Good progress on the electrification of Gay Head is reported by James M. Lumbert, superintendent of the Cape & Vineyard Electric Company. All the wire has been run, except for the tap and spur into the East Pasture. Of course this does not mean the end of the job for the linemen, who must now retrace their steps, tie the wire on the insulators, and make other finishing touches.

 

Thirty-eight householders, some of them seasonal of course, have signed up for the service, such a sizable number for the sparsely populated town that one wonders at first where all the houses are. Electricians are busy at many houses doing the interior wiring and making all ready for the great day when the current is turned on, a date which cannot yet be predicted with complete accuracy, but may be within a couple of weeks, the weather and other unpredictable matters governing it to some extent.

 

 

The story is less encouraging about one area along the new road now being built from the lighthouse to connect with Lobsterville Road. Construction difficulties there have been serious, since the road gang ran into a peat bog and other troubles which have greatly delayed the road and consequently pole construction. Mr. Lumbert says that a bulldozer is necessary to get through that area, that much rough construction would be necessary, and that his company is leaving that section until later, perhaps even until summer if the road is delayed that long.

 

The poles and practically all other vital materials were delivered on the Island by late November and a pole digging and installing truck and crew from off-Island started work the end of that month, assisted by the company’s own construction crew.

 

Prospective users of electricity in that section were notified by Mr. Lumbert in November that they should immediately contact the electrician of their choice, and that after he “completed the house wiring, service entrance, private property construction, either or all as necessary,” the electric wiring inspector for the town must inspect the work, and if he passes it, his certificate of inspection will permit the company to make the final connection. In cases of private property construction it has been necessary, of course, to obtain permission to cross the property of others.

 

Barring the unforeseen, Mr. Lumbert opined in his letter to customers dated Nov. 22, there might be electricity for Christmas. It now looks as if the current might be on within a month of that date, not too far out of line.