St. Paul daily globe., 1894-06-20
GAS, GAS EVERYWHERE.
And Still Its Price Has Not Yet
Been Determined.

And Still Its Price Has Not Yet
Been Determined.
In the matter of the gas investigation
now it will fall to the lot of the gas
company to show why it cannot furnish
gas for 81 per 1000 cubic feet. The first
and main witness for the city was .. N.
Guldlin, builder of gas works and gas
engineer from Fort Wayne, Ind. He
said the average consumption of gas per
capita was from 500 TO 1900 cubic feet
year, and that for city of 1885, 900 in:
habitants the. output would probably be
SIC .000, 900 feet.
During MIR. Simpsons examination of
the witness Mr.. Jackson. the attorney
for the gas company. interpoSed great
many objections, and heated argu-
ments always resulted. In fact, during
both the morning and afternoon ses
sion, the two attorneys squabbed more
or less. Among other questions, Mr..
Simpson asked Mr.. Gnldlin:
"Wha! would be a fair estimate of the
cost of plant with capacity of 370..
000.CO0 feet?'
For the construction of such plant
and distribution of the product, l
should think 81, 250. 600 would he a fair
the real estate"
Mr.. r.Guldlin said his estimate was upon
the basis of 149 miles of street mans.
Getting more specific. witness said the
cost OF manufacture of gas per thousand
feet and the cost of putting it in a
holder would be 81 cents for a gas of
from 20 to 22-candle power; the cost of
distribution. 20 cents; the depreciation
i'll the value Of the plant. about per
cent, or reduced to price per LOCO feet,
1I1s cents Oh an output OF 3o0. .000.0
feet. These figures. witness explained,
weIe based merely ON tho cost of labor
and material. and did not include sala-
rieS, lakes, or interest on investment.
In cross-eXamlning Mr.. Gu.dlin, Mr..
jackson asked him how much should
be added to the cost OF the product to
pay interest at per cent on the invest
ment, surprising the real estate to be
valued at 100000. the capital stock at
1000, thus bringing the value of the
plant up to $l,50O, 900. Mr.. Guldlin tig-
ured that the addition should be 25A
cents per l,0O0 feet. He then made
recapitulation of his estimates and the
following was the result:
Cost of gas in holder 80 cents
Cost or dlstrlDutlon. ........ 20 cents
meters ............ 313 cents
4utcISot ou lllVeStlueut III o per
cent per annum. m............. .2513 cents
depreciation Of plant. 1715 cents
Aotdl .JO3 Genus
The above total is what gas would
cost i'll Minneapolis according to the
estimates of the witness. based on
product of $50, 100000 feet.
In the estimates nothing had been in
cluded tor taxes, salaries of officers, nor
for extraordinary expenses. On the
other hand, only S50.OU0 of capital stock
was figured on, and all the estimates
were based on the operation of new
plant.
MT. Jackson made the witness say 6
per cent was the minimum rate of in.
teresl for manufacturing plants. Fig
urlng interest at 10 per cent and Off
GERS salaries at $4,000. the cost of the
product was brought up to Sl.1S.5 per
LOCO feet
Aid. Fred Snyder was called late in
the afternoon, and he testified as tG the
cost and price of gas in other cities, the
evidence being in the main the same as
was submitted in his report 10 the
council, and all of which has heretofore
been published.
During his examination he was con-
stantly interrupted by Attorney jack
son. who continued to enter objections
to the character of the information Of
fered.
The investigation will be resumed at
2 O'Clock this afternoon.