The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

MoHENRY, ILLINOIS. THURSDAY. MARCH 28. 1918 PRICE OF GAS HAS HOT GONE UP Western United Company, in Statement to Public, Tells How It Has Met Emergencies--and How It Gives Good Service at Low Rates While Other Companies Are Seeking Consent to Charge More. To Our Patrons and the General Public: THE MANAGEMENT of-this company for nearly thirty years has held and now holds that the fundamental principle of public service is "real service," and that the public is entitled to a reasonably good service at a reasonable price. Our service during the past six months has not always been up to the high standard which we have constantly set as a guide for our own endeavors and yet we have all worked harder than ever. Notwithstanding the difficulties which we have encountered, our gas standard throughout this entire period hai been 5% higher than the requirements set for us by the Illinois Public Utilities Commission, and would have been up: to our own high mark, had we been able to secure an adequate supply of satisfactory coal. We cannot make good gas and^ood coke from any of the coals mined outside of certain parts of the states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky. In October and November, 1914, we made contracts for five years for an adequate supply of this coal. We realized early in 1915 that there was going to be a shortage, and consequently made additional contracts for almost double the amount of our requirements at a very large increase in price. / * Every contractor fell down in making his deliveries and in order to insure ourselves sufficient coal we bought a nine in West Virginia in April, 1917. The railroads were jnable to furnish us a sufficient number of cars, and we were compelled to go on to the open market and buy coal of every conceivable kind in order to keep our plants run­ ning. Even then, for ninety days during the past winter we never had more than ten days' supply of coal on hand,and frequently for a week at a time the supply would not last more than three days. We paid all kinds of bonuses and even an addition of several dollars per ton in order to have some coal which had been delivered in Milwaukee and was lying on the docks there, brought back to our plant in Joliet. We were compelled to use Illinois and Indiana coals of the most inferior quality, for which we paid the highest price. We also found it necessary to start our water gas plant at Aurora, and run it off and on for several months in order to make gas enough to supply our customers. It has cost the company a great many thousand dol­ lars in excess of what it would have cost to secure a suffi­ cient quantity of satisfactory coal,evdn at the price fixed by the government. And we have paid at least the govern­ ment price for all the coal; and far* a higher price. Owing to a most favorable contract the gas company, made with the Coal Products Manufacturing Company of Joliet, the cost of its gas has not increased, but every other item of expenditure entering into the conduct of the busi­ ness has increased from 20% to 200%. Notwithstanding all of thts, the company has made a little more money during the year just past than in the year preceding, owing t#j enormous increase in business. Nearly every other publi# service corporation has shown appalling decreases in net earnings. m Fourteen gas companies have been granted an in­ crease in rates by the Public Utilities Commission of Illi­ nois. All of them were previously selling gas at a much higher price than ours. Twenty-six other companies have asked for an increase in rates. All but three of these are now selling gas at much higher rates than ours. While we naturally take* the greatest pride in this record, we want to ask the people who live in the terri­ tory which we serve whether this record of ours warrants their equipping for the largest possible use of gas in theif: domestic and industrial operations. We have 1,718 miles of pipe in the ground and 60,000 customers. This past winter has been unusually severe. We have had a great deal of trouble due to the cold weather, but we believe we have delivered our products with less trouble and annoyance to the customer tlian almost any other line of business. We are even now making every effort to provide for an adequate supply of satisfactory coal for the coming year and will do everything that is humanly possible to guar­ anteed satisfactory standard of service. No fear of extra work and no hope for added profits can remove this de­ termination. i ~--±i jM 'i With the high prices of coal and wood, gas is now much the cheapest, safest and most satisfactory fuel you can use. This is the time to get the benefits of the convenience and economy of small gas heaters, and now is the time to prepare to install gas ranges, water heaters, laundry implements and all other devices which use gas and lighten the burden and expense of household workers. WESTERN UNITED GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY m