Evening star., 1935-12-11
GAS LIGHT PROBE
ORDERED TO GAIN
DATA ON SHARES
Public Utilities Commission
Tells Attorney to Rec
ommend Policy.
STATUS OF PREFERRED
STOCK ISSUE SOUGHT
Auction" of 1910 Beneficial
Shares in Trust Also Is
to Be Studied.

Prospects that the Public Utilities
Commission may ask District Supreme
Court to reopen its scrutiny of the
underlying ownership OF the WASH
ington Gas Light Co. increased today
when the commission ordered its
counsel to investigate recent develop
ments with a view to recommending a
future course of action
Chairman Riley E. Elgen, after
consulting with his associates, issued
this order to Corporation Counsel E.
Barrett Prettyman. the commissions
general counsel:
I'm view of the many changes
which have occurred in the conditions
surrounding ownership Of the WaShs
ingtor & Suburban Cos, holders Of
109 1876 shares of the Washington Gas
Light Co. YOU are instructed to make
an investigation with a view TO rec
ommending what future course of ac-
tion the commission should pursue
with respect thereto"
10000 Shares Watched.
The commission indicated it would
inquire particularly into the present
status of 10000 shares of preferred
stock (s6 cumulative), which have
been issued by Washington g. Sub
urban Co.'S, a Massachusetts common
law trust.
Other matters to be subjected to
the inquiry are the results of the
November 20 auction" of 1900 shares
Of beneficial interest in the common
law trust and the later auction" Of
10 more such shares.
Only yesterday counsel for the trust
reported to the commission and tol
District Supreme Court the names to
which the beneficial shares had been
transferred. Commission officials to-
day checked these names against New
York directories to discover that one
block had been placed in the name Of
a telephone operator. and that others
went to a printer and an assistant
city planning engineer.
From the start commission officials
have considered the auction sales
to be merely straw transactions"
Life Of Shares Traced.
The 10000 preferred shares of Wash
ington & Suburban, the commission
recalled, originally were issued to the
Central Public Service Corp, and we're
related to loan of s5, 900, 900, of which
S2,500,000 came from the Chase Ma
tional Bank. After the Central Public
Service Corp. was reorganized in 1884
the Consolidated Gas & Electric Co,
and another concern took over its in
terests. The Consolidated took over
the operating properties and placed
their management in the hands of
Stone g. Webster.
That firm has had a part in the
management Of the Washington Gas
Co.
The system under which the WASH
ington & Suburban Companies was
created provides, among other things,
that after six quarterly dividends have
been paid on the preferred shares,
such shares would be placed on a basis
comparable to the 5000 shares of
beneficial interest. Since more than
six dividends have been paid, the
commission has determined to inquire
into what effect this may have had
on the complicated ownership control
situation.
Names of Buyers Traced.
Skeptical of reports received from
Arthur H. Dean. New York utilities
counsel, concerning identity of the real
owners of the auction" Of shares Mo-
vember 20, the Commission ordered q
check of directories.
Dean, a member of the law firm Of
Sullivan g. Cromwell, reported that
200 shares of beneficial interest in
Washington & Suburban Cos. had
been issued to Allen j. Peck Of
Bronx, N. Y.
Commission clerks found from New
York directories that Peck was listed
as assistant engineer in charge Of
thoroughfares, Department of City
Planning"
Wilhelmina w. Martin, New York
City, was listed by Dean as having
been issued 100 shares of beneficial
interest, as a result of the auction"
In directories she is listed as a tele-
phone operator, according TO the
commission.
Michael Leibowitz of Brooklyn, N.
Y. was listed by Dean as having been
issued 10 shares. Directories list him
as printer.