The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-04-08
FIND WATER IN GAS STOCK.
GAS CLASS TRYING TO DISCOVER
HOW MUCH THERE rs.

More I1gufeB--teOfEe W. DOant
Wearied by the sums lie Has 20 DO,
Great progress was made yesterday by
the class In lighting from Albany In ascer-
tanning the actual cost Of producing and
distributing gas and electricity In Man
haitian and The Bronx. George W. Doane,
yice-president Of the New Amsterdam
company, did whole lot Of sums for the
committee under the guidance Of School
master Hughes. When he left the stand
Mr.. Doane was heard TO murmur:
Multiplication Is ve1Aton.
Division Is a. bad
The rule Of three doth puzzle me,
And fractions drive me mad.
As the result OF his cipherng it was found
that the total cost Of producing and dis
tributing gas. including interest on the
bonded debt Of the company and all other
expenses, was 900 cents a thousand cubic
feet. This result did not seem TO please
Mr.. Hughes, 10 he had the witness clip on
the interest charges which amount b nearly
81 900 900 a year. Using the net sum as q
basis, II was found that the average cost OF
gas for the year 1904 was STA cents a thou
sand.
Another calculation showed that Il cost
, sax cents TO put the gas in tho holder. This
result seemed 70 please Charles +. Mathew
son, counsel for the lighting combine, for
Il justified the price Of S2.Ss CENTS az which
the Consolidated bought gas In bulk from
the New Amsterdam under contract. EX-
elusive Of interest on the Investment. the
Consolidated company figures that its
gas costs at the burner from 90 to 65 cents
a thousand.
Henry W. Edwards, auditor OF the New
York Edison company, gave some highly
interesting testimony concerning the earn
ing capacity Of the company, which, strange
70 say, has not paid a dividend since II
was taken over by the Consolidated Gas
Company. He testified with refreshing
franlmess that the corporation had earned
more than $4,000, 900 in the last five years,
after interest and expenses Of all kinds
had been paid, and that 1t had . surplus
Of 50. 600 at the end Of 1904. The other
u,OOO,OOO was written on for depreciation.
Mr.. Hughes made several attempts, while
Mr. Doane was on the stand, to get at the
amount Of water there was in the stock Of
the New Amsterdam company. The Wit
ness professed TO be unable TO give an esti-
mate Of the value Of the actual property
owned by the company. He made the state
ment that no inventory OF the property
of the Equitable or East River company had
been made when they were merged with
the New Amsterdam.
: ESQ you don't know what values were
put On these propertles7' persisted Mr..
Hughes.
u do not, replied the witness, although
have often tried to get it for my own
personal information"
that rathav var,a oH1aga
Chairman Stevens. The witness did not
reply. b
Mr.. Hughes turned to the COMMITTEES D..
with a bound volume in his hands and
said.
Il desire TO put in evidence m a pictur- 1
esqUe way some testimony Ooncerning
the transactions now under discussion. =
He then read the following cxtract freUC
the testimony before the RffiS ~ l,f,srd
OF John Q. Tomlin son e. tiirector Of The New
"a seeking q ABDUCTION IN It's Franchise tax
By CommissloneF steaTns-In proportion
70 the cost Of your capital stock don't
mssn share stook Of IN d PToptST vaga
property and the amount Of your bonded
indebtedness would II nots
Mr.. Tomlins OMIT might Il would.
stearns-To be frank about It. good deal
Tomiinson-Y helped put It IN; am
stearns laughing Ibid you get your
Tomlins on-Yes. i got it as fun as could.
There were some other big buckets; my
bucket was very small one. You might call
Of course tii I wouldn't care to say i for pub
same as there IL in all these reorganiEat,ons.
Mr.. Doane testified that the capital stock
and funded debt Of the New. Amste rdam
was about 80 900 900, and he admitted
that 100000 Of the preferred and
50 500 900 Of the comon stock had been issued
for promotion. He said that the com
? up on its interest charges.
you are paying interest on Sl9, 900 900
Of debt from the earnings Of the company?
asked Mr.. Hughes.
We are. ~
sWhere are the old books Of the East
River Gas Company
Il don't know. have never seen them
sHave you any record Of anything that
would show q basis for issuing t2l coo, 900
Of stook7'
Not that I know Of
Mr.. MAthewson came 10 the rescue Of
the witness. In answer to questions asked
by him, Mr.. DoRne said that the stock Of
the company was not worth anything like
par and that one Of its most valuable assets
ives the franchise for the tunnel under
the East River, through which gas Is con-
vOyed 10 Manhattan from the plant at
1avonWood. He also testified that the
real estate OF the company N bulk was
worth more-possibly twice as much
"a bulk when used for gas plants than IL
AWab IA single lots as carried on the books
of the assessors.
Then you mean 20 say that you are
anseased on only 20 per cent. Of the value
81 the property9' asked Senator Page.
Mr.. MAtheWson explained that the prop
erty was bought lot by lot, and as a whole
was worth double for gas manufacturing
purposes. He said II would be practically
impossible now TO acquire a site for a gas
manufacturing plant on Manhattan Island.
1T Il quite evident that our friend thinks
he liant taxed enough put in Mr.. Hughes.
Mr.. Mathewson also explained that the
Consolidated company acquired the New
Amsterdam stock at a very low figure.
what do you capitalize the East River
tunnel franchise att" asked Mr.. HuRhea.
Mr.. Doane said he would have to have ex-
pert advice before he could answer that
question.
Our mutual friend, Mr.. John Ford
spoke up Mr.. Mathewson, always refers to
Il "a worth innumerable millions"
well, II seems to have been capitalized
at almost innumerable millions retorted
Mr.. Hughes. Then the lawyer continued
EDO you know how much stock and bonds
were issued on the strength Of that franchise
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