Omaha daily bee., 1902-05-15
MEASURING UP GAS PIPES
How Mcintosh Tries to Get at Value Of
oOmpsny'I Property.
ENGINEER BATTlN AGAIN ON THE STAND
Board AsoertaIns that There Are One
Hundred and Twenty-six Miles
of Mains In City of
Omaha.

The Board OF Equalization Is still trying
TO get at the valuation Of the gas COM
psny's property, and its Roadway In that
direction Is slow. II took nearly all yes
terday forenoon to ascertain how many
miles Of gas mains the company has in
Omaha, South Omaha and Dundee. but the
evidence lie now before the board. The
gas company officers declare they don't
know anything about II, so the attorney has
had to subpoena witnesses from outside the
company.
The gas company has 1876 miles OF mains
in Omaha, IL is miles in South Omaha and
IA miles in Dundee.
Isaac Battin, treasurer and engineer
the gas company. was the hrst with
the stand yesterday. He testified Friday Of
last week, but was recalled yesterday be-
cause Superintendent Klumpp said he Dat
TIM was the one oficer Of the company who
was In q position to know about the main
mileage and the cost Of laying mains. 1t
seems, however. that Mr.. Klumpp was mis-
taken. as Mr.. Battin said he knew abso-
lutely nothing about either OF these sub
jects.
Mr.. Battin Is a Quaker, wears the broad
brimmed hat Of that sect, and, upon taking
the stand, asked that he might be per-
mitted to afirm instead of swear that he
would tell the truth. The request was
granted.
Battin Does Not Know.
About how many miles OF mains has
your company in Omaha? ?" asked Attorney
Mcintosh.
II do not know"
81 asked about how many. I don't ex-
pect you to know to the inch. Approx
mately, how many miles of mains has your
company in omahaT"
~ do not know"
II will be observed that Mr.. Battin al
ways uses the expanded form OF the verb,
saying, II do not know whereas Secretary
Clabaugh had used the contracted form, III
don't know" Like Phineas Fletcher in
Uncle Toms Cabin" he also used the
biblical pronouns thee and thou when
ever occasion demanded, which was seldom,
as the four monosyllables given above
sufhced for most OF his answers
Mr.. Mcintosh was equal to this
emergency, however. He overcame the OBJ
stacle by asking such questions as this:
Have you as much as one mile?" to
which the answer would be yes"
much as ten miles?' Yes LAS much
as fifty miles?" A reluctant yes"
much as 100 miles?" A halting. tardy
and unwilling yes" "As much as $50
miles?" An emphatic mo. "As much
as
At this point Councilman Hascall OBJ
jected. The attorney was getting the wit
ness cornered between the narrow limits
Of 100 and $50 miles, and the objection
came Just in time to head of a piece OF
information.
HascaII Pats In Objection.
Such questions are frivolous" objected
Hascall, land they're needlessly consum-
Ing the time of the board. Besides, we've
been all over that before" a
A large nat book containing the COM
pany's maps Of It's gas mains was then in
troduced in evidence, over the protest OF
Hascall, and Mr.. Battin, over the protest OF
Attorney Pritchett. was required to take a
ruler and measure the Dundee mains. A
half hour was spent in making these meas
urements. At the end Of this time Mr.. Bat
tin announced that there were about one
and one-half miles OF such gas pipes in the
village OF Dundee.
Attorney Mcintosh, having been sworn,
took the stand and gave this testimony:
II am the attorney for the complainant
In this case. Yesterday Mr.. 8. E.. Lewis
ard l examined this book, which contains
the maps which have been Identified by
Mr.. Battin as the maps Of the gas COM
pany's mains In Omaha, South Omaha
and Dundee. l went over the maps with a
ruler, measuring the mains. and gave the
figures OF the distances to Mr.. Lewis, who
marked them down. / may have over
looked some short mains, but ! think that
in a general way my measurements were
correct"
s. e. Lewis. Tax Commissioner Fleming's
chief deputy, then took the stand and
corroborated Mr.. McIntosh's testimony,
adding; my figures show that there are
a little more than 1876 miles OF gas mains
In Omaha"
Attorney Charles A. Goss. Mr.. McIntosh's
once associate. then testified that he had
examined the gas company's maps for South
Omaha and had found the mains there to
measure ILL miles.
Doesn't Know the Cost.
Mr.. Battin was again recalled to the wit
ness stand. Mr.. Mcintosh asked:
What IL the cost per mile of putting in
gas mains
II do not know"
About what is the cost?'
II do not know"
The record kept by the onicial stenoera-
pher shows that these four monosyllables
we're repeated by Mr.. Battin thirtysix
times.
Once Mr.. Mcintosh became disguised and
asked: Does 1t cost anything to put In
gas mains ?" To which came this refresh
ing answer:
II do not know. l suppose that 1t costs
for material and labor. but l do not know"
At noon a recess was taken until 2 o'clock.
~