126 CONSTRUCTION AND MANAGEMENT OF SMALL GASWORKS. 



who used to make a great show of reading the meter and 

 figuring out the consumption every week and incidentally 

 found out that he did not understand anything about it. 

 But he considered the performance effective in checking 

 waste ! In a similar manner, the providing of meters and 

 taking the index each quarter will have a marked effect in 

 checking waste on the works, and it does away with the 

 necessity for an estimate. I have known 3, 4 or 5 per 

 cent, of the total make written off for use at works, but, 

 under ordinary working, i J or 2 per cent, is quite sufficient. 



All gas supplied gratis should be metered as far as 

 practicable, and the burners at the gasworks kept in good 

 repair and in such an efficient state as will serve for a 

 pattern to the consumers. Frequently they are more in 

 the way of an example of waste and negligence, the burners 

 being old and so badly corroded that they use three or 

 four times more gas than is necessary. 



The last and most important item is the consumer's 

 meter, which I consider is responsible for the larger half of 

 the so-called leakage. Some people seem to suppose that 

 a meter is like a grandfather's clock, and will act accurately 

 for a century or so. It is true that excellent examples of 

 patriarchal age can be cited, but it is not reasonable to 

 suppose that a meter under regular, steady usage will keep 

 within the limits of the Sale of Gas Act for more than 

 twenty-five years, and if the usage is erratic or irregular, 

 the accurate working life is very much shorter. If any- 

 thing like accurate registration is to obtain, a regular pro- 

 portion, say 5 per cent, of the meters, must be replaced 

 each year. 



The management must keep a sharp look out for slow 

 meters, because the consumers, as a rule, do not report 

 them. The general impression seems to be that a man is 



