A suitable and impartial person, competent as a chemist, who is not a stockholder or employee in any gas works, shall be appointed by the Public Service Commission to be designated and known as Inspector of Gas and Meters, whose duties shall be to test and determine the illuminating power and purity of the gas furnished by any company, person, or persons in the District of Columbia; and to test, prove, and seal all meters that may be hereafter used by them. The Inspector shall give bond to the extent of double his annual salary, and shall take an oath or affirmation, before some officer legally qualified to administer the same, that he will faithfully, diligently, and impartially discharge the duties of his office.

A laboratory shall be provided and fitted up by the Washington Gas Light Company, subject to the approval of the Public Service Commission, in the central part of the City of Washington, at a distance as near as may be, of 2,000 feet from any gasworks, and furnished with suitable apparatus for the transaction of the business of the Inspector and Assistant Inspectors of Gas and Meters, for which it is intended, and the laboratory shall be kept open on all business days between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.; provided, that the cost of fitting up said laboratory shall be paid for by each gas company in the District of Columbia in proportion to their sale of gas for the year 1873.

Two additional laboratories shall be provided and fitted up by the Washington Gas Light Company, subject to the approval of the Mayor of the District of Columbia, and shall be furnished with suitable apparatus, to the satisfaction of the said Mayor, at a total cost not to exceed $1,000, for inspecting and testing the illuminating gas manufactured and distributed by the said Washington Gas Light Company and the gas meters used for measuring the gas supplied to consumers by the said Washington Gas Light Company. One of the said laboratories shall be located in the northwestern portion of the City of Washington and the other in the southeastern portion of said city, and the cost of providing and fitting up the said laboratories shall be paid for by the said Washington Gas Light Company. A laboratory shall be provided and fitted up by the Georgetown Gas Light Company, subject to the approval of the Mayor of the District of Columbia, and shall be furnished with suitable apparatus, to the satisfaction of the said Mayor at a total cost not to exceed $1,000, for inspecting and testing the illuminating gas manufactured and distributed by the said Washington Gas Light Company and the gas meters used for measuring the gas supplied to consumers by the said Georgetown Gas Light Company; provided, that the cost of providing and fitting up the said laboratory shall be paid by the said Georgetown Gas Light Company; provided further, that the Washington Gas Light Company and the Georgetown Gas Light Company shall, at the beginning of each fiscal year, in proportion to their respective receipts from sales of gas for the fiscal year immediately preceding, provide in advance, by depositing with the Collector of Taxes of the District of Columbia, a sum sufficient to pay the necessary expenses of maintaining the service of inspecting and testing illuminating gas and gas meters, herein provided for, as estimated by the Mayor of the District of Columbia, and not to exceed $500 per annum for each of the said additional laboratories.

The company, person or persons furnishing the gas may, if they see fit, on each occasion of the testing of the gas by the Inspector, be represented by some officer, but such officer shall not interfere in the testing.

Daily inspections, Sundays excepted, shall be made at any time after 12:00 noon and before 12:00 midnight, in the discretion of the Inspector of Gas and Meters.

If any person or persons, supplied with gas, neglect or refuse to pay the amount due for the same, such company may stop the gas from entering the premises of such person or persons. In no case shall the officers, servants, or workmen of the company remove a meter from premises supplied by the company, unless by consent of the consumer, without first giving 48 hours notice in writing by leaving the same at the premises of the consumers; and said removal shall take place only between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. It shall be lawful for Congress at any time hereafter to alter, amend, or repeal this section.

Any association or corporation engaged in the manufacture and sale of gas for illuminating and fuel purposes in the District of Columbia, through its president or other duly authorized officer, shall make a sworn statement to Congress annually, on or before the 1st day of February in each year. Said report shall contain a detailed statement of the condition of the business of said association or corporation for the year ending December 31st next preceding, and such statement shall set forth the actual cost and also present value of the property of such association or corporation used in the conduct of its business, the amount of paid-up capital stock, the amount and character of the indebtedness of such association or corporation, the amount and cost of materials used in making gas, the amount of gas manufactured, the amount of gas sold, the average price per 1,000 cubic feet received for gas sold, the revenue from the sale of all by-products, the revenues from all other sources, the extensions and improvements made in the plant and works, the actual cost of the same, the amount expended for labor, the amount set aside for depreciation, the amount set apart for insurance and renewals, the amount paid out of earnings for betterments, the amount paid for betterments from other sources, the amount set aside and paid in interest and dividends, the surplus after paying the operating expenses and fixed charges, the statement of the operating expenses to be itemized and classified as is done by other public utility corporations, in the District of Columbia, the names of the stockholders and the amount of the stock held in such association or corporation by each of them on December 31st next preceding the date of such report.