Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-31

l NIL lIAl WdhtSN ~ SAS
especially to this committee. gentlemen
| was this, that it is a very serious thing,
| would be very serious matter. for us 10
change from making carbureted water
gas to coal gas.
! Mr.. Sims-Now, as you are practical
man. submit to a question right there. II
can be done. l suppose?
| Mr.. McIlhenny-Yes.
| Mr. Sims-Now then. would the entire
| plant be lost as it now stands?
| Mr. nny-Three-fourths. 1 take 1t.
| / asked the engineer. 1t is about three
| fourths, is it not?
Mr. j. S. McIlhenny-The entire amount
| of the water gas plant would be lost
| your plant?
Mr. j. S McIlhenny-Eighty per cent:
| Mr.. Sims-About what would that
| amount 10. if YOU have it?
| Mr.. McIlhenny-I have not got that.
Mr. Sms-How long would it take to
| change it?
Mr. McIlhenny-Three years. and six or
| seven millions of money. We have no
! land to build a plant on. What land we
have now would not suit at all for a new
| coal gas company.
| Mr. Sims-How long have you been
making water gas?
| Mr. McIlhenny-Twenty-fiv years. !
| judge.
gas plant. or did you convert it?
Mr. McIlhenny-What coal gas plants
we have at both stations, of course. would
| be making only 20 per cent of gas, and
We would have to have 1t all in one plant
| to do it economically.
Millions to Make Change.
| Mr. Sims-But you said it would cost
six or seven millions to make the change?
| Mr. Mathematics, it would cost six or
| seven millions.
| Mr. Sims-That much would have to be
| added in the way of capital?
| Mr.. McIlhenny-Double our capital. and
we could not earn interest on II, not dl
| the present sales.
| MIR. Sims--At the present prices?
Mr.. McIlhenny-No, sir.
Mr. Sims-As a director and stock
holder in the company. | want TO ASK
| you if we pass this bail and force the
Washington Gas Company to make coal
| gas. will there be any chance Whatever
| to reduce the present price OF gas ana
give earnings on the capital that Will De
invested?
Mr.. McIlhenny-No. even 81 a thousand,
| or S1.1O would not enable us to make
| interest on the money. l have no hesita-
| ton in answering that
| Mr.. Sms-You are a practical man, ana
| that is the reason ] am asking you. II
We pass this bill and force you to build
a new gas plant sufficient to supply the
CITY, it will then add such burden upon
your capital, in other words, increase
your capital SO that you will have 10
actually advance the present price oI
gas to get reasonable profits:
Mr.. McIlhenny-We would have to DO
So and a considerable advance, too. 10
explain this matter to you. gentlemen. L
would like to say, too. with your per
mission. that We have no land to build
a new plant on. We would have to seek
that somewhere in this neishborhood
Mr. Sims-You include that in your SIX
or seven millions estimate?
Lands and Money Needed.
Mr. McIlhenny-Yes, and We would
have to get land where we had both water
and railroad facilities; both railroads
the Baltimore and Ohio and the Pennsyl-
yania-and the southern roads We would
have to have all three roads to get coal
We have to do it now to get our sup
plies. Then We would have to have water
connection, because we bring good deal
of our coal from Shepherds, on the river
AS l said before. even II we mad the
lands we have not the money, and 1T
would be necessary for our charter Or
privileges to be changed so as to allow
us to borrow that money and increase the
price of gas so that we could pay interest
on it.
Mr. Sims-Increase the stock issue and
| bond issue?
Mr. McIlhenny-The bond issue. The
| trouble with the gas business Is, 1t has
| plant. The man who serves his time IN
gas office has to have great deal or
patience, because the most unreasonable
kinds OF complaints come there-com-
plants about want of pressure. high bills
and bad gas. I was twenty-four years
superintendent of gas works. and l
know what it was, and l was glad to get
out of it.
Mr. Sims-That is common to all pub
lie service corporations?
Mr. McIIhP0nv. Yes. The reason OF IL
is, in my opinion, it is purely credit
business in which neither the buyer nor
the seller knows what the bill is going to
be at the end Of the month or the quarter,
and the buyer, OF course is disappointed.
and he says, TOO much On one oc-
casiorl over in the House of Representa-
| tive before this committee there was a
gentleman belonging to one of the rail-
roads of the country on the committee.
Mr. Sms-1 have heard that charge be-
| fore, but never heard it admitted that
| any of them belonged to the railroads.
Naughter)
| complaining; he said his landlady down
| in Washington had big bills, and she
was heartbroken over the size of them,
| and he wanted to reduce them for her,
and we were hailed up before the COM
mittee to answer about these eXorbitant
| bills, and j asked him, l said: "Suppos-
ing your railroad took passengers on
| and delivered them at a station without
| their knowing how many miles of travel
they have traversed. or buying ticket
what would be the condition at the end
of the line? There would be riot over
it, and that is the trouble with our bust
ness Gas is the cheapest thing you buy
| here. There is nothing as cheap as gas,
and | can prove 1t.
| Mr. Sims-I will ask you right now if
! you do not think we are dealing with a
considerable riot here now, when we have
| the cOroners jury and the Attorney Gen
eral of the United States and the district
attorney and the President by special
message all backing this; do you not
| think this committee has pretty con-
siderable riot to deal with with all these
| things?
Not Taken Up Voluntarily.
| Mr. Murphy-We have not taken this
up voluntarily.
Mr.. McIlhenny-You nave your own
troubles, no doubt, and / am sorry for
you.
| Mr.. Moore-Do you know OF any agi.
tation in any other city on this question e!
| Mr.. McIlhenny-No not now; 1t has all
died out 1t was greatly agitated some
years ago, Judge Barker stated here
| Especially i'll Massachusetts the whole
question was threshed over for years
| Mr.. Moore-How many consumers has
the Washington Gas Light Company?
| Mr.. Mcllhenny-We have about 10000
| consumers.
| Mr.. Moore-That is to say the gas goes
| into 10000 separate homes?
| Mr.. McIlhenny-Not in all cases Some
| times there are two or three tenants in a
building, and they have their own sepa-
| rate meters.