NATURAL GAS. 
33 
(i) The gas pressures must be varied to suit the operating condi- 
tions of the line; that is, at the intake of the line the pressure must 
be large and at the discharge end of the line the pressure must be 
relatively low as shown on page 27. 
(j) There is no delivery until the gas has not only passed through 
the consumer’s meter, but is burned at the consumer’s fixtures. 
(k) In considering the gas that goes through the line there can be 
no u identity of property,” no “ segregation of ownership,” and no 
“ original package containers,” but all of the gas obtained from va- 
rious sources passes through the line thoroughly intermixed with 
absolutely no possibility for identification. 
(Z) The capacity of the transmission lines is rigidly fixed and 
will not stand any overload. This has a marked effect in taking care 
of peak loads, in contradistinction to railroads, which may run extra 
trains to carry extra traffic. 
(m) A natural gas line can handle only one commodity, whereas 
railroads can handle every known commodity. 
( n ) Railroads have vehicles of transportation. Natural gas lines 
have none. The pipe line is merely a continuous conduit between 
the field and the consumer’s fixtures. 
(o) A natural gas line can not have extensive interconnecting serv- 
ice with other lines, whereas every railroad can handle commodities 
from every other railroad. 
(p) The transmission of natural gas is naturally centralized rela- 
tively near the fields of production, the deliveries being made near 
the fields, and not throughout the whole United States, as are com- 
modities handled by railroads. 
(q) The domestic gas consumers will not contract for, or agree to 
use, a fixed amount of gas each day, but take gas as they need it, 
in all cases insisting and requiring that the service be made and 
maintained continuous. 
(r) The company can not create the commodity upon which it is 
performing its service as is possible with manufactured gas, elec- 
tricity, or any of the transportation agencies; neither is there the 
constant replacement by nature of the commodity it is serving, as is 
the case in waterworks plants. 
( s ) The system must be operated as one unit, without regard to 
state lines. 
4. Gas companies discharging their legal duty to their domestic 
consumers can not depend upon the initiative of the occasional pro- 
ducer for a supply of gas, but must depend upon their own initiative 
in order to maintain proper field operating conditions and an ade- 
quate reserve acreage for future development to insure a good serv- 
90682°— 18— Bull, 102 3 
