The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-06-24
THE MALIGNED GAS METER.
NO Owe BELJEVEs IN ITS INTEG-
RITY EVEN UNDER PROOF.

Ev1N tVD
when the Machine Does Co wrong the Ca
COMPANY 0ees the worst OF It-If Peepl'
would Learn 20 Read the Meter Diais In
terestins Revelations would Follow
"oh. gas may burn and gas may burst
And vanish In noise and name.
Goes grinding onward day by day
And gets there Just the same"
Probably there isn't q more msligned and
Misunderstood recording machine IN the world
than the gas meter" said the gas man. The
way the poor, inofYensive thing Is lied about ID
appalling. The prejudice against II In almost
o. universal as its use. and although It's con-
struction is 80 simple that even q child can
readily understand the principle on which II
works. not one consumer in 10000 knows how
II keeps tabs for the company or how to read
the figures on Its dials. Children are taught
TO tell time almost az soon ~ they begin to
talk, but whoever heard OF teaching q child TO
read a gas meter7 Yet in = city like New York
meters are almost an plentiful az clocks. In
spite Of their general use and simplicity Of
construction, they are looked upon as some
thing beyond the grasp Of the ordinary intel
iect. Consumers go right on swearing AZ them
month after month and declaring that they
are AZ best but lying allies Of swincling gus
companies, by means of which they are able
10 rob patrons at will
1t is a curious fact that men and women,
TOO, who arc sane on every other subject in
the world. 50 ravins, stark mad when the gas
meter 10 mentioned This monomania Ia quito
a common among intelligent. risht-thinkins
people, as among the most densely ignorant.
Not even the trusts come In for 40 much I'M
unArttoA vit,,povAtinp md ahnsa n IL ona If
the few subjects on which argument Is not
tolerated. Any attempt to eY plain that when the
meter goes wrong II Is found In seventy-ave
cases out OF a hundred to rob the company
instead Of the consumer is generally met with
q response something like this:
Now look here, you can't fool me. Every
body knows that the gas companies are
swindlsrs. Why, last December our bill was
only s. 40 and We were burning gas all over
the house. Used a gas stove, too. In jan
uary my wife and the kids were away from
home most Of the time and We didn't burn any
gas at all. Yet the bill was e. Now. trium-
phantly. how do you explain that''
-0f course you cant explain II. because
you can't very well call the man a liar. As a
matter of fact he didn't mean to lie. He had
heard so many people say the same thing.
with slight variations to suit individual cases.
that he really believed he told the truth, The
instant he saw the bill he leaped to the con-
clusion that the gas company ives trying to
swlndle him, instead OF thinking the matter
over and trying 10 find q reasonable cause
for the increase. He forgot that his wife was
the household economist, that when she was
home no gas was wasted and every one went
to bed at a reasonable and regular time. He
also forgot that she never permitted all
night poker parties in the Nat or allowed mere
men to cook Welsh rsrebits and other dalnties
on the gas stove. But the gas meter Is ineSor-
able, Nothing goes through II without leav-
lng a record. and II the prejudice against II
we're not so widespread, the wife might find In
It's dials a sure indication Of what went on at
home during her absence. Instead Of looking
at II In that light, she Joins her husband In
denouncing the gas company as a robber and
goes forth, TO tell her neighbors all about it.
Thus the Ill fame OF the meter spreads.
Although ! have been in the business many
years and have maze a pretty. careful study of
the meter question IN all its phases am stu
spread popular dlstrlst Of our methods and
our measures. Its origin IL shrouded in mys-
terry. We generally attribute II to ignorance.
and most gas man agrce that the abiliti 70
read meters wete a. coinmon as the ablity To tell
time consumers would practically cease TO
kick an1 The bill for gas Would bc looked urni
tiitlNiN. of a rttHpAi = VNHt JUICY " ciio iNa
groceries and meat. Yet the solution Is not so
satisfactory as we try 10 make ourselves believe.
LOOK at the incandescrnt electric light business,
been fabulous. At irst" tho companiss Charged
so much n month for each light. but they soon
saw that. in order TO do. justice to all parties
and at the Same time put the business on a SOUND
and sensible basis, bulls would have 10 be made
out according TO the amount OF clectricitr used.
so the eiectric met~ was invented. It's use
became quits genera. but whoever heard any
thing like q popular uprising against the cleo
trio meter. Whoever saw a joke about II in the
comic papers,
Perhaps the gas companies have treated
too lightly the complaints that have poured in
upon them. and haven't taken proper. steps 10
dlsabuse the mind Of the public OF Us false
this Ia plain. We gas men Judge our own busi-
nees by the same STANDARD DIS as other businesses
are Judged by the community at large We
know that we are Just ~ honest as the butcher,
the baker or the .candieStick maker and that
We are at least twice a. careful about our &C
counts as either. For instance. the butcher
In weighing your meat first puts upon his
exceedingly sensitive scales 9 piece Of paper
weighing an ounce. or two, Then he charges
yoH icr SOns H. and S,b "a, T SnNd. y S1s n sysss Srs,
careful to charge for nothing except the amount
OF Gas. which. the meter records. Yet you
hs,sns drea MR,; q Sn% sons u ,he hSn1 Sat. o. bs ,hS
words for the gas man. You stand by conn
placently and watch the butcher charge YOU
foT meat paper, bones tat and all and Ray the
eht - I" NiAahA'A W phAFS ~ 'hrff ~ 80
bill v presented YOU rave and storm at the col
lector and declare YOU will not pay, no, not evon
II. yon have to burn tallow candles Tor he rest
OF your life, Not in'reQuentlN YOU call mt tho
gas Office and give the cashier n piece OF your
mind. \ on even threaten to carry the patter
70 the President of the conpanv who Is a friend
OF 4 friend OF yours, IN which event YOU assure
the cashier that YOU can see his finish rs well
as that Of the collector who dared to present
In the end. OF course. you pay the bin. but
the transaction implnnts u bitterness IN Your
heart against the COMPANY. which grows with
the passing Years, The gas men feel. In the
maiori'v Of such cases, that the complaint
Is preposterous and absurd and that an AT.
tempt TO act YOU right would be a waste OF
breath, They are reasonably sure that the blll
Is right to u hair and tho know they can't make
YOU believe IL. SO what's the use Of arguing
about the matter? Personally, | do not balieve
II Is good policy 10 treat any complaint. no
matter how absurd. with contempt; but they
do Wv our patience and sometimes they MAKE
" laugh. The Secretary OF a company Tor
wn,ch | once worked was called 20 the telc-
phone one dav.
hullo, there said a busincss-like voice
on the other end Of the wire. Can YOU tell
M wnsn the entries for HE races closeP'
Races? VIVA; 10 | know about the races?'
answered the Secretary. This Ia the gas
That's right said the voice. You're
the man I'm looking for. You SEQ, I've got "a
gas meter down hare hat ] want TO enter IN tho
races. It's the fastest thing on earth, Say
- But the Secretary had fed from tie
telephone.
kaotnsr friend of mine in the business who
Is now n,ar ina top OF the heap, wa, once de-
scr!D1i BY u consumer, whom ne MAJ won over
a pillar Of gas by night A most curious
superstition that W. have hurled AZ us very
frequently - that gas companies force, wind
trous their nuns and meters AMI make the
conium, y pay for II. TIis complaint is hHnicd
no To IA rs often n twenty times a month.