The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1882-01-24

because in addition to the clerical ioEOe
two mon) employed, the trustees In the
second year Of their term hired cheap
clerk or otiice.boy at fifty dollars per |
month, whereas in Maxwell and Kings |
time they two did all the work Of collect
ing and accounting (?) The answer to
that complaint Is this that the number Of !
consumers had increased from Rn average
Of LOCO in Maxwell and Kings time to
2,l00, and this increase alone involved
enough extra work to keep the new clerk
busy. Moreover, Maxwell and his helper
kept their books in Il slovenly, incomplete
manner, writing them mostly with lead
pencils. No regular system Of accounts
was kept by Maxwell in his ledger, but
merely q crude record OF monthly pettle.
mentS--false at that. The system Of books
and accounts devised by Mr.. Caldwell, the
late Secretary, Is simple and yet most com.
pete, aud showing, Us It does, all the RI.
suits OF the business In quantities as well
Us dollars and cents, must involve much
more labor than the clumsy bookkeeping
Of Maxwell, who, ] am Informed, never
closed his accounts or posted up an invent.
DRY during all his nearly eight years SER
vice Mr. Caldwell deserves great creditor
his bookkeeping which, like all his other
work, Is accurate and thorough.
Another criticism l have heard is that
too many meter men and pipe layers were
seen about the gus Office. Well, there was
no increase. The two Dysons and Bye are
only fair set off to the two Doerrs and
Smith, their predecessors The Dysons and
Bye all learned their keep" il It is doing
enough to work hard six days q week be-
sides almost every evening and an oCca-
sional Sunday. These men held no sine.
cures. The work OF their department had
been much neglected previous to their
time and that Of the late trustees and the
labor Of changing and testing old and
leaky meters, hunting mp pipe leaks and
other work kept them as busy w flesh and
blood could stand. The stoppNge OF leaks,
financial and otherwise, has reduced the
unaccounted.for gas from over twenty.
three per cent OF the whole make during
the last year OF the first trustees TO about
seven per cent during the second year Of
the late trustees, which latter figure good
authorities among gas men say can
not be exceIIed for minimum
in this country, and is only half the aver.
age OF the gus works OF the United States.
This reduction was accomplished entirely
through the work Of the ollice.meu whose
'large number has excited the indignation
! OF certain persons who have made them.
selves rather too prominent us apologists
for and defenders u the enterprising gen.
tlemen who were removed from their posi-.
tons rs officers Of the Gas Works on nc.
count OF the suspicious which Council
( investigating committee had Of their hon.
esty. The Old saying, "the receiver is as
bad as the thief indicates how it is that
. the public regards with dislike and sus
piCion those who go out Of their way to dc,
tend scoundrel, Just as we class together
: u king among thieves and the man who
associates with him and deals in his plumber
Having said my say, l would ask The
: anti.Commission party before they again
attempt to eIte the administration 6t the
late gas trustees by way oil an argument
against establishing commissions for the
water works and the streets and alleys, tC
please explain how they reconcile with
their theory Of extravaganza the fact that
in year when great improvement and re-
pairs were made at the gas works, the late
trustees made and delivered gus at u cost Of
543 cents per thousand.
OSE WHO Knows.