Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-01-27
THE PRICE OF GAS
That Was Said ct the Hearing Of the
House Committee
NJ. Dodge Thinks the Price Could he
Leach Explains - 10 Cost.


The subcommittee Of the House District
committee continued its hearing upon the
gas question yesterday afternoon. Mr..
Chas. H Dickson. representing the Peoples
Gas Savings Association, the company own
Ing the gas governors which have been put
in operation In the government Departmental.
was drst heard. Mr. Dickson presented
statements from the president of his COM
pany denying that governors affect the light
furnished He made . statement of the
qualities Of the gas governor and described
its working. Mr.. Dickson said that the gas
furnished In Washington il good-just as
good as that In any city. and better than
In many cities. He has had opportunity In
his business to observe the quality OF gas
In many places.
MI. Leach. the superintendent of the gas
company. ELECTED from Mr.. Dickson the
staten emit that he places governors upon
gas Meters in boarding houses for the ex-
press purpose of limiting the amount of
gas consumed, without notifying the gas
company. and when the people complain to
the gas company that their gas is bad the
gas company Is not aware OF the presence of
the retarding governor until inspection is
made.
MI. VIM +. Hart Of the gas company tes-
titled that the number Of complaints from
the people as to their gas is diminishing.
he nnds that these complaints are due to
local causes. and are more prevalent in the
ofoer parts of the city and IN old houses.
frequent cause of complaint is the corro-
sion OF pipes. MIR. Hart repeated the story.
which was told at the last meeting of the
committee and reported in The Star, Of the
motel Keeper in the West End who had cut
haIf way on. resulting in a number Of Con-
Sressmen complaining of poor gas.
Mr.. Dodse's Criticisms.
MI. w. c. Dodge. representing the East
Washington Citizens Association. then aa-
dressed the committee. He had but little
complaint to make Of the quality of the gas.
u u as good as average gas. There is cause
Tor complaint as to the supply He cited
the trouble which he had experienced In his
own mousse He said that water gas, the
nu no" MADE by the company. is more
.uoJect 10 condensation than coal gas,
WHICH results in stopping the pipes. The
presence of naphtha in water gas causes 90.
70 smoke, and that complaint can be urs "A
esaAnst the gas now used In Washington
As 70 the price OF gas. Mr. Dodge held that
IL Is TOO high in three particulars. first nv
comparison with other cities second hy
COMPARISON with quality. and third by COM
pelison Win stock and dividends of the COM
he cos, q; DodSe then read table showing
tne COST OF gas in different cities, the loves
pee Deing 80 cents per loo feet in Lake
sue sue. y. 4. de held that gas can be made
II 1s Is IS eneapiy as anywhere else. and that
~-lo per 1,OOO feet is too much
chairman Heard called his et,antio, o.,
.ne statement Of the gas company that
mere Is no sale here for the Residual nro.
~ .. sas-tar. etc--which fact adds to
en ne Gust Oh gas Mr.. Dodge said that re-
s sa can be sold all over the conntry
1ners Is such demand for them that fac
.ories nave been established in England to
pUuce tne same residuais as are made at
sAs WORKS Mr. Dodge said that the gas
company Is now paying 10 per cent div
ioeno- Prior to 1881 tine company maid an
average dividend Of 16 per cent. In the
ne nse years they paid a dividend Of 10
Az to the Cost of Gas.
Mr.. Heard said that Congress- nnouss,,a,-
ably has the power to control the price of
gas In this city. Still. it would be ab-
soiuteiy futile to attempt to do it by com,
peouon. There Is no competition between
gas companies. His theory Is not to en-
courage number Of companies, but to
make the existing company furnish gas at
low prices.
Mr.. Dodge said that this is the theory
Of the citizens here. They do not want the
streets cut up for new companies. because
the newcomers will combine and keep
prices up. at the same time making the
ciuzens pay for the new plant.
Mr.. Dodge said that while Washington
pays more Tor electric light than any other
city. with the exception of two yet the cit
liens do not pay more in proportion for
their electric light than they do for gas
Generally throughout England gas Is sold
ut an average of about 20 cents.
Mr.. Dodge read several tables of statis-
tics to prove that gas could be made here
and supplied to consumers at 80 cents per
thousand. furnishing profit to the makers
ut that rate.
supertntendent Leach Asks Some
Questions.
Superintendent Leach asked Mr.. Dodge
II he knew the difference between the cost
of coal In making sas in Pittsburg and the
cost Of coal In Washington; If he knew the
difference between the cost of laying
main In other cities and one in the concret-
ed streets Of Washington? Did Mr.. Dodge
ever have any experience in the practical
making of gas?
MIR. Dodge was not Informed upon any
of the subjects and had not had any ex-
perience In making gas.
superintendent Leach then said that he
pays $40 a ton for his COAL while in
Pittsburg 1t is furnished to gas companies
from IS cents to s1.17 per ton. He describ-
ed the added cost Of laying mains here and
the cost of labor.
Mr.. Dodge said the company has made
q number of rules which are unjust. For
instance. one Of Mr.. Dodge's tenants left.
owing gas bill of SIS When the new ten
AM came IN the gas company refused TO
turn on the gas until Mr.. Dodge paid the
Dill, assuring him that IT would not turn
gas on for the 6efaulting tenant in any
other place until he paid the SIS. The de-
Iauiting tenant rented another store the
company turned on the gas and said il
could not compel the tenant to disgorxe
Inc gas company still has that s1J
-ar- Leach replied that MIR. Dodge refer
rei 70 incidents that occurred under a
former administration of the gas company
Ihe present administration disclairns re-
spohsibilty fo- those acts and has revised
the rules. eN
Prices Paid I'm Other Cities.