The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1868-01-21 00:00:00

WEYMOUTH.

WlTMOtirt GAB AIBITItaTIOII. The adjourned
inquiry as li. the sum to be pail to Mr. Burden, by the
Weymouth Gm Consumer.' Company. for his gm works
here. was held on Thursday and Friday, at the
Westminster Palace Hotel, before Mr. Penny and
Mr. Barlow. arbitrator., and Mr. Seejeant Hayes,
umpire. Mr. Davison and Mr. (lark appeared oil
helmlf of Mr. Bunion, and Mr. Lloyd for the Weymouth
Gm Cinsumeni' Company. Ms G. W. Stevenson, gas
engineer, of London. said he had male a andel
examination of the W•ytssouth Gas Works, and had
rerm.4 an estimate of their value. He thought the
value of the work., as .toted by Mr. Crickmay to be
very high. Hi, estimate • f the manufacturing plent
won £2,225 ; the Main; £2,229; meters and fixings,
£789 ;Berlrie.. to lamps and meters, £394; lamps and
bracket+. Eiii ; and stock-in-trade, £1.555. He
calculated it would coat £1,304 to put the w. As in good
working or, in that being ilone the Vrnrko would
produce 17,556.000 feet of gas for sale. The income
from the sale, at 61. per 1,000, would be
£4,5141 18a. 61.. and the expenditure £3,661 13s. 3d.,
haying a net profit of £8.55 5.. 31. per annum.—By
Mr. Davison : His own viA. of arriving at the value
of this undertaking would be to capitally, the net
profits at iC I year.' purchase with a proper
deduction for putting the work• in working order. ,
—Mr. O. Anderson. another London gas engine. r,
calculate I that on the works being put in proper order,
a yearly balance of £899 would be earned, and taking
that at 11;i peer.' purchase. it would give Eli 918 as the '
value of the works. hut deducting the coat of modernir I
inc the works, the ictual •aloe would be £13,e37. The
stook he estimated at £1,544.—Mr. T. Stone, manager
of the works, produced en abstract°, the receipts and ,
expenditure daring the six months ending December, '
the former amounting to £2,515 13.. 6d., and the latter
t £2,110 17s. 8.1. leaving a net profit of £404 15.. 101; '
and mid the works during that time bed been managed '
as economically as possibly caul.' have been.—Captain
J. Omens said thee .st of the caid used at the work, for
the last six months averaged nearly 16s, per ton.—Mr.
W. Simes, engineer of the Phoenix gas works, London,
said the London gm company. paid on an average
nine per cent., and those in the oountry 84. Thought
Parliament would not pass a bill unless the illuminat-
in, power was 1.1-canales. or that the public would have
anything less.—Mr. W. W. Burdon said at the investi-
gation held at Weymouth it was understood that he
to produce all account, he had in referenoe to Mr.
Church. He was, lansire•rr, sorry to say that he could
not get the papers he wanted, for he got such an
aocommulation from time to time that in order to get
rid of them he battled them over to the servant girl to
be burnt, some cheque books, however, were put in,
showing what amounts he had paid Mr. Church,
amounting to £14.13 2a 6.1. Upon an average of years
he had received less than he had paid for the gas
works.—By Mr. Davison : For the last three years he
had received about £1,600 profit yearly from the gas
works, Mr. Church taking for his share £1,700. This
elated the evidenc on behalf of the New Company.
Mr. Lloyd then addressed the arbitrators and umpire on
behalf of his clients. He mid Mr. Burdon had some
works which were in a bad state, and as he had no
statutory powers, it was clear that any person could
prevent, by indictment or otherwise, his breaking up the
streets even for the purpose of repairing his In•ina. So
that Mr. Burdon's position was about as unsatisfactory
as cool Ibe imagined. His leyee was charging 56.6,1. per
1,000 for gas of 12. candle illuminating power, and had not
Mr. Rurdon made terms with the new rompany a eons.
petition of the most serious kiad would have sprung up,
and Mr. Burdon having no statutory poser., must have
been driven out of the town. These things must be
considered. With respect to the rum asked for them ,
works—E.ss,ooo odd—he did not think either Mr. Penny
or Mr. Berlow would entertain the notion that they
were worth anything like that sum. He contended that
the course pointed out by Mr. Anderson and Mr. Steven.
son WWI the only fair way to value the works. The real
value he contended was from £ll.OOO to £12,000. If the
New Company paid more than that amount there would
be no chines of paying the shareholders six per cent.
They did expect to be able to have a greater dividend
than this for years to earns and this could only be
obtained et great expense in improving the plant—Mr.
Daemon said he could not wish to be pressed to reply on
the case that night, lie would prefer doing BO next
day.—Serjeant Hayes said this would be inconvenient
for him, and the matter was adjourned to Wednesday
at one o'clock.