Reminiscences of Rotherham
by G. Gummer, J.P.
« « prevthe country. We were in a position to cope with the requirements of the people in our gas area, and also to obtain the best results in an approved way from the minerals used. The expenditure was heavy - over £50,000, but the results, year after year, justified the outlay. A reform I was very keen on in those days was the abolition of meter rents. There were hundreds of consumers paying 3s. per annum in rent whose consumption of gas did not exceed two thousand cubic feet, costing them 5s. After adding to this the rent of meter, their gas came out at 4s. per thousand, whilst the cost of gas and meter rent to large consumers, say of 25,000 cubic feet, worked out at only 2s. 8d. per thousand cubic feet. I was unable to convince my colleagues of the desirability of abolition, which fortunately became loss imperative a few years Inter. When the automatics, with a penny in the slot payment came into use, I succeeded in helping on their use amongst the artisans who were using paraffin, until we had over 12,000 users of this class of meter.
A STRIKE AT THE GAS WORKS
For years there had been friction with the men, and the management had done nothing to bring about a better feeling. Before I had been chairman many months a dispute arose which ended in the men leaving the works. This was settled to our mutual satisfaction by arbitration. A year or two later further trouble arose, and the men refusing to work, in order to keep the town supplied with gas, we were compelled to fall back on the office staff and imported labour. By these means we managed to keep up a supply. The introduction of outsiders caused trouble, and several assaults were committed, police protection becoming necessary. I had the assistance of the Mayor (Alderman Neill) and Councillor Copley during a very trying time. On one occasion, when a serious disturbance seemed imminent, the Mayor, confident he would be able to suppress the trouble, went to the works entrance, and, shaking his umbrella at the crowd, said: 'I warn ye, I warn ye, if I have any more of ye nonsense, I’ll put ye where I can find ye.'The threat had no effect; it required the presence of the police to disperse the crowd. During one of the nights when we had the greatest difficulty in keeping up a supply, two councillors (one a Labour representative and the other a publican, at whose house the strikers met) managed to get inside the works and were found persuading the men at work to throw up their jobs. They refused to leave when spoken to by the manager. On the matter being reported to me, I sent for a constable, who quickly had them outside the gates. We had no further interference of that kind, and were a few days later successful in arriving at a settlement. Happily there has been no serious trouble since.
RESULTS OF EXTENSIONS
As a result of the developments that had taken place, the committee were able to continue with unfailing regularity their contributions to the relief of the rates and to supply the gas for public lighting free. The persistent calls for monetary assistance from the Finance Committee frustrated my desire to reduce the price of gas. This had to yield to more pressing demands, and the promises made on several occasions remain unfulfilled. Although this is not the place to describe the progress of the undertaking under municipal control, my readers will forgive me, if after having acted as chairman for 23 years, I give a few figures showing its development during that period.
The net total profits in this period were £110,869, the highest being £8474 in 1906. The next »
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