He spent thousands of dollars a month of the Gas Company's money for a while in helping people to be disagreeable, until they had it attended to and got over it.
The Gas Company had the canvassers show the people how they could burn less gas for what they got for it, and tried to help them cut their bills in two. Incidentally, of course, they got to thinking about gas and about what they got for it, and about other ways they could afford to use it, and began to have the gas habit—used it for cooking and heating.
The people found they wanted to use four times as much gas.
The Boston Gas Company smiled sweetly.
Boston smiled sweetly.
Not many months had passed and two things had happened in Boston.
The Boston Gas Company, with precisely the same directors in it, had made over the directors into new men, and all the people in Boston (all who used gas) apparently had been made over into new people.
What had happened was Brandeis—a man with an American temperament.
Mr. Brandeis had defended his company from the people by going the people's way and helping them until they helped him.
Mr. Brandeis gave gas a soul in Boston.