Reward for persons guilty of shooting insulators

VIGOROUS STEPS should be taken to punish severely the men or boys who either through wanton mischief or with criminal intent take wire from transmission lines in lonely districts or destroy insulators by using them as a mark to shoot at. One instance is told by our Peoria correspondent: "The lightning storm of last week developed trouble on the Illinois Traction Company's high-tension transmission line. The trouble was finally located, and was found to be caused by hunters shooting away the high-tension insulators. Twenty-two were found to be defective and all had to be replaced. The company has posted a notice offering a reward of $50 for information that will lead to the arrest and conviction of guilty persons." This is no isolated case, nor is Illinois the only state in which these depradations are committed. We have heard of some very ingenious methods adopted to take wire from poles even when transmitting current at high potential, but it would serve no useful purpose to set forth how this perverted cleverness is manifested. But the tampering with transmission circuits is a serious matter to power-generating companies, particularly exasperating because usually there is no trace to the offenders. If existing laws are inadequate, others more stringent should be enacted before the power companies resort to the last expedient of patrolling their lines by armed guards.