The Sun.
London, England, 1850-04-24 00:00:00

SUMERS' COMPANY.
The interesting ceremony of laying the first stone of
the extensive works of this company on Bow-gammon
took place at two o'clock yesterday,with all the imposing
formalities usual cn such occasions. The works are in-
tended to be of vast event, covering an area of more
khan six acres, and are bounce l by the Litn-ehousse Canal
on the one side and by the Blackwall Railway on the
other. Though the proceedings of -yesterday were
termed "laying the first stone," a considerable portion
"of the 'buildings have already been, raised far above the
foundations, and the great block of Portland ttone,which
attracted so much interest among the visitors on the
occasion, instead of being deposited, as enerally hap-
pens in such cases, in the foundation cf the building,
was honoured with the far more prominent and conspi-
cuous position of being placed as a lintel over the central
doorway.
The centre of the ground is occupied by the retort
house, coal stores, and purifying house, the firet-r amed
being nearly 300 feet long and upwards of 60 feet wide.
The stores are calculated to contain 10,000 tons of coals,
equal to nearly three months' consumption, and great
advantage is expected to be derived from the circurn-
sturce that the adjoining. railroad is at such a height
above the ml/fire as to allow of the coals being deposited
where they are to be used directly from the railway
waggons, while at the same time the junction of the rail-
way with the Eastern Counties line will give the company-
the option of procuring either sea or landborne cea's.
There are four large tanks, each nearly 400 feet in eir-
, cumferk nee, and intended to be provided with etsholdees,
capable of containing nearly two millions of cubic f. et.
_The groued conteins sand, clay, -and gravel in abundance
for the works. • The contracts have he ea taken by the
Meesrs. Rigby ; and ss 200 seen are actively employed on
the work:, it is sinticipattd tl at the consumers will be
supplied- with gas f.om the new weskit before the end of
the ensuing summer. . •
TUOMAS Damien Esq., the chairman cf the company,
officiated on tie cccasion, and was supported by the
board of directors, and by several hundred shareholders
and other influential Mends of the company. There
was also a large c:ncourse of the inhabitants of the
neighbourhood. who seemed to take a lively interest in
the proceedings. _ _ _

The CITAIIIMAN having come forward to the front of
the platform, proceeded amid Laid era to address
the assemblage. lle said—Whilst I foci the honour
conferred upon use in the oppertunity now given we
of laying the first stone of tte building of
the Great Centrel Gas Consumers' Company, I
cannot help experieeciug sorne regret that it has
not fellers ,upon an individual mere able to address you
upon so interesting en occasion. This is an event prig..
nant as I believe with consequences most beneficinl to
the great community of which we form a past. The
eletac at next in importance to the air we breoehe is light,
which is in its first great source alrno,t equally essential
to the existence of all animated being, discovering beauty
of form, giving the raliance and lustre of colour, tied
?gladdening the face of universal nature; and when the
great source of light retires, and the curtain of night
Ms armed, the Great Author of Vie universe seems to
have put it to the ingenuity of his creatures to produce
artificial light, to rescue scone of the hours r f the night
:rum oblivion, and to nrake them available for the pur-
poses of industrial occupation, of necessary recreation,
or of mental labour. When we consider, adopting the
words of our great epic poet, that whilst
" Light and darkness in psrpetual round
- Ledo and dislodge by turns, which makes on earth
Grateful vicissitude of day and night,
Light issues forth, and at the ether door
Ohs, quious dat kness enters"—
the hours of darkness being mere than is nteessary to
refresh efer the labeurs of the day, the inference is char
that the farms of matter were placed at our dfspoial,
end the intellect and ingenuity of man were expected to
extort from them their tribute of useful ministration to
his a aits in this respect. Accordingly we find in all
ages the means through artificial light of shortening the
night and lengtheeing the day, so as to adjust the
necessities of the one with the demands of the other.
To the rude torch of less civilized life, and the various
applications of oil and wax in more modern times, until
the close of the last century, society was indebted for its
artificial light; in all these cases forming gas extem-
poraneously at the time of burning, and cone( (ineptly
encumbered with the residuum, as well as being expensive
in its formation; and it was not until near the close of
the last century that any approseh was made to the sew
rate formation of gas for the purpose of burning. Peilo-
sephers had observed, in coal pits and other places, what
was called elastic inflammable air; but it was not until
the year 1798 that Mr. Murdoch first erected al apparatus
for the production of gas, at the manueactory of
Messrs. Boulton and Watt, Seho; and in 1807 some ex-
tensive cotton mills at Manchester were lighted. Its
18C9 the first application was made to Parliament to in-
corporate the London,. and _Westminster -Goa Light and
Coke Company. In 1815 Guildhall was first lighted by
gas; and by the year 1822 gas lighting in the metropolis
was extensively carried on, amongst others by the two
monopoly gas companies which now divide the supply of
the city of London between V- em, and who e conduct in
refusing the just demands of the eitizsns of London,
temperately expreasee, bas given rice to the edifice we
are now inaugurating.—(Hear.) The inscription to be
placed upon the steno now before me will aptly usher in
the few remarks I ehell feel it incumbent on me to offer
on this eceasion—remarks which shell, on the one hand,
shortly place before you the circumstances under which
we were called into being at your bidding,- and the pre-
sent position of your affairs; and it shall be my entica
your to do this without departing from the laws of good
temper or good taste, which I am sorry to observe our
opponents do not always regard; bat, in their present
guerilla Tsai fAro, they seem to me, avoiding the nobler Wea-
pons of truthful appeal and correct argument, to be using
the little sting of would-bo- wit and personal attack, and
publishing statements devoid cf truth. Your din eters
feel their case is before ycu, and, instead of stooping to
answer amusing dialogues, are bent on makinx up for
line unavoidably lost, and giving form and substance to
heir care. This is the proposed inscription—

COMMEMORATION
OF

THE PUBLTC SPIP.IT AND FIDELITY
WITH WHICH 10,000 OF THE CIT.ZENS of LOND N
SUPPORTED THE DIRECTORS OF THE
GREAT CENTRAL GAS CONSUMERS' COMPANY,
IN THEIR STRUGGLE TO SECURE FOR THE COMMUNITI
GOOD AND CHEAP LIGHT,

THIS STONE
WAS LAID ON THE 23D DAY OF APEIL, 1850.
The Cinz .us' Company was called into being at tt.it end o
IS4B, when the directors of the two monoply companies
firmly re fusel any reduction of 63. per 1.000 feet, the then
price. When this was found to be the case—when,
having found that smaller communities and worse pay-
ing districts were charged considerably less—and, as
perhaps was natural, those who had long grasped a rich
pr'z declined to relax any of the force with which
they extracted their revenue—they th,r, in the largest
public meeting ever known in the London Tavern, de-
termined to round their own establishment to have some
share in the preelection and management of what had
become en article of necessity ; and even when the com-
panies which had long denied any change, finding the
rich priz..s about to slip from their bands, reduce d to 53.,
and then to 43 , the citizens, being appealed to in a public
meeting, said, " No, we have lost our confidence in you ;
• we will not have the price' stereotyped at 4Q., knowing
that with increased demand diminished price ought to
follow, which you would not give, we will have our own
company." This is briefly the history ; this is the
battle you have been fighting, and which remains to be
still fought out. Shall wealth gained by monopoly
(50,0001. a year, being now remitted)—shall influence
and the sympathy of capitalist with capitalist rob you
of this opportunity of some management in what mainly
concerns you ? If you allow it you will never have
another chance; and another quarter of a century may
roll away without it, and leave you at the mercy of the
present directors and tbosa who may succeed them.
I have now to place the stone in its final resting-place
—long may it remain there to tell its noble story I
Will you answer by your cheers " Success and Prospe-
rity to the Great Central Gas Consumers' Company.
(Great cheers.)
The trowel and mallet provided for the occasion were
then handed to the chairman who proceeded to arrange
the mortar for the reception of the stones and the huge
bit ck was lowered in safety to its final resting place.
Three rounds t f cheers were then called fo-, and_ re-
sponded to with most vehement enthusiasm by the as-
semblage.
Mr. BENNOCIE came forward, and, after a thor: at'-
dress from him, the assemblage separated.
••• 7 THE DINNER.

The directors and shareholders and °Vier friends of
the company again assembled at six o'clock at the Lon-
don Tavern, where a sumptuous banquet was provided
in the usual first-rate style cf 'the establishment. About
200 gentlemen tat down to dinner.
Thomas Dakin, Esq., the chairman cf the company,
presided, and was supported on either side by Mr.
Charles Pearson, M.P., Colonel Dunne, M.P., Mr. F.
French, M.P., Mr. C. Anstey, M.P., Alderman Sir W.
Magnay, Mr. James Wyld M.P., Deputy Harrison,,
Common Councillors F. I3ennock, Blake, and T. Hall.
Messrs. W. F. A. Delane, J. Bredbury, T. Gabriel, J,
Rigby, J. Massey, G. Bovell, J. Rstford, D. W. Wire,
J. Biyden, A. A. Croll, and J. Stevens.
The usual loyal toasts having been given,
The CHAIRMAN gave " The Army end Navy."
Colonel DUNNE returned thanks.
The CHAIRMAN then gave "The Lord Mayor and
Prosperity to the City cf London," and joined to the
toast the health of Sir William Magnay.
Sir. W. MAGNAY returned thanks, and bore testi-
mony to the anxious efforts of the magistracy of the
city of London on all occasions to temper mercy with
justice, and to promote the interests of the cit's ns.
Mr. D. %V. WIRE proposed in eloquent terms the
health of Mr. French and tLe Members of the House of
Comte ons.
Mr. FRENCH, M.P., returned thank-, and said that
the countenance of the ciCz ns of London, combining
as they d d with so much of energy, capital, and intdli-
gsnce, was the best sanction.tbat the House t f Com-
mons could have at any time fJr their proceedings.
Mr. C. FEARSONS, M.P., proposed the next toast, and
was receiyed with loud cheers, lie said he had to propose

to them,wh at had been truly deecribcd by the toast-matter
as a bumper toast. It was, " The Great Central Gas
Consumer's Company, and prosperity to it, end to those
who had the courage to embark in it."-:-(Cheers.) Ho
prectede I to describe the progress of the company since
its origin. Ile had the honour, with afew hien& then
in the room, to be among the originators of the project,
and h.e would endeavour to put in a popular lease a tew
of thereasons which tal induced them to come forward.
He had. fur many years contended th, t the nibs:: us of
London .were eutitled to receive their gai at a much
lower rate than they had. been pa) ing, on the ground,
as he had demonstrated, that the chief expense
of gee was not in the rnakieg but in the distrihu.
than. Ile had shown that they should have:received
their gas thirty-three per cent. cheaper than in
provincial towns, a here a small supply is spread over
a large surface of country, just as a roan with a thric-
irg business, who turns his capital two or three times
in the year, may be content with smaller profits than a
man whose business is of a more-precarious nature, and
who has to gise long credits to :his curtemers.—(llesr.)
Netioeal taxation he regarc'e 1 as a necessary evil;- mu-
nicipal taxation ho had long objec ed to; but now that
his own salary was paid out of it his dislike to the impest
had been lightened—(4 laugh)—but, of all taxes, he
thought the worst was monopoly taxation.— (Hear )
Thu gas consumers of the city of London numbered be-
tween 8,000 and 9,000, and they used 500.000,000 cubic
feet of gas ein the year. Now, a reduction o! 2s. per
1,000 feet in the cast of that unapunt was equal to
50,0001. a year, An that there was a difference betwesn
the amonat paid by them in April, ;18-50, and in April,
1849, of fully 50,000/. in fay. ur of the_,presera
year. (Cheers.) (A, gentleman he:e the_,
that he had paid. 7s. for gas in 1847.) It was
quite true that up to 1848 they had tesn paying 7e
per thousand feet. so thet conspa• el with that year they
had saved 75,000 L Teata was what they had paid in
asonoeoly taxation. Now, ht them compare that sum
with their municipal taxation. The whole amount pant
for the well-organized and disciplined army ef police
that guarded their live; and property was but 27,0601.
(11ear, hear.) It had been said that their company
is odd add to the paving-rate by
.digging up the streets;
but the whole amount of the paving rate, including the
expense of paving several new tre,:is, was but 17,0001.
yew, while the whole sum paid for sew erage, including
the expense of 36, miles of new see eta in the last twenty'
ye are, of lighting rate, which was 10,0001. a year, and of
paving-re ts was only 39.0001.—(Hear, he ea) Ile would
next c .mparc this monopoly taxation with the national
taxation. His fiend Mr. And( rton had given notice et'
emotion in the Common Council, for a petition to Par-
liament against the odious wiudew•tax. But Mr. An-
derton .was an opporent of cheap gas, to that while he
con. ured an impost that taxed the light of day, be sve,s
in favour of taeieg the Ifeht of night.— (Hear, hear.)
What he
,( Mr. Pearson) w anti d wes, that the poor me-
chanic hold be able to have as good a light ut night
at a cheap tato as any of them had.—(Llear, hear.) It
was said that the window-tax was injurious to the sani-
tary state of large towns, but he should Ile to know how
the saritary coedit-ion of Loud. n wee improved by hav-
ing those gee at gas works, vidahtte Mr. Anderton sup-
ported,
sxistittg in the most crowded and poorest part of
the City.—(llear, hear) Tao whole window-tax of the
i of London
was
69 6201., while be had already told
them a the sum. whieni t 5 y paid in monopoly taxatior.
Again, he found that the 2,200,000 ic.habi- ants of the
metropolis were supplied with flesh naa far 10,000,0001.
so that this gas monopoly tax ie the city of Lndon
alone amounted to the 200th part of the whole expense
of supplyin,g the entire metropolis wish beefeeed mutton.
—(Cheers.). Their opponents heel manufactured waste-
fully and dietributcd badly, and yet they divided ewe -
meus gahts. It was said teat this company were confis-
cating theirepto; ery; bet there W, .re teen conn ected
with the mgnagement of the Central (Ins Company who
would be incapable of embarking in any seenufe-
tion that would confienate. hard-craned means. If these
munipelists had reduced_their price in tae first instance
as low as they had reduced it latterly, this company
would never have been called into existence.—(ilear,
hear.) Shakspere said that " theme is a divinity that
hedges a king," but those gentlemen seemed to think
that-there was also a divinity that hedges a gas cora-
tany. —(Loud laughter.) In their return to Pailiament
of their profits they put their dividends down at 10 per
cent. This was to be sure the truth, hut it was not the
w hole truth, or else how could their churns, on which 81.
had .bsen paid, be selling at 300 ger cent. ? - (Hear,
Lear.) They attributed their large dividends to the fact
of their having purchase I the shares of two ruined com-
panies at half their original value,. but it that were so ho
would like to know who had the best title to the term
"confiscators."—(lice'.)
The toast was drools with great cheering.
The CHAIRMAN again rose, and in elequent terms pro-
posed the " Health ef :dr. Pearson," describing in detail
the great services which that Honourable Gentleman had
rendered to the company. On concluding be presented
Ihrer:TeErsere- wide a magnific Out silver flsgon and dish,
as a mark of esteem from the directors personally. The
flagon bore the follow ing inscription:—
" Presented to Cheeks Pearson, Eeq., M.P., late
Chairman of the Great Central Gas Consumers' Com-
pany, by his late colleagues, John Bradbury, Erq.. G.
H. Buvill, F. Clemow, Esq., Thomas Dekin, E!q.,
W. F. A. Delano, Ell., Thomas Gabriel, 13!.q., T. H.
Massey, Rel., .J.Vyld, Fact, M.P., and A. A. ,
engineer, in testimony of their eetimation of his able sex -
vices. in assisting to form -the company, thus destroying
the gas monopoly that had existed in the City fur thirty
years, and, by reducing the price, effecting a saving to
the consumers of nearly 50,000/. annually. The director s
have gr.( at pleasure in recording their sense of the
unvarying kindness of their late chairman whilst joined
with them in their arduous eautier, by which their labour
was lightened amidst opposition and difficulty of no
ordinary kind. And they desiro to express their fervent
wishes for-his health, happiness, and prosperity, and a
long career of public usefueness.—April 23, 1850."
Mr. PEARSON acknowledged the high compliment paid
him in suitable terms.
Mr. 13ENNOCH proposed the health of the counsel, soli•
citors, and Pa tliannertlry eeent of the company.
Mr. BRYDEN, the Parliamentary agent, returned
thanks.
Mr. GABRIEL proposed the health of Mr. Anstey and
their ether visiters not members of the company.
Mr. A NETEY returned thanks.
The CHAIRMiN proposed the halt ::1 of Mr. Croll, and
dwelt et some lergtlt on the great services rendered to
the company by that gentlemen.
Mr. Catiaa returned thanks. Ile said:-4 will not
eil,ct to conceal the pride and satisfaction with which I
regard the expression of the sentiments in which this
toast has be n proposed, or the manner in which you
have be en pleased to receive P. It is the well-merhei
character of the wnius of this country that it felicitously
combines tl- e most prolhund attainments in abstract-
science with the most useful, profitable, and practical Ap-
plication of those physical laws which rule the material
elements with which Providence has surrounded.us. We
are met this day to celebrate the progress of scientific
discovery applied to the convenient purposes of
:civilised
those mechanical and chemical combinations
which add lustre to the halls of kings and erobelash with
economical cheerfulness and freoeal light the workroom
of the artisan and the cottage of the peasant. •I do not
pretend to to above that infirmity of our common rature
which guides us by mixed motives. Ido not think, in-
deed, that even our selfishness to as given to us eithei: to
serve ourselves alone, or to exelule advantage to society.
The prospect of the fair material rewards of industry
arid genius at mulates etch of us to toil for the whole.
The desire to own the good opinion of' mankind stimu-
lates us piton to postpone the mere sordidness of avarice
to the interest and happiness of the community. It is
the unmixed advantage of an undertaking such es that of
which we are assembled to celebrate the establishment
that it combines the excellencies of a substantial, cer-
tain,and profitable commercial undertaking, with the
promotion of the domestic comfort, and the elevation
of the social habits cf tho people—that it consults at
once the material interests of the producer and the sav-
ing of Vie consumer—that like mercy, but in a more di-
rectly mercantile and tangible shape, "it blesses him
that gives and him that takes." My part and lot in this
matter is known to most of you. lam a practical
man. Ido not pretend to the mere vision of the trans-
cendental philanthropist. I am not led away by the
dreams of the mere inventor. My calculations have
been previously tested by extensive practical experience
—they are corroborated by the virtual testimony to
their accuracy, to be derived from the contracts on which
my estimates arc founded, being all taken by eminent ex-
perier ced and purely practicsl contractors. I believe, I am
confident, that I am serving the public. I am surel am se-
curing safe profits to the shareholders. Ido not pretend
to deny that I rem certain of aiming rnysalc. If lam
mistaken, I shall be the chief sufferer; fur I have not
hesitated to peril the gains of an active and successful
life upon the result.—(Rear, hear.) But I have pre-
viously tested by ample practical results the safety of
the experiment; and I can but say this, that you have
only to be true to each ether and the pledges you have
given to your fellow-citizens, in order to realise
every promise you made to yourselves, and every pros-
pect you held cut to the community.—(Cheers.) in
this as in every effort to benefit the public by new in-
ventions and fresh discoveries, we have brought down
upon ourselves the vengeance of vested interests and the
fury of vast capitalists. We are resolved to meet their
unmeasured opprobrium with perfect good temper and
equanimity, and their heavy attempts et levity with the
old proverb, "let them laugh that win." I again thank
you Gratefully for your kindness in this notice of my
name, and can only say that it will be to me a froth
stimulus to deserve it.—(Cheers.)
Mr. WYLD, M.P., proposed the hearth of Mr. Rigby
and the officers of the company.
Mr. RIGBY returned thanks.
Some other toasts were proposed, and the company
separated at a late hour.

THE CASE Ol" POISONING AT EDINBURGEI.—We
understand that the circumstances elicited during the exa-
mination of the case have been considered by the authorities
sufficient to warrant them in fully cr:mmitting Benni,on for
trial. Since his apprehension the accuscd has been in a
state of great nervous excitement, and is now much worn
out. The contents of the stomachs of the two dogs, which
were taken to the Surgeons' Hall, were yesterday analysed,
and found to contain.a quantity of arsenic. ITO "other -facts
of importcnce have been brought out in addition 0 those-de-
tailed aboye.—,Edinburgh,Advertiser.