April 18, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



583 



regulated with respect to their schedule of 

 rates; discriminations which are so fre- 

 quent under ordinary circumstances must 

 be prevented; wires, whether overhead or 

 underground, must be run in such manner 

 as to reduce the danger to the public ; high- 

 potential wires must be especially guarded 

 to keep them from telephone and other low- 

 potential wires ; alternating current trans- 

 formers must be grounded on the second- 

 ary side, and the grounds must be made 

 according to approved specifications; the 

 steadiness of electric potential and uni- 

 formity throughout a given city must be 

 satisfactory; proper precautions must be 

 taken to safeguard the lives of the linemen 

 and other employees of the company; the 

 meters must be frequently tested and pro- 

 vision made for extra tests on complaint; 

 portable and station instruments must be 

 tested; lamp renewals must be regulated 

 and prices approved for other than free 

 renewals and rules and regulations made 

 (in the absence of local rules) with respect 

 to street lights. 



REGULATION OP OTHEE UTILITIES 



Street railways and interurban electric 

 railways must be regulated with respect to 

 kind and quality of cars ; the speed of cars 

 and car schedules; kind of brakes, head- 

 lights, doors and other safety appliances; 

 the method of car heating and amount of 

 heating required; the method of car light- 

 ing and the quality and amount of light 

 that must be supplied; how the current is 

 distributed from the sub-stations to the 

 cars, and the variations in voltage per- 

 mitted between sub-station and ears; how 

 the railway current is returned from the 

 cars to the sub-stations, in order that the 

 resulting electrolysis may do the minimum 

 of injury to gas and water pipes, lead- 

 sheathed cables and other underground 

 structures; the repairs and upkeep of 



roadway and rolling stock ; the fares to be 

 charged and the conditions under which 

 free transfers are issued; the wages paid 

 employees and hours of labor; the condi- 

 tions under which new stock may be is- 

 sued; approval of plans for extensions or 

 alterations of the system, etc. 



Telephone companies must be regulated 

 with respect to method of running their 

 wires, so as to give the best and most re- 

 liable service possible under given cir- 

 cumstances; when and where wires must 

 be put underground; the precautions to 

 guard overhead wires against coming into 

 contact with high-potential electric light 

 or power wires; when and under what cir- 

 cumstances telephone and high-potential 

 electric wires may be put on the same 

 poles ; the rates to be charged for different 

 classes of service, both local and long dis- 

 tance; the service arrangements between 

 different companies, the restrictions im- 

 posed by telephone companies respecting 

 private exchanges and extensions; discrim- 

 inations by a powerful company against 

 smaller independent companies, etc. 



Both the Interstate Commerce Commis- 

 sion and the state commissions deal with 

 problems arising in connection with the 

 regulation of the railroads, and these prob- 

 lems are numerous and of great impor- 

 tance. The first class of problems is con- 

 nected with the fixing of freight and pas- 

 senger tariffs, and discriminations in rates 

 as between one locality and another or 

 between one shipper and another. The 

 second class of problems has to do with the 

 operation of the road, with the safety and 

 the adequacy of the service. This includes 

 the question of the character of the road- 

 bed and rails, the kind and quality of the 

 engines and cars, the brakes and signaling 

 apparatus, the kind of headlights and the 

 candlepower and distribution of the light 

 from the same; the heating, lighting and 



