The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-11-09
The OmciaIs of the Natural Gas Co0-
panies Frank in Saying Their
supply VIII BE short.
THE USE OF Goa AND WOOD
MANY HOUsEHOLDERs WILL o DE-
PEND ON NATURAL GAS.
The situation Discussed by Interested
Persons from Various Points
of View.

To the average resident OF Indianapolis
the fuel question looms up with larger bulk
and means more TO him personally than
the condition of the city's finances or the
foreign policy Of President Roosevelt.
Boiled down. the question resolves itself
into, ITO freeze or not to freeze" and how
TO settle the matter in a comfortable way
Is one Of the biggest domestic puzzles that
ever appeared to confront a householder.
During the days when perspiration flowed
freely, when the mercury in the thermome-
ter manifested remarkable tendencies, and
even in the later days of pleasant autumn,
the fuel question. if it arose at all in the
mind OF the ordinary man, seemed Of in
significant Importance, something to dis
miss with a shrug. Hot weather brought
optimism and the comfortable belief that
Providence would store up enough gas to
last through the next winter. The blue
visions of the unpleasant experiences of
the winter before were recalled only as a
funny story to tell out-of-town friends.
But now, when the quicksilver is dropping
day by day, steadily hunting the bottom of
the glass, last winters chilly discomforts
cease to be funny. and insist on recurring
to the mind as vivid reminders of what is
in store in the next few months. 1t seemed
very humorous to recall in the summer how
the wife and girls received visitors in the
drawing room enveloped in their heaviest
wraps; how the cook who takes her re-
ligion practically was accustomed each
morning to pray before she started to make
her fires. for enough gas to warm the
coffee, and how the whole family used TO
go to bed shortly after shutdown to keep
life in the body; but now that Mr.. Frost
has appeared for his winter engagement,
the hum0r somehow has avanorafa1 from
the anecdotes and the plague itself could
have terrors little keener than the fear
of the recurrence of the scenes upon which
the anecdotes were based.
WANT to BE COMFORTABLE.
People seem determined this year not to
subject themselves TO the Arctic hardships
which made last winter a season long to
be emembered. They seem determined that
this winter they will be comfortable at
least, but no one has figured out just how
this hoped-for comfort is to be attained
with absolute certainty. The gas companies
which declare they are doing all in their
power TO furnish the city with a s~atisfac-
tory supply of gas. proved, last winter.
Broken reeds to lean on. and. Judging from
the expressions Of the company officials re-
garding the outlook this winter. the pros
pect is even less encouraging. There re-
main. for the citizen tortured with fears Of
a winters cold grip. the coal and wood
companies. The great majority OF the peo-
pie who for years have been burning gas
freely, and hypnotizing themselves into the
belief that the supply is nexhaustible are
not prepared for a radical change i'm fuel.
1t is true that last winter they had TIC burn
coal and wood with their gas, but the make
Shift was usually unsatisfactory at best
and always accompanied by a lot of dirt
and annoyance This year the proposition
staring nannlo in the fopo l. L.tL. A. L.
pend upon the treacherOus gas supply or
else cut loose forever and altogether from
gas and go back TO the fuel Of the fathers,
depending upon the Old-fashiOned stoves
and coal and wood CRATES. From the ex-
pressions of the coal and wood dealers
around town, IL is believed that the latter
course is being followed this season by
thousands of the citizens of Indianapolis.
Both the Consumers Gas Trust COmpany
and the Indianapolis Gas Company report
an appreciable falling off in the number of
their subscribers. and 1t is certain that the
dealers in coal and wood are selling more
fuel than ever before at this time of the
year. One or two charitable institutions
which make a business of having wood
for fuel prepared and sold are doing a
wonderful business and are having more
orders for wood pour in than they can pos
sibly fill. The lumber companies all over
the city. which deal in wood for fuel pur-
poses, report a substantial increase i'm their
business. The conclusion seems evident
that. taking into consideration all the in
conveniences of burning coal and wood,
all the dirt, and loss Occasioned by the
dirt. people are rapidly coming TO the con-
clusion that IL is good horse sense TO make
the inevitable change with as much celebrity
as possible. and they are turning their
backs with a sigh upon the clean. con-
venient but pitifully weak gas. There are
one or two heating companies i'm the city
which furnish a system of heating by hot
water pipes, but they can supply at most
a comparatively limited part of the popu-
lation.
OFFICIALS ARE FRANK.
The officials OF the gas companies are
very frank in their estimates of the situ-
alton. They are making no effort to con-
vince the people that it will be perfectly
cafe to depend upon gas alone for heating
purposes. Frankly" said John r. Pear
son yesterday. Il am OF opinion that
people would better lay in a supply of
coal and wood. The indianapolis Gas Com
pany is doing all in its power to supply its
customers and TO make them comfortable.
but a thoroughly satisfactory state of at
fairs is out OF the question. In the first
place, our resources. are far lower than
they were last year. The gas pressure i'm
the fields of or company Is in many wells
no more than half what il was in the sea-
son OF 1900 and 1901. We are drilling new
wells constantly. but the new wells are
few Of them of great power and their heip
Is neutraliZed by the loss of old wells.
which is constantly going on because OF
natural causes, like exhaustion and flood
ing OF the wells. The natural handicaps
under which our Ompan labors are in
creased greatly by the attitude OF the gen.
eral public I'm using gas. OF course. I
understand that when a man wants to get
warm he wants to get warm badly. and the
temptation TO increase his gas supply bv
i~iegitimate means is pretty strong, but
II is the selhshness OF individuals and the
reckless carelessness in using natural gas
which cripples our ability To serve the gen
eral public well and makes il impossible for
US 10 economically utilize the COMPARE
lively limited supply upon which we now
have TO depend The practice which de-
serves the severest condemnation. not only
from the gas companies themselves. which
suffer from IL. but from the people who
must I'm the end pay the fiddler. is the com
MOI practice OF boring the pipes them
selves and burning the gas as il comes from
the pipes, practically without air. IL is d
practice which not only wastes the commo-
dity in a frightful manner. but is of no real
good TO the consumer because il has been
demonstrated beyond the possibility OF a
doubt that the best results are obtained
from gas which Is mixed with nine PARIS
air. Another habit which many people Tan
into is allowing fires and lights which are
entirely unnecessary 10 burn at full force.
Some years ago when we had gas literally
60 burn that sort Of thing was not SO bad
but now when We must econOmiZe and when
the general public must have the necessi.y
OF economy impressed upon IL IL Is foolish.
The ordinary family does not need big fires
IN every room OF the house and does not
need every light burning full tilt. do
believe that with the proper economical
spirit manifested by the people In general
n would be possible for our company at
least 10 satisfactorily supply its customers