Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-09-26
Sought in Effort to Link
Ownership of Local and
Chicago Companies.
WOOD AND RUSSELL FACE
CALL TO STAND MONDAY
Extent Of Direction of Capital
Concerns Affairs Is Sought.
Retaliation Ordered.

william A. Roberts, assistant corpor-
alton counsel, conducting hearings on
ownership of the Washington Gas Light
Co, for the Public Utilities Commits
sion, said today that IAN organization
chart" of the company purporting to
link it with the Central Public Service
Corporation, could not be produced by
the company, although, he said he saw
and read the chart when he first ex-
amined the records of the company in
preparation for the present case. Later
when he asked for it to copy in order
that it might be introduced in the
records, he said the gas company was
unable to produce it.
At the hearing. yesterday afternoon
Roberts sought to question Donald Nc
Clur9 vice president of Central Public
Services Corporation and r. A. CAL
.lagher, controller of that corporation,
as TO the chart, but both declared they
had never seen it.
Roberts said the chart showed r. H.
Morrison as controller of the Washing
ton Gas Light Co. Mr.. Morrison was
referred to in several letters from the
Central Public Service Corporation as
"our Mr.. Morrison" but officials of
that corporation testified he held no
official position in it. They said he
was an employe of an accounting firm
which did special work for the corpora
tons accounting department.
President George G. A. Wood of the
Washington Gas Light Co., questioned
about the matter, said that since he
was to take the stand and testify under
oath on Monday he would be glad to
answer any questions concerning the
missing papers under oath at that time,
but that under the circumstances he
could not say anything before.
Wood and Russell to Testify.
Mr. Roberts said he had never seen
q copy of letter from William H.
Wildes to Wood informing Wood that
the Central Public Service Corporation,
of which Mr.. WildeS is vice president,
had offered job to Bert H. Peck, then
engineer of the Public Utilities Com
mission, until after the text of the let
ter had appeared in local newspaper.
After that occurred, he said, copy
of the letter was rendered to him with
apologies Mr. Roberts declined to
identify the person who rendered him
the letter.
At the hearing yesterday the COM
mission finished the questioning Of
officials of the Central Public Service
Corporation. The hearing will be con-
tinued at 2 o'clock Monday afternoon
when Wood and Chief Engineer
w. M. Russell Of the local COM
pany will be called to the stand. They
will be questioned as to the extent TO
which the activities of the local COM
pany were directed by the Central
Public Service Corporation.
Retaliation Ordered.
The commission is trying to show the
Chicago concern is the real owner of
the local company. If this can be
established, suit will be brought to
compel the Chicago company to dis
possess itself of this ownership under
the terms of the La Toilette anti-merger
act
The commission yesterday also
ordered a revaluation of the properties
of the Washington and Georgetown Gas
Light companies. This action was taken
at a recess from the hearing as no
questions of rates or valuation are con-
cerned in the present hearing.
The order directs the companies to
file with the commission, not later than
February /. 1882, their claims of value
together with an exact statement of the
rates on which depreciation IS calculated
on the various classes of property.
At the same time the order dismissed
valuation proceedings by the two COM
panies initiated in July, 1928, but never
brought to completion.
At the time when the gas companies
came forward with an offer of reduction
in rates last Fall the Federation Of Citi-
Zens' Associations moved for a revalua-
ton, but the commission denied the
motion. The action yesterday was
taken on the commissions own initiative.