The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-26 00:00:00

City Sewers Commission.

The Commissioners of Sewers of the City of London as.
sembled yesterday at Guildhall, under the presidency of
Mr Deputy and Under Sheriff de Jersey.

THE GAS SUPPLY IN THE CITY.

After the despatch of several applications of minor
importance,
Mr It. J. CHAPLIN rose to propose the following motion
of which he had given notice, namely—" That it be referred
to the Special Committee to confer with the gas companies
supplying the city of London, with a view to obtaining a
reduction in the price of gas to that which was charged by
them, from the passing of the Great Central Gas Company's
Act in 1851, until the year 1860, and in the event of the
committee failing in that object, to consider and report as to
the advisability of applying to Parliament for powers to
obtain a reduction in the price; and further, to secure to the
citizens of London the advantages in respect to gas supply
they formerly possessed, and any other powers which may
be generally beneficial to the ratepayers and gas consumers
of the City." Mr Chaplin said he thought the duty ho had
undertaken to perform was a comparatively light one, as the
Special Gas Committee which had been appointed by the
Court, had already had the whole question of the gas supply
before them. It would not in the first place be necessary for
him to show that the gas supplied was of an impure quality,
fol. that had been well discussed, nor that the quantity of
sulphur contained in it was in excess of that sanctioned by
Parliament, for that had been shown by the weekly reports
of the medical officer, What he desired to show was
that they ought in the City to obtain a much cheaper
gas than that supplied at the present moment. Mr Chaplin
read from a statement showing the contract prices at
which the companies supplied the gas to the City between
the years 1851 and 1862. In the former year the price
per lamp per annum was as follows :—City Company, £4
4s ; Chartered, £1 4s ; and the Great Central Company
£3 17s 6d. And in 1862 :—City Company, £5 sa; Char-
1r _
Waeid t a wastarteied, ‘)..14r6d ; Great Central,
£1 13s 6d, additional charge of 153 per lamp per annum
being made in each case for cleaning, &c. He had com-
pared the charges for gas outside the city, and he found it
was considerably less, whilst a much better light was ob-
tained. All these circumstances he thought showed that it
was the duty of :he Commissioners of Sewers to take mea-
sures to bring about a more satisfactory state of things, and
he thought the mode ho bad suggested was the best that
could be adopted. In the City, where the consumption of
gas was so large, the question of supply was one of very
great importance, and it should be regulated as to meet the
requirements of the consumers. lie was quite prepared to
give the Great Central Company credit for the steps they
had taken in reducing the price; but by their joining the
other companies in raising the price a greater monopoly
than ever had been created, whilst the supply, both as re-
garded quantity and quality, was, to say the least, most
unsatisfactory to the citizens. He therefore felt it his duty
to move in the terms of his motion.

Deputy BOWER seconded the motion. No doubt the
citizens of London were very much obliged to the Great
C entral Company for coming into the City and lowering the
price of gas, but the effect of the establishment of that com-
pany had been not to break up the monopoly which existed,
but rather to perpetuate and extend it. He thought it was
the duty of the Court to do something to remedy the evil,
and believing that the course proposed was the best that
could be adopted he should give it his hearty support.
Deputy FARRAR, whilst desiring that the gas supply
should be more satisfactory than it was at the present time,
put it to Mr Chaplin whether it would not be for the pre-
sent better simply to instruct the committee to negotiatewith
the companies en the subject. The Court could afterwards
decide whether it would be advisable to apply to Parlia-
ment for powers to carry out their object. It seemed to him
that if the motion were adopted it would appear rather that
the Commissioners wore holding out a threat to the com-
panies, and he considered that they should avoid doing
anything of that kind. He would move as an amendment
that the latter part of the motion, suggesting an application
to Parliament, should be omitted.
Deputy BONE seconded the amendment.

Dr LuntEuv, the chemical examiner of gas, said, in an-
swer to a question, that there was en increase in the illu-
minating power of the gas now supplied, of 67 per:cent. as
compared with the average supply of the eight or nine
preceding years.
Mr S. GREEN, as a member :of the Gas Committee, ex.
pressed a hope tuakthe motion as proposed by Mr Chaplin
would be agreed to. The question was one that deeply
affected the public, and it ,behoved the Commissioners to
show them that they were in earnest, and were determined
to take measures to remedy the present disgraceful state of
things. If they regarded the price of the gas, or the quality,
they could not, as citizens, but feel ashamed, on walking
through the streets at night time, to find the public ;lamps
so imperfectly lighted. In answer to Deputy Farrar, he re-
minded the Court that the motion did not pledge them to go
to Parliament at once. What they were asked was to
empower the committee to negotiate with the companies,
and afterwards to consider whether it would be advisable to
seek the aid of Parliament in bringing about
,a more satis-
factory state of things. He sincerely trusted the motion
would be carried.

Dr LETILEBY stated that the average illuminating power
of the gas supplied to the City by the City Company during
the past week had been equal to 13.67 standard sperm
candles, that of the Chartered Company to 12.14 candles,
and that of the Great Central to 13.41 candles. The amount
of sulphur in the gas was not excessive, except in the gas of
the Great Central Company, where the amount ranged from
22 grains per 100 cubit, feet to 26, the average being 23'6
grains. In the Chartered gas the average was 20'5 grains,
and,in the City gas 19.6 grains. The average pressure of each
company's gas was about one inch and a third of water.
Mr Cox said he quite sympathised with the object of the
mover in introducing this important subject to the notice of
the Commission; and ho thought there must be perfect
unanimity upon the point, and that was that the supply of
gas in the City at the present time was most deficient in
quantity and quality. He might mention that the night
previously he had endeavoured, by the aid of a public gas
lamp in Newgate-street, to read a portion of a newspaper,
but was quite unable to do so ; but on trying the same ex-
periment at Islington ho found it an easy matter. He
alluded to thie to show that the gas supplied out of the City
was of better quality than that supplied within it ; and such
a state of things was, he thought, most disereditable. He
felt inclined to consent to the matter being referred to the
committee to negotiate with the gas companies, although
he found that the negotiation would not be productive of
any good results.
Mr GEORGE WALTER thought it must be admitted on all
hands that the present supply of gas in the City was most
unsatisfactory, and that was clearly proved by the loud
complaints made by the inhabitants of almost every por-
tion of the City. Ho could speak with some authority upon
the question, and he could say fearlessly that the gas sup-
plied both at the oast and west end of the town was, both
as regarded quantity and quality, considerably better than
that supplied to the citizens. (Hear, hear.) Indeed. ho
would go so far as to say, that if the light supplied by the
City companies was equal to 13 candles, as stated by the
medical officer, then the light supplied out of the City was
equal to 25 candles, or more, (Hear, Lear.) He could not