Philadelphia v. Holmes Electric Protective Co.

Opinion by

Me. Justice Steen,

By ordinance of June 4, 1906, the City of Philadelphia granted permission to defendant corporation “to carry its wires under and beneath the highways of the City of Philadelphia for connecting buildings occupied by its customers with its central station,” and to use and operate such wires “for the purpose of conducting the business of conveying for its customers a burglar alarm, night watch and fire alarm signal system.” Section 5 of the ordinance provided that defendant should pay to the City, on the first day of March in each and every year, “two per cent of the…