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4 Sectibind. 47â€" watabieck Thursday, May 14, 1931 They were abandoned within a short time. To replace them, what was then a gigantic new electric plant had been erected near Lake Michigan. Tons of copper wire were strung on wooden poles to carry the current from the central electric plant to the twentyâ€"two comâ€" munities. Little substations were built along the way. It was a costly undertaking. Most â€" Extreme measures were adopted. The ten neighborhood electric plants that had been supplying ten of the towns were purchased. It was the aim of the public utility pioneers to supply a higher type of service by centralâ€" izing the production of electricity required by these towns. They wanted not only to improve the service rendered the ten communities already receiving electricity. They wanted also to extend service to the twelve communities that had no service of any kind. . Many of these communities numbered no more than 300 families. Twelve of them had no electric service of any kind. The other ten had electric service of a sort. Service began at five o‘clock in the eveningâ€"six hours later it stopped. Generating plants were locally owned and financed. They were located in makeshift buildings and coal was stoked by hand. When the weather was bad, customers got out their oilâ€"lamps. â€"They knew better than to expect electricity. WENTYâ€"ONE YEBARS ago a group of T public utility pioneers headed by Mr. Samuel Insull began an experiment in northâ€" emn Illinois. Their laboratory was Lake County. Their materials were twentyâ€"two towns scatâ€" tered along the lake shore north of Chicago. *T HE This is the second of a series of stnries chronicling the development of the Public Service Company of Northern Tilineis and the service it is bringing to the area into which Chicago is growing Pusuc Service Company LAKE CoOUNTY EXPERIM EN T* C AARRAUAAAAEL L.A e o m JÂ¥ MELOU PA 4A K dininis i iavs areraon en ontiieaige os eane e e o n OF NORTHERN !LINOIS E°~8â€"£€ RVI C C T HE PRES $ How the Lake County Experiment led to the devélopment of a "superpower network" in northern Illinois and the extension of elecâ€" tric service to an everâ€"widening area will be told in next week‘s story. areas. To repeat the original eipérimem on a grander scale, four relatively small électric and gas companies in northern Illinois comâ€" bined in August, 1911, to form the Public Service Company of Northern Illinois. Durâ€" ing the next few years, 18 additional locally« managed utility companies merged with it. The haphazard partâ€"time service they had been supplying became reliable twentyâ€"four hour â€"â€"The success â€"of this Lake Cofin'tyixpefi- ment demonstrated new electric light and power possibilities in suburban and fural During these same two years, the users of electricity doubled. Afid because of quantity ‘production, fuel costs at the generating staâ€" tion were lowered 70%.â€" Other operating costs were reduced 84%. Customers received electricity at lower rates than ever before. More important still, there was money to pay interest on new capital for bettering service and expanding facilities. people shook their heads and predicted failure. _ But here is what happened: Within two years, the ten villages that had formerly been getting sixâ€"hour service â€" as well. as all but two of the other twelve towns that had had no service of any kindâ€"were receiving electricity twentyâ€"four hours a day. Up to the attic went the old oil lamps. > & © I L L TK 0 + s 20