Four Utilities Under One Name

Four names in Shamokin's utility business were brought together in a November 1899 announcement. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the Edison Electric Illuminating Company, Shamokin Arc Light Company, Shamokin Gas Light Company and Shamokin Electric Light and Power Company had been consolidated into Shamokin Light, Heat and Power. Its November 16 notice named W. C. McConnel as president.

A financial brief two days later described the successor as recently incorporated with $250,000 in capital stock and $250,000 in five-percent, thirty-year gold bonds. It said the company had absorbed the same four concerns. These figures describe the reported corporate financing, not a valuation of every lamp, gas main or piece of generating machinery.

The November 18 item also promised a line into Springfield and other neighboring towns at a later time. That proposed extension was part of the new company's public outlook, but the notice does not establish that the line was built. The accomplished event it reported was the combination of the concerns behind electric and gas service.

For readers accustomed to several company names, the notices presented one enterprise offering light, heat and power. They show a change in business organization while leaving the physical arrangement of the old plants and the exact dates of asset transfers undescribed.