Gas Company was held on Tuesday (10th)
The annual meeting of the Shanghai afternoon at the office of Mr. E. Jenner Hogg, No. 10, Peking Road. There were resent, Messrs, E. Jenner Hogg (Chairman), Cooper, J. L. Scott and J. M. Young, Directors;-H. P. Wilkinson, Legal Adviser G. R. Wingrove, Secretary; H. King Hiller, engineer; and W.F. Potter, A.B, Trodd, J. Buchanan, A, W. Burkill, Chin Fo-kee, E. E. Clark, E. Davis, C. Thorne, J. Hanson, G. W. Noel, C. A. Pullan, H. R. Parkes, W. H. Poate, A. E. Knights, W. Bates, J, H. Maclaren, and E. P. Wickham, representing in all 1,288 shares. Mr. G. R. Wingrove was elected Secretary of the meeting, and read the notice convening The Chairman suid—Gentlemen, T have no doubt you are willing to take the Report and Accounts, which have been in your hands for some days, u3 read. It is with great plengure that I nin able to congratulate shareholders on the results of the working of the Company for the your 1899.
It may be remembered that the year 1898 showed little progress, but when addressing you x year ago I ventured to express the hope Unat better times were in store, and Tam glad to say that the expectation has been fully borne out, The year 1899 proved record yenr for us in every direction, The total consumption of gas she: of 7,852,710 cubic fei, of w 4,588 cubic feet is due to private and 75,176 cubic feet to public lighting. Turning to. the accounts the Receipts for_gas and residuals gold in 1899 amount to Tis, 214,492.15—an increase of Tle. 18,458—Expenditure amounts to Tls. 144,889.20—a decrease of Tls. 2,192.29, due chi ver price of coal. Foreign consumption, including public lamps, shows an in of Th. 7,658.01. Native consumption gives only a small increase of Tls. 5 Tt should have been more, but Chinese government interference has curtailed the business of many native printing establish It muy, however, be rous the reduction' in the pri of gas will lend
—anticiputed on the re of contracts—to larger native cousumptic reduced a substantial increase, coke bring ing in Tls. 7,050.24 and Tur Tls. 8161 more than in'1803, We have made Tls. 5YL.G4 less profit on fittings, but we supply these to customers as cheaply ay we cun, and in fet we returned our old prices fur as possible, although the cost of pipes and all metal work hut risen very Inegely, On the other side of the accounts you will find that coal, shale, and petroleum carbonised have cost Els. 4,068.33 less than in 1898, although we live evrbonised 486 tons. 17 wt. more material, Purifying materials, ete, have cost Is more. Sularies and wages in li ¢ ents show a total increase of Tis, d ger an increase of lis 2 to some additions: Tis, 633.51 for taxation since the works were included in the New Settlement area, Repairs and maintenance charges, appertaining to manufacture, are u trifle under last year, although Tls. $,176.23 were spent on the renewal of retorts, against Tls.5,481.35 in 1808. Repairs and maintenance appertaining to distribution show 1 decrease of Tls. 1,296.97.
i Profit. and Loss account, for all interest charges (Ts.
writing off bad debts (Tis. g the account with profit change (Tls. 3,475.70) ati small items, there is a net profit of Tls. 61,564.82, of which Tis, 10,335.28 hus been written off for depreciation of buildings and plant, and dividends for the year amounting to Tls. 36,000 have been paid. The net amount carried forward to 1900 is Tls. 53,794.35 against is. $8,564.81 in the preceding your.
Total expenditure on Capital Account is Tls. 15,764.37. You will find it comprises a small payment for balance of cost of land and for manufacturing and distributing plant, Tis, 14,922.36, in which amount is included Tis, 9,198.93 for new mains and Tls. 1,706.92 for meters, I think I have dealt with all details as to accounts of the past year, Our business this year is progressing most favourably, consumption, so far, having materially increased, and I may mention secured on atistactory terms. At Chinese that our coal supply for the year has been New Year (always our biggest day's de-ivory) we delivered 721,400 cubic feet, which exceeds any previous record by some 90,000 feet. With regard to the balance of Tls. 53,794.35, that we have to deal with, we propose to carry forward Tls. 3,794.35, and to place Tls. 50,000 to credit of a" Renewal and Depreciation Account." We consider it imperative to keep such ® sum available, at any rate for the present, to meet possible eventual d you will not fail to appreciate the stability it for our future dividends. While doing this, we also propose the present Reserved Fund shall be capitalised. But with this point I will deal more particularly at the extraordinary meeting to be held mediately. Following out the policy of Company in its times of prosperity the public sre made participators, through the reduction in the price of gas to consumers to $1.80 per 1,000 cubic feet from the commencement of this year. T may again to the public of over 20,000 in the course of the year. Many of you will have observed that we have made an important stride in public lighting on the Bubbling Well and Roads. The new incandescent lights tht have been placed there are very satisfactory and quite bear out the experience of imextension in public lighting in preference to system the electric are light. Several London parishes are also adopting the same method and some places in the United States might also be instanced. We "are anxious to extend the use of this illuminant here. Some roads still lighted with the old-fashioned gas burners are calculated to bring our gas fi ig into disrepu We have therefore applied to the Municipal Council for permission to replace them with the incandescent system, our proposition being to supply lights giving 26,700 per hour in place of the presen power per hour—or, say, crease of 21,700 candle power for a small increased cost of only Tis, 2,800 per year. I regret our propos! has not yet been accepted, and the publ will therefore have ito be content at present with indifferent ighting in certain quarters. I hope, how-that this will not be for long. It is derstand what is meant by sufficient ime not having yet elapsed for the formation of a final opinion as to the financial and other results of the recently erected system of incandescent lamps. here is, I hope, no finality in the economic and other improvements in gas light ing, and if finality in such matters is always to be waited for, no practical application of inventions as they are produced would ever be adopted. Horvever, assuming that there might possibly be " plausible pretext for waiting further experience as to the light itself, I do not know what need there can be for more time to consider the financial results of our proposal, seeing that we offer to supply the light ata certain definite cost, and Tmuy mention, in regard to any contracts betiveen this Company and the Municipal Council, that the public always receives at once, such benefit as may be derivable from any reducti the price of gas that is made during the currency of an agreement. While making this ssu; ion to the Coun-we thought it not inopportune to offer a proposal for improving the whole lighting of the Settlements by the adoption of the incandescent gas system. This we did on the basis of a saving to the ratepayers of about Tls. 15,000 per year for 5 yenrs, or sny about Tls.75,000 altogether during that period, but unfortunately—for all parties, as I firmly believe—our proposal has not been entertained, Probably the thing most to be regretted, however, is the curt refusal to allow us to show—entirely at our own expense—wwhat excellent lighting it is that we are offering tothe public. It is a great deal better than the new lighting on the Bubbling Well and Sinza Roads, of which I have spoken. -The lamps there are 40 candle power and 70 yards apart, whereas our proposal is for 60 candle power and 50 yards apart, which, of course, makes a great difference, The specimen lamp in Hankow Road (near the Municipal Engineer's office) which the Council mention xs sufficient for comparison in estimating the quality of this form of illuminant is (like the Ininps at present on the ronds [have mentioned) only 40 candle power, so that it does not at all show what we have proposed to do. The fall details concerning our proposals will be found in our letter to the Council dated the 21st Marelt lust, and in their reply of Marck: 30th, both recorded in the Manicipal minutes of Murch 29th an published la the newspapers of Gth instant. 1 would beg your careful perusal of these letters Tam sure you will find them important, have drawn your attention to the ime proved public lighting that we have already introduced, and we stull not lag behind the times in our endeavours to keep up to date, We have exhibited duri st lew days, alongside our tow king Road, light of great brilliant you have not seen it, please take an opportunity of lonking at it, It is produced ut x great i cost, by whut is criled the pressure system, at high pressure into the burner, intense flame temperature, aid the intensity of the incandescence degree that ench burner gives "light candles for " consumption of 10 cubic teet Of gas per hour, of a light of 35 candles per cubic foot per hour, a 3 candles per foot per hour in common flat fla burner, snd against 16 andies in an ord nary Welsbact in wet burner, oF say, giving more thaw double tie amount of the light of this Welshach burner for the same consumption of yas. It lits already been adopted by the London aul North-western Railway at Euston Station, and by the Great: Central Railway at Marylebone Station, There is one other paint fr me to dear with, and that is the registration of the Company under the Hon: Ordinances x Limited Lixbility Uunpany. Your Directors bel te: sible that this should be ial step can be al expression of opinion in -favour thereof, we will toto do is necessary to out your wisha Before concluding [ought to bear testi-many to the excellent work of our staff, to whom the company must always be indebted for their success, Youe Directors think that on the occasion of such a success: ful year, a substantial recognition in the form of & bonus should be accorded, and they do not doubt that you will cordially endorse this view, leaving the exact amount to be settled by the B propose That the rey statement of accepted and passed.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.