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147
For the information of members who were not directly
concerned in the enquiry, it may be stated broadly that the
lighting of the public lamps of the parish is carried out under
contract with the South Metropolitan Gas Company, the
Yestry paying £3 9s. Od. per lamp per annum, on condition
that it burns 5 feet of gas per hour, is alight for 11½ hours
per diem, and, of course, is kept in proper repair. The result
of the testing of certain selected lamps amounted to this,
that, according to the gas tester employed, the average consumption
of gas was only 4.71 feet instead of 5 feet per hour.
Moreover, it was stated by the tester, that the burners
(Borrodaile's) would not, even at the highest pressure, permit
of 5 feet per hour passing through them.
The Committee also, accompanied by the Surveyor, on
June 23rd, 1885, visited the parishes of Kensington, St.
Pancras, and Shoreditch, and in addition to the foregoing
particulars, ascertained the staff and expense necessary for
the efficient working of the meter system.
In view of the facts submitted to them, they arrived at
the general conclusion that the meter system, as applied in
the various parishes where it has been adopted, has resulted
in a more efficient, regular, and economical management
and control of the public lighting. They then proceeded
to compare the cost of public lighting in Camberwell
with that of St. Pancras, taking one lamp in each parish, and
reducing the hours of burning per diem and the average
consumption per hour per burner in the former to exactly
correspond with the same in the latter parish. By a
statement of the Surveyor it was shown that, in St. Pancras
the average consumption of gas per hour is 4.60 feet;
whilst in Camberwell it is (as stated by the Gas Company)
5.0 feet per hour. In St. Pancras the daily average of