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t r 7 J. E. SUMPTER J. G. JACOBSON J.E. Sumpter and J. C.Jacobson (Sherburne County Star News,January 27, 1916) Less than a month after service began, Waterman boasted that the company's income was already covering operating expenses. The system's initial part-time service was increased to 24 hours a day, except on Sundays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. A peak load of 70 kilowatts was soon dwarfed as the system rapidly expanded. By 1917, the company extended lines to Zimmerman after negotiating a twenty-five-year contract at a rate of 13 cents per kilowatt. A year or two later, a 150 KVA substation was constructed at Zimmerman, and a 13,200-volt line connected to Princeton. Princeton had installed a direct-current steam plant in 1899, but the facility was obsolete when alternating current became standard. Elk River Power and Light bought the old plant and retained it for auxiliary power, and converted Princeton's distribution lines from direct to alternating current. By 1922, the utility had 386 customers in Elk River, 60 in Zimmerman, and 390 in Princeton. Only some customers had meters; others were charged a flat monthly rate of one dollar. Plant operators worked twelve-hour days to earn $35 a month.31 Just as more and more people were growing dependent on the power system, an accident highlighted the fragility of the source. In August 1920, one of the dam's floodgates collapsed. The reservoir level dropped by about a foot before workers improvised a temporary gate with heavy wood planks. The system's voltage was maintained, perhaps with the aid of an auxiliary steam plant.32 The scare, however, might have convinced the 72-year-old Waterman, who was 31 "Power Plant Doing Well,"Sherburne County Star News,February 10, 1916;Seelhammer and Mosher, Growth of Sherburne County,327.For a discussion of Princeton's equipment, see Reuben B. Sleight, "Appraisal of the Property of Elk River Power and Light Company,Elk River,Minnesota,"prepared for the Minnesota Tax Commission,November 1922,in Minnesota Tax Commission records,State Archives,Minnesota Historical Society,Saint Paul.Elk River served Princeton until 1939,when Princeton installed its own municipal electric plant. Rate information is given in"Utilities Continues Tradition of Service It Started Here in 1916." 32 A court case in the early 1920s mentions"an auxiliary steam plant provided for use in cases of emergency"; see "Welsch et al.v.Elk River Power and Light Co.," syllabus by the Minnesota Supreme Court,January 4, 1924, in Northwestern Reporter 196(1924):650. 9