ACCOUNTS, MEMORANDA AND TABLES. 157 



furnish the cost of the gas at ordinary rates ; (2) meter 

 rent; (3) apparatus. Assume the year's consumption of 

 gas totals out 600,000, the cash is ^"150, and the ordinary 

 price is 45. per thousand cubic feet. We require ^120 for 

 the gas. The next item is meter rents. Suppose there are 

 sixty meters, and we wish to charge 55. each, we enter 

 under meter rents the sum of 15. The remainder, ^"15, 

 is entered under rent of apparatus. In addition to ordinary 

 and slot meters, there will be public lighting, and also 

 irregular sales, such as for special illuminations at times of 

 rejoicing, or a week's supply to a cheap jack or travelling 

 theatre. Meters that for any cause are taken out of the 

 usual routine may be conveniently entered under this head, 

 to avoid confusing the ordinary account. For example, a 

 house may be shut up and the owner gone abroad for a 

 few months, so that the index cannot be taken at the 

 quarter with the rest. Rather than create confusion by 

 keeping the whole quarter's account open, it is better to 

 mark the name as transferred to the first page of the next 

 quarter. Irregular accounts should be entered in the 

 current quarter, not in the last. A week's supply taken in 

 November belongs to the Christmas quarter, and not to the 

 Michaelmas. The totals of the ordinary, slot, special and 

 irregular consumption give the sales of gas for each 

 quarter, and these are carried to an annual summary, which 

 gives the totals (21 to 25) for the revenue account. 



The sales of products are furnished from the sales of 

 products book, Form VIII (p. 173), which, like the rental, 

 may be conveniently totalled up quarterly. Each sale of 

 coke or tar is entered in order, and the totals of the 

 annual summary give the items (27 to 29) in the revenue. 



Subsidiary books are also required, such as a meter index 

 book for recording the consumption by each consumer, 



