AN EXAMPLE 173 



been mentioned in Chapter XIV. For the present purpose, in 

 most cases, the study may be limited to ascertaining what is 

 or what can be reasonably charged for fire service and deduct- 

 ing this from the gross revenue that must be obtained. 



The question of revenue from private fire service is a mooted 

 and difficult question. It is claimed on one hand that private 

 fire service is only an extension of public fire service, and that 

 when public fire service is paid for by taxation such additional 

 facilities as are furnished in the works of large manufacturing 

 establishments are really covered by the taxes on those plants 

 and that no further charges should be made. 



On the other hand, it is claimed that private fire protection 

 in yards of manufacturing establishments puts the water works 

 to large additional outlays in providing capacity to furnish 

 large quantities of water that may be needed in a bad fire, and 

 also to furnish the quantities of water that are sometimes lost 

 by leakage or otherwise from such pipe systems, and that very 

 substantial annual payments should be required for furnishing 

 such facilities. 



This matter will not be discussed further at this time. If 

 such collections are made or can be made under the proposed 

 schedule, all such amounts should be deducted from the gross 

 revenue otherwise needed. The remainder is the amount that 

 must be raised by the proposed rates. 



The problem then remains of distributing the gross revenue, 

 less the amounts received from fire protection, among all the 

 takers. This procedure will be taken up by the use of an ex- 

 ample of an actual system. 



Example. The plant selected for this study is a small one, 

 with 5191 services, nearly all of them metered. Waste has been 

 persistently hunted for years, and the per capita consumption 

 is unusually low. 



The meter rates are in the jump scale form with a minimum. 

 It is somet'mes possible to get a lower bill by drawing more 

 water. The rates for the largest consumers are too low, and for 

 certain intermediate ones too high. The schedule, however, is 

 fixed by contract; has successfully withstood legal attacks; 



