The Sun.
London, England, 1865-10-27 00:00:00

The Reduction of the Price of Gas.

Yesterday an influential deputation from the
parishes of St. Olave, Southwark ; St. John,
Horselydown ; St. Mary Magdalene, Bermondsey;
and St. Mary, Rotherhithe, waited upon the direc-
tors of the Surrey Gas Consumers' Company at
their offices at Dockhead, for the purpose of repre-
senting to the directors the resolutions which had
been agreed to at various meetings which had been
held in the respective parishes on the subject.
Of the deputations who had been appointed from
the different parishes there were present—from St.
John's parish, Mr. Wilkinson, Mr. Slee, Mr.
Rendle, Mr. Rees, Mr. Marks, Mr. Davis, Mr.
Mills, Mr. Gutteridge, and Mr. Meade, (who re-
presented the firm of Peake, Frean, and Co). From
the parish of St. Mary Magdalene, Bermondsey, the
representatives were Air Slee, Mr. Rogers, Mr.
Bishop, Hon. Sec. of the Gas Agitation Society ;
Mr. Battasby, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Braziel. For
the parishof Rotherhithethere appeared Mr. Searle,
Mr. Banat, Mr. Clare, Mr: Cox, and Mr.
Chandler.

The members of the deputation were summoned
together by Mr. Robert Slee, the vestry clerk of SL
John's, who has taken considerable interest in the
movement, to assemble, at the board-room of the
Rotherhithe Workhouse at one o'clock, and from
thence to proceed to the premises of the Surrey
Consumers' Company, where they might have the
proposed interview with the directors.

Accordingly, at the hour the gentlemen just
named did assemble there, and after arranging the
course of procedure they were to adopt, proceeded
in a body to meet the directors of the company at
the appointed place. Previous to their doing so,
.it was arranged that Mr. Rendle, who is connected
with more than one of the parishes, but who more
particularly represented the parish of St. John's,
should take the lead in the matter, and commenced
the proceedings by stating the case of the consumers.
The chairman of the board of directors occupied
the chair, and there was a full attendance of the
board.

Mr. RENDLE, in opening the case on the part of
the deputation, repudiated anything of a personal
feeling which he entertained respecting the board of
management. It was true he had several disputes
with them, but these had all been amicably ar-
ranged, and he entertained no bad feeling towards
the board whatever. He, however, came before
them upon public grounds. He considered that in
the interest of the public they ought to lessen the
price, while at the same time the circumstances of
these companies was a strong evidence that they
ought to do so. He had attended at the meetings
which had taken place on that side of the water on
the subject, and he had found at all of them a com-
plaint that the Surrey Consumers' Company was
going beyond its bounds. The Districting Act had,
in fact, placed them in a most awkward position.
What he maintained was that the Districting Act
of 1860 had put into the hands of the directors of
gas companies a power which they were notentitled
to, and of which they did not give the consumers
the advantage. But so far as regarded the present
company, he had, upon the part of the consumers
he represented, to place before them the following
facts. In the first place, they said that the system
of districting which had been adopted was not such
as commended itself to the favour of the consumers.
In the case of the Surrey Gas Consumers' Company
it had been the very reverse. That was, therefore,
what they complained of ; that system was adopted
in consequence of an act of Parliament passed in
1860. That act had, to his mind, altogether failed
in its purpose. In fact, it was obtained under a
subterfuge, for the consumers were cajoled out of
what they considered to be their just rights. Then
there was another ground on which the consumers
thought they had a right to claim a reduction. It
was well known that the company had, in the com-
mencement of their proceedings, leased their works to
Mr. Croll, who had carried them on, under alea,se of
ten years, on the condition that he paid to the com-
pany a dividend of 8 per cent. per annum. That
agreement had, no doubt, been carried out, but the
consequence had beenthat the directors, having wil-
fully denuded themselves of the property for the
space of that time, the shareholders were deprived
of the dividends which might have accrued from it,
while the capital was now chargedwith the payment
of what was called " back dividend," and which went
to keep up the price of gas. He maintained that
the directors had no right to charge the dividend
upon the capital of the company.
Mr. MEADE, of Messrs. Peake, Frean, and Co.,
followed on the same side, and referred to the price
of gas in Plymouth as compared with London.
There they got it for 2s. 9d. per thousand cubic feet,
and he must say that their firm was astonished at
the sum they were now charged by this company.
He also complained of the quantity of the gas which
they had got some months ago, while he admitted
that it had improved recently.

Mr. FINLAY, the engineer of the company, stated
that the Plymouth Gas Company was altogether
different from the present one.
Mr. WILKINSON, the churchwarden of St. John's,
Horselydown, also supported the statement of Mr.
Rendle as to the exorbitant charge made by the
directors of the company for their gas, and he ques-
tioned the illuminating power of it.
Mr. MaioLsoN, one of the directors of the com-
pany, argued at great length in support of the sys-
tem the directors were pursuing. They had no other
course of action left for them. By the act of 1860
they were bound to pay the shareholders 10 per cent.
per annum, together with a bonus in order to make
up past dividends, and the fact of the matter was
that, what with the dividends paid and the sums
paid in the shape of back dividends, that the share-
holders of the company had never received more
than an average dividend at the rate of 8 per
cent. per annum. He also went on to contend
that there had been actually a reduction in the price
of gas on the part of the company, that had been
effected in several ways. In the first place, there
had been an increase in the illuminating Power.
What they were bound to by the act of Parliament
was to give an illuminating power of twelve sperm
candles. Instead of that, however, the illuminat-
ing power of the company's gas was fourteen and
a half and fifteen sperm candles. Independent of
all this, he considered that the deputation from
the various parishes came with a very bad grace
to the board, inasmuch as they had each and all of
them very much increased their rateable value in
the course of the last two years. In the course of
that time they had raised their rateable value assess-
ment from £1,280 to £4,100, and in that respect he
contended that they had got a reduction in the price
of gas, for the additional rates they paid to the
parish must be the means of keeping down the rates
of the other ratepayers.
Considerable conversation then ensiled upon the
quality of the gas supplied by the company. Mr.
Wilkinson, Mr. Rendle, and others contended that
the quality was bad, while several of the directors,
and Mr. Finlay, the engineer, contended for its
purity and illuminating power.
Ultimately, the CHAIRMAN, in followinguptthhaet
remarks of Mr. Nicholson, expressed his regret
the directors could not at the present time comply
with the demands of the deputation. The reason
Mr. Nicholson had explained--namely, that they
must keep faith with the shareholders in terms of
the act of 1860—as soon as they had done that they
would be enabled to meet their wishes. No man
would be more anxious to do so than he was him-

self, and he therefore hoped
those who acted with hi-
patience, and he had no do
they wanted.
After some further cony,
minated. S
Mr. R. SLEE, vestry clerk of St. John's parish,
on the part of the deputation, acknowledged, on the
part of that body, the courtesy they had met with
from the board of directors, and cordially thanked
them for the kind manner in whicht hey had listened
to their representations.
•-•=,
Naval and Military Intelligence.

Col. Anderson, C. 8., commanding the 4th Brigade
Field Artillery, at Woolwich, accompanied by Capt.
and Adjt. Pearse, inspected the A battery of that
brigade, in command of Lieut.-Col. W. W. Barry,
C. 8., stationed at Horfield Barracks, near Bristol,
on the 23d and 24th inst. After the inspection Col.
Anderson addressed the officers, who were called to
the front for that purpose, and said he could not
depart from among them without acknowledging the
gratification which the inspection of the first battery
of the brigade to which he was attached had given
him. He cordially congratulated the officers and
men on the result, which he should faithfully for-
ward for the information of the Field-Marshal
Commanding-in-Chief, the Duke of Cambridge.

The War Department steam vessel LordPan-
inure, Mr. Moore, master in command, sailed-from
Woolwich yesterday, laden with guns and other
war stores, for Portsmouth. The Lord Raglan,
Master-Commander Wilkins, sailing vessel, in the
same service, is also shipping a similar cargo at
Woolwich Arsenal for the same destination.

A sample gun carriage and slide, manufactured
for the Italian Government by special request, have
been completed in the Royal Carriage Department
of Woolwich Arsenal, and wm. yeiAt-.Alay_packed in
cases for shipment to their destination. The matt-
rials are of the finest description of Indian teak and
sabicu, proved to be the best adapted and most
durable timber employed hitherto in the construc-
tion of those articles, and known to resist the
ravages of the red ant found in tropical climates,
and which are generally so destructive to the wheels
and other parts made of oak and mahogany. They
are intended for ship use. The slide is fitted with
elongated flaps for pivoting the bow gun in action.
The carriage and slide are carefully bound and
strengthened in the necessary parts with gun-metal
fastenings and bands, and every precaution has
been taken to make the workmanship of the very
first order and finish.
It was stated yesterday that the late Lieut.-Col.
A. C. Parker was the nephew of Admiral Sir Wm.
Parker. This is a mistake. He was the son of the
late Major-Gen. Parker, C. 8., Royal Artillery, and
nephew of the late Admiral Hyde Parker, C.B.

The Wigan Murder.

.0.---

Yesterday, at Wigan, the prisoner John Healey, who
stands charged on his own confession with being concerned
in the murder of James Barton, at the Button ox Bawk-
house pit, Haigh, near Wigan, on the evening of the 2d or
morning of the 3d of January, 1863, was brought before Mr.
J. Lamb and the Rev. J. J. Dixon, at the Moot-hall. The
prisoner maintained an appearance of the greatest indif-
ference during the whole of the examination, and as each
witness concluded his evidence, in answer to the formal
demand whether he had any questions to put, he invariably
replied in the negative.

The confession having been read over, the Magistrate
asked the prisoner if it was correct. He said-"It is not
all correct, Sir. I own that I had liquor with the men, but
then I do not recollect where I went."

Mr. Lamb asked him what he had to say about the
murder.

ilealey—l can recollect meeting the men, and afterwards
getting drunk, but Ido not know what occurred after. A
man may be in drink, and not know what he is doing.
Mr. Lamb—You were not in drink when you made the
statement?

Prisoner—No.
Mr. Lamb—Then how was it you made it?
The prisoner made no reply, and evidence as to the mur-
der was then taken.

William
Wetherby stated that he saw the murdered man
at the pit at 9 o'clock on the night of the 2d, and that he
had a watch with him.

James Watmough, a pony driver, described the state of
the works when he came at a quarter past 3 next morning.
Barton was xlissing; the engine was stopped. A fire which
should have been lighted on the bank was out, on the cabin
floor lumps of coal were scattered, and among them was a
piece of a burnt muffler. He began to light the fire on the
pit bank, and opened the door of the first furnace to got
some coals. He could net do so as the first was nearly out
and in the middle was a ridge as if it had been filled with
w ood.

John Barton, engine tenter with his father at the col-
liery, was called up about 5 o'clock to sot the engines to
work, in order that the mea might descend the pit to look
if Barton had fallen down. H 3 saw streams of blood on
the dead plate of the furnace door, and finger marks on the
wall near, as if there had been a struggle.
George Armstrong, fireman, said that there was a smell
when ho went into the fire-hole as of burnt engine grease,
and he found blood on the furnace door.

Thamas Barton, a son of the murdered man, said that
between 12 and lo'clock on the night in question he was at
Betty Ditchfield's, and when returning home he heard
steam blowing off at the colliery. Ho came to the place
and fired up next morning. He found in the ash-hole a
cake of blood and grease. The piece of burnt muffler he
himself had bought for his father.
Police-sergeant Gardiner deposed that ho found in the
furnace a strap buckle, a brace buckle, a few shoo nails,
and some pieces of bone.
Mr. C. D. Shepherd, M.R.C.S., proved that all the bones
were human, and might have formed part of a full-grown
skeleton. There was a portion of the arm bone, a piece
of the thigh bone, the lumbar vertebra, and a piece of the
skull.

Superintendent Ellison charged the prisoner with the
crime, when he made no reply.

The last, and so far as the confession of Healey is con-
cerned, by far the most important witness was Java Little,
a collier girl. Her evidence, which has not previously been
before the public, was that on the morning of the murder she
was assisting to load a boat with coal at the Bridge or pigeon
pit, situated on the canal bank, between the Bawkhouse Col-
liery and Wigan. The towing-path was ou the opposite side
of the canal to the colliery, and it was lighted from the pit-
bank. About a quarter-past 2 she was in the boat, and a
man named Jordan was above lowering the coals. He was
approaching with a full tub, when she saw four mon coming
from Haigh, and proceeding towards Wigan. Jordan was
just lowering a tub as they came near, and when they saw
him they stopped suddenly by a heap of ashes. While he
was fetching another tub they walked sharply past and
over the bridge, where they waited until Jordan had
lowered the next tub. The men had caps on.
This evidence, so far as it goes, is decidedly corroborative
of Healey's confession, and as it was never made public till
yesterday there is but little probability that this portion
of his story can have been invented from hearsay. The
facts justmentioned have certainly inclined many people to
believe that there is more in the prisoner's tale than they at
first imagined.
Having been charged in the usual way, the prisoner said
he had nothing to say, and he was committed for trial at.
the next Liverpool assizes.

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