The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-10-16

...PittshurEh the .onIy City whore lt
iaPuFniShed Cheaper Than - wheel.
ing.r r,. ID. & d. ie l.ast7l $50
IRON tse Nel0 York Post. aaI
The movements in Paris, London and
New York towards q reform Of the galsl
lmanufacture, t0'WhichiWe lately 'reief.
red. were stimulated chiefly, II notsolbs
lily, by sanitary consideEat iQns recent.
\ similar demonstrations In ClnctnnR
\ Detroit, st. Louis, and other western
4 cities, have refsreIe 90 iexCluslV lVely: 70 the
\ question Of cost ..s
It Is .dificult TO imagine anything
4 more unpleasant, In q business way,
4 than the relationgnoW existing betWeen
A the people and ithe6gas companie! IN
lthelgreater number OF the gaaht clnes
| between onand st. Louis. and from
\ ST. Paul down to New Orleans. In
some Of these places the feud has gone
4 30 far, that resort is had or threatened.
to the substitution Of oil for Gas and
| In others, as at Detroit, the municipal
corporations are encouraging proposals
4 for new companies that VIII supp tne,
/ public with better II light for less money.
The Mayor Of St. Louis lately add dressea
the city corporation in tqrtnsrance Oh
such Views. M. III i, ~ /.
The magnitude Of the Interests whlch1.
the gas companies have IN TINS que.
\ tiotf! may be- inferred from the fact that
their stock forms an aggregate OF about
I fifty.fiye millions OF dollars OF
IL 20 valuable that It Is rarel y offered for
SALE These interests are connected
4 with the populations Of four hundred.
4 and sixty cities and towns, Having
about seven and q half millions Of peo-
nie. ti16 temafning tweiity-stx millions
Of our national population residing be-.
yond the reach of1Ras pipes. or the
whole quantity Of gas produced In the
United States, the, city Of New York,
through Its four gas companies, uses
about one.fiEth-Whl Whlle Phlladelp phIa,
Baltimore, Boston, Brooklyn, Chicago
and Cincinnati, with an aggregate pop
\ ulation OF two millions, use about
three-tanths. The other half Of the gas
product Of the Union Is divided be-,
| tween the remainder Of the four hum
| dred and sixty gas lit towns, with pop
ulatIons ranging from two thousand 10
one. hundred, and sixty thousand. The
aggregate of gas made in all these
works Is estimated by some patient
\ calculator as sufficient In d year TO fill q
gas.holder $50 feet high, and large
enough to cover ESQ Gctes-almost
enough To occupy the Central Park and
overtop Trinity steeple.7 ~ rl l1.e
| In Cincinnati the controversy be-
tween the people and the gas company
has resulted In o movement for the pur-
chase of tho gasworlSs by the City Cor
poration-legislative authority having
| been obtained for issuing two and ail
| half millions OF city bonds in payment,
in case a popular vote shall sanction
| 10 ascertain facts requisite for enab-
| ling their fellow citizens 10 decide INTEL
lIgently upon this matter, three proml-
| nent business men were sent to Pitts.
burgh, where the conditions OF the gas
manufacture so closely resemble those
In Cincinnati as to render example and
comparison Instructive and satisfactory
They were met by the officers Of the
Pittsburgh Gas Company with a degree
OF frankness worthy OF Imitation in all !
similar Inquiries. The books Of the
Pittsburgh Company were thrown open
and every inquiry found prompt reply.
The results Of the year ending on the.
30lh July last, OF which a full statement
1 Is published, show that the Pittsburgh
Company made during that period 101.;
O0O, 900 feet OF gas, at q cost OF sgI ts69l
which Is only ninety-one and q hal
cents per thousand feet.
The directors and engineers OF the
Pittsburgh gasworks, and the engi'
neers Of the Allegheny City gasworks,
concur In opinion that the cost OF
making gas Is about the same IN Gin
cInnati as In Pitts burgh; and 1t Is ad-
ded that, as Cincinnati makes about
La. SFa ptIfa lNnRoRh Ia
bor and material Being equal, Cincin-
natl could make the article full twenty
five per cent cheaper than Pittsburgh.
The satisfactory working OF the
Pittsburgh gasworks renders that city
Il model for reformers in municipal ex-
penses. The corporation there Is evil
! IDENTIFY destitute OF such 'Ring" as
distinguishes New York. In these
i, days OF swindllng gas contracts here,
It Is refreshingto witness the primitive
simplicity and old-fashloned Integrity
exhibited In the arrangements between
the Pittsburgh corporation and the gas
company, Such statements as the fol-
lowing would seem Incredible, were
they not certified by a respectable COM
mIttee and backed by figures from the
account books. The Cincinnati gem
tlemen say in their report:
"The city OF Pittsburgh gave 70 the
gas company $40, 900 four years since,
on condition that after the company
had given, FREQ OF cost, yearly, 10 the
city i2, 100000 feet, they should furnish
ali the gas still required by the city for
seventy.fve cents per ono thousand
feet, and to citizens at 81 60, 1Dhich con-
tract they have faithfully Kept, while we
In Cincinnati arc paying s. 25-a little
more than double. Tho Pittsburgh
company have, after supplying gas so
cheaply TO their city and citizens, de.
cldrcd annually ten per cent divideNd for
their stockholders, and accumulated In
four years $4,000 or more, much OF
which they are now investing on their
works."
The Cincinnati Committee recommend
their fellow citizens to vote for the pur.
chaso OF the gas works, md thus pro-
mote economy while terminating con.
troyersy with tho company, They say
substantially, "supposIng gas In Cin-
cinnRti to cost twentyritve per cent
more than II should cost, say 81 25 per
! ono thousand feet, the whole debt for
the purchase Of the gas company,
) though Il be S2,5OO, 600, paying interest
Rt eight per cent per annum In currency
or six per cent on gold bonds, can be
, paid of In eight years, charging yearly
for gus s. so, which is the lowest price
at which the gas company now propose
furnishing gas to the city for Ave years.
ACter paying the whole Of the debt, this
would leave n balance Of $50O, 900 in tho
treasury. So that after eight years, the
city can furnish gns 10 everybody At a
cost OF not over 81 or 81 % per thousand
feet.
The plan pursued in Pittsburgh, while
It may work there, Is not TO bo reCom-
, mended elsewhere, and particularly not
in this city. But We hive given Rn ac-
count Of Il TO show that In other places
the citizens have rid themselves Of the
rulo OF gus monopolIes, which is 30 Op.
, pressively felt here.
The present prices of gas In cities Of
different parts OF the Union, with the
government tax added, arc about Us
follows: In Albany, s. 70; Baltimore,
| s. 30; boston, average, s. co. Brooklyn,
average, s. 90; Buffalo, $780, Charles.
ton, s.; Chicago, s. 80; Cincinnati, s. so;
Detroit, 81; Jersey City, 81; Louisville,
81 80; Lowell, s. 76; Milwaukee, 81;
Newark, s. 76; New Orleans, IS so; Now
: Haven, 81 76; New York, average, g 10;
philndHlDhIn, IS Is. plttRbuFV, 81 90: