^4 



MRS. STANFORD & HELPER 

 "Tha refrigerator aored enough food to pay our first 

 light bill. That way, all the other services were free." 



MANAGER T. M. BRADY CALLS A HUDDLE 

 Plans are under way to double the present network of 

 lines. Brady, pointing to map, shows Right-of-way 

 Supervisor Floyd Ruble, center, and General Foreman 

 Frank K. Jones where lines may be built 



WIRED HELP EARIVS ITS KEEP 



Low Cost Cooperative Electricity 

 Brings a IVew Standard of Living 

 To Eastern Illinois Farm Families 



y^N THE heart of eastern Illi- 



C/l nois' broad grain belt a 1225- 

 \__y mile network of power lines is 

 being rushed to completion for the 

 Eastern Illinois Power Cooperative 

 with headquarters in Paxton. On Aug- 

 ust 11, 1938, electrical energy surged 

 for the first time through 114 miles of 

 that net. 



The presence of power, heralded in 

 many homes by the soft whir of wait- 

 ing refrigerator motors, brought new 

 problems. The old question, "Do I 

 want electricity?" and, "How can I get 

 it.-*" gave way to a new one — "How 

 can I put my 'wired help' to work?" 



"Wired help's" first job in all homes 

 on the 114-mile net was lighting. En- 

 tire families clambered into their autos 

 the night of August 1 1 under the glare 

 of yard lights to tour the countryside. 

 Farmsteads that for years had been 

 gloomy and forbidding after dark took 

 on a friendly glow and new beauty. 

 A new standard of living moved in 

 that night and drove out the old. 



One of the homes in which the new 

 helper was immediately put to work 

 •was that of Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Stan- 

 ford of Ford county. Ronald, in spite 

 of the fact that his family was using 

 power generated in their basement by 

 a 32-volt light plant, was one of the 

 early leaders in the cooperative move- 

 ment that eventually will put power in 



By LARRY POTTER 



some 4000 rural homes in Iroquois, 

 Ford, Vermilion, Livingston and Mc- 

 Lean counties. 



"Lighting, ironing and running the 

 washing machine were the only chores 

 the light plant could do. The engine 

 made a lot of noise. And every time 

 it ran for very long we all got head- 

 aches. It must have been the fumes," 

 Mrs. Stanford said. 



During the first month the Stanfords 

 had wired help they used 104 kilowatt 

 hours of electricity. They paid $3.50, 

 the minimum amount, for the first 

 40 kilowatts, 41^ cents each for the 

 next 40, and 21/^ cents each for the 

 remainder. The rate for all power over 

 200 kilowatts is II/2 cents per kilowatt. 

 With that $5.90 of power they operated 

 their large-size refrigerator, an iron, a 

 vacuum cleaner, a washer, a radio, a 

 toaster, lighted the house, barns and 

 yard, and pumped most of the water 

 used on the farm. 



"The refrigerator alone paid the 

 light bill in food saved. Figuring that 

 way, all the other services were free. 

 And the refrigerator saved time, too. 

 Come in. I'll show you," she invited. 



Proudly she opened the huge, gleam- 



* A kilowatt hour is the unit by which electricity 

 is measured, just as the bushel is a unit for meas- 

 uring wheat and corn, and the gallon is the unit 

 for measuring gasoline. For example, a 100-watt 

 bulb burning 10 hours will use one kilowatt of 

 electricity. One thousand watts is a kilowatt. 



ing food-saver. Piled high in a large 

 pan under the freezing unit were 1 1 

 young chickens ready for the frying 

 pan. 



"I'm planning to serve this at a din- 

 ner for fifteen tomorrow. We dressed 

 the chickens yesterday. That cleared 

 up my work schedule giving me the 

 whole day today for cleaning and bak- 

 ing." 



That is how Mrs. Stanford put her 

 wired help to work. Other jobs ? Some- 

 day she will cook on an electric range 

 with automatic oven control. Next sum- 

 mer an electric fan or two will comfort 

 the family on sultry days. Later, the 

 growing list of conveniences may in- 

 clude another radio and a water heater. 



Ella May Stanford, 14, likes wired 

 help in her Saturday house cleaning. 

 With the vacuum she does an expert 

 rug cleaning job without raising a neck 

 of dust. During the remainder of the 

 week, dark days at school are made 

 more pleasant for her and her sister 

 because of improved lighting. 



Mrs. M. J. Weaver who lives across 

 the road from the Stanfords had a 

 light plant for many years, too. But 

 she and her family prefer high line 

 power. 



"We got along with our old battery 

 long after it was ready to be junked 

 waiting for the line to be completed. 

 Just before the power was turned on, 



12 



L A. A. RECORD 



