The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-04-04
QUIZ or GAS ARITHMETIC MEN
CONSOLIDATED BUYS GAS At 2S
TO SO CENTS 4 THOUSAND

and Charges ~ for II Free on Board
the Citizens MeteT-He Might Get "
Cheaper by Going for II With Pail.
The class in elementary arithmetic which
! Charles Z. Hughes il conducting in the City
Hall before a committee Of the Legislature
continued its work until O'Clock yesterday
afternoon and then took recess until
Thursday morning The schoolmaster had
before him for a good part Of the session
! a particularly apt pupil in the person OF
Henry Edwards. the auditor OF the New
York Edison Company, and the way he led
him up and down through the maze OF
millions involved in capital stock, bonded
debt, real estate values and the like made
the heads Of the listeners swim. Mr.. Ed
wards had all the figures at the tip Of his
tongue and ciphered for the 1choolmas-
ter with the easy facility q, a professional
lightning calculator
Mr.. Edwards testified that the total Of
the stock, bonds and other securities OF
the New York Edison Company, which in
turn belong 10 the Consolidated Gas Com
pany, was about tS5.OOO.OOO. The New
York Edison Company was formed by a
merger Of the New York Electric Light,
Heat and Power Company and the Edison
Electric Illuminating Company. OF the
Ss5,OOO,OOO mentioned t64,5OO,OOO repre-
sented the capital stock. mortgages and
bonds Of theEpower company. Mr.. Ed
wards admitted that the book value Of the
assets Of the power company at the time
Of the merger was but Sia ,527, OOO Although
the word water was not used by Mr..
Hughes, his object apparently was 10 show
Il. H.. 1. 10 Aud d, -
securities Of this company, which are all
in the possession Of the Consolidated Gas
Company and not for sale 10 the public.
Mr.. Edwards testified further that when
the power Company took over the illuminate
ing company and formed the New York
Edison Company the stockholders OF the
Illuminating company got 22o In 4 per
cent. bonds for each share, although the
books Of the company showed that the
stock was valued at only lO4H.
Has the New York Edison Company
paid any dividends'' asked Mr.. Hughes.
No, not since its organization in 1901
was the reply.
Has IL a surplusf
'Yos. a fair book surplus
sWhat was its surplus at the date ~ or
geniza tion?'
what was it's surplus at the end Of 1902
Seven million Ave hundred and five
thousand dollars
Among the items Of assets on the balance
sheets Mr.. Hughes discovered one Of So
1856, 600 for patents.
is IL not fact that most Of these patents
have expired?' he asked.
yes some Of the patents have expired,
replied the witness, 'but the name OF Edison
has not
so the name Of Edison has been capi-
talized?'
Yes, sir, it has. and a very valuable asset
Il is We have the first call on all the out
put Of Mr.. Edisons inventive genius-that
Is, all In our line
Benjamin Whiteley. assistant treasurer
Of the Consolidated company, who is the
favoTite pupil Of Schoolmaster Hughes,
was put through his PAGES once more at
the beginning OF the session. When IL
came 10 the question Of output Mr.. White
ley got 20 dpherng in billions, but he
managed TO come out Of the examination
with a mark Of 100 per cent. He testified
that the Consolidated company bought
a great deal Of gas from some OF the com
panies whose stock IL owns in whole or in
part, The Standard and New Amsterdam
companies IL paid for this gas at the rate
Of 50 cents a thousand cubic feet, and the
Mutual company 20 cents. II also bought
a small amount from the Central Union
company for a fraction over 2S cents a
thousand. This, il was explained after
the session was adjourned. was for gas
delivered in bulk, and did not include the
delivered In the meter. Is 81.
Secretary Carter was then called and
asked about the issue last year OF so, 900 900
convertible six per cent bonds, He said
they were issued for construction purposes
principally. OF the proceeds, he said.
IS 900 900 was invested temporarily In
Government bonds and little over 5000 900
in the corporate stock of the city Of New
York. The Government bonds yield a
trife more then two per oent. and the
corporate stock slightly over three per
cent. Mr.. Carter admitted that six per
cent. interest was being paid out OF the
earnings OF the company On the money so
invested he said that only 9i75,O00 Of
the proceeds Of the debentures had actually
been spent in construction. Mr.. Whiteey
had testified on the first day Of the investi-
cation that the bonds we're issued TO build
the great new plant Of the company at
Astoria
Mr. Hughes said he desired TO have an
expert accountant examine the plant and
station accounts Of the Conso hdated.
L see no necessity for that lawyer
Mathewson said. 1T Is both humiliating
and annoying and ought not TO be required
Mr. Hughes explained that great variety
of statements had been offered by the
company, and that the matter could be
much simpli6ed by having them put into
condensed form. Mr.. Mathewson made
no further objection. He invited the
committee TO visit the Astoria plant. which
he described as the greatest in the world.
Thank YOU" said Senator Stevens.
we will accep t the invitation later. As
a matter OF fact, we were going to invite
ourselves