The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1869-11-24
rho Gns SnppIy-QuRIIty nnd Meas.
urcmcnI.

UIy III WIS ClIy WHlCu may w Acho OD'
viOus but II scarcely less Important
than those hitherto referred 10, and
TINT Is In brief that the quality Of the
GI8 furnished Is 10 inferior rs 10 make
itsI!Il deArer than the price indicates.
In Cincinnati Has Is furnished ct four
SevsnthS the price here, and there as
almost everywhere else standard Ia
fixed aud rIgldly enforced as 10 quail
IIy. In Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massa-
chusetts, and we believe In most OF the
SMtCa, there are general laws rPgulNt-
INK gas companies, which provide for
careful inspection both Of gas and
meters, and u standard Ia established
To which the quality OF gas must con-
form. In Cincinnati. for example, the
gHs must be Of 10 .CNndls power, and In
Massachusetts we believe the standard
h now lG.Gandle power. What is
meant by candle power Is that burner
consuming five cubic feet Of gas per
hour must yield volume Of light
equal to that produced by given nuns
bSr OF sperm candles burning ut once.
Ills the business OF the gas inspector
to nPply the photometrIc test and see
that tho gas furnished ls up to the
standard required. 1t Ii a serious
omission In the charter OF our Gas
Company that nothing OF this kind Is
required, while In this State thCre Ia no
general legislation on this auhject.
Every consumer knows for himself
That the gaH furnished here IL In gems
cr"I of poor quality. Competent judges
Hay it will not average above eight or
nine candle power. That IL, for ex-
ample, IL thousand feet OF Wheeling
gas makes less than two thirds the
light given by an equal volume OF
Cincinnati or Massachusetts gas.
This makes Wheeling gas act
UAlly coat tho consumer third more,
or 81 &C per thousand, for the same
IighLwhIch costs g 90 In Cincinnati. II
the Cincinnati people, then, complain
Ofdear gas, what ought We do here?
The inferior quality OF gas here Ia be-
lleved to bO due, not to any fault In the
coal or any lack Of skill In the manus
tNctTre. but TO the attemptto get too
much out ola bushel Of coal. The coal ls
kept In the retorts too loug-not only
till all the carbureted hydrogen gas Ia
run out, bat I'LL the other impure
gases which make no light are also
extracted. These are driven into
tho pipes and through the meters,
measured and sold to the con-
sumner, with the pure carbureted.
hydrogen gas, and not only give no
light but 20 10 poison the mir into which
they are expelled through the burners.
This consumer not only, therefore, suf-
lsrs the annoyance OF bad light, but he
actually pays s. 80 per thousand feet
for sulphureted-hylrogen and carbonIc.
acid, whose only office Ia to poison him.
This would DO different II the Gas Com
pany were required 10 furnish a stand
ard article and the requirement were
enforced by inspection. or course the
Company conld not pile up such large
profits, but the consumers would get
more light and less poison for their
money.
Another particular wherein this com.
mnnIty has 10 protection IL In the
measurement OF gas. The measure.
msnt OF measurable article pur-
chased il just about as important rs the
Prlc". the vital principle Of all busl.
ness Is that 1t takes two to make a bar
gain; that In, as applied In the present
case, TINT the buyer OF gas has right
10 know that he gets all that he pays
for. 1t Is against all the ordinary max
inns Of trude that the seller should do
all the measuring and keep all the &C.
counts, aud the buyer have no means OF
knowing whether IL Is doue correctly or
not. Yet this Is precisely what exists
here In the matter Of gas supply. The
Company measures tho gas on It's own
metres, and the seller does not and
cannot know whether they measure
CORRECTLY or not. Tho law gives him no
right 10 inquire. 1t IL true, II heknows
INV, he can read the record OF the me.
ter Oh tho dial; but how many are
There who even know how to do
thn!S lsut II the dial Ia to be
nU"p@l M correct record, the
meter Itself Is constantly liable
TO measure wrong, either through
tue tanperInH Of some ono or by get
ting out Of order OF It's own motion.
Indeed who knows that his meter ever
was rIghI2 What assurance OF It has
the consumer from FIRST to last2 Now,
In other cities where there Is q system
OF gas inspection Almost rigid testing Of
meters Ia part OF 1t. In Massachusetts
for example, when meter Is set up It
undergocs scientific tost by the In.
Speotor, who then seals 1t and, cor lilies
its accuracy. And the fees for this test
are paid by the Gas Company. After
wNrds at any time either seller or COLI
sumner, entertaining doubts that the
meter registers correctly, eau have 1t
tested again, the party demanding the
tOst paying the fec. ...
Under such regulations as these the
consumer has reasonable assurance
that he gets what no pays for. Buthow
is 1t here? How could 1t be, when the
consumer has no protection at all,
either az 10 quantity or quality? lie
has to choose between doing without or
accepting just what the Company
chooses to give him, for he has 10 rights
as consumer which the Company's
charter obliges II to respect. We do not
say that the Company ever intention.
ally wrongs Its customers by false
measurement Of meters (though II II
chose to how could they help them.
selves or even know ny; but In tho alb.
aencO Of scientific tests how can 1. DO