The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-23 00:00:00

SALE OF GAS BILL.

The following brief particulars respecting this
bill, which received the Royal assent on the last
day of the session, will be likely to be serviceable
to all gas consumers :

After the passing of this act the only legal standard
or unit of measure for the sale of gas by meter
shall be the cubic foot, containing 02.321 lbs. avoir-
dupois weight of distilled or rain water, weighed in
air at the temperature of 62 degrees of Fahrenheit's
thermometer, the barometer being at 30 inches, ex-
cept as relates to contracts made before the passing
of this act, by which a difference of unit of measure
is adopted, which contracts are not to be renewed.
The models of measures are to be made and veri-
fied under the direction of the Treasury, are after-
wards to be deposited in the office of the Comp-
troller-General of the Exchequer at Westminster,
and copies of the same are to be sent to the Lord
Mayor of London, and the chief magistrates of
Edinburgh and Dublin, and to the chief
magistrates of such other cities and boroughs in
such other places, and persons in her Majesty's
dominions as the Lord High Treasurer of her Ma-
jesty's Treasury may from time to time direct.
The number and sizes of the said models to be de-
cided within nine months from the passing of this
ant in England by order of general or quarter ses-
sions, excepting in the cases of boroughs, where
the order shall be made by the town council, and in
Ireland by the town council or town commissioners
of every borough or town (such town council or
commissioners not being manufacturers or sellers
of gas), and in Scotland by meetings of justices.
The same authorities are to have the appointment
of inspectors of meters, who are to be paid out of
the county rate, and in boroughs out of any funds
applicable for lighting purposes, and if no such
fund, then out of the borough fund (in the city of
London out of the consolidated rate), similar ar-
rangements are made in the case of Ireland and
Scotland. Inspectors are required to furnish secu-
rity, are subject to a fine not exceeding £5 for each
breach of duty, and are prohibited from repairing,
making, and selling meters of gas, and must hold no
appointment of any kind in any gas company. Jus-
tices of the peace and the town council in boroughs
to determine and appoint on what days, at what
hours, and at what places the inspectors shall; attend
with their measuring apparatus within their re-
spective jurisdictions. A trifling fee to be charged
for testing, &c., each meter ; for meters of a small
size it will be 6d. ; such fees to be paid over to the
treasurer of the county, or to such other person as
shall be duly authorised by those by whom he may
have been appointed. No meter shall be stamped
which shall be found to register, or be capable, by
the increase or decrease of water, or by any other
contrivance, practically prevented in good meters,
to register quantities varying from the true stan-
dard measure of gas more than 2 per cent. in favolur
of the seller, and 3 per cent. in favour of the con-
sumer. The ooly exception to which is permitted,
is where the two contracting parties enter into
a written agreement to adopt a different kind of
meter. At the request and expense of any buyer
or seller of gas, it shall be lawful for any inspector
authorised in writing under the hand of any justice
of the peace of England or Ireland or of any sheriff
justice or magistrate in Scotland at all seasonable
times to enter any building, yard, or other place
where any meter, whether stamped or unstamped,
is fixed, and to examine and test, and, if necessary,
to remove the same. Before this can be done, how-
ever, it is necessary that the other party to the
contract should have previously received 24 hours'
notice in writing of such intention. In case of a dis-
puted decision of an inspector the point to be re-
ferred to two inspectors of adjoining districts. Per-
sons aggrieved may appeal to quarter sessions.
After the expiration of twelve months from the
passing of this act no gas meter shall be fixed for
use but what has been duly tested and stamped out-
side in legible letters or figures by an inspector of
meters under the provisions of this act, and every
purchaser and seller of gas may at any time after
the expiration of the said twelve months require
any unstamped meter, by which his which his gas
is measured to be examined, tested, and if found
correct stamped, or he may at his own expense sub-
stitute a stamped meter in place of any such un-
stamped meter.

The above are the leading features of the act.
It is a matter of notoriety that owing to the ab-
son ce of any legal control or supervision in the matter
there have been con stant wranglings between the gas
consumer and the gas companies throughout the
kingdom on the subject of measurement, many of
the former complaining that they have been charged
largely in excess of the quantity actually used,
while not a few of the companies on their part have
not unfrequently charged their customers with tam-
pering with their respective meters. Seeing, there-
fore, that the design of this act is to prevent,
so far as such matters are preventable, the re-
currence of these inaccuracies and disputes ; and
seeing, also, that the sum paid for gas in this
country is said to amount to five millions sterling
annually, it is evident that this act is one of vast
practical importance to all who have to do with
this commodity, whether as buyers or sellers.