Sewickley Herald

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Pear no man, and do Justice to all men."
Vol, IV
SEWICKLEY, PA., SATURDAY, DECEMBER I, 1906
No. 14
Special Meeting of Council—People Demand their
Rights and Fight Against Gas Company is On.
A special meeting of Gouncil
was held on Monday evening.
Those present were Messrs. Straw,
Diehl, Patton Paulson, Ghaplin, R.
R. Brown, and the burgess, Mr.
Joseph W. Graig. The meeting
was called to discuss the opinion of
Thomas Patterson, Esq., on the
natural gas question. The opinion
was read by Glerk McFarland.
Solicitor Stoner stated that the
opinion agreed with his views of the
question. 'General discussion followed and it was decided to take
the matter up further with Mr.
Patterson, and that at ■ next Tuesday evening's meeting the matter
would be put into definite shape.
Meanwhile the committee of three
was continued and a motion was
then put by Mr. Patton and passed
to the effect that the committee in
charge of the matter be instructed
to proceed with the litigation.
The public, it was stated by one
of the members, should be instructed to pay present natural gas rates
under protest.
Council then adjourned to meet
Tuesday evening, its regular meeting night.
The above is the extent of the
action so far by the Borough
Gouncil, and while there is considerable pressure being brought to
bear to call off the stand taken by
the people, as shown by their resolution to Gouncil, the attempt will
not be successful.
The people are determined to
find out if they have any rights.
It is time they made a united effort
to check the greed of the gas octopus. When a high official of the
natural' gas company admits while
in conversation with some of the
borough authorities that his cor-
po.*ation has  been  violating  the
THE TREASON WHY.
Gas Consumer—My dear sir I have been away from home considerable this
month working and have not burned over 40 cents worth of gas. Why must I
pay $1.00?
Gas Magnate—Lady, that is possibly true, but then you must be considerate of these men back of me who hold the bonds and stock of our corporation—
They need YOUR money.    .
ordinance under which it has been
operating, and added further, "What
in h are you going to do about
it," do you not think that it is high
time to ask the courts to bring
these unscrupulous grabbers to
time?
Another significant remark was
heard which shows how things are
run in the way of discrimination.
One gentleman was asked if he was
ever compelled to pay a dollar when
he had only consumed about forty
cents worth of gas. He answered
that he had not, but that some of
his neighbors had paid it. The man
who asked the question declared
that they did not have to. Oh, yes
they did, remarked the other gentleman, or the gas would have been
shut off. Not at all, not at all, said
the first speaker.
Now then, suppose that the man
who said they would not have had to
pay" the so called minimum rate was
correct in his statement—and he
ought to know whereof he speaks,
for he is closely allied wtih the gas
interests—then in that case, and
others,, the   gas octopus is prac
ticing nothing short of a modernized form of blackmail. If it, according to the inference of the
speaker, only collects the minimum
rate from those who are timid and
have not the nerve or inclination to
refuse them, then it is robbing the
helpless consumer.
This same thing is practiced as
regards turning on the gas in a
house where the occupant does
not own the property. We know
of four men, two of whom put up
their money as a deposit, the one
placing ten dollars in the hands of
the company and the other twenty,
then the gas was turned on. In the
case of the other two gentlemen
they flatly refused to put up a forfeit and do without the use of their
money, and the result was the
same—the gas was turned on.
What would you call that?
There is next the unjust charge
of $5.00 for setting a meter. This
work, in many instances, costs the
company less than 75 cents, and
it is only done because there is no
opposition in the Valley, and the
octopus thinks that he can do as
he pleases. Did you ask, does the
meter then belong to the consumer?
Nay, nay, that price is only for
setting it and turning on the gas.
A person would not dream of paying the grocer'for the Scales on
which he was going to weigh the
coffee he bought—that is what the
octopus compels you to do.
There is also a discrimination in
the rates per cubic foot charged.
The small consumer pays the
standard price, ft while such concerns as Riter Gonley, the Water
Commission and other large firms
pay a price equal to about one-
third of what, the average -consumer pays.
The people of the Valley are not
up in arms against the Manufacturers Light and Heat Gompany
because it is a corporation, but because they have in numerous ways
violated their contract and overridden the rights of their patrons.
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