SIR: Acting in accordance with an order of the City Council, passed December 31,-viz., that every officer and board in charge of a department make and transmit to the Mayor immediately after the thirty-first day of January, 1892, the next annual report of the department, and include in the report a statement of the acts and doings and receipts and expenditures of the department from and including the first day of January, 1891, to and including the thirty-first day of January, 1892-I have the honor to submit for your consideration the annual report of the Lamp Department for 1891. It contains a tabulated statement of the expenses of the department during the year 1891; tables showing the annual cost of burning the number of electric, gas, oil, and naphtha lamps located within the city of Boston on the fifteenth of January last, at the present rates for material and lighting; also an inventory of property belonging to the department not in use on the public streets, and such other information connected therewith as will be of public interest. GAS-LIGHTING. The existing contracts for supplying gas for the public street-lamps were made with the several gas companies on July 2, 1888, for a term of five years, at the following rates: The following is the form of the contract executed by the city with each of the companies: The a corporation duly established under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, first party, and the city of Boston, second party, on this second day of July, 1888, agree First. That this agreement shall take effect on the second day of July current, and shall continue until the second day of July in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-three; and shall continue thereafter until a new agreement shall be made by the parties, or the first party, or the Superintendent of Lamps of said city, shall in writing notify the other party that this agreement is terminated. Second. The first party shall furnish all the gas required for lighting the public lamps now located, and those which the second party may hereafter locate, along the lines of the mains of the first party, as now or hereafter laid, during such hours as said Superintendent shall direct (but each four-foot burner shall be kept burning at least thirty-eight hundred and twenty-eight hours per annum); shall furnish and put down all new service-pipes required for said lamps, with a regular fall towards the street-main, and keep in good repair the portions of all service-pipes. below ground, and use only wrought-iron pipes not less than one inch in diameter, and wrought-iron or malleable-iron couplings, bends, and elbows for said new pipes and repairs; shall furnish and apply to said lamps automatic regulator burners, each delivering not less than four cubic feet of gas per hour; shall furnish such quantity of alcohol, not exceeding seventy gallons per year, as may be necessary to keep the pipes clear from obstructions; shall, within a reasonable time after being required by said Superintendent, change any burner delivering 1These companies are now consolidated under the management of the Bay State Gas Company. 2 Reduced from $1.80 per M feet to $1.50, Oct. 15, 1890. 3 Supplying the territory of Brookline annexed to Boston, and the Brighton District. four cubic feet of gas or more per hour, to a burner delivering such larger amount of gas as said Superintendent shall require, and when a burner is found, on a test made by one party in the presence of the other, to deliver more than one-tenth of a cubic foot less than four cubic feet of gas per hour, shall change it so that it will deliver at least four cubic feet per hour; and may, at any time when not interfering with the regular burning of the lamp, remove and test any burner. Third. The second party shall, monthly, pay to the first party dollars for each thousand cubic feet of gas furnished; also all the reasonable expenses actually incurred for labor and materials in furnishing and putting down said service-pipes, and in keeping in good repair the portions of said pipes below ground; also one-half of the cost actually incurred in furnishing and applying burners to said lamps, in removing and cleaning the burners once in each year, and changing the size of the burners under the requirements of said Superintendent. Fourth. The said second party, by the said Superintendent, shall take the exclusive care of the burners and the portions of the servicepipes above the ground; shall light and extinguish said burners punctually according to printed tables to be furnished by said Superintendent; shall make written returns to the first party on Friday of each week, and on the fifteenth day of each month, of the number of burners lighted each night, and the time of beginning to light and beginning to extinguish the same; shall give immediate notice to the first party of any obstruction or leakage of gas in the pipes below ground, coming to the knowledge of said Superintendent; shall use a suitable brush, and no metallic cleaner, to clean the slot of lava-tipped burners; and shall not permit any employee of the city to open the regulator of any burner for any purpose whatever. Fifth. In case of any alteration of this contract, so much thereof as is not necessarily affected by the change shall remain in force upon the parties hereto, and no payment for any work done under such alteration shall be made until the completion of the whole contract; and the adjustment and payment of the bill then rendered for such work shall release and discharge the city from any and all claims or liability on account of any work performed under this contract or any alteration thereof. HOURS OF BURNING. The public lamps are burned every night throughout the year, a total of three thousand eight hundred and twentyeight hours. GAS BURNers. The public gas lamps, of which there are 8,924 in service, are fitted with an automatic regulator glycerine burner, adopted in 1879, and still giving general satisfaction. They consume four feet of gas each per hour. GAS LANTERNS. The lanterns used by the department are made of 14-oz. copper, tinned on both sides, and are of the most substantial and durable character. All used for burning gas are arranged so that the name and number of the street may be placed therein. LARGE GAS LANTERNS. At the commencement of the year there were 36 large gas lanterns in use, consuming from 15 to 30 feet of gas per hour; 19 of these have been discontinued, and it is desirable to discontinue the remaining 17 as soon as practicable, substituting electric light for the same, it being less expensive. These lanterns are located as follows: City Proper. Six on Boston Common, 30 feet per hour. One on Washington street, at Cathedral, 15 feet per hour. Roxbury. One on Vernon street, at Catholic church, 30 feet per hour. One on Humboldt avenue, cor. Crawford street, 15 feet per hour. One on Seaver street, cor. Walnut avenue, 15 feet per hour. One on Cedar, cor. Highland street, 15 feet per hour. South Boston. Two on West Sixth street, near C street, 15 feet per hour. OIL LAMPS. The oil lamps, of which there are 2,781 in use, are distributed over the city in locations not covered by the mains of the several gas companies. It is likely that a large number of those now in use may be changed to gas during the ensuing year, but the growing sections of the city may demand a corresponding extension of the oil service. The oil used in these lamps during the warm season is what is known as 115° fire test, and in cold weather what is known as 150° fire test, the price of which has fluctuated from 6 to 72 cents per gallon averaging for the year 64 cents per gallon. The founts from which it is burned are well adapted for public use. They are stamped "City of Boston Lamp Department," and the "Fireside " B burner is used in them. The cost of lighting, care, and supplies for these lamps for the past year has been $15.45 each. 1 1 Includes oil, chimneys, burners, wicks, and founts. |