n the beginning
of the operation of an entirely novel plant there was ample opportunity
for unexpected contingencies, although the greatest care had been
exercised to make everything as perfect as possible. Mechanical defects
or other unforeseen troubles in any part of the plant or underground
system might arise and cause temporary stoppages of operation, thus
giving grounds for uncertainty which would create a feeling of public
distrust in the permanence of the supply of light.

As to the kind of mishap that was wont to occur, Edison tells the
following story: "One afternoon, after our Pearl Street station started,
a policeman rushed in and told us to send an electrician at once up to
the corner of Ann and Nassau streets--some trouble. Another man and
I went up. We found an immense crowd of men and boys there and in
the adjoining streets--a perfect jam. There was a leak in one of our
junction-boxes, and on account of the cellars extending under the
street, the top soil had become insulated. Hence, by means of this leak
powerful currents were passing through this thin layer of moist earth.
When a horse went to pass over it he would get a very severe shock. When
I arrived I saw coming along the street a ragman with a dilapidated old
horse, and one of the boys told him to go over on the other side of
the road--which was the place where the current leaked. When the ragman
heard this he took that side at once. The moment the horse struck the
electrified soil he stood straight up in the air, and then reared again;
and the crowd yelled, the policeman yelled; and the horse started to run
away. This continued until the crowd got so serious that the policeman
had to clear it out; and we were notified to cut the current off. We got
a gang of men, cut the current off for several junction-boxes, and fixed
the leak. One man who had seen it came to me next day and wanted me to
put in apparatus for him at a place where they sold horses. He said he
could make a fortune with it, because he could get old nags in there and
make them act like thoroughbreds."

So well had the work been planned and executed, however, that nothing
happened to hinder the continuous working of the station and the supply
of light to customers. Hence it was decided in December, 1882, to begin
charging a price for the service, and, accordingly, Edison electrolytic
meters were installed on the premises of each customer then connected.
The first bill for lighting,