Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1888-01-23

supreme Court of Appeals
This Court transacted the following
! business Saturday.
Point Pleasant Bridge Company Y. Town
OF Point Pleasant, appeal dismissed on
motion OF appellant and appeal with SUI
perscdeGs allowed
Town of Grafton y Reed and Cthr,a.
from Taylor county, writ Of error d'7.
missed and raa}IowrA on motion Of plaiu-
/ tilts in error
/ Gallagher v Gallagher, from Mason
county. submitted on briefs Iilel
TumuuSuu Y PUlslry, from Mason ,oun-
| t.. subUitt,d on briefs filed
/ Knott Y ShepherdstOwn Manufacturing
1 Company, from Jefferson county, submit
/ ted on briefs nled
/ Cartons admir- y. EutinCr, from Kama
| VIVA county, continued
! Bowers, trustee, y. DickinsUna hem,
/ from l.anawha county, partly heard ana
| continued until to-day.
| Adjourned until Monday at lU o'clock.
Tho NaId,sI Gas Consolidation.
ia regard to the recent consolidation OF
the natural gas companies at Pittsburgh,
the ST. LOUIS Ig, ~ Siod says:
At Wheeling there is also great dissatis
I faction, because it is understood that the
rates are to he put up For some time
past the gas companies OF that city have
been unpopular enough, especially among
manufacturers, aud the consolidated move.
men, ouly adds to the feeling against
| them. And, apparently, the C5lGpuntu
are to hlal4e in the .ratt,I, seeing that the
/ supply OF gas furnished 10 industrial uses
has been exceedingly Gtrul aud irregular.
One OF the companies, 1t appears, could
easily have increased it1 supply 10y
| LAYING an additional pipe Ia Elm Grove,
/ but 1t seems 10 have preferred
early dividends on its stock, aud con.
sequent demand for its shares ia speCula-
tive circles, to a lcgitimatciy larger reward
in the future through the expenditure of a
comparatively small sum Of money The
feacIiOls i.Um S,.rh conditions has carried
numbers OF manufacturing concerns sack
to coal, and it looks n II eTr long they
would all have TO retrace their steps in the
same direction.
Undoubtedly, natural gas has been fur
nisheG too Cheaply in some cases. 4 con
temporary says it has heard OF gas being
furnished to mills whose methods OF con
sumption were by no means economical al
Il and less per ton Of finished iron, and 10
houses for domestic consumption at 10
cents a tire year. These are exceptionally
low prices, Of course; they certainly APP
pear to be when the risks OF investment in
the natural gas business and the wastelul
plans of burning the gas, are fully Consid-
cred For il not unirequently happens
that one works uses from two 70
Jour Zines the quantity Of pas
that another employs 10 ACCOM-
plish precisely similar results In all lair
ness the establishment using the less mum
her Of cubic feet per ton Of iron, pot of
glass or boiler should he charged according
to its consumption only, to compensate for
greater expense in furnace construction
and greater vigilance over the small ecOnO.
mics. But this is hardly practicable, save
III exceptional cases. and N tie genera
account the economical user must be taxed
for a part OF his neighbOr's extravaganza
or wasteiulness. In this We can see one
7 Of the reasons why those who use natural
gas are made ta pay IT, piper,
But the CHIEF cause OF high-prCed ust
ural gas is to be found not in the risks OF
the business, or in the wasteful methods
OF burning, but in the watered stock ofthe
distributing companies. Dividends on
both real and nominal capital must be
paid, and as Il means to this end combina-
ton is absolutely necessary. Hence the
combine.