The morning times., 1895-11-12

TO the 900 cubic feet of gas. But slight
| as this is, It is lessened by the use OF
| water-gas. That water gas is being more
extensively used by the company under
! considerat ion TO lessen tn cost oI production
is shown by the earlier part of this report,
| where it is stated that in 1859 the com
pany selling 691 .3S3, 431 cubic feet OF
| gas, paid S254, 336. 81 for coal and oil and
| in 1898, selling S96, 231 900 feet. paid
for the same items only S243, 32s. / 8,
there being in the years cited but slight
| differences in the price of coal
COST IN OTHER CITIES.
The committee has rcfrained from &C
cepting as conclusive or as of any exceptthe
| slightest value tabulationS sho wing the price
| or gas in various cities and for this reason:
In the overwhelming majority of American
| cities gas manufacture is in the hands OF
| private companies, who possess monopolies
with. for the most part, unrestricted power
| to charge whatever the traffic will bear.
The selling price in those cities, there
| fore, becomes not measure of the value of
production plus reasonable profit, but an
| evidence of the highest point to which
| cupidity may be carried. This remark does
| not apply TO the city of Philadelphia, which
| we have used as an illustration, nor TO other
| cities possessing their own plants, and where
as in Wheeling, W. Va; Bellefontaine,
ably sold below even the Philadelphia
| price.
II is apparent from the data already
given that 81 per thousa nd would I'm Wash
ingtOn be even an cXorbitant price for gas.
The answer of the Washington Gas Light
Company TO communications from us re-
ferrcd your committee to the Congress
sional reports, giving us no additional
Information.
GEORGETOWN GAS LIGHT COMP ANY.
This company was incorporated in 1854,
with n capital of 81 900. Such public
Investigations as have been reduced TO
print and have reached the hands of the
committee afford no information of any
kind affecting this corporation, although
In answer 10 request for informal tion from
the committee the president OF the cor
poration referred us TO a publication sup
plying no data about this company. The
committee sees no reason to believe that
the Georgetown Company should be treated
differently from the Washington Company.
ELECTRIC LIGHTING COMPANY.
The above-named company supplies cleo
trio light and power in this District lis
capitalization is 81, ,250,000. Its plant
has capacity of 300 arc lights of Gas
claimed by the company 1900 candle
power, and each 20 900 incandescent light
of 16 candle power each. 1t possesses 43
miles OF underground conduits and about 40
miles of overhead wires.
Your committee finds that the District
pays for service to it 80 cents per night
per arc, for what the District considers
1000 candle power lights, or S13S.TO
per year, while private consumers are
charged for incandescent lights 10 cents
per thousand Watt hours.
First, as to cost OF fthepublicservlce F orall
night and every night service of arc lights
of 1000 candle power, Dnkirk pays $40;
Allegheny, S64; Easton, $50. This Dis
trict, therefore. pays for apparently the
same service, S92.TO more than the lowest,
and S53.TO more than the highest of the
cities named; all of them owning their
own electric plant. On the other hand
Bostonpays Sl39; New York, S15O, and Phila.
delphia, Sl6O for like service, the latter
cities being supplied as to electric lights
by private companies, while Cambridge,
supplied by private company, pays but
S115. 1t thus appears that SO far as
this item is concerned, Washin gton fares
better at the hands of its private company
than do a number of other cities.
Turning to the matter of incandescent
lighting we find on investigation that our
private consumers pay rate equalled by