Supply of Gas. the Control of the Streets within the Limits of the special Act, for lighting the same or any of them with Gas, and for providing such Commissioners, Trustees, or Persons with Lamps, Lamp Posts, Burners, and Pipes for such Purpose, and for the Repairs thereof, in such Manner and upon such Terms as shall be agreed upon between the Undertakers and the said Commissioners, Trustees, or other Persons.

Power to Un

Meters.

XIV. The Undertakers may let for Hire any Meter for dertakers to let ascertaining the Quantity of Gas consumed or supplied, and any Fittings for the Gas, for such Remuneration in Money as shall be agreed upon between the Undertakers and any Person to whom the same may be so let, and such Remuneration shall be recoverable in the same Manner as the Rents or Sums due to the Undertakers for Gas, and such Meters and Fittings shall not be subject to Distress or to the Landlord's Hypothec for traint for Rent, Rent of the Premises where the same may be used, nor to be taken in Execution under any Process of a Court of Law or Equity, or any Fiat or Sequestration in Bankruptcy against the Person in whose Possession the same may be.

Meters not

liable to Dis

&c.

XV. The Clerk, Engineer, or other Officer duly appointed for the Purpose by the Undertakers, may at all reasonable Times enter any Building or Place lighted with Gas supplied by the Undertakers, in order to inspect the Meters, Fittings, and Works for regulating the Supply of Gas, and for the Purpose of ascertaining the Quantity of Gas consumed or supplied; and if any Person hinder such Officer as aforesaid from entering and making such Inspection as aforesaid at any reasonable Time, he shall for every such Offence forfeit to the Undertakers a Sum not exceeding Five Pounds.

XVI. If any Person supplied with Gas by virtue of this or the special Act neglect to pay the Rent due for the same to the Undertakers, the Undertakers may stop the Gas from entering the Premises of such Person, by cutting off the Service Pipe, or by such Means as the Undertakers shall think fit, and recover the Rent due from such Person, if less than Twenty Pounds, together with the Expence of cutting off the Gas, and the Costs of recovering the Rent, in the same Manner as any Damages for the Recovery of which no special Provision is made are recoverable under this or the special Act, or if the Rent so due amount to Twenty Pounds or upwards, the Undertakers may recover the same, together with the Expences of cutting off the Gas, by Action in any Court of competent Jurisdiction.

XVII. In all Cases in which the Undertakers are authorized to cut off and take away the Supply of Gas from any House or Building or Premises, under the Provisions of this or the special Act, the Undertakers, their Agents or Workmen, after giving Twenty-four Hours previous Notice to the Occupier, may enter into any such House, Building, or Premises, between the Hours of Nine in the Forenoon and Four in the Afternoon, and remove and carry away any Pipe, Meter, Fittings, or other Works the Property of the Undertakers.

And

And with respect to Waste or Misuse of the Gas, or Injury Undue Use of to the Pipes and other Works, be it enacted as follows:

Gas.

of the Under

XVIII. Every Person who shall lay or cause to be laid any Penalty for Pipe to communicate with any Pipe belonging to the Under- fraudulently takers without their Consent, or shall fraudulently injure any using the Gas such Meter as aforesaid, or who, in case the Gas supplied by takers. the Undertakers is not ascertained by Meter, shall use any Burner other than such as has been provided or approved of by the Undertakers, or of larger Dimensions than he has contracted to pay for, or shall keep the Lights burning for a longer Time than he has contracted to pay for, or who shall otherwise improperly use or burn such Gas, or shall supply any other Person with any Part of the Gas supplied to him by the Undertakers, shall forfeit to the Undertakers the Sum of Five Pounds for every such Offence, and also the Sum of Forty Shillings for every Day such Pipe shall so remain, or such Works or Burner shall be so used, or such Excess be so committed or continued, or such Supply furnished; and the Undertakers may take off the Gas from the House and Premises of the Person so offending, notwithstanding any Contract which may have been previously

entered into.

XIX. Every Person who shall wilfully remove, destroy, or damage any Pipe, Pillar, Post, Plug, Lamp, or other Work of the Undertakers for supplying Gas, or who shall wilfully extinguish any of the public Lamps or Lights, or waste or improperly use any of the Gas supplied by the Undertakers, shall for each such Offence forfeit to the Undertakers any Sum not exceeding Five Pounds, in addition to the Amount of the Damage done. XX. Every Person who shall carelessly or accidentally break, throw down, or damage any Pipe, Pillar, or Lamp belonging to the Undertakers, or under their Control, shall pay such Sum of Money by way of Satisfaction to the Undertakers for the Damage done, not exceeding Five Pounds, as any Two Justices or the Sheriff shall think reasonable.

Gas.

And with respect to the Provision for guarding against foul- Nuisance from ing Water, or other Nuisance from the Gas, be it enacted as follows:

dertakers for causing Water

XXI. If the Undertakers shall at any Time cause or suffer Penalty on Unto be brought or to flow into any Stream, Reservoir, or Aqueduct, Pond or Place for Water, or into any Drain commu- to be corrupted. nicating therewith, any Washing or other Substance produced in making or supplying Gas, or shall wilfully do any Act connected with the making or supplying of Gas whereby the Water in any such Stream, Reservoir, Aqueduct, Pond or Place for Water shall be fouled, the Undertakers shall forfeit for every such Offence the Sum of Two hundred Pounds.

XXII. The said Penalty of Two hundred Pounds shall be recovered, with full Costs of Suit, in any of the Superior Courts, by the Person into whose Water such Washing or other Substance shall be conveyed or shall flow, or whose Water shall be fouled by any such Act as aforesaid; but such Penalty shall not

Penalty to be
Superior Court
within Six
Months.

sued for in

Nuisance

from Gas.

Daily Penalty during the Con

tinuance of the Offence.

Daily Penalty during Escape

of Gas after Notice.

Penalty if

nated by Gas.

be recoverable unless it be sued for during the Continuance of the Offence, or within Six Months after it shall have ceased.

XXIII. In addition to the said Penalty of Two hundred Pounds (and whether such Penalty shall have been recovered or not) the Undertakers shall forfeit the Sum of Twenty Pounds (to be recovered in the like Manner) for each Day during which such Washing or other Substance shall be brought or shall flow as aforesaid, or the Act by which such Water shall be fouled shall continue after the Expiration of Twenty-four Hours from the Time when Notice of the Offence shall have been served on the Undertakers by the Person into whose Water such Washing or other Substance shall be brought or shall flow, or whose Water shall be fouled thereby, and such Penalty shall be paid to such last-mentioned Person.

XXIV. Whenever any Gas shall escape from any Pipe laid down or set up by or belonging to the Undertakers, they shall, immediately after receiving Notice thereof in Writing prevent such Gas from escaping; and in case the Undertakers shall not within Twenty-four Hours next after Service of such Notice effectually prevent the Gas from escaping, and wholly remove the Cause of Complaint, they shall for every such Offence forfeit the Sum of Five Pounds for each Day during which the Gas shall be suffered to escape after the Expiration of Twenty-four Hours from the Service of such Notice.

XXV. Whenever any Water within the Limits of the special Water contami- Act shall be fouled by the Gas of the Undertakers, they shall forfeit to the Person whose Water shall be so fouled for every such Offence a Sum not exceeding Twenty Pounds, and a further Sum not exceeding Ten Pounds for each Day during which the Offence shall continue after the Expiration of Twenty-four Hours from the Service of Notice of such Offence.

Power to exa

to ascertain

Cause of Contamination, if

of the same.

XXVI. For the Purpose of ascertaining whether such Water mine Gas Pipes, be fouled by the Gas of the Undertakers, the Person to whom the Water supposed to be fouled shall belong may dig up the Ground, and examine the Pipes, Conduits, and Works of the Notice be given Undertakers; provided that such Person, before proceeding so to dig and examine, shall give Twenty-four Hours Notice in Writing to the Undertakers of the Time at which such digging and Examination is intended to take place, and shall give the like Notice to the Persons having the Control or Management of the Road, Pavement, or Place where such digging is to take place; and they shall be subject to the like Obligation of reinstating the said Road and Pavement, and the same Penalties for Delay or any Nonfeasance or Misfeasance therein, as are hereinbefore provided with respect to Roads and Pavements broken up by the Undertakers for the Purpose of laying their Pipes.

Examination.

Expences to XXVII. If, upon any such Examination, it appear that abide Result of such Water has been fouled by any Gas belonging to the Undertakers, the Expences of the digging, Examination, and Repair of the Street or Place disturbed in any such Examination shall be paid by the Undertakers; but if upon such Examination it appear that the Water has not been fouled by the Gas

of

of the Undertakers, the Person causing such Examination to be made shall pay all such Expences, and shall also make good to the Undertakers any Injury which may be occasioned to their Works by such Examination.

ed.

Nuisance

from Gas.

XXVIII. The Amount of the Expences of every such How Expences Examination and Repair, and of any Injury done to the Under- to be ascertaintakers, shall, in case of any Dispute about the same, together with the Costs of ascertaining and recovering the same, be ascertained and recovered in the same Manner as Damages for the ascertaining and Recovery whereof no special Provision is made are to be ascertained and recovered.

XXIX. Nothing in this or the special Act contained shall prevent the Undertakers from being liable to an Indictment for Nuisance, or to any other legal Proceeding to which they may be liable, in consequence of making or supplying Gas.

And with respect to the Amount of Profit to be received by the Undertakers when the Gasworks are carried on for their Benefit, be it enacted as follows:

Nothing to exempt Underbeing indicted

takers from

for a Nuisance.

ed.

Profits of the
Company.

XXX. The Profits of the Undertaking to be divided amongst Profits of the the Undertakers in any Year shall not exceed the prescribed Company limitRate, or where no Rate is prescribed they shall not exceed the Rate of Ten Pounds in the Hundred by the Year on the paidup Capital in the Undertaking, which in such Case shall be deemed the prescribed Rate, unless a larger Dividend be at any Time necessary to make up the Deficiency of any previous Dividend which shall have fallen short of the said yearly Rate.

Excess to be

XXXI. If the clear Profits of the Undertaking in any Year If Profits amount to a larger Sum than is sufficient, after making up the exceed the Deficiency in the Dividends of any previous Year as aforesaid, Amount limited to make a Dividend at the prescribed Rate, the Excess beyond invested, and the Sum necessary for such Purpose shall from Time to Time form a reserved be invested in Government or other Securities; and the Divi- Fund. dends and Interest arising from such Securities shall also be invested in the same or like Securities, in order that the same may accumulate at Compound Interest until the Fund so formed amounts to the prescribed Sum, or if no Sum be prescribed a Sum equal to One Tenth of the nominal Capital of the Undertakers, which Sum shall form a reserved Fund to answer any Deficiency which may at any Time happen in the Amount of divisible Profits, or to meet any extraordinary Claim or Demand which may at any Time arise against the Undertakers; and if such Fund be at any Time reduced, it may thereafter be again restored to the said Sum, and so from Time to Time as often as such Reduction shall happen.

to meet an ex

XXXII. Provided always, That no Sum of Money shall be Reserved Fund taken from the said Fund for the Purpose of meeting any extra- not to be reordinary Claim, unless it be first certified in England or Ireland sorted to unless by Two Justices, and in Scotland by the Sheriff, that the Sum traordinary so proposed to be taken is required for the Purpose of meeting Claim. an extraordinary Claim within the Meaning of this or the special Act.

When Fund

amounts to

prescribed Sun,

Interest to be applied to

Undertaking.

If Profits are less than the

prescribed Rate,
the reserved

Fund to supply
Deficiency.

If Profits are

more than the

Amount prescribed, a rate

able Reduction

to be made in the Price of Gas.

Court may

tition.

XXXIII. When such Fund shall, by Accumulation or otherwise, amount to the prescribed Sum, or One Tenth of the nominal Capital of the Company, as the Case may be, the Interest and Dividends thereon shall no longer be invested, but shall be applied to any of the general Purposes of the Undertaking to which the Profits thereof are applicable.

XXXIV. If in any Year the Profits of the Undertaking divisible amongst the Undertakers shall not amount to the prescribed Rate, such a Sum may be taken from the reserved Fund as, with the actual divisible Profits of such Year, will enable the Undertakers to make a Dividend of the Amount aforesaid, and so from Time to Time as often as the Occasion shall require.

XXXV. In England or Ireland the Court of Quarter Sessions, and in Scotland the Sheriff, may, on the Petition of any Two Gas Rate-payers within the Limits of the special Act, nominate and appoint some Accountant or other competent Person, not being a Proprietor of any Gasworks, to examine and ascertain, at the Expence of the Undertakers (the Amount of such Expence to be determined by the said Court or Sheriff), the actual State and Condition of the Concerns of the Undertakers, and to make Report thereof to the said Court at the then present or some following Sessions or to the Sheriff; and the said Court or Sheriff may examine any Witnesses upon Oath touching the Truth of the said Accounts and the Matters therein referred to; and if it thereupon appear to the said Court or Sheriff that the Profits of the Undertakers for the preceding Year have exceeded the prescribed Rate, the Undertakers shall, in case the whole of the said reserved Fund has been and then remains invested as aforesaid, and in case Dividends to the Amount herein-before limited have been paid, make such a rateable Reduction in the Rate for Gas to be furnished by them as in the Judgment of the said Court or Sheriff shall be proper, but so as such Rates, when reduced, shall ensure to the Undertakers (regard being had to the Amount of Profit before received) a Profit as near as may be to the prescribed Rate.

any

XXXVI. Provided always, That if, in the Case of Petiorder Petitioner tion so presented, it appear to the said Court or Sheriff that to pay Costs of groundless Pe- there was no sufficient Ground for presenting the same, the said Court or Sheriff may, if they or he think fit, order the Petitioner to pay the whole or any Part of the Costs of or incident to such Petition (the Amount thereof to be determined by the said Court or Sheriff), and the Costs so ordered to be paid shall be recoverable in the same Way as Damages are recoverable under this or the special Act.

Penalty on
Undertakers

for refusing to
produce Books,

Vouchers, &c.

XXXVII. If the Undertakers shall, for Seven Days after being required to produce to the said Court or Sheriff, or to the said Accountant or other Person as aforesaid, any Books of Account or other Books, Bills, Receipts, Vouchers, or Papers relating to the pecuniary Affairs of the Undertakers, refuse or neglect to produce such Books, Bills, Receipts, Vouchers, or Papers, they shall forfeit the Sum of One hundred Pounds for