gas bill with the meter reading and thus determine whether the charges
are correct. If only the usual amount of gas has been consumed and the
bill does not seem to be correct or is much larger than it has been
previously, the matter should be reported to the proper authorities, for
the meter may be out of order and in need of repair.

[Illustration: Fig. 1 Gas Meter Dials]

56. READING A GAS METER.--To register the quantity of gas that is
consumed, a gas meter, as is shown in Fig. 1, is provided with three
large dials, each of which has ten spaces over which the hand, or
indicator, passes to indicate the amount of gas consumed, and with one
small dial, around which the hand makes one revolution every time 2
cubic feet of gas is consumed. This small dial serves to tell whether
gas is leaking when the stoves and lights are not turned on. Above each
large dial is an arrow that points out the direction in which to read,
the two outside ones reading toward the right and the center one toward
the left; also, above each dial is lettered the quantity of gas that
each dial registers, that at the right registering 1,000 cubic feet,
that in the center 10,000 cubic feet, and that at the left 100,000 cubic
feet. To read the dials, begin at the left, or the 100,000 dial, and
read toward the right. In each instance, read the number over which the
hand has passed last. For instance, when, as in Fig. 1, the hand lies
between 5 and 6 on the left dial, 5 is read; on the center dial, when
the hand lies between 5 and 6, 5 is read also; and on the right dial,
when the hand lies between 2 and 3, the 2, which is really 200, is read.

57. To compute the quantity of gas used, the dials are read from left to
right and the three readings are added. Then, in order to determine the
quantity burned since the previous reading, the amount registered at