creosoted block floor and with channel span of suspension type. Mr. Hermann Laub, of Pittsburgh, is the engineer. Construction will com

mence soon.

+ *

Advertising an Information and Statistical Department

SAN FRANCISCO, CAL.— The Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco, by means of the small card here reproduced, directs the tourist, merchant, investor or capitalist to its department of information and statistics for information upon any subject in which he is interested, and places its service at his disposal:

If you are in search of reliable information or authentic statistics (commercial-industrial-financial) you are cordially invited to communicate with THE INFORMATION AND STATISTICAL DEPARTMENT, SAN FRANCISCO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

1301 Merchants Exchange Building, 465 California Street, Telephone Kearny 112

Mention your need to the manager or clerks of this hotel, or telephone Kearny 112, and a representative of the department will call on you confidentially, furnish you with any information on hand or institute a special research.

You are invited to use this service without any cost to you.

The cards are distributed to the rooms of prominent guests arriving at the larger hotels, and somewhat similar cards are sent to the staterooms of such persons steamers.

on

A larger card, 8 by 12 inches in size, is framed and hung in hotel and tourist offices, which reads:

We have the

AUTHENTIC ILLUSTRATED

LITERATURE

on

SAN FRANCISCO

as published by the Chamber of Commerce

ASK FOR IT

Visit the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, 1304 Merchants Exchange Building, for specific and detailed information

CITY FIRST

Beautification and Cooperation STERLING, ILL.-Sterling and Rock Falls, twin cities in Illinois, have embarked upon a city beautification campaign, brought about by the Sterling and Rock Falls Commercial Club, which is affording both cities much satisfaction. Prizes of $25 are offered for the best kept front yards, also the best kept back yards. Public-spirited citizens are offering special prizes for the best kept yards on their own streets. Other citizens are subscribing money for prizes to give to children who keep the best yards. A booklet entitled "What, When, Where and How to Plant, and Subsequent Care" is being distributed broadcast.

Another interesting activity of the Commercial Club is the close touch which the members maintain with the farming population in contiguous towns. The farmers are frequently invited in to a noon-day luncheon, for which occasion a soil expert is provided to talk to them on some particular agricultural topic. An average of half of those invited customarily accept, and club members make their stay as pleasant and profitable as possible.

For Quick Action

KEOKUK, IOWA.-Under a new form of organization the Keokuk Industrial Association has aimed to reduce the amount of red tape usual in commercial organization work and to minimize the time required for the various committee meetings, thus hampering the private business affairs of each committee member as little as possible.

The executive committee, as reorganized, is made up of five members, these being the officers of the Association. This is the quick-acting body of the organization. Five departments were created for the consideration of the five main divisions of activity, viz., Industrial Affairs, City Affairs, Financial Affairs, Public Relations, and Association Affairs. Each member of the executive committee was assigned to one of these departments. The usual committees of the organization were continued, but were distributed among the above departments, the basis of distribution being the nature of the committee work.

The department heads have authority, in conference with the manager of the Association, to take such action as may be deemed advisable in handling the different items of business which come up for con

sideration. A meeting of the executive committee resolves itself into a cabinet meeting for the consideration of policy, reports and results. The general policy of the Association, all appointments, all legislative matters, and the final endorsement of all efforts are handled by the board of directors.

Specific items of business are discussed and handled by the head of a department without leaving his office. The manager of the Association takes to him the correspondence and other necessary information. They go over the matter in detail and the manager makes his recommendations. After conclusions are reached, the manager is authorized to handle the matter as agreed upon, or to instruct a committee in that department to do so. This plan saves fully one-half the time formerly occupied by members of the executive committee at committee meetings, has greatly increased the volume of work accomplished and assures immediate dispatch. Under this plan it is also said to be increasingly possible to keep all the members of the organization active, the different committees being kept more busy than ever handling the work assigned.

A

QUARTER century of experience in the business of manufacturing electricity has proved most satisfactory to the taxpayers of Marquette, Mich. The city's water power site is on Dead River, at a point about a mile and a-half from the city limits. The plant, which began operation in July, 1889, is now earning an average annual surplus of $40,000. It repreinvestment of approximately $400,000, which sum, with the exception of bonded indebtedness amounting to $70,000, has been entirely paid from profits. The remainder of the debt, the city officials anticipate, will be wiped off the slate before 1915 has passed.

sents

an

The prosperous condition of the plant cannot be attributed to excessive charges,

for the rates always have been exceptionally low. The lighting rates range from 2 cents a kilowatt hour for 400 or more kilowatt hours to 5 cents for 200 kilowatt hours or less. The power rates range from 34 to 3 cents.

In connection with the power plant the city operates an electric store, where all electrical appliances are sold at a small margin of profit. This feature was designed more as a money-saver to taxpayers than as a money-earner. The store is located in the heart of the business district. Needless to state, it has no competition. The shop pays a substantial dividend.

The city also owns and operates its water works, a stone-crushing plant and a cemetery. Each has been operating on a paying basis for years.

public utility has been compelled to pay "cash in advance" in this manner for its privileges.

A Method of Cleaning Iron Pipe Services

At the recent annual convention of the American Water Works Association, one of the subjects considered in the question box discussion was the cleaning of services

berlin of that city. The city had been badly swamped with debts, resulting from the extravagance and mismanagement of previous administrations. The Mayor, with his newly elected Council of business men, decided to clean up old bills by the application of business methods. The Mayor and the Council, in a business-like discussion which lasted only thirty minutes, decided that $75,000 was a fair price for the franchise, "take it or leave it." The Water Company acceded, and further agreed to supply a large number of fire hydrants, thus lessening the fire hazard of the city. This is the first time in the history of East St. Louis that a public utility has been required to pay for its franchise by putting the money directly into the treasury. This is no doubt the first time in the history of the country that a

CITY WATER CO.

Atomer. Suft.

FOR THE FRANCHISE

of iron pipe. On this subject, Mr. P. Gear, Superintendent of the Holyoke (Mass.) Water Works, said:

"At the meeting of the New England Water Works Association in March last, a gentleman from Boston made the suggestion that you could clean out all services of iron pipe with a hand pump, by going into the cellar, disconnecting the pipe there, making a little ball of tissue paper, and forcing it through the pipe. I said that I would try that method when I got home. I did so, and found that it will clean out services that are in pretty bad condition. You can make a wad of toilet paper and use a hand force pump. I tried that on five or six services that were anywhere from 35 to 40 feet long. I found that it worked all right, unless the service was in very bad condition, when I could not put it through.

"Those I tried it on were old galvanized iron pipes. You would hardly think that anybody could do it, but it can be done. It will