THE MANAGER IN THE DISTRICT. 



93 



gas supply. When he lit the geyser at any time in the 

 evening, he could not get a decent light in his sitting-room, 

 and his deduction was, of course, that the works pressure or 

 else the size of the mains was utterly inadequate. Going 

 fully into details, I explained that he was trying to get 200 

 cubic feet per hour through a service and meter only large 

 enough to supply 100 cubic feet, which was the same 

 thing as trying to pour a quart of liquid out of a pint pot. 

 After a time, he fully saw the point, and then surmised 

 that if he had the pipes enlarged to supply the 200 cubic 

 feet, the quarterly bill would increase. I made it 

 clear that whether he used 100 cubic feet or 200 cubic 

 feet, he would have to pay for it. After a pause, he said 

 that there was not much the matter, and things had better 

 stay as they were. Some people who talk loudly about bad 

 gas and bad supply are already getting as much as they are 

 willing to pay for. 



The manager will also find it desirable and necessary 

 to control his temper. Occasionally, a customer has a 

 grievance against the company, the most common being 

 the result of an intimation that the limit of credit has been 

 reached and a request for prompt payment of arrears. In 

 one case a gas manager happened to attend a club dinner 

 held at an inn, and the landlord had only a few days before 

 received a " final application." The room was lighted 

 with gas, and the main tap at the meter turned back half 

 way, so that the supply was not good, and immediately 

 before dinner the landlord bustled in with a large oil lamp, 

 which he placed before our friend, remarking loudly that it 

 would enable him to see. But before the toast list was 

 completed, the lamp went out, for want of oil, and the 

 tables were turned by the victim, who quietly suggested 

 that the main tap might now be put on full. This is an 



