National Republican., 1883-06-05
The half Dozen Ways in Which They Force
the Public to Contribute
The Meanest Of All is Where They Make
You Pay Another's Bill.
Some Facts and Figures Showing the Enormous Profit
They Make at the Rate Charged.
The Reduction to $3.50 Per Thousand is
Not Enough.
To me Ert,or.


tion of the outrages they have so long
inflicted on tho public. Since then / see it
stated in the papers that an arrangement has
been made between the district commits
sioners and the company by which the COM
rany has agreed to reduce the price after
July 25 cents per thousand, thinking, no
doubt, that that will satisfy the public and
prevent any further action.
1t should have no such effect for several
reasons, as Ipropose to show. And right hero
/ want to say that do not sympathize with
those who devote their efforts to denouncing
the quality Of the gas and the meters. While
II is true that at times the gas is not what 1t
should be, q pretty extensive acquaintance
with the gas lights Of the principal cities con-
vinces me that the gas here is better than the
average as general rule. No doubt IL can be
and should be improved As to the meters 1t
is all nonsense to say that they do not meas
ure the quantity correctly, as general rule.
A meter Is piece of mechanism, consisting
simply of q collapsable reservoir like bellows,
which is first filed by tho gas entering
it, and is then collapsed as the gas leaves
It, the moving parts being connected
to train of gear wheels like those of
clock, which turn the hands on the dials
and thus records the quantity which passes
through IL. That Is the dry meter generally
used. A wet meter consists of o rotating
wheel, having buckets or cups inverted, tho
wheel being immersed to one-half its depth
or more In water or other fluid, and the gas
being made to pass into these inverted
buckets, and by its buoyancy lifting the
bucket out Of the fluid, thereby causing the
wheel to rotate and operate the register the
same rs in the other case. The cells, cham
bers, or buckets in either case are made to
hold a certain quantity, and the number of
times they are filed and emptied isregistered,
thus showing on the dial the number of feet.
Hence every one must see that II the meter
be correctly made and is kept in order, it
cannot fail to correctly register the quantity
Of gas that passes through 1t. Now, every
one of these meters is tested and sealed before
1t is used, and If at any time person has
any doubt as to its correctness, he has simply
to notify the gas inspector aud have it tested
or replaced by one that is perfect.
] have no doubt of the truth of the state
ment that there have been instances in
which the meters have registered gas when
none was burned, but careful examination
will show in all such cases that the gas went
through the meter, and escaped through
leaky joints in the pipes and at the various
fixtures. This must be obvious, from the
fact that II the gas does not pass through the
meter it cannot register, because it will not
move.
If people would take the trouble to shut
off the gas at the meter when they leave
their premises, or, better still, every morning,
there never would be complaint on that
score. There is probably not house in the
city in which there is not from one to fifty
very small leaks in the pipes and fixtures;
and though this leak is so small as not to be
noticed, still 1t not only adds imperceptibly
the size Of the bills, but it also poisons the
air in the buildings more or less, and for
these reasons, repeat the gas should be shut
OFF at the meter each morning. Still I pre-
sumo not one person in thousand does it (;
first, because the mass are not aware of these
facts and second, because it involves some
trouble and care especially when the meters
are set in out-of-the-way places.
have felt 1t necessary to make these OBJ
servations as to the quality of the gas and the
meters, because If we base our complaints on
grounds which are untenable we only weaken
our position and consequently must fail and
1T is folly to do so when we have so much
better and stronger grounds upon which to
plant our opposition to the monopoly. l now
proceed to state some of the principal of these.
One just ground of complaint is the arbitrary
rules adopted by tho company, and which
they claim their charter authorizes i refer
to the rule that if tenant or occupant leaves
building without paying his gas bill the COM
pany refuses to turn the gas on for another
party unless he will pay the former tenants
bill! / should like to know what Justice or
reason there Is in compelling me to pay for
gas furnished to another party. AS well might
my doctor or grocer require mo to pay for
services or groceries furnished to another.
Even supposing am landlord, have moth.
ing to do with my tenants gas bill !; and yet
under this rule /, or the succeeding tenant am
required to pay his bill. If he leaves my
premises without paying his rent, l must
lose it unless am able to collect it from him
in the usual way. Why shouldn't the gas
company do the samep Why should this
monopoly have rights denied to private citi-
zens in this respectp More especially as they
have means for securing themselves against
loss by requiring deposit in advance which
Is another Of their rules.
But the meanest part of it all is the manner
In which this is done. When tenant makes
application to have the gas turned on, he is
informed that 1t cannot be done until the
owner comes to the Office and signs request.
When he goes there, he is told to simply sign
his name to printed form in a blank book, a
mere matter of form as he is told, simply to
comply with the rules of the company. Sub
sequeutly, when another tenant asks for the
gus, he is informed that it cannot be fur
nished because tho last tenant did not pay
his gas BILL Then he informs the owner,
who, on going TO see about it, is shown the
blank that he signed, as mere matter of
form, and he there finds printed in type so
small that it can only bo read by the
aid of glasses, an agreement making
him responsible for the tenants gas
bill, thing ho never dreamed of.
If the owner complains, he is told that they
will make 1t all right, because another of their
rules says that gas shall not be furnished to
person who neglected to pay his bill else
where when he asks for II at his new place,
and as he must have IL he will pay the old
bill in ordor TO get the gas at the new place,
and when 80 paid they will refund it to the
owner. But subsequently, when the owner
finds they are furnishing gas to the defaulting
party at another place, and calls on them to
refund the amount, as they promised, then
they tell him that the court has decided that
they could not refuse to furnish the party
with gas at the new place because of his fail
ure to pay at the old place, and as they did
not collect it from him. of course they cannot
refund it!
The foregoing is an actual occurrence which
fell under the writer's observation, and no.
doubt Scores if not hundreds, of such cases
occur annually. One or two citizens have
had the courage TO appeal TO the court in op-
position to this outrage, and have obtained
redress; and If all would do so il would put
an end to It, As a general rule, however, the
bills are small and IL would cost more TO ap-
peal to the court than the bill amounts TO,
and hence citizens do not care TO do it, and
suffer from the delay in the meantime. Their
charter should be so amended as to render
such outrages and annoyances impossible.
Another objection is suggested to me by
lady, and that is compelling all the citizens
to make trip to the gas office twelve times
year TO pay their gas bills. At first sight
this may seem like a small matter; but isft?
When you consider that there are probably
more than 10000 QaB.takers and that every