The New York Herald Newspaper, March 13, 1876, Page 3

GAS EXTORTION. Dissatisfaction Among Con- sumers in This City. SPREAD OF THE KEROSENE MOVEMENT What the People Have To Say on: the Subject, A REBUKE TO GRASPING MONOPOLY Twcorrect Meters, Bad Gas, High Prices and No. Redress. Jersey City’s Interest in i -the Question. ‘The peopie’of New York are noted for their pationce under great burdens. But when they become fully Broused jo the -injustice of the oppression under NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, MARCH 13, 1876..-WITH SUPPLEMENT. complaint of the exorbitant rates. Some sald that only the sheer necessity that formerly existed of using gas bad withbeld them from giving it up, but that now, unless the eost was speedily reduced, they would intro- duce ofl lamps, the cheapness of which more than compensated for any comparative disadvan- tages they might have. Already evidences of the. popular revolt against the gas monopo- Msts are beginning to manifest themselves. A large shoe store some time since took the initiative in giving up the use of gas and substituting lamps, and now a number of others have followed the example Bet them. in. a conversation with the owners of one »| of late been a topic frequently discussed by the store- keepers of that locality, and that discontent has been very generally expressed by all who are compelled to ay the rates now charged. Ag they are obliged to a light until a very late bour the gas grievance bas annoyed them perhaps more than any other class of eople, and they sow a disposition ta submit to it no Boker: Not only do the storekeepers here complain meters do not correctly determine the quantity con- sumed. They instance occasiong when less than the usual number of lights were kept burning and say that the gas charges were not at all altered by it, Occasionally, too, they say the light given by the gas seems dim and blurred, and they fancy that this must Those who have introduced lamps,in the pla say that they have lessened their expen: y moré than seventy-fve per cent, and that they will use their best efforts to encourage the use of oil. All agreed that some coacerted action was neces- sary to compel the gas companies to reduce their rates, and all seemed willing to join tn a remoustrauce against the prevailing high price, CATHARINE BTREET, In Catharine street, another east side business quar- ter, the reporter found that the storekeepers were equaily desirous of forming a combined resistance to *} the gas men, In several large stores the oi) lamps | have “been “introduced, and in one the reporter found anew and clabgrate set of fixtures designed | specially forthe: Iamps which bad just been put up, and the proprietor stated that he found oi) more sat factory than gas and was determined to show the of these the reporter was told that the gas question has | of the cost of gaa, but some ot them say thatthe | come from obstructions in the pipes or defects in the | high they . labor, of whatever sort it may be, they, neighborhood that he could have more light and more piten rid themselves suddenly of it. For ‘a long — if hts place than the gas monopolists could-) ae ta urnish, A dealer in glass ware also stated that Miuie'the ‘wall of the helpless gas consumer ‘has gone’| OP"A0* were has Ueen a marked. increase. 1B. the wp ‘plaintively’ against the extortions of the gas’ companies, and no general relief came until within. the last. few weeks. The accumulation of evils haye at last induced aradical remedy, The people are going to try how they can get on without gas. They will use oil instead, The causes assigned for this dtep aré manifold, First of all is mentioned the exorbitant price to which: gas. has advanced this season. Experienced gasfitters and large msumers join in the aséertion that gas Js now dearer than ever before in this city. In many sections its quality {s complained of also, That such a high price should be charged at a time when busi- ness; is notably dull ts very generally deprecated, and theefortto economize, uniting with the pressure of the many burdens imposed by the gas monopolists, hae helped to bring about the change. What contrib- uted to the éxcessive rates is variously statét, Ope consumer says the meters are. generally. (mcorrect, oftem registering very much against ‘he consumer. Another complains that the in- spectors of meters are esther incompetent oF dishon- ‘st, as the charges made by the company are often greatly {m excess of the record kept by himself. An- othér says he has paid a larger bill for a slight con- Bamption on @ month's test than for the greater con- Sumpticn of a preceding month, When cdim- plaints were made formerly the grumbling cus- demand for lamps, and he knew of many insiances where the use of gas had been done away with in | private families daring tfe last tew months. The dry | goods stores on Catharine street, for the most part, are deep, il ventilated apartments, with low ceilings and no windows visibie fromthe igside. Ip these tt bas been nece: many ofthe owners have at different times complained ’ ot the grievous gas extortion, One gentleman to ‘ whom the writer spoke gaid that in these bard times ' 1t-was impossible to pay so much money for lighting expenses, and declared his intention of gettin, gas as soon as ho saw any apparatus that woula mect the necessities of his store. e said he had duly con sidered the matter, and found that, as fates now are, be could suye nearly $300 per annum by:dispensing with the use of gas, | standing this fact, however, when ary to keep gas burning allaay long, and | | stores where the use of gas hi ria of | While on the east side the reporter found that agreat | number of the smail shops upon East Broadway and the adjoming streets have lamps in the windows, and He learned that through all this district thére is steadily golbg on a movement. against the gas compa- | nies, Further eastward, im the dwelling owises, the use of gas has. been nearly altogether given up, and | several residents of this part of the city said that un- | Issa speedy reduction of rates is eilected the com- panies may soon take up their pipes and transport | them elsewhere for all the use there will be for them, qq ON SIXTH AVENUES ‘ | A HERALD reporter started on Saturday morning at .| Bleecker street and Carmnine and went up the cast side | of Sixth avenuedo Fortieth street, and down the west | again to Bleecker, calling upon the proprietor of each | store and the residents of most of the houses on either | side of the way. The object of these visits was to | ascertain any facts thal could be gleaned abvut the ex- | tortionate charges for gas made vy the companies and } so much cotuplained of by the majority of the house- | reek, See: Ceeee. eae. BF & Nek: i | keepers in this city. Three things were discovered— | that” big gas) would =be cut off + | via, thatthe charges now made are regarded as tar | did not promptly settle his Dills, however | too high, that the qui asqieed light 1s not ro (as us it | to | Was m former years, and that a great many people have | unjust or excessive the charges may have appeared to | Man.) sing gas atid adupted oll lamps. Each of the him. The relief sought was a reduction of price, | vetter gas, correctly registering meters’and' fair dealing between the company and the consumers. Now that the people, finding they cannot obtain these reason- able concessions, have commenced the wholesale use — of oil lamps the gas companies will be very likely to atknowlédge that they have made a mistake in refusing any and all concessions in their fancied security. 1 SPE BROOKLYN GAS MOVEMENT, in tho city of Brooklyn, in both the Eastern andi _ Westérn Districts, the war against the gas monopdly bas assumed gigantic proportions, There the people who aré engaged in business requiring a large number of lights are discarding the gas meters, and'with vari- ons improved styles of lamps and oil dxtures tind a great chango in their expenses. So widespread 1s tho’ movement across the river, and so successful has it proved, that the gas companies {tightened and have endeavored to check it by redac- Ing their rates, In this they-are followed by the Now York companies. But the concession comes too late, ‘ghd It is quite evident thatthe days of gas monopoly are ended. Tho immonse numbor of meters returned to the companies during the past few. weeks proves. sonclusively that unless the price of gas is placed ata low figure and the measurement made honestly the profits of holders of gus stock will be materially re- duced. In Jersey City the use of oil is becoming very gen- @rai, but not nearly so upiversal as the disgust in- spired by the high-handed action of the gas monopo- hhgts. It ts complained that all bills introduced in the Legisiature to remedy existing defects in supplying gas | are killed by the corrupt. use of the money of the | monopolists. Two bills are now before tho Legisla- | tare, from neither of which much relief is expected, A canvass of the city of New York by the Hmrato ro- | porters has disclosed the fact that oil is now being used im a large number of stores instead of gas, and the movement is rapidly increasing in strength. ON THE BOWERY. In abat store near the Cooper Institute, where the gas bills reached $25 a month, oil is now burned at a | monthly cost of $5 for a better light. | In the four story house No. 5 Third avenue, opposite ‘the Cooper Institute, the owner had the gas sbut off and now lights up for an average of one-quarter of the amount he paid to the gas company. The owner of Yhis house expressed his indignation at the excessive sharges to which he has had to submit while burning gas. The tea store No. 379 Bowery is supplied with sixty- that no exact estimato can yet be made of the saving effected. From what the managers of the store bave seen, however, they expect to save full seventy per tent of the amount formerly paid for gas. The monthly Dills were about $60 for gas, and {t is expected that a | better light can be produced for about $15. This isone wf about eleven stores owned by the same proprietor, and all are now being provided with lamps. Atea store belonging to another large proprietor, located at No, 318 Bowery, bas just been turnished with lamps. For the month ending January 22 the gas bill in this store amounted to $54. This veing con- Gidered rather a bigh Ggure to pay for a month’s light, it was determined during the following thirty days, to turn OUf one row of fancy jets in the window. Business ber! ‘urday evenings, the other lights were also reduced, but when the bill came in, Instead of a redaction, the manager of the store found au increased chagge as Brecompense for his economy. He was asked to pay $57. This settled the ol! question, but tt leaves the consumer in a mystified condition. The days were Jonger for the month ending February 23, so the lights ‘were not started as early and the jots were reduced in umber, hence the gas company are to be called on to explain, The cost for oi! will not bow third of the Price charged for gas. The proprietors of this store own about twelve stores tn all, and no more gas is to be used in any of them as soon as ofl fixtures are eompleted. ‘" There is another large store at No. 196 Bowery with lamps. This store is one of sixteen owned by ‘he same proprietor, in all of which oil is to be subst)- buted for gas at @ reduction varying from fifty to veventy-five per cent At the baraware store No, 253 Bowery, which has burned gas for twenty years, lamps are now used. here is a branch of this house in Brooklyn at which the gas vills ranged from $30 to $40 monthly for some fourteen to sixteen lights, An equal number of lamps were provided and give now as good satisfaction for a monthly expenditure of about $7. The success of the txperiment in Brooklyn caused the proprietors to try it in New York, and by so doing they are saving about $ month, hn this section of the city the advocates of oll instead of gas bave only just begun active measures, and the notion takes well, 18 is not improbable that in another etually becoming: | Jamps, which have been only a few days in use, so | little slow on two Sat | | avenue, but it is only the housekeeper or small store- | keeper who can afford to fall back for relief on the oil | and lamp. There are 698 houses betweon Bleecker and Fortieth streets, on Sixth avenue, soine of which are dwell- ing houses only; others stores, some theatres and the | femainder hotels. The majority, of course, are stores, | many of them small and insignificant enough; but | above Jefferson Market they are nearly all fine com- | modious places, ina tair way of business, with large | show windows. This district ‘below Thirty-fourth street is served by two gas tompanics—the Manhattan and Mutual. Above Thirty-fourth the Metropolitan supplies the gas, Now, carelul inquiry shows that here is a vust diiference between the material fur- | mished and rates charged by each of these companies, | By a ditference in ‘rates?’ is meunt the aggregate sums demanded fora month’s gasim stores that have an equal number of burners. ‘Take; for example, two ores down near Amity — street, each of j Which has six lights, which are served | by two different companies. | That which is served b one company bas been charged more than that bese 4 was served by the other. 18 seems to be invariably | the case, and even in one place, a millinery store, the | proprietor stated to the Herap reporter that, being | disgusted with the exorbitant bills that came into her two former is agreed to by everybody along the Sixth | month alter month from that company, she resolved to | | try the other, | been less than, they were tor some time previous, | However, this difference only indicated either that the | average Of $2 50 per 1,000 lect was too bigh, or that the ‘ndex readers of the latter company were more | honest than those of the other. The greatest discovery | Ol the investigation was that the men who come to read the meters are liable to make grievous mistakes in the compauy’s favor. This was shown at Booth’s Theatre, where the management pay between $250 and $300 a | week for gas, It appears that a mistake was | made by the Manbattan Company's man of about 21,000 feet im his own favor, It was ctiied when discovered by Mr. ‘Witherspoon, who has charge of the gas,department of the theatre, There was no intention on the part of the man to de- fraud the management, and Mr. Tooker said that the | adjustment of the matter was immediate. wheu the | error was pointed out; but other people to whom the circumstance was mentioned felt assured that similar | mistakes were of {requent occurrence. | so the average gain to the company by these blunders | would be very handsome indeed. A gentleman in the | dry goods business, whose monthly gas bills amount to upward of $115, said that he felt contident that some | such blunders as theso were often mado in bis own | establisment, because, without any apparent reason, the bill of one month would far exceed. that of the pre- | vious, In his Judgment, 1,000 feet, was inuch too’ high, and the proposed | duction of twenty-five cents on the 1,000 too tnsig- nificant to be any relief to the overburdened people. ud since she had done so her bills had | | their neighbors. Should this be | the present rate, $2 50 per | | We shaliall have to use oil, pan, | eff if you don't pay,’ is a serious monthly taxon a He had read the article in the Herat which stated | that the companies had paid a dividend of 100 to their stockholders. This being true, he wor his business reputation on the assertion that $2 | per 1,000 would aiford the gas people a princely margin of profit and give the consumers the desired relict. | A POSITIVE RRYOLT. | OnSixth avenue there las becn a posttive revolt | from the control of the gasmen. Nearly every houso- keeper Velow Fourteeuth street bas given up gas and taken to using non-explosive oi, In this same dis- trict there are fifteen stores using lamps instead of gas, and many more are preparing to follow their ex- ample. Itis only the smaller ones that can do this at will; the larger ones say they cannot, It is clauned that'it would be a source of great inconvenience to the proprietor of a dry goods house, in which there are fitty | or sixty burners, to trim day as many or more lamps; then, too, the light given, they fear, would scarcely be so good as that shed by gas, and the smoke | and smell would occasion great offence to clerks and customers. Still, unless something be done by the companies the proprictors even of the largest houses declare that (bey will be compelled to take such ac- tion’ for self-preservation, One gontieman proposed that a movement should be started by dwelling house keepers to call a meeting, form a protective association * and unite in a resolve.to give up gas and consume oil throughout the city as far as practicable, Such action on the part of forty or Sfty thousand persons in this ci so uuiterily reduce the revenues of the companies that they would hasten to be more moderate | ia their demands and speedily bring their rates to ace commodating figures, ‘The drug stores and places with fine show windows might Le forced, said he, by the very nature of their business, to continue the use of s, Dubin their homes the proprietors of these places could forego the gas and jot in the oi! movement as weil as anybody else. It is evident that the people ow Sixth avenue have entered mto this con- test with the gas compames Im real earnee Ail the tenemenis or dwelling fats are grad- uaily being lighted by on instead of gas the little sores, small restaurauts and many of the ladies’ ture hishinig goods palaces are now lighted with oil, and every duy more are being added to the hist. Nobody that can help it is willing tu pay tor the consumption of mate- rial that they cannot gauge themselves. There is not a man of Woman using gas below Fortieth street, on Sixth avenue, that can “prove their meters,” or find out whether they are being swindled or not by the gas man, aud, in addition to this, the prices of the com: panies, though nominally reduced, are really higher than they ever were betore. Even the plumbers and Bas titvers agree to this, One of them said yesterday Ubat the quality of the gas was poorer and 1 greater than during any previous year of its tse it ity. A storekeeper said that the bills now, with the same pumber.ot burners in use, in his place bave been larger at the rate of §2 15 than they were wheu the rate was §3. said the satne person, & sort of schedule, wherein they ba being worth so mueh v 1 pants vf the rest have to wake up the complement, 4 s0 their bills are raised, It is customary also, in y judgment, to establivh rates tor each month of the year.” per 1,000 feet “The tact ts," month to them, O1L YS GAS ON SEVENTH AVENUB. Acanvass of the stores and dwelling houses along the line of Seventh avenue, ag far up as Thirty-fourth Street, develops a lively interest om the guy question, ‘A wumber of stores Lave already introduced oi! lamps, week half the stores will have had their meters re” and many others have the pian in contemplation, moved. There are many causes which lead to thisde From Twenty-third street up the sale of off in the termination. First of ail is placed the very high price of shops has increased on account of the change, ‘ing been quietso tong profitsdo and all whe are using i exp Balisfac- pboaky a ers, tov. it is | tion. The many improvements bave been claimed, do uot register correcily; and last, though not mae in lamps recently, and the ease and safety witu Jeaat, the errors are never made favor of the con- sumer. The people are enthusiastic in favor of te change from gas to oil. RAST SIDE DOWN Tow. As Grand street is lined almost from end to end with retail stores, which keep open till late im the night, and as owners of t! teall the expense and vance growing out of a large consumption of gas, the reporter sought out some of the most prominent for an opinion on the subject. All along the route there was one uniform | re necessarily subjected | which they can be handled, bate overcome the preyu- | dice against them to some extent In most instances | the lamps are attached to the old gas Gxtures, and look | quite as well and give as good ght. The trouble of | taking care of them 1s fully compensated in # saving of | sixty-six per cent of the cost of the gas. In one ca: a gentioman whose bill averages about $45 a mont | hus mtroduced oi! in his store. and the coat last month siess than $15 In thirty days’ time the amount | saved was nearly enough to pay the cost of the lamp fixtures, He boped every one would take an interest recent | stake | | No. “the gas companies have made | set down certain | fore, a house or two |s vacant the oceu- | in the matier, as unanimous action on the part of the people was ali thas was necessary to bring the gas com panies to their senses, Many were afraid to go to the expense of making a change, and more hold off on of the recent reduction of twenty- 1,000 cubic feet, Judging trom need be afraid that tbe ex- He strongly advocates of the people, confident ‘that in a month's time such a course would bring down the price of gas to a reasonable figure. In another case a smal! storekeeper complained of the arbitrary manner in which he had been treated by the Somnene For more than six years he had on de- posit with them the sum of $10 as an assurance against default of payment of his gas bills. During that time | bis bills did not average more than $5 or $6°a month, and were promptly paid. V1 eceasion whep, owing | to a number of dark days, his bill ran up to about $11, | he received notice to make itional deposit of $10, He called at the office to remonstrate, but the only sai- istaction he received wis a choice between making the deposit or having the gas shutoff, A restaurant keeper | ept open early and late and aver a bill of $50 & month sold out his place aud moved to a other partof the district, where he opened a liqu store, In the latter org he did not use nearly as much | g4F as before, but the bill came around just the same asever, He ts now burning oi! at less than one-third of the price of gas. ‘ ON KIGHTH AVENUE. Starting at Twelfth street a Hxraio reporter began a perambalation up Eighth avenue, and continued as tf as Forty-second and Sixteenth stre $61 80, $46 50. They will put in oil at an early day. The company hag oil in all its downtown stores. The proprietor of a store with eleven burners, at No, 1,458 Third avenue, ts still burning gas, As he closes his store early be doesn’t care to make a change just yet, but he thinks that the talk of reduction is all non- Sense. When he was paying $3 00, two or three years ago, bis bill was just as low as it 18 now, and is just as high now as it was then, The gas is so poor anyhow, be said, that consumers b: 0 turn on the meter at its full force in orde: nights, even with the lights fully on, it was difficult to attend to business from want of sufficient light. Tho ofl gives a tar better gat, Another storekeaper atthe corner of Third avenue and Eighty-tifth street put in oil lamps at the begin- ning of the month. His gas bills averaged $25 a month for the past year, He now expects, judging from the experience he has had, to l’ght his store with oi), ine dental expenses inc.uded, for $45 a year. The proprietor of the house on Third avenue and Fighty-eighth street put in ot! lamps on January 22, and it has since cost him for of! only $496, while hi gas bills for two months previous were an gate of | $40, He stated that business being so dull during the winter months, this was a necessary saving. All his customers, he states, say that if any fauit may be found, ib is that there is too much light from the lamps. OlL LAMPS ON THIRD AVENUE The middle class shopkeepers who do business on Third avenue speak bitterly of the extortionate imposi- tion of the gas companics, Mapy of the stores on this | line of travel, from Fourteenth to Sixty-fitth street, ‘urn gas very late at night, and they afford large reve- were found where oj] has su; ded the use of gat Besides these there are three stores within the bounds mentioned where oi! ts used in the back part of the es- ‘ablishment, the use of gas ingthe windows and about the entrance still being continued. Those persons who have abandoved the use of gas entirely say that they can produce quite as much light with oil at less tha one-third the expense of gas, One genueman said be | had been using x as burners and his bill | averaged $15 a month winter, He now ‘uses eight i yn » and finds that bis oil costs. him | only $3 4 ih, His lamps aro ofa very neat pattern, be constructed on a safe princip! and cost $1 10. each, seluding a bracket, whi vy attached to the wall by screws and on which the lamp rests, Nearly every proprietor of a store with whom (| the reporter conversed complained bitterly of the way in Which the gas companies swindled him. One man said that on the 14th of February he shut off bis gas | at the. meter and begau the use of o}!, and did not Nght | asingle gas burner again during He month. Notwith- \ 6 bill was rendered, | at the end of the month he found it was as heavy, with | the exception of afew cents as the one had been for | the month of January. This the complainant desig: | nated as a “clean steal,” an “unmitigated swindle." From Sixteenth street to Twenty-third street five | been discontinued were | found, Besides these, there are twenty-four private | houses and apartments that do not use the gas at all, From Twenty-fourth to Thirty-ftth street ten stores | and thirty-five private bow and apartments have | shut off the and all aeciare they will continue to burn on until the gas companies give up their exorbi- tant prices. One storekeeper, between Toirty-tirst and Thirty-second streets, was found to be in a great state of excitement on the question of extortion, “The company. trom he, ‘have come | to the conclusion that 1. will burn about so} much each month, s0 they just slap down | an average number of fect and naitomthe price. If 1 make a‘kick' about it 1 am put to all maaner of trouble, and at Jast am told to shut the gas off if Ldon’t like tt, | Now you see | don't like this,”” coptinued the irate consumer, ‘and I propose to take the company at its word and shut off the gas. I shall buy a dozen’ laumps and use oil ip the future, and nat oply will I use oil but I will use my influence with my neighbors to have them shut down on their gasas well. If we will only make a determined effort we can force the gas com- pany to lower fts prices, and I for onewill try to the ut- most of my ability to get up a general movement among the storekeepers along the avenue. The people in Brooklyn brought gas companies over there to terms, and why cannot we f’’ From Thirty-fifth to Forty-second street there are four stores and twenty-one private houses and apart. ments that do not use gas, but rejoice in the brilliant | and mellow light produced by oil, Here, asin other localities. on she.avyenue, the people were found to be highly indignant at the condition of things in regard to the price of gas Some half dozen shopkeepers who are now using gas declared their intention to get lamps and shut off the gas, 3 IN YORKVILLE AND HARLEM, ’ In the upper portion of the city, from the Third ave- nue depot-at Sixty-Mfth street to Ninetieth strect, there nh increasing use of oil iu the stores in place of gas, p -ninth street, where the Jem Gas Company's pipes begin, hattan Gas Company has at the present time a comple upper district. The complaints on the part of the con- sumers against both companies tor overcharge and in- feriority ip the quality of gas are bitter and widespr: As yet the customers of the Manhattan Company, for the greater part, have not abandoned the use of gas; but there is such a strong feeling of discontent among | them that this step may be expected at an early day, and the chief reason why they hesitate now is on ac- count of the approaching season. Above Seventy- ninth street more than one-third of the storekeeper: are using oi), and the pemenaly ig that within a few weeks & great many more will bave cut off the gas. Only those who during the coming months will have to use very little of i are resotved to conti being supplied by the Harlem Company. cheapness of the oi and {ts in .80. many stores already have caused people to make inquiries, who, it is expected, will speedily follow the oxaimple set by so large a number of Te will seen from the statements Of the several storekeepers given below, which are similar to a number of opinions excludéd to avoid repetition, that it is believed the price of gas 18 alto- gether too high; that oil can readily take its place,: with great saving of money, and that there ig no conii- dence whatever in the honesty. of the gas campantes or their desire to treat the public tairly:— |. » A plumber and gas Gtter at No, 1,252 Third avenue said:—*'There 1s general dissatisfaction uy here among the storekeepers the latter especially. As a gas fitter, I have taken oat about thirty meters thi¢ winter, the object being to. have them returned to the company for exchange, it | being belt bie irom the high bills sent in, ‘that-there’) must be sometbing wrong. ‘This winter tho bills aro on an average, as tar as I have been able to | observe, about twenty-five per cent higher than they were last winter, My own bills. have been certainly twenty-five per cent higher. Ido not think that the gas companies charge accord. — ing to the meter, but according to some scale of their | own, dependent on the number of burners im a concern | and the hours it is conjectured they are iu use. It 18 mere —- beyond this. The complaints are | general in this neighborhood, and it is more than likely | The gas bill, with the | company, ‘We shall cut The peremptory demand of 4 storekeeper. Business very dull in this neighbor- hood, and the people must economize in every way they can. The Metropolitan Gas bane np exacts a deposit from every consumer according to the number | of burners in use, generally equal to the amount of two — months’ bills, and the company mustytherelore, have as | much money on deposit as it would require capital to | run {ts business, There ought to be oficial of some ¢ort appointed to regulate the gas meters. At present time there is, so far as | know, only one man to whom you can go havo your met tested, and you may have to leave it with bim fora week before you get it back. What 1s the use in re- turning a meter to the gas company and getting another of the same company's meters? ido not put | much faith in the reduction from $2 75 to $2 50, which | the Metropolitan Company has announced will be made jo this month's cotsumption. The company can mulct the consumer justas it pleascs, For instance, it bas | come under my knowledge two or three times that «| cousumer did not, fur cee time, use uny gas at and sa! worily proved that fact, When this repre- | sentation Was made to the company its officer receipted the bill and promised an investigation, but the com- pany knew too much to prosecute any further inquiry. | Khete is no redress; the officers of the company refer you from one to the other; but asa rule there is no Batislaction to be derived from complatats," . Harper, No. Third avenue, gave up using gas | in the tall of last yi The last bill was, for six weeks, $11 37, for two lights, used from dusk untii ten o’clock. | The family used o:) ana the gas was never used in the morning Light costs him mow, with breakage of | lamp 50 asmonth A druggist, in the ueighborhood of Third avenue and Seventietn street, suid:—"'l find that, oo matier how much gas I burn, the bills are about the samme for each quarter. In winter the bill is about $30 and in sum- mer about $20 a month, Now I burn quite as much im summer as in winter, !f not more, 1 consime about the same quantity of gas daily all the year round, yet in the different quarters the bilis vary, getting h asthe winter approaches. Everybody is conipt in this neighborhood both about the cust tty of the gas, In my opinion if thin ail of us up bere will have to burn ofk, supplied by the Metropolitan Gas Company, which charges now | $2 50 per 1,000 cubic feet." The Stiners have between Sixty-O(th and Ninetieth | strects four stores. These tea merchants have come Wo the conclusion to cut off the gas and to wee o1! in all their es Nn this netzhborhood. The bill for the store } 530 last month was between $35 aud $40 for Alty-six burners oi small size. The ‘proprietor of the Third avence, near Se hi iven up using the gas was charged $12 89 for six lig! for a mouth; and last winter, using six oil iam) coet, meluding breakage of lamps, was only §2 508 month, At No, 1,382 Third avenue, barning twelve lights, ville were paid for January of over $25; for February r $24; while tor jast month, though burning | the same wntity of gas, the bill was only | er The proprietors of the store at No, 1,390 Third avenue | cut off the gas in their establishment immediately afier the refusal of the Harlem Gas Company to attend to the peution of the consum im their district In consequence of the company’ rrogant maponer of dealing wito the petition oi! lamps were promptly introduced. In regard, however, to the petition they | say tbat the company’s official bad since then apolo- gized, and that the price of the gas had been reduced from $3 to §2 75. About bal! the consumers who figned the petition are now using oi in p aud every day {8 adding to their number. | gas traud, | LT believe that ever, monopoly, as has the Harlom Company in the | successful ‘use| and residents in. private dwellings, »| nyes to the gas companies. But it is strange that, though on Third avenue alone, thousands and thousands of dollars are drawn from the pockets of the consumers: of light, yet the impudence of the gas monopolisis is sich that the customer has as little to say about. the disposal of the money whieh he is forced to pay for {lluminating his store or resi- to supply-their stores, Some | donce as the passenger on a merchant vessel bas when | abuceaneer boards lis pancetat craft to reb and plunder him \ his valuab! the stores of Third avenue the gas bills range as high as $90 a month, but it is @ curjous fact that there is no regularity in the method or amount of the gas com- nies’ bills to their victims. A man-who ‘keeps a ange ch i8 open all night, summer and winter, stated that he did not understand how tt was that the public did no ” against the gigantic Said he:—"Now, it may seem strange that I should say what I am going to say; but, however strange it may be, I can certify to it. In January I do not light my gas until about five o'cloek in the evening, and I have eight burners. The supply of gas which I use 18, of course, much larger in Japuary than itis in June, When Ido not light my gas until about seven o'clock, But I'll be hanged if my bill for January was not tess than it was for June. Now, 1 don't understand such management as this, [| know very well that if I © & customer. of mine six oysters in a stew when I ought to give him twelve or fifteen he would “kick.’? 1 doy’t know how miny cubic feet of gas 1 burn, but the fellow who comes here to collect the bilis looks so mysterious, the other fellow who comes to measure the meter is so cbecky and surly that! lose all patience | es and money. ty some of | e and | | Umion—have long since decided and offic: with both of them, 1 ain certain of one thing, however, } and that is, thatthe gas company which condescends vo supply me with gas also condescenas to rob me, and 'y one else who uses gas on Third avenue is robbed just like myself.’ Twenty-seven stores on Third nue have dropped gas from the list of monthly expenses of their propric- tors and are using’ kerosene in the majority of cases, ‘and in a few stores paratfine or astral oil ‘Some few | Jarge stores, which were formerly ‘lit by the | efforts of tho swindling gas companies, last evening | had keresene lamps burning in their windows, and there seems to be an earnest desiro on the part of the ird avenue to combat the monopolies to To do this they ure at present agitating the necessity of having a special organizatien to protect their nghts and to combine against the gas monopolies, noi JERSEY CITY'S GAS MONOPOLY: After submitting patiently fur years to the extortions of an unscrupulous gas monopoly the peopie of Jersey City and Hoboken are taking the only step which can effectually bring the so-called Jersey City and Hoboken Gaslight Company to term: Stores on the main thoroughlares and private residences: are being ex- ly lighted with oi1 at a saving of eighty per cent. The Fire Commissioners of Jersey City At their latest meeting passed a resolution to cut off he gas from the houses of all the fire companies and stitute of. The people of West Hoboken have cut loose from the gas company and now have a contract for the supply of oil to the street lamps at an expense of $19 a lamp per year, The taxpayers of Jersey City Paid $65 a year foreach street lamp up to last May, when the gas company, under great pressure, con- sented to reduce the price to $42 25a lamp, and that rate is now in force. The subject was discussed with great warmth afew weeks ago by the Board of Police Commissioners, some of whom f tion of oil for gas in all the street lamps, A very large section of the city is now = lighted by oillamps.. The company, finding itself con- fronted by the indignation of a large population, have thrown a sop to Cerberus at the eleventh hoar, The rice uf gas bas been reduced from $3 per 1,000 feet to 2-75, and the rent of thirteen cents pee month for meters is no longer to be exacted. But this concession will not sufflee, wrested as it was under such desperate Straits of an unwilling corporation, The gas bills are | still exorbitant beyond measure, the extortion prac- tiwed on hundreds of consumers being alm tn- | credible, ‘The gas company charged $3 50 per 1,000 feet up to | July, 1872; '$3 25 up to July, 1873, and $3 until the Fecent practical protest of the people. Stili the com- pany manages, through its friendly metor, to keep up the bills to their jormer exorbitant rate, Large con- sumers are bow purchasing oil at two cents a pint taken in bulk of 100 gallons, or in small bulk seven: teen cents a gallon, Toa Henra.p reporter Chief Engineer Farrier, of the Fire Department, observed yesterday, “We can save | oll for gas in our engine housds, I have long te effect this economy, and it was only when | dir@ted the attention of the Commissioners to some of our There arc two engine houses side by side on Summit 148 neighbor was taxed $43, We examined the pipes , and found them all right. As usual, remonstrance with the gas company's official was in vai remedy was left but to cut loose from it altog A wealthy citizen who fook’an active part in bring- frauds to light was asked bis opinion of the poly, and he replied with emphasis and de- won it this Incooid fashion:—“Why, it is a swindie and a fraud of the worst kind. These fellows are aking 250 per cent on their stock. Whenever we hada vill introduced at Trenton to check them they Paring tJ with their pockets filled and had the bill ited. ** the entire community, One of the city physicians, who is a member of the Board of Health, called the at tention of the reporter to an outrageous gas bill fur- nished him, Hw took a vacation tor a few weeks in the summer year, and turned bis gas bul was former season, although not on tity of ga consumed; indeed, the house was, to ail intents and parpos closed. ‘He remonstrated in- dignantly at the office of the gas company, but received no redress. In several instances a consumer baying two burners lighted is charged nearly twice as much as his neighbor with a greater number of burners of the same register. The testing of meters is only a farce being performed by an wets of the company, who, to protect the interests of his employers, is cortain, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, 10 pronounce it all right and attribute the increase of gas to waste from wornout burners or some other trifling pretext. The consumer soon tires of complaining, and remains in the grasp of the company. It should be added that the monopoly did pot abolish the rent on metors aatila vill was introduced in the Legislature by Mr. Rabe, of Hoboken, to compel it to do so. At every session of the New Jersey Legisiature | for the past ten years bills were introduced for the re- | Hef of the people from this grasping corporation, but they were invariably deteated by a moneyed lobby. One bill introduced a few years ago passed the Senate, but was defeated by the agents of the company when md the substitu. | at least $1,000 a year to the city by the uruciig ac and no < bills that they resolved to checkmate the extortion. / | affair, This 1s, in the briefest form, the opinion of | it reached the House, It provided for the appointment | of a gas inspector by the Governor. Two bills in rela- tion to gas Companies are pending in the present Legis- lature, CORRUPTION IN POLICE COURTS. The Board of Finange of Jersey City have been in- formod by Corporation Attorney Douglass that under the existing charter the police justices are not required to furnish any security to the city, though thousands of dollars in fines pass yearly through their hands, They bare pope ho record of their financial transac. tions on behalf of the city, and the investigation now in progress is necordingly very tedious, and It ts doubt. ful if the total amount of the delalcation will ever como to light. Mr. Douglass also states that there is no thority vested in a police justice to remit a fine once imposed; yet this has been the custom, according to the defence of Justice Davis, A member of the Board of Finance said to a Hemato reporter yesterd: “nt | pever had the slightest idea that official corruption in | our city could enter so boldly and take possession of our interior courts till this investigation commenced, but we will push the guiity to the wall if tt takes months to do i” THE EXCISE LAW. HOW IT 18 ENFORCED. Yesterday morning Officer Stephen Redgate, of the Seventh precinct, brought to the Essex Market Police Court three prisoners charged with violation of the Sunday liquor taw, They gave their names as follows :— Robert Millen, No, 60 Henry street; Robert Cue, No, 93 Market street, and Patrick Griffen, barkeeper for Alder- man Bryan Reilly, No. 41 Market street. When the prisoners wot igned, Griffen stated that the officer came into place in company with Cue, whom he had already d, and the two drink, whereupon not being denied, Judge Overbourg said that the officer bad violated the law to enforce it. Orficer Redga' tod thatin making the arrest ne was acting under the orders of his supe- riors, and that Cue did not drink in the saloon of Alder- man Reilly at his solicitation. THE TOMB OF WASHINGTON. ence between the cost of light by by of] w great that the inducement Nee ped By The Hudson county branch of the Ladies’ Mount the price of gas i# a ay” vo hed tte ew) w Jersey, have arranged but few consumers, ne wi eit to the compan: {im answer to's question as for a lecture on the Life and Services of Washington, to the cost of ofl, damage to glass included, | 40 be delivered by ex-Senator Winfield, in the Taber it was stated that $3 15 was paid for the use of nine- le, Jersey City, after two or three weeks. The teen lamps from February 18 to yesterday, The gas Rogent of the association, Mra Halsted, Dill for the previous month was at the rate of 75 cents | of Kearney, is im correspondence with the vi aday. regents of ott s, With a view to establish A largo tes company's storo, No. 1,450 Third ave- | fund which sball be plied 40 the preservation and nie, uses a large pO a gas, the bills for Decem- | adornment of the tomb of Washington, at Mount Ver- ber, January and February being respechvely $88 60, | now “TO BE OR NOT TO BE.” Shall the Great Exhibition Be Closed on Sundays? A DECISION WHICH MAY BR REVERSED A Little Row in Prospect—A Hornet's Nest in Philadelphia—Some Good Reasons Why the Exhibition Should Be Open on the Poor Man's Holiday, Puinapgiruta, March 11, 1876, It would scarcely be safe for any one in Philadelphia to merely so much as mention the fact that It might be desirable to open the Exhibition om Sundays. The staid and conservative citizens of the Quaker City have | long since made up their minds on that score—that is, | if one can Judge from the expressions of leading repro- sentative men like John Welsh, for instance, tho Presi- dent of the Centennial Board of Finance, and from the vehement “resolutions” at meetings of clergymen and laymen and of a Subbatarian society whose name os- | capes me, As this latter body, however, mado a very foolish, and, of course, unsuccessiul attempt to close the Zoological Gardens on Sunday, and actually to stop the running of street cars on that day; and as they | seem to ba on the only day opposed to all mnocent recreation thousands of worthy people have for relaxation, their expressions of opinion regarding the ‘sanctity of the bbath’? are not of much weight, The very violence of these gen- tlemen is likely to bring about the “desecration” they aim to prevent by arousing all the latent spirit and determination of a minority of liberal minded Philadel- phians who are ready to second outside efforts to com- pel the opening of the great Exhibition on Sundays. DECIDED, BUT NOT DRCIDED, In more or less sympathy with this spirit those Philadelphians who “run” the affairs of the Centennial Commission—a body which only meets together once a year, the members being scattered throughout all the ly pro- nounced against opening on Sundays, a decision they still stand by. That they will be obliged to revoke this pronunciamento—willy nilly—now seems probable, 1t has aroused the members of the commission through- out the country, and many of them do not acquiesce in the decision to shut the gates on the workingman’s holiday, There 1s a row in prospect over the matter, The Executive Committee, which nominally repre- sents the United States Centennial Commission, is re- sponsible to that body. 1t must report,its acts to the commission When it comes together annually, and if a majority of the Commissioners disapprove of the measures adopted by their attorneys they can revoke them summarily, With a few exceptions the aflairs of the Centennial Commission and the Board of Finance have gone on amicably enough at the yearly gather- ings of the Commissioners; but this year, when the meeting occurs, there will'be a warm discussion over one question at least. The next stated meeting of tho United States Centennial Commissioners from the | thirty-eight States of the Union will take place in May next, just before the opening of the Exbibition, ana the Sunday question is suresto come up, 80 that it can by no means be regarded as settled yet, notwithstand- ing announcements to the contrary published far and wide, ‘ GENTLE REMINDERS. Somo of the commissioners—notably those from the Western and Southwestern States—desire to remind their colleag in the Quaker City that the Exhibition 1s emphatically not a Philadelphia It is @ national institution, and not only that, but an international one—a World’s Fair, They think that there are some people out- side of Palade pais. who have a right to say whether or not the great Exhibition shall be closed on Sunday. They claim that if the wishes of our foreign visitors are not worthy of being consulted in the matter, cer- tainly those of our countrymen are. Ifa majority of the | representatives of Other States decide in favor of closing, well and good, but it is not the Intention to allow Philadeiphia alone, or Pennsylvania alone, to settle so important a matter, These and other whole- some traths will be presented at the meeting, and what the ultimate decision will be regarding this action of the Executive Committee cannot of course be predicted with certainty; but from the expressions of opinion of some of the Centennial Commissioners from other Statas—when I have talked with them from time to time as they have been in town—Iam led to believe that there is a strong foeling opposed to the present serious condition of the Sunday question, It may be on the part of the mwority, because, to offset the Western men who are in opposition are the Kasi with inherited and developed Puritan procliviti nous verrons, A LEVEL-HEADED OPINION, Said one gentiema ‘Lam going to vote {n favor of keeping open the Exhibition—the grounds at least. It may not be decorous to bave machinery ronning on tho Sabbath or to have the exhibitors in the great cen- tral ball displaying their wares and to have buying and selling going on there, Therefore, let the Main Build- avenué, The gas bill for a month in one was $16, while | ing and Machinery Hall be closed. But what narm can there be in allowing people to visit the art galleries, the Horticultural Building and the Agricultaral Hall on Sundays, or to roam about the beautiful gardens filled wih flowers, fountains and statuary, into which the | Exhibition grounds are to be transformed? Beautiful flowers and paintings, if they do not have a refining, | influence certainly tend to educate and im- the popular taste. I understand this— education of our people—to be one of great objects of our Centennial Exhibi- and why sould wo not make the most of such grand opportu: will never see such It is not only permitting the innocent enjoyment of the masses, but it is minis- tering to their minds as well,"’ BE CONSISTENT, It is the most fortunate circumstance in the location of this exhibition thatit is within Fairmount Park, a veritable garden of the gods for loveliness. Now, no- dy ever thinks of closing the rest of the park on Sun- days, a Jay when there are ten times aa many visitors as uponany other, Why should ore be inconsistent enough to want to close the gates of that part of the park—the most attractive and the most instructive of all—on the very day when the attendance will be larg- est? Shut up the restaurants and stop all work on Bunday, vat let the people enjoy the beauty of the rounds, the pictures, the statuary and the flowers, at jeust. POLITICAL ECONOMY AND FIFTY CENTS ADMISSION. Said another:—*Look at this thing from an economic and practical point of view. Let somebody with a taste mestnet prove the the | for statistics estimate what the joss to the industries of this great manulacturing centre wiil be if our tens of thousands of workmen must leave their shops upon a eecular day, Jo&ing certainly one day’s work to see the Exhibition, How many mechanics and workingmmen can afford their loss of time in addition to the fitty cents admission, which 18 just twice as much as it | should bet And’you know it will be simply impossible to see everything at one visit. Suppose a skilled me- chanic in New York, Wilmington, Baltimore or any- where in this manufacturing district, desires to study and profit by the Exhibition without losing Yaluable time from his work, which is of great value to him. Ifthe exhibition is open on Sundays he can leave home Saturday night, wake up on the grounds, and spond the whole day making bis investigations, He will exami: processes of his cratt exhibited from every part of the world where they are used, and will be able to bo back at his worksvop on Monday morning, Being thoughtful, obeervant man, his visits (tor he will prob- ably make’ more than ove) will be of great value to him; and bis expenses will be only bis railroad fare, his admission to the grounds and meals for one day. Ifnarrow-minded, short-sighted bigots deprive our artisans of this advantage it will be a great loss to the skilled labor of phe country. Think bow many. there are in thix ely Who cannot attend at all if they cannot come on the poor mav’s boitday. AN APT QUOTATION. When Chief Justice Read reiuzed the Injunction to | prevent the running of passenger cars on Sanday he used these memorable words, which apply just as weil to the case in point:— We have public squares and a great public pa our fellow citi owned by Ulergyinen, lawyers, physicians, ren. le hi days in ‘the week 1 jt the mechanic, the artisan, has b 4 a n rest, can dress himself and his family in their comfortable Sunday clothes, attend church take healthful exercise; but. by ‘this {njyanction, man, b his carriage—the poor man’s carriage, the passenger car taken away and fs not permitted to ran for his accomme tion, The laborin 4 his children ne’ part of bis own property. A TRAGEDY IN ONE ACT. Another Commissioner said that be trembled to think of the fate of a Continental European in Phil- adeiphia on a Sunday, with all amusement resources to see Fairmount denied bim, The Philadelphia law regulating Sunday concerts of public amusements of any kind “reg. | lates” them out of existence. The gates of the hibition grounds would be barred to him; even the chamber of horrors, called Independence i, would be closed and more dismal than usual; the street cars would be funning at long intervals, and with the sub- dued, almost noiseless, air of a hearse, with no cheer. fal bells on the horses; and every street would present an endless monotony of red brick, white stoops aud “With one wiid glance at the “a distracted Parisian, thinking of hie dear Youlevards, with their Drillianey ana gayety, would rush to his room at the Continental, light a pan of charcoal, and next morning ‘be a subject for the coroner." WOMAN AT THE CENTENNIAL The following correspondence between Mrs, F. T. R. Gilman and Professor Cromwell explains iteclt:— Professor G. R. Cromweit:— ‘ Dean Sin 1 will see by the tnolored what we women of New York are striving to do for the "Cen- Venniai” If not moonsistent with your other arrange. monts would you be willing to repeat your very enter. ties while they last? You nor | and compare the machinery, tools and | nd intended Jor their benefit and that of | 3 | taining and inetructive illustrated Jecture for the bone fb of this great enterprise? Truiy yours, Fr. T. BR. Mancow 11, 1876. Mrs. ARTHUR Ortan:— Respxcrxy Mabam—In reply to your invitation of } this date permit me to say that I shall be pleased to | place my: and my entertainment at the service of the Ceniennia! work, and shall cousider it an honor ta | give an extra exhibition for the benefit of the comm | tee on Wednesday afternoon next, at Chickering | Yours, most respectfuily, G. R. CROMWELL | Marcu 11, 1876, | | | Committee on The following is the circular spoken of in Mrs. Gib man’s letter to the Professor :— The New York Women's Centennial Union has been formed for the purpose of aiding the successful display of woman's work at the great international exhibivion. A pavilion has been built by subscriptions from women | to various parts of the Unived States, but the interior is yet incomp New York hopes to coniribute hi sbare, and thus assist in promoting general knowle: of useful arts that come within woman's legitimate | Sphere, Though lute, we can work with a will; and if each woman will contribute even a dime we may unite in filly celebrating the 100th year of our national ind: pendence. Al! funds not used in the woman’s departme | of the Exhibition will be devoted to a memorial, in which generations to come will find incentives to bigh d useful lives. Those willing to work in th Ause are requested to form themselves into commit- tees, to be connected with the Central Board, at Chic ering Hall, Fifth avenue aud Eighteenth street, where all communications in writing, also subscriptions, will | be received. A book is opea for the enrolment of | members, All wishing to exbibit work are requested to upply to the Commitiee of Inspection in New York, who will, Ssary, assist in forwarding articles suitable fo e, Mrs. . CULLUM, Chairman Executive Committee N. ¥. W. C, U. Mrs, N, PENDLETON HOSACK, Treasurer. Mrs, BENJAMIN SILLIMAN CHURCH, Secretary, Mrs, ARTHUR GitMaN, Committee on Literature. THE ICE CROP, HE NUMBER OF TONS HOUSED AND STACKED ALONG THE) HUDSON--THE CROP OVER & MILLION OF TONS SHORT—FEELING OF IN SECURITY AS TO SUMMER RATE Povcuxxersr®, March 12, 187 Now that the Hudson River is practically open for the season from New York to Albany, the question of the ice crop’ may bo fully cousidered. The past has been an extraordinary winter im more than one respect, but particularly has it been a singular one ¢o far as the | tce harvest is concerned, In previous years the scores of. icchouses on the river have given work to thou- sands of men and boys and hundreds of horses and dozens of steam engines, ail engagea in cutting, haul- ing and housing the crystal cakes; but in the past win- ter, the hardest for work in twenty years, the Hudson has opened and ¢losed five times, thas putting a stop almost completely to tce cutting, Certainly no ice of any consequence bas this year been cut south of Barry- ! town, on the Hudson, if we may except the field of 100 acres or so which, while drifting along with the tide, was “toggled”? and anchored in front of Staatsburg dock, und from which over 12,000 tons were housed in the big techouse there. Pains have been taken within twenty-four hours ta | obtain an accurate report of the quantity of tee now housed in the various houses north of this city be- tween here and Albany, and we herewitn append the statement:— Capacity Ton. Company. of House. Stored. Knickerbocker, Staatsburg.. «+ 26,000 $15,000 | | Mutual Benedt, Staatsburg.......++«. 13,000 | Parker & Co., opposite Staatsburg: 15,000 Kpickerbocker Company, Rhinebeck. . 25, Knickerbocker Company, Kingston Point.,...+s04- +e 50,000 Mutual Benefit, Barrytown Knickerbocker, opposite Barrytown.. 20,000 opposite Barrytown opposite Barrytown, opposite Barrytown. Kuickerbocker, Kuickerbocker, Knickerbocker, E. Coon, Tivoll, Gastar | Fraloigh & Washburn, Sauger Myers & Rogpaugh, Saugerti | Lasher & Co., Germantown. | Yan Steenburgh & Co., Catskill Knickerbocker Company, Catskill 6,000 | Knickerbocker Gompany, Rogers’ | — Island os seseesess 40,000 Knickerbo: | Athens... J, W. Dingman & Co,, Stockport. Knickerbocker, Coxsackie | Knickerbocker, Coxsacki Hudson River [ce Company, Coxsack: | iA Wo! * 15,000 ) J. A. Wolfer, Coxsackie. = | Now Jersey Company, Stuyvesant. 25,000 | John Clark, Stuyvesant, pas J. & W. Scott, Stuyvesant. — + 80,000 A. Van Buren & Oo. Van Steenburgh & C | Anderson, Downer & © | Downer, Shelby & Co., Castleton | Fotler, Downer & Co., Castleton. | Harder, Durant & Co., Castieton Moles, Seaman & Co.,’ Castleton. Rysduph, Haight & Co., Castleton. . Baker & Uo,, Castleton, Parkor & Winch, Castleton Knickerbocker, Schodack. sevees 672, 3 By thé above tablo it will be seen that the capacity of the houses in front of which the ice has been of suf- ficient thickness to cut foots up 572,000 tons; but they | contain at the present time only 446,000 tons, whieh ta | 156,000 tons short. The 70,300 tons stored at Castleton or within one milo of it were housed. in temporary sheds built for the purpSse, and ft must find an eurly | market or it will grow beautifully less tn weight. The | amount of ice stacked 18 shown to be 39,800 tons, mud that, too, must find an carly market. All of the above showing reveals the fact that the ice | crop of the Hudson River this season is over ONK MILLION TONS SHORT. To show bow anxious all of the 1ce companies bave been to obtain as much ice as they could it may be stated that they have tapped about all of the ponds and lakes im the interior of the Hudson River counties. On the tine of the Dutchess and Columbia Railroad they cut ice from Sylvan Lake and had it shipped to tide water at the rate of fifteen car loads per day, barges taking it to New York. On the line of the Poughkeepsie, Hartford and Bost ton they cut ice at Millerton and Upton’s Pond and transported it to Poughkeepsie at the rato of twenty. five carloads per day. On the line of the Rhinebeck and Connecticut Railroad they cut ice at Copake and had it shipped to tidewater at the rate of fifty carloads per day, barges taking it to New York. On tho line of the New York, Kingston and Syracuse Railroad they cut ice in the mountain streams of Ulster aud Delaware counties and shipped it to Rondout, barges taking tt to New York. On the Hudson and Berkshire Railroad they cut ice at various ponds and had it shipped to Huason, The Mutual Benefit Company even went so far as to build a railroad a mile in length from Round | Lake to the Reusselacr and Saratoga Railroad, and cut- Ling ice sixteen inches thick from the lake cars and ran it through to the Hudson Ri " via Troy; thence down the Hudson River Railroad to their tinmense house at Barrytown, dumping it into the house from the cars at a cost of about $2 50 p All of the cities and villages on the Hudson have their full supply of tee from local lakes and ponds, and, therefore, New York and Philadelphia can draw on the 500,000 tons housed along the river, At present © there isa FEELING OF INSECURITY as to an expected adyance in the price of the com modity, and some of the retajs consumers have refused ntracts, preferring to house their own ice, ce, one consumer in this eity uses about 106 tons per annum. Au attempt was made to raiwe the priceou hin, when be immediately constructed a tem porary house and has filled it with nearly 400 tons of good ice. It is expected that the price will be advanced sone; but the people are afraid that the companics, taking advantage of the weil known fact that the Hf fon Kiver crop is a partial failure, will ‘Jack up’? price to a tigure that will be alinost extortionate, AT TKOY AND VICINITY. The Troy Times says that the toe business in thas’ vicinity bas been growing ior sever this season it has taken a stride. There is probab Jess than 250,000 tons stored within a radius of | miles of Troy. W. C. Buell, for instance, began cutting | tee on Smart's Pond, about a mile from the river, Feb- ruary 2, and finished up on Tuesday of last week. Dar- ing that time be has filled eleven houses, coutainy about 20,000 tons of clear spring water tce from et | to eighteen inches in thickness, To accomplish this he has worked two gangs of 100 men night and aay, called his old profession mto play and had a line of telegraph constructed from his office to the Western Union office im this city. This lot is bute smal) portion of the ee that he has put up, bought and t# directly interested in’ He bas 66,000 tons, Johs Clark, of New York, bis partner, who for years was an | employé of the Knickerbocker lee Company of New York, and who soid bis entire Dusiness to that com. pany in March, 1374, for $157,500 cash, has taken cure of the Huason River and secured about $0,000 tons irty Stuyvesant and Castleton, Mr. Br has ice on hat on the Hudson and Mobawk rivers and on the banks the Erie and Champlain canals, in Troy, West Troy, Green Island, Cohoes, bade ky B Ue, Bern | Heights, Crescent Schenectady, Castleton a biayve sant, and ten or Ofteem* canal boats londed are ready for shipment He has purchased 20,00¢ tons and thinks he can enough more | to make bis 55,000 tons 100, 600 Mr. Bueil’s first He pat up s house where bow stand, and, nowwithstand tng there was a short crop, he lost about ummer of that | venture in ice was in 1853 Wemet & Harp’s houses This $5,500, being 60 was owing to whe Just seventeen y: money where «= house where * io Green Island and tn thirty days joe, and sola itto his present partner, John Clark, a clear profit of $14,000, thas his money and now Mr. Huell says he i# looking after the ii of bia money lost in 1892 Should be realize Ke pectations and make $} per ton It will notbe a ba: speculation for tive weeks’ work, aud we shali a dub bim the “loe King of Troy,"” 1 \