The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-12-17
TIE HASTINGS q
The Attack Of the Gas Company's
President Upon indianapolis.

New York Times.
The letter OF the directors of the In
~dianapolis Gas Company TO the stockhold-
ers explaining why they are not earning
dividends is seriously misleading and am
insult to the citizens Of Indianapolis. It
will doubtless have quite the opposite ef-
feet fiom that intended, and instead OF
creating public opinion in favor of the In
PRODUCTION of meters, IL will cause con-
sumers to harden their hearts against the
company and oppose every measure 1t pro-
poses.
The facts are these: AS shown i'm our
editorial columns a few days ago, the In
diana supply of natural gas is failing.
Originally delivered under a pressure of 325
pounds to the square inch, its pressure
now at the wells is only about sixty pounds
greater than that needed TO hold back the
salt water which saturates the strata con-
tiguous to the Trenton limestone in what
Is geologically known as the Cincinnati
arch. The franchise under which the In
dianapoliS Gas Company is working per-
mits il to distribute natural gas for fuel
at contract prices, without meter measure
ments. When gas was plenty this arrange
ment was satisfactory TO all in interest:
as the supply failed and the pressure de-
clined. III. became extremely unsatisfactory
to consumers, and the apparatus installed
in public buildings, stores and dwellings.
adapted for high pressures. did not per-
NIT gas enough 10 pass at low pressure to
meet the necessary requirements of con
sumption. So they did what any one would
do under like OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES the
ompany to fulfill its contract obligations
by boring out their mixers" which
means they enlarged the openings through
which the gas had access TO the chamber
in which IL was mixed with atmospheric
air before passing to the burners. To de-
nounce this as a wholesale theft OF gas
by the best citizens OF Indianapolis Is safe
enough. perhaps. when applied to a COM
munity, but in the case of an individual IL
would come very near to libel.
The trouble with the indianapolis Gas
Company is that which affiicts most cor
porations engaged In the distribution OF
this natural gas fuel i'm cities-they have
not enough gas to GO round. and cannot
get enough at practicable cost from new
wells or by new systems OF mains. The
~shrinkage of the indianapolis company's
earnings of $4,000 during the past year Is
due TO the fact that a great many CUSTOM
ers, unable TO get the gas needed, and for
which their contracts provided, have
abandoned gas and resumed the use of coal.
The serious financial losses" with which
the company is threatened. due 10 the ex-
regretted, but the situation viii not be
improved by Misrepresentation. Natural
gas is not wasted by consumers They
neither overheat their houses nor over
cook their food simply TO burn gas; and
they never Inconvenience themselves by
permitting 1t to leak IL they can help it,
To say that three quarters, or any other
proportion, OF Indianapolis consumers are
now using more gas than they pay for
under unmetered service contracts, made
when the supply was abundant and the
pressure three times that OF the present
delivery, is not only nonsense, but IL is an
outrage on the people of that city TO make
such a statement. III IL should result in
cutting down the net earnings OF the COM
pany still further by causing large numbers
of consumers 10 give up gas and return TO
coal, it need not surprise the stockholders
as much as IL probably would the directors