Omaha daily bee., 1910-02-16
WHAT IT COSTS TO MAKE GAS
SOme Illuminating Statistics from
the Report of an Indian
>npOlis Company.


The Citizens Gas p OF indian
apolis has issued a preliminary report to
inform stockholders Of the results Of its
operations. especially for the month of De-
cember, which was the first month OF
operation of the main plant Of the COM
pany. The statement Is Intended only to
give some idea Of the success Of the COM
pany to those who desire information prior
to the publication of the annual report. 1t
is stated that the latter is practically COM
pleted, but that 1t will not be published
until the audit of the books is completed
and the auditors report is obtained by the
directors. 1t Is said that the full report will
be published about the middle of February,
"At the close of the year tho company
has 5.60 gas meters In use" says the
report, "A number of others which had
been set were left in houses then vacant,
The gas sold for the month of December
amounted to 17.659, 700 cubic feet.
THE company began the supply of gas
on q small scale in April. Between the
beginning Of operations and the end Of the
year the company has. Atahufactured 1885,
900 cubic feet Of water gas from its
AUXILIARY plant, at an average Of 27.6 cents
a thousand cubic feet in the holder. The
by-product ovens were started In the latter
part Of November, and by December 81 the
company had manufactured %, 6S4. 900 cubic
feet OF coal gas from It's main plant at a
cost Of one-fourth OF I cent a thousand
cubic feet for gas in the holder, Although
all of these figures are considered very
gratifying, especially In view of the diff
f~iculties under which the new plant has
been put in operation, the improvement OF
conditions at the plant will reduce the
labor cost of operation, and when the
second battery Of ovens is put In use 1t
will require practically no more labor to
operate the entire plant than is now re-
Quired for half OF It.
our report for December shows that
we are now producing genuine eO-cent gas
for the first time in the history of In
dianapolis, Our cost Of making water gas
was exceedingly favorable, and with a fair
volume Of business such gas could be sold
at 90 cents, but the profits would never be
u that a fair return could be made to
those who have invested their money to
establish the e0-cent gas company. BY its
owns statements the Indianapolis Gas COM
pany has never made 6ecent gas. and does
not expect to be able to DO so. 1t can only
hope to keep the price down to meet our
competition, trusting that we shall be
~ I AAhN ACA oAAo eAACF
tho price to go up again. Now, however,
60-cent gas is actually being made by us.
I'VE are operating only half OF our ovens,
and are working under very trying con-
ditlons on account Of tho extreme cold this
winter, at the very time when we would
la our hands full, anyhow, in breaking
in a green force and in adjusting our apara-
tus TO meet our requirements. Gas is put
into our holder at a cost OF about one
quarter of 1 cent a thousand cubic feet.
When we begin operating our other ovens
we shall be able to make gas stlll more
cheaply, for practically no expenses are
Increased, except our coal bills. It is,
therefore, quite clear that 60-cent gas has
come to stay. II we can continue to have
the generous support which the people Of
Indianapolis have given us in the past. We
need a good many more consumers, and we
believe We shall get them In the spring.
Meanwhile we are taking care of all who
desire our service at this time, and we are
daily getting our gas closer TO the point
OF absolute uniformity, which II has lacked
for the last month or two, but is sure to
be reached as soon as we overcome some
minor initial manufacturing troubles.
'Our oven gas has never been as low as
65O heat units. and has usually been nearer
to 70 It's richness has surprised us, and
has given us a great deal Of difficulty be-
cause it has caused carbon to form on a
good many burners. Too much of a good
thing is very often Objectionable, How
ever, although some OF our consumers have
been impatient at our apparent delay In
bringing our gas dow 20 their require
ments, practically all OF them realize that
we have the only eO-cent gas that can be
lV.aAa -, - -. -HHM- a. ~. -.
a reasonable time to make our coal gas
as much better than our water gas as the
latter was better than any gas previously
furnished In this city. Indianapolis News.
Met1 Bottled Beer.