HERE are now fourteen Commit

Ttees on Public Utility Information

reaching the editors and utility men in twenty states of the Union. Iowa is the latest to join this popular movement, Joe Carmichael, of Des Moines, having been appointed director in charge of the work. A fifteenth committee is about to be organized in Texas. C. W. Davis of the Dallas Power and Light Company is starting the ball a-rolling in his state.

Our recent newspaper story giving statistics of the manufactured gas industry for the year 1920 has been widely used all over the country. Commenting on the amount of gas produced, one newspaper says editorially: "This is an achievement, comparing it with a generation ago when mother had to wash the smoked chimneys of the kerosene oil lamps and trim their wicks daily." Another newspaper says it is hard to believe that gas records were broken last year when there wasn't any presidential campaign.

Our motion-picture film entitled "The Spirit of Service" is still going strong. Prints are now being used in Saginaw, Bay City and Flint, Michigan; East Braintree, Mass.; Fond du Lac, Wisconsin; Vancouver, B. C.; Salina, Kansas; Warsaw, Indiana; Goldsboro, N. C.; and Providence, R. I.

J. B. Wootan, director of publicity for Hodenpyl, Hardy and Company, has left New York to take up permanent residence in Chivago where he is now editing "Public Utility Investments," a monthly periodical devoted exclusively to the pop

ular marketings of the securities of public utility companies. It was Mr. Wootan who got the motion-picture league men of Michigan to admit our film into that state.

Our little good-will building booklet entitled "Truths About the Meter," has hit a new record of 264,350 copies printed and 235,750 copies delivered to member companies. The Rochester Gas and Electric Corporation has just ordered a second lot of 10,000.

A study of the 1920 statistics of gas company members from the standpoint of advertising, shows that 117 companies spent $1,122,000 for new business development and $348,000 for advertising. We are going to look further into this matter for the purpose of suggesting to companies what should constitute a reasonable annual appropriation for advertising.

In the near future we hope to have two new motion-picture films in the field. One is going to deal with service, and the other will depict in popular technical form the engineering side of the business. Actual work on the two films has started.

Chairman Higgins, of this section, and Floyd W. Parsons, of the Gas Age-Record, recently gave talks on advertising before the Gas Sales Association of New England. We thought this would be a good opportunity to let the New England newspapers know how we feel on the subject of advertising and we prepared newspaper abstracts of their addresses and sent them on to J. B. Groce of the

New England Committee who, in turn, distributed them to his newspaper friends. Not only did the newspapers use our articles but several of them printed editorials a column or more long. This is the kind of publicity that is putting the industry on the map.

Incidentally, we have checked up on results of our convention publicity and find that newspapers in every State in the Union except Alabama made generous use of our material. Even the newspapers of Canada and Alaska came across in fine style.

"Talking it Over With the Gas Man," is the title of a series of advertisements W. J. Baldwin, publicity manager for the New Orleans Railway and Light Company is running in the local papers. The advertisements tell the public how they can help improve the gas service and several are illustrated.

On our Managing Committee, we have a veteran newspaper man, James M. Bennett, of the U. G. I. company in Philadelphia. Following our last meeting, Mr. Bennett returned to Philadelphia and ran into one of his old friends on the Public Ledger. He told him about some of the things we are trying to do in the public relations line and the result was that next day the Ledger carried a nice little account of the meeting.

We are working up material for a series of booklets on courtesy, etc., for distribution to gas company employees. We are trying to get away from the usual dictatorial, "preachy" style of such booklets and talk with employees instead of at them. We will have something definite to report on this pretty soon.

The illustrated lecture on gas is just as popular as ever. Those who have used it recently are: C. E. Paige, Worcester, Mass., H. F. Hodge, New Britian, Conn., Charles A. Learned, Meriden, Conn., and E. L. Milliken, Woonsocket, R. I.

F. J. Kennedy of the West Gas Improvement Company is on the way to New Zealand and is taking along with him a print of our motion-picture film which he purchased outright from us.

On all gas bills of the Northern Indiana Gas and Electric Company there is this notice printed in bright, red ink so that it will be seen and heeded: "Service: You are entitled to good service and we want you to have it. If your gas flame is not blue but yellow and smoky, gas is being wasted and burners should be adjusted to admit more air. We are glad to do this without charge." Fine work, Mr. Mulholland!

Do newspaper editors want news about the gas industry? We'll say so. Only yesterday we received three full-column convention stories published by dailies. in the middle West. Just think of it! The A. G. A. convention was held in Chicago last November. To us it is now ancient history. Yet the newspapers are still publishing accounts of what took place at that time.

In the early future we hope to have in the hands of our members a pamphlet describing ways and means of selling securities locally. Using the experiences of others, we want to work up a model plan that can be followed more or less closely by those who desire to dispose of their junior securities to their custom

ers.