The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-03-06

be an expert The recital OF Mr., Iur-
ner. that ho could adjust his own stove
pulled q laugh from the crowd,
Then addressing the court directly
Mr. Goodman said! Your honor, since
the gas company's pipes have become
eogged with dirt (dirt dobhers nests
or something and they are experiencing
back in II asrstion, would snsges. that
ftfre cufripF t6yl Ne sEfverl ilntil Saturday V
remedy thdltions. Nv that time, Y
nothing Is done, then kt the consumers
pour goIg y snG r. see sSSqy nsa Ga q ne ne
company, from every consumer the
company has, for every day the present
conditions exist"
Matter of Cost.
Mr.. Turner then charged the present
quality of gas Ito the high price OF coal
and the cheap price received for the
gas" This, he explained, combined
with conditions brought on by tho
''war"-and the alleged selflshness OF
the United States government was re-
ferred to In a roundabout way
and the abnormal load In furnishing the
Increased amount OF gas, had resulted
in placing the plant In the present
shape.
Mr., Turner said that right now there
we're pipes at the Beale avenue plant,
where an explosion recently occurred,
tina. were dangerous and were tempo
rarily tied up" with patches and that
the men employed there were In con-
slant danger. He inferred that the
United States government was respoh-
aible for the companys not obtaining
supplies 10 remedy the leaky and dan
gerous pipes.
Judge FitxhuEh Mt this juncture asked
II II was not true that the company
was expendlng no money Tor the proper
operation M the plant, but putting 1t
toward big dividends.
The query remained unanswered.
Prescott and Turner Clash.
Mr.. Turner asked to be allowed to ex-
plain why the company had quit using
coke He said I'VE were purchasing
our coke from the Hunt Berlin Coke
company, but It went from So to $l3
y ton; and Of six cars that we ordered
they averaged around 20 per cent short
In weight, and also the ash In the coke
had increased from per cent to 10 and
20 per cent
This statement resulted In MIR. Pres
colt. OF the Hunt Berlin company, taxi
ing the floor few minutes later and
the argument--a sidelne to the trial
that ragged between Mr. Turner and MIR,
Prescott appeared extremely hostile.
Mr. Prescott said that Mr., Turner had
intimated that his company was a
"bunch of crooks"
Mr. Turner came back with the
weights Of the coke was short" and
Judge Fitzhugh and Court Sergeant
Cole was forced to rap and command
| the two men to deslst.
MIR. Turner said that from 1875 to $50
men at "A time had Dcen employed at
the plant in efforts to better condi-
tons and at present l25 men were on
| the job.
The court proceedings ended with
Judge Fitzhugh asking Mr. Steg and
Mr. Hunter II they thought they could
| have good gas by Saturday, but the
| present trouble at the piant-it was
never explained whatit was---was
thrown out by the gas men as an ex-
cuse "barrage,"
Then Judge Fitzhugh issued his edict
that there must be good quality Of
gas by Monday or thei court would call
| on every customer ard the suffering
public to assist In bringing the gas
company to terms, and gentlemen, |
want 60 warn you that the court means
business"
Coke Is Plentiful.
Dave Wells city purchasing agent.
was present to testify I'm the Stieg
trial to prove that the city bought coke
without any trouble, Wells said If he
bad been asked the question he would
testify that the city bought coke with
out trouble and would have shown or
ders and receipts 10 prove 1t.
Poisonous gas came only when the
company changed from coke to coal
on account Of the coal being cheaper.
II was claimed that the change was
made because coke could not be OBJ
tanned.
The News Scimitar tried to get some
information from the company Thurs
day as to when there was a chance for
Memphians TO get gas again and what
was the cause Of the collapse Of the
supply. t.
Questions were asked of Mr.. Stieg
relative to the shutting down Of the
gas plant with a view OF ascertaining
the real cause OF the situation which
suddenly deprived the consumers OF
Memphis OF the delightful privilege OF
breathing sulphur and carbon monoxide
fumes and exercising their ingenuity TO
prepare edible meals with bad imi-
tatlon of fuel gas
Mr. Stieg made evaslve answers to
these direct questions, and they failed
to elicit any information certain and
satisfactory.
The questions and answers were sub
stantially as follows:
Q--Mr. stieg. the explanation has
been offered that the gas plant was
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