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Water Board as to the depth and position of mains, the Council
did not further oppose the Bill, which received the Royal Assent
on the 28th August, 1907.
72. This Bill proposed to give the Company powers with
respect to the purchase and use of lands at
Mitcham, the consolidation and conversion of
stock, and the raising of additional capital. The
Bill proposed to repeal the section of the Company's Act of 1867,
limiting the price of gas to 5s. 6d. per 1,000 cubic feet, and to
fix the standard price at 3s. 9d., subject to the usual sliding
scale (to which the Company were not subject). The Bill also
contained provisions relating to the illuminating power, the
apparatus to be used for testing, and as to penalties for defect in
illuminating power, etc. The Company also sought powers to
lay pipes in streets not dedicated to public use, to sell, let for
hire, or otherwise deal in, but not manufacture, engines, stoves,
ranges, etc., to supply in bulk beyond the limits of supply, and to
lay mains, pipes and culverts for procuring, conducting, or disposing
of oil or other materials used or resulting from the manufacture
of gas or any residual products.
73. The Council petitioned against the Bill upon the following
matters, viz. :—
(a) The financial provisions of the Bill.
(ft) That Clause 15 be amended so as to provide that notice as to the
sale of stock shall be given to this Council as well as the Councils of other
districts in the Company's area of supply.
(c) That the proposed standard price of 3s gd. per thousand cubic feet
is too high (the present price charged by the Company being 3s. 6d.) and
that the proposed reduction of the illuminating power from 15 to 14 candles
should carry a reduction in the price of gas.
(d) That Clause 30 be opposed with the view of substituting a flat
flame burner for the argand burner for testing illuminating power ; that
the proposed table photometer be excluded on account of its unreliability,
and that local authorities have power to appeal to the Board of Trade to
prescribe any other photometer or standard light as well as the Company.
(e) That the provisions that the Company shall not be liable to any
penalty in respect of any defect in illuminating power unless the average
of three consecutive tests made at intervals of not less than one hour be
less than the prescribed illuminating power be objected to, and that a
penalty be incurred in respect of one test as at present.
Mitcham &
Wimbledon
District Gas.