Daily globe., 1883-08-19
HE GAVE 1T AWAY. go 80
The Thrilling Story OF an Abstruse Boston
Gas Meter.
From the Boston Courier.1

from the Boston Courier.1
He was trying to sell the stranger his
house and lot, and, after the prospect
i've purchaser had wandered through
the attic, and nosed around the kitchen,
and poked into the closets, and ratified
the windows to see if they we're tight,
how much dead cat it would assay to
the gallon, the owner of the property
took him down into the cellar, which
he had spent all night in whitewashing.
The meter, which was stuck up on
shelf in one corner of the cellar, at
tracted the strangers attention.
How much does your gas cost you a
year2" asked he.
The householder gave a knowing
wink, poked the stranger in the ribs,
and said
"You don't look like a man who
would give the thing away, and, seeing
as you're going to buy the house any
way, I don't mind telling you. It don't
cost me cent"
ut don't?" said the stranger, with
evident surprise.
mo, not q red" said the other, "and
it's all owing to little observation on
my part as to the working of the meter
there. I'll explain. You see, when 1
first moved into the house I was doing
a good business, and so I had every
thing fixed up in tony style-chande-
liers in every room in the house, kitch-
en- included. But after awhile my busi-
ness began to run down, and I had to
shut down on expenses. Ny wife sug-
gested that we economic on the gas
bill; SO I bought lot of lamps, and
we stopped using the gas-burners, ex-
cept in the parlor when we had COM
pany. When the man with the lantern
came around to look at the meter, I
fairly KICKED myself with JOY to think
how it would astonish him. But it
didn't.
"The bill for that month was just as
big as it was the month before, and
when I squealed there was the meter to
back them up. couldn't get around
that. Well, next month thought I'd
experiment. So put the lamps away
in the garret, and used every gas-burner
in the house. Kept two chandeliers in
the bedrooms going day and night just
for luck. Bill for that month Just the
same. Then I thought might just as
well be getting all the good out of that
meter that it would stand, so told the
gas company that I'd like to have a
couple of chandeliers put in the stable
for the use of the hired man. They
came and put them in, and that very
same day man came to fix up the me-
ter. Said some of the meters were
wearing out inside, and had to haye
some of their driving wheels renewed,
or something of that sort. The hired
girl said that he took out a cog-wheeI
and put in bigger one, and then wound
it up like an eight-day clock. At the
end of that month the bill was about
twice as big as before.
"WelI, that months bill just settled
me, you can just bet. [ tapped hole
In the pipe leading to the barn, ran an
other pipe over to our next neighbor,
and let him have all the gas he wanted
for 10 per cent. off Inside of two
months I was supplying the whole
square, and it didn't cost cent more
than it did to supply my house and sta
BILE. By this little scheme and by strict
economy [ have been enabled to amass
handsome sum of money, and as soon
as you take this house off nv hands I'm
going to move into the big brick down
on the corner. I'll turn this little mo-
nopoly right over into your hands It's
little dangerous, but if you've got the
nerve your gas needn't cost you a cent,
as said at first, and"
my gas isn't likely to cost me any
thing, anyway" said the stranger, in
terrupting him for the first time.
"Why?"
Because, said the stranger, solemn
ly, "Fm the new secretary of the gas
company"