short of what
could readily be effected if economy in this direction were sincerely desired.
[208]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


The other question which was involved concerned the quantity of coal that would be required under these changed conditions, a question
which also would have been definitely settled by
the comparative trial. But there was no wide
divergence of value in this matter. The engineers
representing the three several interests, made
separate estimates, some of which were the results
of an extraordinary amount of detailed study.
Their estimates varied from a maximum of 4054
tons of fuel (or 68,600,000 pounds of steam) as
estimated by the Department engineers, to 3585
tons of fuel (56,599,000 pounds of steam) as
estimated by the engineers representing the Bulreau of Municipal Research, and a minimum of
3,330 tons of fuel (52,300,000 pounds of steam),
which was the estimate of the engineers representing the New York Edison Company. The
largest difference was thus only 724 tons, the total value of which would have been about $2,143.
The two other estimates varied only to the extent
of a value of $754 which was quite an immaterial
amount, in view of the large difference between
the total expense of the operation of the plant
[ 204]




I


Burning Cheap Fuel.




I
I




THE COST OF PUBLIC SERVICE
and the purchasable prices of steam and electricity. The differences of estimate, such as they
were, were largely due to the assumption on the
part of the City engineers, that the wastages and
losses which accompanied the operation of the
plant, would necessarily be maintained after the
operation of the generating engines had come to
an end.
It does not seem reasonable, however, to assume that when there was no longer any use for
large piping, the purpose of which was to supply
steam to these disused machines, that the use of
this piping would be continued. Some small reconnections only are necessary to bring about that
result, at a total expense of no more than three
hundred dollars. Similarly, it was reasonable to
assume that in the absence of any operation of
machinery during the night hours, arrangements
would be made whereby labor would not be maintained to an unnecessary extent, and should it be
found more economical to purchase steam during
the summer season, that the boiler plant would be
then discontinued, and the fire-room labor force
dispensed with for that period.
[ 205]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIM ENT


These views rather naturally met with opposition on the part of employees with whose habits
and methods they conflicted, but on the whole, the
main point determinable by the facts brought out
in the trial, is not largely affected by these points,
since it was evident from any arrangement of the
figures, that the cost of each of the services provided by the plant was excessive, and the general
result of the combination of the services, was an
unnecessary total expense, which could be reduced by reverting to the method of the purchase
of the electrical service, with or without the purchase of steam.
Wrhen this point had become so clear as to admit of no further discussion, a new issue was
raised by those who represented the interests of
the Bureau of Municipal Research. The theory
was advanced that the price at which electricity
could be purchased, constituted a preferential
rate in favor of the City, and that it should not
therefore be regarded as a determining figure,
and moreover, the rate having come into force
since the commencement of the trial, any comnparison should be founded not upon that rate, but
@ e *            [ 20 6]




THE COST OF PUBLIC SERVICE


upon the price which prevailed at the commencement of the trial, which was three cents per kilowatt hour.
This process of reasoning, if it can be so described, coupled with another new assumption, to
the effect that the amount of electricity used
would be practically the same as it was during the
period of the trial (inclusive of the operations of
ventilating and lighting the engine room) resulted in an assumption of the cost of purchased
electricity exceeding $21,000, which quantity as
a matter of actual fact, could then and can now
be purchased for less than $14,000. With the
more probable lessened demand, the cost would
not exceed $12,000. But even with these strained
assumptions, and with a total neglect of such
conceded elements as the return of taxes paid by
the Edison Company to the City, and other elements of cost, the engineering representatives of
the Bureau only succeeded in convincing themselves that the purchasable price of electricity
under a public service supply should not exceed
1.66 cents per kilowatt hour. As the price at
Which the energy could be purchased was 1.92
[207]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
cents per kilowatt hour, the difference they found
in favor of the continued operation of the plant
was only.26 of a cent per kilowatt hour, amounting on the total consumption they assumed, to
only $1,820! Their lame conclusion was thus
caught on the horns of a dilemma of their own
making.
This result was further determined only upon
the bare operating costs, inclusive of no fixed
charges, nor any charge for supervision, and irrespective of loss to the city through the change
of the rate in the Brooklyn Bridge service. The
best that could be said for such a very lamely ascertained result is, that it illustrated the fact that
the plant had practically no commercial value.
since it was by their own showing, barely competing with the prevailing price of the public supply,
and that this result was being effected at an annual expense to the city upon the investment that
had been made, amounting to more than $10,000
a year.
The reasonable method of determining the
differences in estimated labor was, of course, the
operation of another year of trial, during which
[208




THE COST OF PUBLIC SERVICE


the facts and figures of expense under another
system could have been readily and positively
ascertained. This, however, was denied by the
action of the majority of the representatives of
the parties at issue, those representing the Bureau of Municipal Research, and the City Departments interested, joining in a refusal to
recommend the city authorities to authorize the
continuance of this comparative trial, in spite of
their written agreement to do so. Their motives
in thus evading the issue can be left to the judgment of the reader.
The results of this test must therefore stand
for themselves, and to any unprejudiced observer who will take the pains to investigate the
figures of cost and quantities ascertained in the
trial, no other conclusion can possibly be reached
than that the expense of operation of this plant,
as well as the burdens of its original investment,
involve the city in a continuing loss.
The division of the total expense of operating
this or any other plant, between such services as
it provides, can be so manipulated as to load any
one of those services with an undue proportion
[ 209]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


of the expense, thereby producing an apparent
effect of great economy in some other service.
But a common-sense disposal of such a method is
readily reached by a comparison of the cost of
the expensive service with its real commercial
value. That value, where a public supply is available, is the price at which equivalent service can
be obtained from another source.  Thus the
steam generated in this building was limited to
the value of 42 cents per 1000 pounds weight, at
which price it could be purchased in equal quantities from the mains outside this building, and
similarly the production of electrical energy
could not be of any financial advantage to the
city, if its total expense exceeded the price of 1.92
cents per kilowatt hour. Moreover, if the whole
combination was more expensive than some other
method of operation, the investment and the work
of operating the plant were of no commercial or
financial value.
The only way in which the effect of these fixed
limitations upon the value of the plant could be
evaded was by assuming or by actually carrying
into effect, some excessive or wasteful use of pur[ 210 ]




THE COST OF PUBLIC SERVICE
chased steam or electricity, or by loading the
operation of a reduced number of appliances with
some disproportionate extent of labor. But even
under such methods all the fixed charges remain
as a continual source of expense to the city, and
must so continue during the term of existence of
the bonds upon the sale of which the money for
the investment was obtained.
A very plain understanding of the general results of the investment in this plant is afforded
by the summary of the ascertained facts and figures detailed in the preceding chapters. See
table page 81. Here we have clearly defined the
entire expenses in which the city had been involved in the production of the several services
which have been described. Thus the entire cost
of the production of the steam can be distributed
between the several services in the proportion in
which it was used, which is the only way in which
it can be fairly divided. If that proportion should
result, as it does, in showing that the cost of all
the services is excessive, then it would become evident that the whole operation is being conducted
at an unnecessary degree of expense.
211]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


The only complication that could arise in this
simple statement, would be the extent to which
the use of steam derived from the engines and
pumps can be taken off the cost of their service
and charged against the cost of heating the building. But this was disposed of by the facts of the
test, and accepted by the Board of Engineers.
The steam charged to each service is only that
remaining after deducting the exhausted steam
used in the work of heating. The cost of each of
the several services is relieved of that expense,
throwing the expense of the steam upon the work
of heating.
The entire quantity of steam used in heating
and hot-water work, was barely 40 per cent of the
total amount raised during the year, and of this,
about 88 per cent was secured in the form of exhausted steam. The allotment of this amount to
the credit of each of the several services, was determined by the trial, and finally left a total of
40.5 per cent of all the steam chargeable to the
work of heating. This, therefore, carried with it
40.5 per cent of the total expense of producing
steam. Therefore the rest of the cost of produc[212]




THE COST OF PUBLIC           SERVICE
ing steam, or 59/2 per cent, was left to be divided
among the other services, of which the test decided the relative proportion of the total steam
to be charged to each as follows:
Per Cent
To electrical generating engines........ 89.82
To elevator pump operation............ 12.05
To house water pumping............... 8.8
To the drinking-water service........... 2.85
To pumping sewage...................  0.91
The sub-division of the various costs, therefore,
becomes a simple process of division upon these
proportions, so far as the steam expense is concerned.
The same common sense methods must apply
to the distribution of labor, the expense of which
must be divided between the services produced,
for they can be disposed of in no other manner.
Part of the men's services were so charged by the
Department accounts. The remainder must be
spread over the services in the same proportion.
The other expenses of supplies and repairs were
allotted to the several services during the trial.
The total expense was thus divisible in the following fair proportions:
[ 21]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
Heating...........per cent of total costs 26.9
Electricity........"  " "  "   "   47.0
Elevator.......... "." "   "   "  16.45
Water........... "   " "   "   "    3.18
Refrigeration...... "." ". "  4.5
Sewage...........   "  "  "  "  "  1.97
The alternative system of operation of the several services provided by this plant, which it was
agreed by the parties in interest should receive
consideration, were never studied in detail in the
manner that has been presented in the foregoing
chapters. The possibilities and arrangements of
alternative operation were ignored, and discussion ranged chiefly around the question of ceasing
the operation of only one element in the plant,
namely, the electrical generating engines.
It has already been pointed out that a considerable economy could be effected by that simple
course of action, but the larger reduction in the
cost of the services could be secured through a
more complete change of the system of operation,
by the purchase of steam from tie public service,
and by the use of purchased electricity for the
operations of elevator service and pumping work
as well as lighting. By such a means, a saving of
[214 ]




THE COST OF PUBLIC SERVICE


$15,000 a year could be effected, even with the
continued charges for interest and depreciation
upon the abandoned boilers and machinery, and
also the burden of additional interest and depreciation upon a sum of money required to change
the elevators to a more modern electrical form.
The expense of operating would then be as follows:
TOTAL EXPENSE OF OPERATION WITH PURCHASED ELECTRICITY AND STEAM
All the steam for house heating, for warm water
and for refrigeration purposes, at 42 cents per
thousand pounds......................... $12,910
The present interest and depreciation charges on
the boiler plant, continued.................  5,676
All the electricity required for lighting, and for
general power purposes, about 590,000 kilowatt hours per annum, at 1.92c............  11,448
The present fixed charges of interest and depreciation on the electric engines and generators,
continued...............................    2,256
Operation of the elevators by electricity, involving the fixed charges on the expenditure of
$48,000 for electric elevators, the purchase of
energy, and the maintenance of the existing
interest and depreciation on the hydraulic
plant...................................   8,760
The pumping of water by the electrical pump,
including the purchase of energy and the continuance of the fixed charges on the existing
steam pumping apparatus.................     893
[ 215]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMIENT


The refrigerating apparatus, the steam for which
is included in the first item, leaving the supplies and repairs, and the existing fixed charges
on  the  apparatus.........................
The operation of a sewage pump by electricity,
requiring the purchase of electricity and fixed
charges on the pump, and the continuance of
the existing fixed charges on the present apparatus.................................
In none of the foregoing items is any labor included.  The operation of the reduced apparatus, most of which would now be entirely
automatic, would involve under municipal operation the provision of a chief engineer and
one or two assistants. Allow for three men at


990
463


municipal rates of $5 and I3 per diem.......  4,015
Total...............................  $47,406
This is $14,823 less than the full expense of
operation as determined by the test.
These facts and figures render it impossible to
evade the conclusion that the entire operation of
these services is excessively expensive. The city is
found to be expending a total of $62,229 a year.
For that sum it secures three services of importance and three minor services. They are all excessively costly. Several of them could be effected at greatly lessened expense by the use of
purchased electricity, and all could be conducted
by the use of purchased steam and electricity at
[ 216 ]




THE COST OF PUBLIC SERVICE
twenty-five per cent reduction in expense.,The quantities of steam and of electricity which
were used could be substantially reduced if purchased. The fixed charges cannot now be discontinued and must remain as a continuing loss.
But the actual disbursements can be reduced by
a reduction of labor and fuel, and the purchase
of electric energy. These expenses have largely
increased since the test by the rising cost of fuel.
The most economical methods and care in operation have failed to effect a financial advantage in
the continued operation of the plant. Only a
stubborn disregard for facts, or misunderstanding of plain figures, stand in the way of relief
of expense to the taxpayers of the city.
The discussion of the results of the test resulted
in a prolonged delay, and eventual refusal to conduct the comparative trial which had been agreed
upon. The New York Edison Company even
went so far as to guarantee to provide services
of equal extent, at a cost of not exceeding $35,000
a year, or four thousand dollars less than the
actual disbursements upon operating costs alone.
This guaranteed to the city a direct saving during
[ 217 ]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT


the period of comparative trial, but in spite of
this guarantee the trial was refused.
The conclusion of the investigation, and the
facts and comparisons brought forth irresistibly
the determination that the investment of municipal funds in the establishment of such a plant
as that in this building, even with the subsequent
enlargement of its scope of operations, is not of
financial advantage to the city, and that the operating costs of such a plant, even when conducted under desirably economical conditions,
cannot compete with the reducing prices at which
the service of electricity can be purchased from
public sources.
The lesson of the failure of this investment, is
that the policy of municipal authorities, as well
as that of conservative owners of improved real
estate, should evidently be seriously to consider,
not merely the present circumstances of the operation of a private plant competing with the cost
of a public supply, but also the probable future
increase in the costs of private operation, as compared with the equally probable reductions in the
cost of public service.
[218]




THE COST OF PUBLIC SERVICE


The loss that has occurred upon a large number
of private plants, the enormous investments in
which have become entirely discounted by the
progress of these processes, could have been
avoided had this reasonable thoughtfulness been
more widely exercised. It must be evident to
those who look at the matter from an impartial
point of view, that the subject should be regarded
as one which is a continuing situation over a long
period of years, during which, even if some enhanced expense were incurred in the current expenses in the first part of the period, the situation
would probably change to the reverse condition
towards the end of the period considered. But in
any case it would seem to be the part of wisdom
to avoid any unnecessary investment of capital in
machinery, the best purposes of which are merely
competitive, and the entire value of which becomes discounted so soon as the competition in
cost has reached the point of balance.
It is certainly a proper course for an engineer
to advise his employer or client upon these phases
of the purchase of machinery, and to deal with
the subject of the use of central station service
[219]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
without the prejudice and selfish interest only too
frequently exhibited.
The conclusion from these studies is, therefore,
to be very clearly seen in the reduction of expense
which is made apparent in the cost of each service under a more modernized system, and by the
use of purchased supply of steam and electricity,
rather than by the continued operation of machinery under municipal management. But the same
effects would be found in private operations, even
though the expense of labor would probably be
considerably less than under municipal management.
The process is inevitable, in all such combinations of machinery, whereby a gradual change
takes place in the surrounding conditions,
which have the effect of reducing the value of the
output of the combination, which is at all times
competing with other methods of accomplishing
the same objects. It is this process which terminates the usefulness of operating machinery
in advance of the wearing out of its working
parts, and places the limit of time upon the effectiveness of such combinations as form the
[ 220]




THE COST OF P U B L IC S E R V I C E
usual isolated plant. Whatever apparatus may
be provided under such conditions, the effects
which it secures and the output which it provides
should be systematically compared with the commercial value of similar service, or equivalent output provided in some other manner.
The developments of mechanical science, and
the rapid modification of the habits and needs of
modern tenants require changes which must be
expected within a comparatively short space of
time, and may occur within a very limited period
of time. The value of machinery installed for
such purposes, even under the most advantageous
and economical prevailing conditions always
stands liable to be entirely discounted within a
few years by the increase in the cost of the materials which it uses, and of the labor which is
required for its care, and at the same time, and
following a directly opposite process, the product
of the plant is undergoing a reduction of its commercial value by declining prices charged for
public service, and by alternative methods under
which the same results as are afforded by an isolated plant can be attained at lessened cost.
I[ 221 ]








INDEX
A
PAGE
ACCOUNTS................................         146
FOR LABOR................................     213
ACCOUNTANTS.............................49, 93
AIR COMPRESSORS........................           48
ELECTRICALLY OPERATED....................      185
FOR SEWAGE DISCHARGE.....................      184
ALTERINATIVE OPERATION...............61,214
ALTERNATIVE TEST.......................          209
AMORTIZATION............................          66
ASH
COST OF ELEVATING.........................     108
DISCHARGE FROM CHIMNEYS..................      47
DISPOSITION  OF...........................105, 106
METHODS OF REMOVAL.......................      106
RELATION TO FUEL..........................     107
ASH REMOVAL.........................103 to 109
COST  TO  CITY...............................  104
EXPENSE  OF...............................81, 104
TOTAL  EXPENSES..........................107,109
ASH   ELEVATOR........................... 108
AUXILIARY APPARATUS...........47, 48, 100, 119
AUXILIARY PUMPS-STEAM CONSUMPTION                 101
B
BOARD OF ENGINEERS..... 49, 54, 60, 124, 139, 212
BOARD    OF ESTIMATE       AND    APPORTIONM ENT.................................19   196
BOILER PLANT...........................           80
BONDS-MUNICIPAL.......................64,65
[ 223]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
PAGE
BOROUGH OF BROOKLYN-USE OF WATER.                 174
BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN................              10
BROOKLYN      BRIDGE-ELECTRIC SERVICE,
140, 208
BUREAU OF HIGHWAYS...................  105
BUREAU OF MUNICIPAL RESEARCH,
10, 14, 61, 92, 203, 204, 206, 209
BUREAU OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS...........69,95
C
CAPITAL EXPENSE......................9, 62,63
CAPITAL INVESTIMENT
BOILERS...................................    101
Loss ON...................................     208
CENTRAL STATION SERVICE........... 219, 220
CHIMINEY..................................        31
CHI.MNEY    GASES..........................    97
CIRCULATION OF WARM WATER........... 181
CITY COURT (See Municipal Court)
CITY HAIIT.............................18, 19.20
COST  OF  SERVICES...........................  77
PROPORTIONS  O............................   21
BUILDING.  Cosr  OF..........................  19
COMMETRCIAL BUILDINGS.................            17
COMPARATIVE OPERATION............... 221
COMPARATIVE TEST...................... 202
CONDENSATION...........3..5, 36
COOIING DRINKING WATER
(See Refrigeration)
CORNELL UNIVERSITY....................            54
CORPORATE STOCK........................           65
COST ACCOUNTS...........................          49
LABOR.....................................     89
COSTS
D)E'TILED STATEMENT OF...................       81
DIVISION BETWEEN SERVICES................209, 210
TOTAL....................................      62
TOTAL  OF  PLANT.........................  92
[224]




INDEX
PAGE
COUNTY COURT.............18, 20, 21, 22, 157, 158
COST OF SERVICES.........................     77
PROPORTIONS OF............................   121
COST  OF..................................  20
ELEVATORS.................................   40
DEPARTMENTS              D
CORRECTION................................  200
HEALTH...............................      200
PUBLIC WORKS...... 54, 60, 69, 91, 93, 97,104,203,204
STREET CLEANING................... 104, 105, 107
WATER SUPPLY................. 10, 13, 170, 174, 175
REGULATIONS  OF......................  170,171
DTEDERICH, DR. H.........................       54
DEPRECIATION................... 50, 70, 71, 72,73
AVERAGE RATE............................  148
OF  PLANT..........................74, 75
SUBDIVIDED.................................  81
DETERIORATION..........................   70
DOCUMENTS-STORAGE OF...............66, 67
DRINKING WATER........................          42
CIRCULATION OF...........................    190
COMMERCIAL  USE.........................  191,192
EXPENSE OF................................    76
EXPENSE OF SERVICE.........................   194
INDIVIDUAL CONSUMPTION.................. 194, 195
IN HALL OF RECORDS......................187, 194
PROPORTION OF STEAM USED...................   78
PROPORTION OF TOTAL COST..................   214
TEMPERATURES..............................    189
USE IN HALL OF RECORDS....................    192
USE IN WINTER.............................   190
DUST......................................45, 46
E
ECONOMY OF INCREASED OUTPUT.........8,27
ELECTRIC ENGINES.......................36,37
AVERAGE USE OF STEAM....................142, 143
ELECTRICITY.........................37, 134-153
COST OF PUBLIC SERVICE...................... 150
DIVIDED BETWEEN BUILDINGS.................. 150
[225]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
PAGE
EXPENSE OF PUBLIC SERVICE................... 207
INCREASED PRICE OF FUEL................... 158
LIMIT  OF  VALUE............................  210
Loss  ON  PRODUCTION........................  152
MUNICIPAL PRODUCTION......................  138
NET  PRODUCTION...........................  135
PERCENTAGES USED..........................  150
PRODUCTION COST...........................  149
PROPORTION OF STEAM USED.................    78
PROPORTION OF TOTAL COST.................. 214
TOTAL EXPENSE INVOLVED.................. 149,150
TOTAL PRODUCTION..........................  135
U NIT  COST.................................  137
UTILIZED- COST  OF..........................  150
ELECTRICITY PURCHASED
NET COST.................................. 151
TOTAL  COST............................  151
QUANTITY PURCHASABLE...................137,217
RATE  PAID  BY  CITY..........................  139
SUPERVISION OF PURCHASED SUPPLY............. 151
ELECTRIC LIGHTING.....................        136
COSTS  OF...................................  75
ELECTRIC MOTORS.......................         48
ELECTRIC RATES..........................      206
ELECTRIC SERVICE
HALL OF RECORDS........................... 136
PRICE  OF................................207, 208
ELEVATORS..............................154-167
BOOK  LIFTS................................  159
CAR TRAVEL............................   56
COMPARATVE VALUE........................    165
CONSUMPTION OF ELECTRICITY.................  157
COST OF RE-MODELING....................... 166
DISTANCE  TRAVELED........................  163
ELECTRIC.......................39,40,51,154, 157
ELECTRIC EXPENSE..........................  164
FIXED CHARGES...........................    164
HORSE-POWER REQUIRED.....................   166
H YDRAULIC...............................155,159
IN COUNTY COURT BUILDING................ 17, 158
LIFE OF.................................     39
226 ]




INDEX
PAGE
PLUNGER....1......................155,156
PUMPS............................ 38, 159, 160, 161
TRAFFIC...................................    156
ELEVATOR OPERATION-PROPORTION OF
TOTAL COST........................... 214
ELEVATOR PUMPS-USE OF STEAM........ 161
ELEVATOR SERVICE
BY PURCHASED ELECTRICITY..................   215
COST OF................................       81
COST OF ELECTRICITY........................  162
EXPENSE OF................................    75
PROPORTION OF STEAM USED..................    78
ENGINES
ECONOMY OF............................... 122
ELECTRIC..................................36,87
IN HALL OF RECORDS........................   123
NIGHT  USE.................................  141
SHARE OF AUXILIARY STEAM................... 144
STEAM CONSUMPTION......................123, 124
STEAM CONTRIBUTED TO HEATING..............   125
TOTAL  STEAM  USED.........................  144
EXHAUST STEAM
APPARENT  ECONOMY.........................  145
LIMITATIONS OF VALUE................. 125, 182, 133
PROPORTIONS DIVIDED.......................   124
F
FEED PUMPS..........................            34
FIXED CHARGES..........................         148
BOILERS...................................  101
DETAILED..................................   81
FIXED EXPENSES.........................79,80
FRANCHISE RETURNS.................... 112
FUEL.....................................   31
ASHES...................................  33
AVERAGE COST.............................     96
COST  OF....................................  32
EXPENSE OF................................    81
INCREASE  IN  PRICE..........................  152
MAXIMUM CONSUMPTION......................     99
[227]


__




A  MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
PAGE
RELATED  TO  LABOR..........................  85
REQUIRED WITH PUBLIC SERVICE............... 204
STORAGE...................................   33
USED IN THE TEST...........................95, 96
G
GAS
COST   OF.....................................  81
EXPENSE  OF................................  109
GENERATING PLANT DISCONTINUED...... 203
H
HALL OF RECORDS...................23-28, 45, 46
COST   OF....................................  24
COST OF SERVICES..................            77
DRAINAGE..................................    43
ELECTRIC WATER PUIP......................    179
HOT WATER SUPPLY....................42, 180, 182
LIGHTING   OF............................... 24-25
MANUFACTURE   OF  ICE..................... 196,197
MECHANICAL PLANT.....................26, 27, 29
MOTORS IN.........................            37
PROPORTIONS OF........................... 121
PROPORTIONS OF HEATING STEAM..............   121
REFRIGERATING APPARATUS...................    42
W ATER  SUPPLY...........................   41
WATER  USED  IN.............................  176
HA,LL OF RECORDS BUILDING
COST   OF..............................  65
COST OF OPERATION.................        70
TOTAL COST OF OPERATION..................     74
HALL OF RECORDS PLANT
TOTAL COST........................           148
TOTAL  EXPENSE...........................81,211
HEATING
AIR   VALVES............................. 115,116
BY EXHAUST STEAM.......................116, 117
BY  Low  PRESSURE...........................  128
BY PURCHASED STEAM........................   131
CIRCULATING SYSTEMS.....................128, 129
CLIMATIC  CONDITIONS........................  117
COST OF...................................    75
HALL OF RECORDS BUILDING................120, 121
[ 228 ]




INDEX
PAGE
HALL OF RECORDS ONLY.....................    127
IN  NEW   YORK........................51, 117, 118
MAXIMUM DEMAND..........................     127
NIGHT HOURS.............................144,145
PRESSURES REQUIRED........................114, 115
PROPORTION OF STEAM USED.............78, 121,130
PROPORTION OF TOTAL COST.................. 214
SANITARY WATER (See Hot Water)
STEAM.....................................   56
STEAM REQUIRED..........................119, 120
STEAM   USED.............................212,213
TOTAL  COST...............................81, 130
UTILIZATION OF EXHAUST STEAM...............  122
VACUUM SYSTEMS........................128, 129
VALUE OF EXHAUST STEAM.................... 132
VARIATIONS.................................  118
HEATING BUILDINGS.................. 114, 130
HOT WATER............................... 126
DEMAND  FOR............................  126,127
EXPENSE OF................................   182
IN BUSINESS BUILDINGS......................  180
STEAM USED FOR............................   182
USE  IN  SUMMER.............................  182
ICE                      I
COST OF MANUFACTURE.......................   198
EQUIVALENT REFRIGERATION..................   193
FOR COOLING WORK.........................    194
FREE GIFTS OF.............................. 200
MANUFACTURE IN HALL OF RECORDS.......... 196, 198
MUNICIPAL MANUFACTURE.................... 200
PUBLIC SUPPLY.............................   199
USE  OF...................................  187
ICE CREAM-MANUFACTURE OF..........             189
ICE PLANT-NORTH BROTHER ISLAND.... 200
ICED WATER (See Drinking Water)
INTEREST.................................50,68
AVERAGE RATE.............................   66
ON MACHINERY.............................     81
INVESTMENT IN PLANT-FAILURE OF.... 218
ISOLATED PLANTS-LIMIT OF VALUE...... 221
[ 229]




A  MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
K                      PAGE
KNICKERBOCKER ICE COMPANY..........             200
L
LABOR...................................  59, 146
COST   OF...................................  57
COST  RELATED  TO  FUEL......................83,84
DISPENSED  WITH............................  147
DISTRIBUTION   OF..........................79,213
EXPENSE  OF................................   81
FIRE  ROOM..........................84, 90, 96, 97
IN  HALL  OF  RECORDS........................86, 87
IN  SUMMER  SEASON.........................  102
NIGHT HOURS............................. 205
RATE  OF  PAY...............................  87
RELATED TO FUEL...........................     99
RELATING TO QUANTITY OF FUEL...............    85
REMOVING  ASHES...........................   108
UNDER MUNICIPAL CONDITIONS...............82, 86
UNDER PRIVATE MANAGEMENT................       83
UNDISTRIBUTED COST........................     89
WITH PUBLIC SERVICES.....................90, 216
LABOR ORGANIZATIONS.................. 15, 87
LETTER FROM MAYOR GAYNOR........... 198
LIGHTING VARIATIONS...................           118
LOSS BY OPERATION OF PLANT............            80
MACHINERY                M
LIFE OF................................        64
TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSE..................      81
MAYOR GAYNOR-LETTER FROM........198, 200
METERS...................................     53
TESTING...............................   55
MUNICIPAL COURT
COST  OF  SERVICES............................  77
ELEVATORS.................................    40
PROPORTIONS  OF............................  121
MUNICIPAL COURT BUILDING............22, 23
MUNICIPAL BONDS........................ 64,65
MUNICIPALITY —CREDIT OF..............            63
[ 280 ]




INDEX
PAGE
MUNICIPAL INVESTMENT.................            112
MUNICIPAL OPERATION
DELAY  IN  REPAIRS........................179, 180
EXCESSIVE COST OF PLANT.................... 216
N
NEW YORK EDISON COMPANY
10, 14, 92, 138, 139, 151, 157, 158, 204, 207, 217
GUARANTEE OF COST.........................     217
TAXES PAID BY.............................  138
NEW YORK SERVICE COMPANY...........91, 92
NEW YORK STEAM COMPANY
21, 29, 78, 86, 100, 102, 103, 110, 112, 131
COST  OF  SUPPLY............................  102
PAYMENTS FOR WATER....................... 102
PRICE  OF  SUPPLY............................  30
NORTH BROTHER ISLAND ICE PLANT...... 200
0
OBSERVERS................................    54
OBSOLESCENCE...........................70, 71
OPERATING COSTS....................... 74,75
OPERATING EXPENSES...................   149
P
PAUL SYSTEM.............................    129
PIPING STEAM............................52,53
PLANT OPERATION DECREASING VALUE..                220
POWER PIANT-COST OF..................             66
PRIVATE PLANTS-INVESTMENT IN...... 219
PROPERTY OWNERS.......................11,14
PUBLIC SERVICE........................202-221
COST OF ELECTRIC SUPPLY.................... 215
COST OF STEAM SUPPLY......................     215
ECONOMY OF..............................       215
STEAM REQUIREMENTS....................... 204
TOTAL  EXPENSE  OF........................215, 216
WAGE REDUCTIONS......................... 203
PUBLIC SUPPLY, ELECTRIC............... 202
COST   OF...................................   81
PREFERENTIAL RATES........................ 206
[ 231]




A MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
R                     PAGE
REFRIGERATING APPARATUS
COST RELATED TO CAPACITY..................  198
TEST Or...................................   193
USE  OF EXHAUST  STEAM.................... 195,196
REFRIGERATION
PROPORTION OF TOTAL COST..................   214
USEFUL  EFFECT............................  192
REFRIGERATING MACHINERY IN HOTELS.              188
REFRIGERATING       WORK    W\ITH     PUBLIC
SERVICE.......................             216
REPAIRS
DISTRIBUTION  OF...........................  213
MUNICIPAL NEGLECT.......................     179
REPORT BY BUREAU OF MUNICIPAL RESEARCH................................ 7,61
SEWAGE                   S
COST  OF  DISCHARGE.......................185, 186
IN  HALL  OF  RECORDS......................183,186
PROPORTION OF STEAM USED..................    78
SEWAGE DISCHARGE-EXPENSE PER EMPLOYEE............................ 186
SEWAGE EJECTORS........................        184
SEWAGE PUMPING
BY  ELECTRICITY............................  216
EXPENSE OF............................   76
PROPORTION OIF TOTAL COST.................. 214
SERVICES
OF TIE SEPARATE BUILDINGS..................   77
PROVIDED BY THE PLANT.....................    75
SEWER    SYSTE...........................   43
SMOKE.....................................   95
SPACE
EXPENSE OF..........................   81
FOR MACHINERY.4.......................   44
STEAM
AIR CONTENTS.......................... 115
ANNUAL Loss ON............................ 111
COST  IN  SUMMER............................  100
[ 232 ]




INDEX
PAGE
DIVISION BETWEEN SERVICES................212, 213
EFFICIENCY OF PRODUCTION..................    97
ESTIMATED QUANTITIES.......................92, 93
EXHAUST....................................  59
EXPENSE OF PUBLIC SUPPLY................110,111
EXPENSES............................          94
IN SUMMER SEASON..............1...........   102
LIMIT OF VALUE............................ 210
LIVE...........................  58, 59
OVERHEAD EXPENSES........................  110
PRODUCTION................................   94
PRODUCTION EXPENSE........................   110
PRODUCTION IN HALL OF RECORDS..............   95
PROPORTIONATE USE........................     78
PUBLIC SUPPLY.............................    29
QUANTITIES............................... 58,59
QUANTITY FROM PUBLIC SERVICE...............  110
QUANTITY PURCHASABLE.....................    217
RATE OF EVAPORATION.......................    96
RELATED  TO  FUEL........................96, 97, 98
TOTAL PRODUCTION COST....................     81
USED FOR HOT WATER.......................    127
USED IN ELEVATOR SERVICE............... 161, 162
USED IN HEATING...........................    51
STEAM PRODUCTION-EXPENSE OF.......               78
STEAM   PIPES-LOSSES IN................  205
STEAM     PIPING............................34, 35
STEAM   PUMPS
Fon  AMMONIA............................188,196
FOR WATER SERVICE:.........................  176
STEAM SUPPLY IN SUMMER............... 205
STORAGE BATTERY............37, 38, 87, 135, 142
COST OF...................................    75
LIMIT OF USEFULNESS........................  142
SUB BASEMENT.........................43, 44,66
COST OF...................................    67
EXPENSES OF..............................75, 183
EXPENSES OF OPERATING.....................67, 68
SEWAGE DISCHARGED FROM.................... 184
VENTILATION...............................   67
[ 233 ]




A  MIUNICIPAI EXPERIMENT
PAGE
SUPERVISION..............................   69
COST   OF...................................  70
SUPPIES- DISTRIBUTION OF............ 218
T
TABULATIONS
COST OF INDIVIDUAL SERVICES.................  76
COST OF SERVICES IN SEPARATE BUILDINGS.......  77
COST OF STEAM PRODUCTION.................. 110
COST OF THE PURCHASE OF STEAM.............. 111
DETAILED STATEMENT OF ALL COSTS............   81
DISTRIBUTION  OF STEAM......................58, 59
EFFECT OF UNDISTRIBUTED LABOR COSTS.........  89
PROPORTIONATE DIVISION OF COSTS............. 214
PROPORTIONS OF ENGINEERS' WAGES...........    79
PROPORTIONS OF STEAM USED IN THE PLANT..... 203
STEAM USED IN THE SERVICES.................   78
THERMOMETERS..........................          54
TAXES
Loss  o6...................................   69
PAID BY THE NEW YORK EDISON COMPANY....... 207
RELATED TO ELECTRIC SALES................138 139
TAXPAYERS.............................11, 62, 68
MEANS OF RELIEF...........................   217
TEST
COMMENCEMENT OF..........................     55
COMPARATIVE...............................  202
COMPLETION   OF.............................  60
ENGINEERING PROBLEMS..................        15
MAIIN  RESULTS..............................  209
OBSERVATIONS..............................   56
PRACTICAL  VALUE...........................  15
PROPERTY OWNERS' INTEREST IN...............   11
TAXPAYERS' INTEREST  IN.....................11.12
PARTIES   TO.................................  10
TOTAL COST..............................50.81
TOTAL EXPENSE -        PROPORTIONATE       DIVISION.................................  214
U
UNIT    COSTS...............................   81
[ 234 ]




I N D E X
V                     PAGE
VACUUM CLEANING.......................          46
VENTILATING FANS......................45,46
VENTILATION
COST  OF...................................  75
HALL OF RECORDS.......................44, 45, 46
OF MACHINERY SPACE.......................     44
W
WARM WATER (See Hot Water)
WASTAGES
CONTINUED.................................  205
CONTINUED WITH PUBLIC SERVICE.............. 211
OF DRINKING WATER.....................189, 191
OF HOT WATER............................     180
OF  ICE....................................  201
WASTEFULNESS...........................         20
IN ELECTRICITY.............................  140
WASTE WATER.............................        44
WATER
COST OF PUMPING...........................    52
HEATED (See Hot Water)
WATER PUMPING BY ELECTRICITY...... 215
WATER SERVICES....................... 168-182
WATER SUPPLY.......................31, 4,0, 41
CATSKILL SYSTEM...........................   173
COMMERCIAL USE...........................  170
COST OF PUMPING...........................   177
COST OF REFRIGERATING....................190, 194
DEFICIENCIES OF............................  169
DEFICIENT  PRESSURE......................168, 169
EFFECT OF COMMERCIAL USE................172, 173
ELECTRIC  PUMPING........................177,178
EXPENSE  OF................................  75
FOR REFRIGERATION...................... 171, 172
IN HOTELS................................    172
Loss BY THE CITY............................ 174
PROPORTION OF STEAM USED...................   78
PROPORTION OF TOTAL COST...................  214
USED BY CITY DEPARTMENTS................... 17
[ 235 ]




A  MUNICIPAL EXPERIMENT
PAGE
USED BY PUBLIC UTILITIES.....................  175
USED BY STEAM COMPANY....................      103
USED IN HALL OF RECORDS.....................   176
USED IN REFRIGERATION......................   188
WORK OF PUMPING..........................      177
WEBSTER VACUUM SYSTEM...............   128,,  a\


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