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LOWERING THE, COST S0 FAR, these stories about the Public Service isCompany of'Northern Illinois have been largely historical. They have described rthe Company's birth, irs gow.gpans ts com- ing, of a... o we -turn to a considera- tion of what irs progress has meant toerthe thousands of people who have macle their homes in northern Illinois beyond the limits, of the City of Chicago. The World War is a convenient milestone for our generation-'a logical stmring-place from which te reckon changes i living con- dirions. Remember how fou of drudgery the average home was before thxe War? How many families clenied themselves certain. conveniencés because rhey were thought expensive? Strange as it seems today, elec- tricity waz often classed as a luxury twenty years ago, Prom rixe beginning, it became thxe ain ot the Public Service Company to make lectric- iry ava .ilable te ail of norrixera Illinois-n te reduce rates whenever ir could be donc withput.,jeoportiiig the qualiry of service. In, 1914, three years after rthe Company was founded, customers benefired by rwo rate re-. ductions. In rthe following year came another rarioned. Through these trying years,, in spite of the increased cost of raw marerials and labor, rares foir elecrric service in norrhern Illinois were flot raised. During the pos-war period a slighr i- crease in rates did become necessary, but'this was remporary. In 1923 began a series of four substanrial reductions., And todayi in many northern Illinois homes el ectricity cosus about half as macth as ir did 'in 1911 .Jr is rthe only imxportnt item on the family budget which is substantially lower in prioe now th.n ir Was, before thxe War! Remarkable as tis achievement is, ir, is flot rthe complere srory. You remember what "electric service" used ro consisr of i those early days. Jr meant electrkc lights-usually a drop cord suspended from rixe ceiling of ecd room. Elecrric washing machines and vacuum cleasiers were roo experimenral, roo costly, ro ,be extensively used. Toast and coffee stil had ro be madle inrixe kitchen. Electric reûrig- erators and. radios were unknown. TMda electrac rime- and labor-savers are taken for granted. They have revolutionized living conditions in rihe home-working con- ditions in rixe (actory, rixe office and on rixe farin. This vast. ne,, field ,in which thie ss TW@D EC ADE UNTuE$ERICE0FNORTH ERN ILLINOIS D E C A D-E 5 SERVI CE OF