ON A MISSION TO
ILLUMINATE THE TOWN
By Michael Anthony
People of the
Century
Express
February 2, 2000
Page 32
Although Tripp maintained his stubborn mood about terms and
conditions, he did not wish to lose the contract to electrify Port of Spain,
and as a result came to terms with two of the contentious clauses after the
borough council had slightly altered them.
As a result, the town clerk, Lamy, wrote to him on September 2, 1892,
saying the borough council was prepared to affix the seal of eh Corporation on
the agreement - in other words the councillors wee hoping everything would be
soon signed and sealed.
But
disputes persisted, and these ranged from such matters as the streets to be
lit, the intensity of the light to be supplied, the method of electric lighting
- that is, whether arc or incandescent - the quantity of electric bulbs, and
matters of that kind.
The
previous holder of the contract for lighting the town was Mrs. Corrie, who had
been kept tense by all that was going on, for she knew very well that the
borough council was anxious to get rid of her with her oil lamps. Therefore she was expecting the worst, and
truly the worst happened because early in 1893 she received a letter from the
town clerk saying: "I am directed by the borough council to notify you
that you will not be required to light the town after the 31st
August next, it being expected that by that date, Port of Spain will be lighted
by electricity."
But
disputes between Tripp and the borough council multiplied and continued throughout
1893, with the borough council, through its "experts", making
stipulations that did not please Tripp.
To be better able to deal with these "experts", on July 5,
1894, Tripp formed the "Electric Light and Power Company." At that point everything was far from being
signed and sealed.
The
borough council continued being steadfast and Tripp unflinching, but at the
same time Tripp was working hard to set up the system to light the town. What seemed like a definitive moment came on
October 15, 1894 when town clerk Lamy wrote to Tripp: "Sir, I am directed
by the borough council to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 5th
ultimo notifying the council that your company intends to commence the lighting
of the town under the terms o the agreement entered into with the Mayor and
Burgesses, six months from the date of your letter, namely, on the 5th
of March, 1895."
Even
while the town clerk was writing that letter, Tripp was having poles erected in
the town, and this itself led to disputes because the borough council wanted to
be consulted as to the position of every post, and Tripp often ignored
them. The town superintendent,
Sylvester Devenish, was told by Lamy that he would be held responsible for
posts being placed where they should not be.
Lamy requested Devenish to report on the kind of wood the poles were
made of to see "if they conformed to Clause 6 of Ordinance 19 of
1886."
Tripp
must have had a hearty laugh.
Tripp
was concerned that he had undertaken to light the town by March 5, and decided
to go all out to meet the deadline. He
worked feverishly and by the beginning of 1895 he had almost completed work on
his electric plant at Ariapita Avenue.
(These
works, incidentally, are the same works situated at Falament Street, and which,
since 1946, have been developed and enlarged by the Trinidad and Tobago
Electricity Commission).
By
the opening of 1895 one could have seen all sorts of electric wires strung over
the telephone wires about the town.
Tripp had wished to use the telephone poles, but was refused the use of
them by the then newly established telephone company, because its directors
feared the outbreak of fires.
On
February 26, 1895, one week before Tripp's due date to light the town, he
decided to have a trial run. Huge
crowds turned up in downtown Port of Spain that night to see how the
demonstration would go, and when the lights were switched on there was a roar
of excitement, and Tripp was cheered and embraced wherever he went. Nobody had ever seen the streets so bright
in the night.
And
so, when the deadline date - Tuesday, March 5 - came along in 1895, it was
Tripp who was the man of the moment. He
had had many quarrels with the borough council, and often proved to be
difficult and overbearing, but he had accomplished the work he had set out to
do, and had done it well.
And
so it is to Tripp that we pay tribute today, for his work has literally lit up the
scene. The example of his persistence
brightened the lives of many as our 20th century dawned, and so when
the century dies at the end of this year it will have belonged to people of the
stamp of Edgar Tripp.
This is the
conclusion of the story of
Edgar Tripp, which
started Wednesday 26th January 2000.