St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1893-02-11
THE METER WORKED AWAY.

The Ianily Was Away. But fe1 Osee the
Gas Bill Was Correct.
There was fire In his eye that morn.
ing. - he boarded an uptown elevated
railroad train, on his way to the gas
Office
"rve got them this time" he mutter-
cd savagely. ''and they will have .
hard time explaining the freaks Of that
meter. I am thinking"
The clerk In the gss Office came for
ward to attend to the wants Of Mr. B,
. few minutes later. b was mad
through and through now. He had
worked himself into almost . rage BY
thinking Of the outrageous charge
which the gas company had made
''See here" he blurted out '.if this
company doesn't correct that bill. I'll
have the whole business indicted for
highway robbery"
The clerk picked up the bill which
had been 20 spitefully thrown down.
and examined It - calmly - II such
outbursts were ordinary afRaira Then
he went back and compared the bill
with the booka He came back evi.
IDENTIFY in the same contented frame Of
mind.
''WellI'' from Mr. B.. and the word
sounded like the report of agun.
Tho bill appears 70 be al right" 70.
piled the clerk. - calmly ~ before.
IAN right! Great Jehoshaphatl See
here. young man, that bill II for about
the same amount that pay in the win
ter. isn't it?'
The clerk examined the books again
and replied that the last assertion was
true.
Exactly" continued B.. "snd in
spite Of the fact that my house has
been closed up for three months and
not soul has been In II, my gas bill is
just as big rs It is when my family il all
at home. What kind Of . way Of busi.
ness do you call that?'
This was rather . tough one for the
clerk, and there was CLEAN Of triumph
in the eye of the customer as the clerk
hesitated. Would Mr. D. have time to
60 up to the house with an inspector to
discover the leak?
Certainly" he said, with the air Of .
man who has won an important battle.
and then he made some sarcastic re.
marks about the ''leak."
Mr.. u. and the inspector exam ined
the meter, and sure enough. since the
last record had been taken it had gone
on industriously at the same rate ~ IL
had evidently been moving for the last
three monthA Then they went on up
into the house No smell Of escaping
gas met them. The inspector examined
the burners in the hall. parlor. dining
room, kitchen and bedrooms Every
thing seemed to be all right He began to
look mystified. while Mr.. B. became moro
exultant every moment Matches were
lighted and placed near al the joints.
but without effect The leak still TO
maiced mystery.
1T must be in the walls or ceiling"
said the inspector at last ''and it must
be found or the whole blamed house
might be blown up some day."
Mr.. b. began to look uneasy. He
opened the bathroom door, and the first
thing he saw was sickly-lool<ing fame
Of gas The Stats In the window blinds
were partly open and the sunlight made
the gas flame look pale. But there Il
was turned on almost full force. The
inspector saw it at the same time.
That's . six-foot burner, and it's
about Ave feet an hour" he
said quietly.
Mr.. b looked foolish. He made a
mental calculation. Five feet an hour,
hours day. thirty days .
month, and three months, q gus bill of
about fifteen dollars. He only uttered
one word and that began with . big d.
Then he paid the bill and gave the in
spector two dollars to say that the leak
was due to the carclessuess Of the serv-
lnts in the kitchen.-N Y. Tribune.
GDnO fa00A Eva.