Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1888-04-10
A BIG ADVANCE
THRRAfENBDBY THE COMBINED" NATU-
Raj GAS COMPANIES.
Some Pointers Which Have a Deep Significance for
Wheeling The Glass ~Strlks-Gsneral
Industrial News.

Yesterdays Pittsburg POSTPAID the foi-
lowing rather interesting information re-
spectipg the acts and intentions of the
consolidated natural gas trust"
t'The various natural gas companies
which supply all towns west of Pittsburg
have, after q great amount Of talk, finally
determined on a big. advance in rates.
Some time ago representatives OF all these
companies held q meeting in Pittsburg and
there was talk ut that time Of forming q
permanent organization for the purpose OF
advancing the price Of gas 10 consumers.
The meeting adjourned without effecting
an organization, but it was concluded that
there should be another meeting for that
purpose. That other meeting has not yet
materialized, but the general managers Of
the eleven gas companies in the Ohio Val
ley have arrived at an understanding just
the same and gas rates will 20 up in earn
est. The advance will be as high rs $50
per cent. in some cases. The Bridgewater
Gas Company which supplies Youngstown,
O., and small towns in that vicinity, has
already made the advance. Their low
pressure customers are at present paying
as much for four house OF office fires as
they did before for six fires. This is a
saving to the gas company Of 80 per cent.
on the mount OF gas consumed, and yet
the company is getting as much money
from the nsum as it did before. Has
lev Williams, manager of the ~Bridgewater,
saws that by this means the company is
saving gas and the consumer learning
economy.
~. M. Guffy, who is interested in a num-
Der OF the companies referred 10 above,
when asked by q Post reporter yesterday
if there was to be q general advance, said:
Yes, sir. All the companies will follow
in the footsteps Of the Bridgewater and gas
will 90 up on an average of 100 per cent
over present rates; that is, for home or Of
fee supply. In some instances manufac-
turers' rates will be advanced $50 per cent
We are going to do this for the reason that
heretofore we have been selling gas entire
" too cheap. Consumers have grown care
less and wasted about az much fuel az they
needed. The man vino wasted gas by
using six fires in his residence, when four
would have made his house sufficiently
warm, will soon make the dis
covery that he can do with
out those two extra fires. We
will then be paid for what the consumer
needs and will save the gas which he
burned and did not need. In the same
way there is a great deal of gas wasted in
factories, We are going to advance the
rate to all mill owners, and IN that way
EMPLOYERS will make employees be more
economical in the use Of this fuel. / do
not anticipate that our gas supply is
petering out or anything Of that sort, but
we want TO get good pay for all the gas we
supply and teach to be economi-
cal in its use.
1.-THE towns which will be mostly affected
by the advanced rates are Steubenville,
| Wheeling, Youngstown, New Castle, Bel
laire, East Liverpool, Wellsville, Beaver
Falls, and numerous smaller towns in
Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and
Eastern Ohio"
This fiat announcement that there will
be a very large increase in gas rates to
both manufacturers and private consumels,
will DE very interesting reading for Wheel
ing. One manufacturer across the river
said yesterday that any such advance in
rates as here indicated would be prohibit
tory, and they would probably have to 20
back to coal. There has been q company
organized among Wheeling manufacturers,
as heretofore announced, to pipe gas to
this city for their own use, and the contem-
plated advance, will probably warm the
corporation into active life.