Omaha daily bee., 1908-12-11
ROUND ABOUT NEW york.
RippIes on the Current OF Life in the
Metropolis. !

hANNANH Nh ~ NNNNNhN VI AAAN ~ NV
Metropolis.
The report OF the Public Service commits
sion for the first district. shows that the
cost Of gas delivered to consumers in New
York is eS.S2 cents for each 1000 cubic feet.
This sum ircludes allowance for deprecia-
tion Of the plant. contingent and renewal
expenses Tho figures were compiled by
the statistlcian of the commission from
tables supplied by the gas companies. The
Items entering into the total cost of gas
to the consumer are: Manufacturing,
1928 cents; a 1,OOO-foot distribution, 7.S
cents: commercial and general ex-
penses, oil cents; taxes, 5.7 cents; uncol-
lected bills, LA cents; unaccounted for,
LII cents. For the depreciation OF plant,
1917 cents is allowed on each 1000 feet.
At the present selling price Of gas this
leaves a net profit of 3L7S cents to the
company. An ordinance was passed fix4
ing the price at 80 cents, but the COM
pany is fighting il as confiscatory. and
the matter is tied up in the courts. Mean
while the consumers are holding their
receipts, hoping for a rebate IL the city
wins.
A man with an affinity that budded on
the other side of the pond, encountered
a killing frost on reaching New York.
Among the first class cabin passengers OF
the liner Main were Leopold Dutka, a
dapper little man with flowing yellow hair,
and Miss Vera Gorczynska, a pretty girl
OF 20 years. Both claimed to be from the
town of Wadewitz, in the province of
Galicia, Austria.
On the trip the couple were marked in
their devotion to each other. As
the ship was coming up the bay, the young
woman let it be known they expected to
marry as soon as they landed. But they
didn't land. They probably never will.
On the pier was a tall, determined looking
woman of middle age, who gave the name
of Mrs. Leopold Dutka. She had with her
an older woman and a lawyer.
The lawyer had communicated with Com
missioner of immigration Watchorn, and as
Dutka and the dashing Miss Vera started
down the gangplank al inspector turned
them back. The lawyer said: MY client
has been in this country seventeen years.
About three months ago she met this chap
here and they were married. In a few days
he borrowed 500 of her and disappeared"
Mrs. Dutka traced the man to Europe,
and a few days ago learned he was on the
Main. Husband and affinity were sent to
Ellis island.
OF the many strange crafts and pyofes-
sions which are to be found among the
sidewalk peddlers on Vesey street, one of
the oldest is that of the old woman who
sells broken china. Where she gets It no
body knows. Some of it. doubtless, is given
to her; some of 1t she may pick up in the
wholesale china shops of the neghborhood,
at a few cents apiece. She cannot pay
much for 1t, for her price to customers is
the barest minimum. But at any rate, she
plies a thriving trade.
None Of the china is unusable. A chip
has been taken out of the edge or q handle
is half gone. The fastldlous, perhaps,
would not care for 1t. But for those who
are not too particular It serves admirably
The legislative inquiry into the finances
of New York City brings out a statement
from DR.. +. A. Cleveland, technical direc-
tor Of the bureau Of municipal research,
that 1t cost $1,000, 600 last year to draw up,
advertise and let the contracts for supplies
for the various municipal departments
which amounted to about SIS, 900, 600; and
that nevertheless, with all this apparent
effort to secure the best terms through
competitive bidding, not less than $4,000, 900
was wasted or corruptly diverted to IA
vored contractors. His plan for the cor.
rection Of this evil is to establish a single
purchasing agency for all departments
under the supervision OF the city con-
troller.
A man in the Fourteenth street subway
station the other day had been roughly
jostled by several persons on his way to
the downtown platform. He decided to
square his shoulder to the next man who
approached, and give as good as ne got,
Around q corner suddenly shot a figure in
a gray overcoat: the irritable person braced
for the contact when the other man 20.
litely and neatly sidestepped and went on
his way. A hurried glimpse OF his face re-
vealed the placid features of a we'll known
heavyweight pugilist. The irritable mar
did not cease co~ngratulating himself for
several hours.
If Diogenes had attended a suit in a New
York court lately, he would have gasped
with amazement. tainted with delight and
then doused the glim OF his lantern for all
time, for that suit developed an honest
man, the kind for whom Diogenes looked
in vain. and who, Shakespeare declared
Nas one picked out Of ten thousand, H,
was a plumber, who testified thai after
giving an estimate on work he cut down
the bill because he found the work less
than the estimate called for. The court
struggled through the rest of the case,