My Grandfather was holder of stock certificate number 1 for the first rural electrification project in Kansas in the 19 teens or early 20s  where they had a battery plant in town that provided the dc power.  My great grandfather has a picture of himself in front of a general store which he owned at the edge of town and in the background are two sets of power lines one dc and the other ac  running along the road to some nearby farms.  

I have an oil painting of that picture 36 by 40 inches in my office but unfortunately the artist dropped one of the power lines as artistic licence.  She is now unavailable and I have not found an artist to add this detail back in yet but may do so some day.  

I sure wish I could find a copy of that original stock certificate though (not valuable, except for sentimental reasons.)  

thank you!

BRETT K WINCHESTER  PM  KD7JN   VOLUNTEER & READING SERVICES MANAGER
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>>> Butch Bussen <[log in to unmask]> 11/10/03 09:33AM >>>
Speaking of power stories.  One of my uncles helped run a light plant for
the small town where I grew up.  We actually didn't get rural electrical
power until 1954 in Kansas where I lived.  I can still remember going out
to an aunt's house in the country, and they used coal-oil lanterns for
light.  No in door pluming or anything.

Anyhow, the contract the city had with this guy my uncle worked for stated
he had to keep the voltage at a constant range, but nothing was said about
the frequency, so at night, he'd slow the engines down to save gasoline
and keep the voltage up.  Electric clocks didn't keep proper time.  Comes
from people writing contracts who don't know what to include.
73s
Butch Bussen
wa0vjr