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Western United Gas and Electric Company “And on the same theory the. old plants of the company were In working order m a few minutes after the fire had started and the word was wired to the different sections of the territory to meet the emergency. “City owned gas works could never have been handled as was the Coal Products plant today. Municipal employes would not work with the same trained Instinct. "And stillother gangs.were preparing to remove the wreck- age as soon as the flames were quenched, and at the same time eat derricks borrowed from the steel company were being auled to the scene to hoist the coal to the ovens in place of the ruined elevator. b ”The one idea that pervaded the entire force and plant was that ser- vice mud not be allowed to lapse if labor and energy could prevent. "One of the great lessons on the subject of municipal owner- ship is taught on an occasion like today when the Coal Products lants was attacked by fire and severely damaged. While the firemen and most of the employes were still fighting the flames other crews under almost martial discipline were going on with the routine work in the portions ol the plant not yet reached hr the fire but threatened every moment. :- nan-rug nuns III In“ we: U, I": gal "It!!!“ unlan' y assumed by 17an and imposed upon 1'! i It would be nnlair not to expr unexampled exhibition of loyalty on the and also to acknowledge the debt of grati Wood and practically every official 0 l..- .1... ..-,.........--- .-.:.L .--L:-L .Lh- _ Practically every employe of the plant, the company and the general officers as wcil. workcJ untiringly from Friday mom- ing until the lollowing Monday night, and many of them with- out sleep in order to temporarily repair the plant so that it could again make gas. Meanwhile the company was operating its auxiliary plants at joliet, LaGrange and Aurora in order to lur- nish an uninterrupted supply. These plants however are too small to make all the gas now being used. The following editor- ial copied from the Joliet Herald of the evening of Oct. 3. ex- presses the situation solar as the Company .and its employees were concerned. _ . ,7 , ing these two pictures to show its patrons the results of the accident which occurred on the morn- ing of Friday, Oct. 3. The picture to the left snows the ovens which make the gas, together with the coal storage bins and the conveyor carrying the coal up to the bins. This building held about one thou- sand tons of coal and was built entirely of steel and reinforced concrete, not a stick of wood being used in the building or the inclined conveyor. The picture to the right shows the same ovens and the same build- ing alter the accident. The wreck broke all the pipes conveying the gas from the ovens through the ap- paratus that prepares it for general use, and the broken ends were covered by hundreds of tons of this wreckage. It was necessary to clearall that away and make temporary pipe connections before any gas could be made available for use. The gigantic size of the task is apparent when you look at the picture on the right. The Training of Public Service H E WESTERN UN-ITED GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY is present- DOWNER'S GROVE REPORTER unexampled exhibition of loyalty on the part of every emplom and also to acknowledge the debt of gratitude it owes to Mayor Wood and practically every official of the City of Joliet for the promptness with which they met every request for help; and also to Mr. P. F. McManus, General Manager of the E, J. 8: E. Railroad, and every one of his assistants, who worked so intensely and unceasingly, and to Mr. David R. Mathias, .General Superintendent of the Illinois Steel Company plant at Joliet and all his assistants, for the promptness and generosity with which they, one and all, pro- vided every resource at their command. But for these two factors, the splendid loyalty of our men and the vast resources so prompt- ly and generously placed at our disposal by the interests repre- sented by these gentlemen named, together with their assistants, it would not have been possible for the company to pull through with the record which leaves it with a pardonable pride in the genuineness of its friends and the gameness of its employes. The company taken (his opporlunily of informing its patrons that I is amply able lo lake care 0/ (he gas business and carry on! the Inn! 00(â€" unlan'ly assumed by 17an and imposed upon 1'! by (be public. It would be nnfairA not to express appreciation of the T he order was given to continue the gas service and men risked their lives and their healths to carry out the order. The company takes great pride in coming through with such a disaster without an interruption of service, although of neces- sity it must serve gas not quite up to its usual high standard for about two weeks longer. uhdcr such a test." " The word SERVICE would not mean to them what it meant to the corporation officnals and men. "And if the same energy and resource could be em lozed by a city, the resource of the emergency plants would be ac mg. ”The people will be given some supply of gas by book or by Jcrook today. A municmal plant scarcely could make good .._ __ 4A.,L , - _ 00