The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-05-13
Gas MAKING IN NEW YORK.
.vr NEW AmSTERDAM's PLANT AND
'h' rITEy or IFS BUSINESS.
. the Company Was Formed and the
Men rh., Ar. Behind lite I.nnsl ana
-. r.c,ory Process Capital and sunded
~. Fast River Its Future.

Men That Are ben'"o
r.c,ory Process Capital and FUNDED
%nsb,-It, Fast River Tunns'-hs Fsssre
u,.. ,a.c consumed In the boroughs OF Man
and The Bronx Is supplied from work.
b"'"a o, ,ractically controlled, by two gai
'.a,tas one Of theNe Is the CONSOLIDATED
e., rompany and the other IL tho New Amster-
o nas company. Most Of the plants OF
a. Con .olidated are on Manhattan Island
,.al estate is high. The principal plant
VI, xev Amsterdam is at the foot OF webster
,nrs Long Island City. on the bank OF the
~, viy,r where real estate Is cheap. The
= thar plant the New Amsterdam has Is
", Dor, Morris, near the shore o! Long Island
w" whore real estate values can stu be
49, u,,holt the aid Of a telescope.
v.o, sine. last fall. before the Consolidated
49,, nroc,ical control OF the Sfandaru n"s 'hsh'
so,opony, or TO speak more accurately, oeiore
ao consolidated bought from Russell sage
nock Of standard stock, which the DINER
..,Lholders say isn't q controlling interest
-. oounany. when three companies started
~, one another out Of business by cut
,o,ss the price II gas in the two boroughs
-, has, a. cents q thousand cubic feet' except
shor, time, when the New Amsterdam
- tia nrico to 80 cents and for another
-.n,, time when it raised the price 10 sllo
W., long after the gas war began. a director
:, mo Nav Amsterdam Company was ASKED
.,y ion, IL would continue. His reply was
., dom, know and I don't care much. There
oo nroft in selling gas at C5 cents. In fact'
A., mara 4. company sells the worse 1t is on,
NJ, ,bs New Amsterdam can stand It as long
..,cy of 'em. We never have paid any divid-
10 and we don't have to, We haven't got
NV plants on hish-prioed real estate ana We
h.J,.ye wa can make gas cheaper mar any
o.,ar OUTFIT In these parts. Therefore, leu
no hattie 90 on. We can stand 1t II the other
fellows ran.
,,iIs IL IA possible that thoss who know
.,ue,binr about the cost OF making gns smiled
mia when they read the directors state
,er, about q gas company getting poor IN
.nn,lving gas al IS cents a thousand, the-e
same men. II WAS found, agreed with the ur-
Tier s,a,ement thai the New Amsterdam was
&, ~ GOOD a condition 10 stand n gas war as
,,y Il is competitors, and perhaps In q better
c,,d,tion. The company has plenty OF money
hob,pd IL, the Standard Oil Company IA rep
,s.ar,ed in it, directorate and that keen-minded
man and experienced Gas maker. Anthony
\ Rrady, owns a large block Of the stock and
!. r,rays ready to guide the company through
4, ,g.h places when the touch Of his master
hrtIs needed
. New Amsterdam Gas Company ~as
f. -porated under the laws OF the state oil
~ York on Nov. /, 1871. Al that time The
Z business in New York was pretty vel
~, No among half a dozen or more companies
Two Of these were the New York and Fast
ry.r Gas Company and tho Equitable Ga'
Ight Company. Gen. James Jourdan. th'
boss gas man ~ Brooklyn, was az the heaC
OF the East River outGt and associated viii
Inn we're August Belmont, A. ID. Jullard
r. Wilson, Emanuel Lehman, Harry Holm
nd others. The works Of the company wer'
o. the foot Of Webster avenue, Long Islam
City, Familiarity known as Ravenswood. an
IT, gas was piped to Manhattan through
tunnel under the East River.
The President OF the Equitable Company wa
Harry Keene, a brother Of James R Keene, an,
associated with him in the management wer'
Anthony n. Brady. F.. }, Jermanowski' 'harle
+. Dieterich and John Sloane, JermanowskI
the Baron. as he was called, was the inventor oil
sIperior process for making water gas. He camt
came here IRON Germany, exploited his proc
e. and was soon appropriated by Brady. who
mt in the habit OF letting the Other fellow geI
snv of the good things Brady needs in his bust
p4,s If Brady can help It. The Equitable plan
w. At the loot of East Forty-second street.
i, regards these two companies. the situation
then, before consolidation, was this. The Eas
River Company had away the best OF any ga
company in New York so far as the location OF III
plant vas concerned, II had n plenty OF land II
Lang Island City, where LAND was not so high a. e
b. one of the chief assets OF a gas company. il
bad spick-span new tunnel under the FaSt Rive
through which TO bring It's product to New FORK
and it had a profitable field to work at the New
York end. The Equitable had J~ermanowsk
and his new process. which was far ahead Of al
other processes. and il had Brady's genius.
Brady saw the advantage of a gas plant witt
cheap real estate and plenty OF it plus the Jerz
nanowski process. Gen. Jourdan saw all these
things, as well as the value Of an alliance
with Anthony y. Brady. The two got together
and talked it over, Then they talked II ovei
with other officers Of the two companies, When
two such men are agreed on a proposition some
thing advantageous for both usually follows
The result was the organization OF the New Am.
siardam tiaS Company and the purchase y II oil
the Ea-t River. the Equitable. the CenIal-l mon
aud tne Northern mon companies. The plant oil
the latter beng at Port Morris and the field the
I lenty-thrd and Twenty-fourth wards.
The new company vas capitalized lor Wy
MOOD. represented by 230,O0 shares OF stock.
elca share of the par value OF 500. OF TIL.
amount, $1,000. 900 was ) per cent. preferred
stock, cumulative after July. J 1900. and the bal
anOe was common stock. or the preferred stock
SOnlNNi Is outstanding, and OF the / 5000 900 OF
common stock ST., $4,000 has been issued. The
funded debt Of the company amounts 10 s22,
Slo0l OF this debt s0.U,c.O0O i lir-t consol.
dated mortgage : per cent. gold bonds, issued
" 1895 and due Jan, / l04s, interest payable in
January and July. The authorized issue OF
These bond, i 32o,Oco,OVD, ana they are a direct
lien upon the property. OF the amount un.
81 PRIOR liens and s2.oDo,OoO for extension and
improvements. In tho debt, also, are 81, $780, ON
Equitable las Light Company consolidated first
mortgage 5 per cent, gold bonds, issued 1892,
dIeMarch /, 1882, with interest payable in March
ana S~eptember. These bonds are a first and
9h1y lien on the property Of the old Equitable
"a Light Company. Then there are 100000 OF
t1,a bNTs ca Light company ; per Geni. de6e zen,
70 1905 These bonds are not q lien, but their
PAYMENT was assumed by the New Amsterdam
company, and a further item OF the funded debt
sbAnHD New York and East River Gas Com
pany first mortgage s per cent. gold bonds,
tS"irn IVY and due Jan. J. ist4, in coupon form.
SrlD and interest payable January and July
tnN'e 6ondsar n frstlien on all the property Of
1h'P;d Fast River Company. Next is 81. 500. :
vuin New York and Fast River Gas Company
r.' consolidated mortgage 5 per cent. gol,.
enlS, issued 1905. due Jan. /, l9t5, in coupon
Irln nmo, interest payable January and
y'E These are secured directly on the New
,,'rH and East River Gas Company. subject TO
nr't mortgage. securing the ISSUE Of So. 800, :
:. . bonds already described. Then there
pr mortgage 8 per cent. gold bonds,
i"l"l in 1897, due July / 1927. in
on, form. $1,000. interest payable January
~ my, These bonds are secured by 1irsct
y ] lllOn The Trpnarr,y Of tho Topsral I'm on