The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1869-11-23
Something more About Gas.

The chief reason, OF course, why
the city should avail herself Of the OPP
tlon she will have little over thirteen
months hence TO take the Gas Works at
their appraised value, Is that the very
large profits which now 60 into the
private pockets OF the Gas Company,
may be saved TO the consumers, or, II
collected from them, may DO put Into
the city treasury. There Is no place in
the United States whore gas ought 10 DO
made more cheaply than here. The
coal Is just at our doors and Is good.
The lime Is equally convenient and
corospondlnRly cheap. The machine.
ry and fixtures can be had as Rdyan-
tageously here as anywhere else, and
labor Is no dearer than elsewhere. All
the conditions for cheap gas that are TO
be found anywhere exist here, save In
the single particular OF limited con.
sumption. II Is on this, we believe,
that tho Company bases Its justilca.
ton Of present high prices. This may
help account for tho fact that gas here
IL worth $3.50 pee thousand feet, and
but 500 In Cincinnati, while the latter
place has TO transport coal from Pitts
burUh to make 1t. But the Wheeling
Company cannot very we'll forliiy itself
by complaint OF limited consumption,
for II has voluntarily limited II much
beyond what was unavoidable. Avery
considerable portion Of the city does not
take gas al all, some because they can>
not get Il and others because they can.
not afford 1t. The Island Is totally un.
supplied and other outlying parts Of
the city are not provided with gas facI.
lilies. II the price were lowered the
consumption in those parts OF the city
now within reach OF the mains might
be largely increased, and with a little
additional expense It might also be
much Increased In the outer portion OF
the city where tho mains do not reach.
The cost Of laying down some addition.
al pipe and Of perhaps another holder,
would he about the Ouly expense Of In
creaStnG the supply OF gas, for the ad>
dtlIonal cost OF manufacture would be
little or nothing. The coke and coal
tar more than pay Tor the coal the
Company has It's officers all under pay
anyhow and need increase neither lhelr
numbers nor pay 1t might need few
more retOrts. But II seems within
bounds 10 say that II 1t had been the
policy, the Company might have large.
lyreduced the price without any dlml,
mutton OF profits, the increase iu cons
sumption making up the difference and
paying the additional expense. This
might have been Of no apparent advan.
tage to the Company, but would have
been OF great benefit to consumers
and At n fairer price 1t may be there
would have been no demand for ter.
mInatlon ofthe Company's charter und
Il might have had another five years
leaae. But by exactIng the highest
price from alimited cOnsumptl lon, rather
than accepting lower price from @
larger one, the Company,has committed
The error OF the Impatient youth who
killed the goose TO get the golden eggs,
for 1t has driven It's customers 10
demand tina: iLs monopoly shall be ter-
minated as soon as possible.
But no comparisons With other cities
are needed to show that Wheeling paws
great deal too much for her gas, 70,
the profits OF the Company show II
most couC!usively. As 10 what the
Company actually makes we cannot OF
COURSE speak by the card, but we now
have such Information AS satisfies us
OF the following state OF facts. The
original capital put into the Company
WAS $4,000. Previous to the Is! OIL
July last Sit. 900 profits had been added
to the capital In the shape OF stock div.
idends in addition to cash dividends
paid. Since that time there has been
stock dividend Of 10 per cent. on this
$4,000, making the present capital
SlO7,SOO. Prior to July last there were
semI-annual cash dividends some
years Of II per cent, or 81 per cent. pei
"nnum, on the $4,000 capital, or over
Ii per cent. per annum on the Original
Investment. or course nothing Is
palmer than that all these profits are
paid by those who consume the gas;
and everybody knows that there ought
10 be no need TO pay such per cent,
when capital goes begging for long and
secure Investments at s and 10 per cent.
There can be no palmer sum In arlth.
metic than that.
Just how the city should manage the
Gas Works when 1t comes In posses.
sion OF them, Is something that does not
press for immediate consideration. It
Ia sufficiently apparent that she can,
according TO the choice Of the Council,
make either large reduction In the
cost OF gas TO the consumers, or large
annual profit which might 90 into a
sinking fund to aid In extlnguIsblng
the debt. We know there are response.
BILE gentlemen ready to loan the city
money at per cent. to purchase the
Works, or TO take them atthe appralse.
ment and run then, giving the city a
$4,000 bonus, and oblIgating them.
selves to furnish gas Of a standard
quality at q 80 per thousand; and they
would expect then to net q large per
cent on the investment. But we are
satisfied that, when the Works come
into possession Of the city, II the matter
is managed honestly, and is kept out OF