THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 H. L. I'ASSEB
 
 THE ROMANCE OF THE 
 GAS INDUSTRY
 
 
 1 
 
 
 if|H 
 
 I^B 
 
 ■ 
 
 COURTESY, YERKES OBSERVATORY. 
 
 A Planet in the Making. Gaseous Nebula in Orion
 
 The Romance 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Gas Industry 
 
 BY 
 OSCAR E. NORMAN, A. B. 
 
 Member American Library Association; 
 
 American Gas Association and British Commercial Gas Association, 
 
 Librarian and Superintendent, Training and Education; 
 
 The Peoples Gas Light & Coke Company 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 CHICAGO 
 A. G. McGLURG & GOMPANY 
 
 1922
 
 Copyright 
 A. C. AIcCLURG & CO. 
 
 1922 
 
 Published November, 1922 
 
 Copyrighted in Great Britain 
 
 Printed in the United States of America 
 
 M. A. DONOHUE & CO., PRINTERS AND BINDERS, CHICAGO
 
 EBgineering 
 Library 
 
 TP 
 
 DEDICATED 
 
 to the "Rising Generation" 
 
 and to that diligent, loyal Band of Workers 
 
 found in every Community — Public Utility Employes 
 
 733759
 
 FOREWORD 
 
 *' There is Romance in every Business^^ 
 
 THE author had no intention of interposing 
 any introductory remarks to this story, but 
 a reading of W. Cameron Forbes' Romance of 
 Business prompted him to prepare a list of books 
 and booklets which reveal the Romance of Com- 
 mon Things. 
 
 To his surprise their number grew from an 
 original seventy-five to nearly four hundred, 
 without counting those hastily prepared publi- 
 cations which expect one page of historical in- 
 troduction and a few pages of extravagant 
 statements to carry a Message to Garcia and 
 to start the dollars rolling into the treasury. 
 After making this discovery he felt that readers 
 should in some way be made to realize the "vital 
 part that business plays in our lives;" and, since 
 Mr. Forbes had already so admirably stated it 
 in his book, that the best way to bring it to their
 
 Foreword 
 
 attention was by quoting from Chapter I on 
 ^^What it really is," that is, What the Romance 
 of Business really is. Says Mr. Forbes: 
 
 Some people think there is no romance in business. 
 
 Why, the romance that surrounds the business of supply- 
 ing even the simplest needs of an average American citizen 
 would make the great romances of history pale into insignifi- 
 cance in comparison. 
 
 It is not that the romance is not there — it is only that we 
 do not see it. The things we use most often, such as sugar, 
 or coffee, or cereals, the materials that make up our articles 
 of wear and use, our clothes, shoes, tooth brushes, soap, ties, 
 knives, and even the coins in our pockets are the combined 
 product of the brains of thousands of wise men, living and 
 dead. They are the product also of the hands of further 
 hundreds of thousands of men whose labor is not all of today, 
 but in part the stored-up labor of men lying dead. 
 
 Whether this brain and hand labor is represented by the 
 lighthouse that saves a ship from wreck, the dock to which 
 it swings in, the tunnel through the mountains that the 
 train comes through, the warehouse, the lorry, the elevated, 
 or the kitchen stove — it has performed its part in the mak- 
 ing of something that you use today with a bored compla- 
 cency Vv^hich ignores the great forces working endlessly and 
 tirelessly for your comfort and happiness. 
 
 The gas industry has always neglected to make 
 public the romance of its achievements, while 
 other industries have continually seized upon the 
 historical and dramatic to herald their progress. 
 The following pages have been written for the 
 purpose of ending this neglect, and with the
 
 Foreword 
 
 hope that they will to some extent reveal the 
 romance which exists in " gas service." 
 
 An attempt has also been made to relate en- 
 tertainingly how obstacles in the way of produc- 
 tion, distribution, and uses of gas have been 
 overcome; how gas has become the ideal fuel 
 in the household and in the factory; and how 
 its radiance rivals the sun. 
 
 Judged from these angles the word GAS 
 might well be said to be made up of the first 
 letters of the names of three gods worshiped 
 by the ancient East Indians, namely: 
 
 G — from Ganesa, the god of wisdom and remover 
 
 of obstacles. 
 A — from Agni, the god of fire, 
 
 and 
 S — from Surya, the sun god. 
 
 O. E. N. 
 
 July 1, 1922
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I The Birth of Mother Earth 1 
 
 II How the Quest for Gold Revealed the Soul of 
 
 Coal 4 
 
 III The "Wild Spirit" Re-discovered and Tamed 15 
 
 IV How a Madman Started the First Gas Company 29 
 V "A Light Here, Maids, Hang Out Your Light" 34 
 
 VI How Sunshine is Released for the Use of Man 59 
 VII The " Gas Fairy " in the Household ... 96 
 VIII Gas Service — The Growing Giant in Indus- 
 tries 122 
 
 IX A City Beautiful Within Twenty Years . .134 
 
 X " Semper Fidelis " 155 
 
 Appendix A — Chronology of the Early Devel- 
 opments of the Gas Industry 159 
 
 Appendix B — Dates Gas Lighting was Intro- 
 duced in the Principal Cities of the World . .173 
 Appendix C — Journals and Associations of or 
 
 Related to the Gas Industry 175 
 
 Appendix D — Reference Books on the Gas In- 
 dustry and Allied Subjects 180 
 
 Appendix E — Public Utility Information . .183
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A Planet in the Making. Gaseous Nebula in 
 
 Orion Frontispiece 
 
 An Alchemist's Laboratory 8 
 
 Jean Baptiste van Helmont who gave Gas its name . 12 
 William Murdock, Inventor of first Steam Locomotive 
 
 and the first Gas Engineer 12 
 
 Philippe Lebon, French Discoverer of Gas .... 12 
 Frederick Albert Winsor, whose vision of Gas Service 
 
 would assure a " City Beautiful." 12 
 
 First Oil Well drilled (69 feet deep — August, 1850) . 18 
 First Oil Well in England. Bored 3,078 feet deep at 
 
 Hardstoft, Derbyshire, 60 Years after Drake's 
 
 well, by American Geologists, Engineers, Drillers, 
 
 and Machinery 18 
 
 First House lighted with Gas — William Murdock's 
 
 Home 22 
 
 First House in the United States lighted with Gas. 
 
 Peale's Museum, Baltimore 22 
 
 Early experimental Gas Plant 25 
 
 *A Peep at the Gas Lights in Pall Mall " by Thomas 
 
 Rowlandson, English Artist and Caricaturist . . 36 
 
 Linkboy of early London 37 
 
 A London Street Crier 37 
 
 Sketch of London 1815, showing Location of Gas Mains 40 
 Gas Plant built 1812 by Samuel Clegg to light Premises 
 
 of Mr. Ackermann, London Publisher .... 44 
 First House in New York City lighted with Gas. No. 7 
 
 Cherry Street, belonging to Samuel Leggett . . 44 
 Rembrandt Peale, who organized the first Gas Company 45
 
 Illustrations 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Robert Wilhelm von Bunsen, Inventor of the Gas 
 
 Burner 45 
 
 Carl Auer von Welsbach, Inventor of the Gas Mantle 45 
 Professor Thaddeus S. C. Lowe, Inventor of Carbureted 
 
 Water Gas Apparatus 45 
 
 Primeval Forest whose luxuriant Vegetation absorbed 
 
 Radiant Energy and was converted into Coal . . 62 
 Undercutting a Breast of Coal with a compressed air 
 
 Puncher 62 
 
 Experimental Gas Container of 1780 65 
 
 What goes on in a *' Gas Machine " 69 
 
 Coal Gas and Water Gas Apparatus 72 
 
 By-Products Coke Oven Gas Apparatus 76 
 
 Purifying Box 77 
 
 Relief Gas Holder 78 
 
 Gun barrels screwed together into a continuous Tube 
 
 for delivering Gas 80 
 
 Reading Gas Meter (1860) and mailing Letter in Box 
 
 attached to Gas Light Post 84 
 
 Gas Meter with glass Sides shows inside Mechanism . 85 
 
 Poor and good arrangement of a Kitchen 101 
 
 " Gas Kitchen on Wheels " 102 
 
 Modern Gas Heater of Radiant Fire Type . . . .103 
 
 English Gas Cooker 106 
 
 Gas Stove in Use in the United States before 1850 . .106 
 
 Gas Stove in Use, 1877 106 
 
 Goodwin Company's " Sundial " Gas Stove bought in 
 
 Brooklyn, 1850, by Uncle Jerry Howard of 
 
 Galena, Illinois 106 
 
 Pompeian Brazier with Water-back 107 
 
 First Bathtub built about 2000 B. C, found in the 
 
 Ruins of the Palace of King Minos 107
 
 Illustrations 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Before the Days of gas-fired Water Heaters . . . .110 
 Roman Hypocaust, the forerunner of the modern hot- 
 air Furnace 116 
 
 Early English terra cotta Gas Stoves 119 
 
 Explosions in the sun, hurling Gas a quarter of a mil- 
 lion IMiles 124 
 
 Gas-fired Steam Engine for running Sewing iVIachine . 125 
 Ice Machine burning Gas, producing Refrigeration 
 
 equivalent to 500 Pounds daily 128 
 
 Battery of Coffee Roasters 128 
 
 Shrinking Cloth with Steam from gas-fired Boiler . .129 
 Keating Rivets and bending Angle Iron and Plates in 
 
 Manufacturing Fire Doors 129 
 
 Products derived from Coal 152
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE BIRTH OF MOTHER EARTH 
 
 ** Let there be Light!" proclaimed the Almighty Lord, 
 Astonished Chaos heard the potent word; 
 Through all his reahiis the kindling ether runs. 
 And the mass starts into million suns. — Darwin. 
 
 MAN — whether savage or civilized — has 
 constantly tried to explain how our 
 Mother Earth was born. Many theories have 
 been advanced but none are entirely satisfactory, 
 so mysterious and wonderful has her birth re- 
 mained to this very day. 
 
 We all are familiar, of course, with the story 
 of the Creation of the World as told in the 
 Bible, which reads as follows: 
 
 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 
 
 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness 
 was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God 
 moved upon the face of the waters. 
 
 And God said, " Let there be Light ;" and there was light. 
 
 Some learned men, however, have been able 
 to read history in the Earth's crust and in the 
 
 1
 
 2 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 starry heaven which have led them to believe 
 that the Earth we live on was once, many 
 million years ago, a whirling mass of gas that 
 had been thrown off by some larger gaseous 
 body as this traveled swiftly through space. 
 
 These men think that this vast formless mass 
 of gas was burning as it spun around in space, 
 and that, after ages and ages, this incandescent 
 mass gradually cooled enough to become a 
 molten round body. 
 
 At any rate, many agree that there was, at 
 some time in the Earth's history, an intense heat 
 while it was in the making. 
 
 Later, probably thousands of years, the out- 
 side of this round and spinning body cooled 
 until it became solid. This crust was thin at 
 first but kept growing thicker and thicker as the 
 inside grew cooler. 
 
 Neither animal nor vegetable life existed yet 
 because the heat in the crust was still too great. 
 
 As the heat grew less, the Earth became 
 smaller and smaller. The crust shrank and 
 cracked in spots, and thus mountains, valleys, 
 and plains were formed.
 
 The Birth of Mother Earth 
 
 And that, briefly, is probably how Mother 
 Earth was born. 
 
 Which makes gas older than the everlasting 
 hills.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 HOW THE QUEST FOR GOLD REVEALED THE SOUL 
 OF COAL 
 
 Alchemy is a pretty kind of game. 
 
 Somewhat like tricks o' the cards, to cheat a man with 
 charming .... 
 What else are all your terms. 
 
 Whereon no one of your writers 'grees with other? 
 Of your elixir, your lac virginus, 
 
 Your stone, your med'cine, and your chrysosperme. 
 Your sal, your sulphur, and your mercury, 
 
 Your oil of height, your tree of life, your blood. 
 Your marchesite, your tutie, your magnesia, 
 
 Your toad, your crow, your dragon, and your panther, 
 
 Ben Jonson's Alchemist, 
 
 AS THE surface of the Earth shrank and its 
 ±\. crust cracked, layers from the interior con- 
 taining minerals were brought to the surface. 
 Later vegetable and animal life, including man, 
 appeared upon Mother Earth. 
 
 As man gradually learned how to prepare 
 food and to build shelter, he also learned how 
 to use minerals for various purposes. But of all 
 the metals such as iron, copper, silver, and gold, 
 men came to value gold the most.
 
 Quest for Gold Revealed Soul of Coal 5 
 
 Many people thought — even some today 
 think — that gold is the most desirable thing in 
 the world. 
 
 King Midas of old thought so. It was he, 
 you remember, who grew so greedy for gold 
 that he expressed the wish that everything he 
 touched might turn golden. He got his wish, 
 but he had scarcely seated himself at the break- 
 fast table before he was very sorry that he had. 
 For everything he touched turned to gold, his 
 food, and even his only daughter, so that she 
 could not move, hear, or talk. 
 
 Then Midas suddenly discovered that, after 
 all, there were in this world things more de- 
 sirable than gold, and that to him the most 
 desirable thing was his rosy-cheeked daughter, 
 to whom Hawthorne, in his Wonder Book, gave 
 the name Marygold. 
 
 Fortunately for Midas, however, he was en- 
 abled to restore to their former state the things 
 he had touched and made golden, and so he lived 
 very happily with his daughter to a ripe old age. 
 
 In spite of the sad experience of King Midas, 
 whose story practically every one came to know,
 
 6 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 there lived in many lands men who were trying 
 to make gold. They considered gold to be the 
 perfect metal and so called it the noble metal, 
 while all other metals were considered base or 
 inferior. 
 
 These early research men reasoned that, since 
 plants, animals, and persons grew, changed, and 
 developed, metals and minerals must also do so. 
 They felt that if nature could change base metals 
 into gold, man ought to be able to do so too. So 
 here and there were persons who were con- 
 tinually mixing and heating all sorts of metals 
 and substances together in their efforts to trans- 
 mute them into the noble metal. 
 
 These men were known as Alchemists, and of 
 them Milton said: 
 
 By fire 
 Of sooty coal th' empiric alchemist 
 Can turn, or holds it possible to turn, 
 Metals of drossest ore to perfect gold. 
 
 People were ignorant and consequently very 
 superstitious in early days, and as a rule avoided 
 alchemists because these were supposed to be 
 students of magic, the Black Arts, and in league 
 with the Devil.
 
 Quest for Gold Revealed Soul of Coal 7 
 
 Until a few centuries ago people believed 
 pretty generally that the earth was inhabited by 
 hobgoblins, the fire with salamanders, the air 
 with fiends, and the water with river and lake 
 spirits. Children were terrified by their nurses 
 with stories of: 
 
 An ugly devil having horns on his head, fire in his mouth, 
 and a tail in his breech, eyes like a bason, fangs like a dog, 
 claws like a bear, a skin like a nigger, and a voyce roaring 
 like a lion. And young children were so affrighted with 
 bul-beggars, spirits, with witches, urchins, elves, hags, faries, 
 satyrs, pan, faunes, syrens, Kit-with-the-canstick, tritons, 
 centaures, dwarfs, g)^ants, imps, the mare, Robin Good- 
 fellow, the spoorn, the man in the oak, calcars, the hell-wain, 
 the fire drake, the puckle, Tom Thumble, hob-goblins, Tom 
 Thumbler, boneless and such other bugs that they became 
 fearful of their own shadows. 
 
 The men who devoted themselves to the study 
 of alchemy had, of course, to make a living, and 
 it was only quite natural that some of them 
 should prey upon the credulity and superstitions 
 of the people. And so there existed among the 
 zealous and honest students of this art many 
 greedy fakers, charlatans, and impostors — 
 whose methods were. very much like those used 
 today by magicians, "gold-brick artists," and 
 "confidence men." It also appeared that "the
 
 8 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 pleasure is as great of being cheated as to cheat." 
 According to Sir Martin Shee: 
 
 Wherever power, or pride, or wealth keep court. 
 
 Behold this fulsome race resort; 
 
 A motley group — a party-coloured pack. 
 
 Of knave and fool — of quidnunck, and of quack* 
 
 Dabblers in science — dealers in virtues. 
 
 And sycophants of every form and hue. 
 
 Low Artists too, a busy babbling fry. 
 
 That frisk and wriggle in a great mans eye. 
 
 But these students, especially the honest ones, 
 worked away in stuffy and messy rooms classi- 
 fying and experimenting days and nights with 
 scarcely any rest just the way Edison has done 
 in his laboratory. Here is proof that the alchem- 
 ists did not observe any union hours — for when 
 people are really interested in their work they 
 never pay any attention to time. 
 
 One alchemist wrote: 
 
 Never hire married men as assistants, for they soon give 
 in and pretend they are tired out. Hire your workmen for 
 certain stipulated w^ages and not for longer periods than 
 twenty-four hours at a time. G'lYt them higher wages than 
 they would receive elsewhere, and be prompt and ready in 
 your payments. 
 
 To the majority of those who studied this 
 fascinating art, I fear, it brought little reward.
 
 Quest for Gold Revealed Soul of Coal 9 
 
 For: ^^Alchemy is a coquette inviting flirtations, 
 but denying favors; an art without art; of which 
 the beginning is avarice, the middle falsehood, 
 and the end either a beggar's staff or the 
 gallows." 
 
 As early as 50 A. D. a school of Alchemists 
 flourished in Alexandria, Egypt, but the art pro- 
 gressed very slowly for the next two hundred 
 years. The Alchemist's laboratory equipment 
 was still very crude and there was no accurate 
 record of what had been done before in spite of 
 the fact that the Alexandrian Library had at 
 that period about 500,000 books. It was at 
 Alexandria that the Jews translated the Old 
 Testament into Greek, and where Ptolemy, the 
 Greek writer on geography, taught that the 
 earth was round. It was Ptolemy's writings 
 that induced Columbus to search for India. 
 
 In 287 A. D., Emperor Diocletian destroyed 
 the Alexandrian Library and prohibited the 
 study of alchemy because he feared that if they 
 discovered the Philosopher's Stone, and so 
 learned how to turn base metals into gold, they 
 might overturn the Roman rule.
 
 10 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 In 984 A. D., the famous Alexandrian Li- 
 brary, which the later school of Alchemists had 
 managed to build up, was destroyed, it is said, 
 by the Mohammedan General Amru at the 
 order of Caliph Abu Bekr who argued thus: 
 " If the books agree with the Koran, they are 
 not needed; if opposed, they are injurious." 
 This argument set back civilization and science 
 many hundred years. 
 
 And so the study of alchemy had to be begun 
 all over again. Some continued it for the love 
 of knowledge but, I fear, most of them did it 
 for the love of gold, " the root of all evil." But 
 they were all seeking the great secret — some 
 called it the Philosopher's Stone, others the 
 Elixir of Life, others the Stone of Wisdom, and 
 so on, and so on. 
 
 According to these early Ponce de Leons, the 
 great secret was supposed to possess magical 
 powers such as : 
 
 The greatest disease could be cured, sorrow and evil and 
 every hurtful thing avoided, by help of which we pass from 
 darkness to light, from a desert and wilderness to a habitation 
 and home, and from straitness and necessities to a large and 
 ample estate.
 
 Quest for Gold Revealed Soul of Coal 11 
 
 Thus it seems that besides trying to transmute 
 metals, some also tried to learn how to cure 
 people who were ill, and how to attain spiritual 
 happiness. For the study of alchemy came to 
 include that of making drugs, and that is the 
 way apothecary shops and our modern drug 
 stores originated. It also developed into the 
 wonderful science of chemistry of today. 
 
 It is lucky for us that these alchemists were 
 so industrious, otherwise we would today not 
 have many things which make our lives bearable 
 and enjoyable. 
 
 Among the alchemists who searched dili- 
 gently for the Philosopher's Stone was John 
 Baptist van Helmont, born at Brussels in 1577. 
 He began by studying medicine but early 
 turned his attention to the study of chemistry, 
 and soon became ''A man of Parts who divined 
 into the Secrets of all the Arts." He had been 
 inspired by the writings of Thomas a Kempis 
 and was very religious. His religion was a 
 practical one as you can judge by the fact that 
 he never charged any one who came to him for 
 medical attention. Fortunately he was not de-
 
 12 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 pendent upon fees for a living, but had means 
 to buy apparatus and materials for his chemical 
 researches. 
 
 Van Helmont was a firm believer in the 
 powers of the Philosopher's Stone and claimed 
 to have succeeded several times in turning 
 metals into gold. If he did, he was unable to 
 do it the next time he tried, so he kept on ex- 
 perimenting. 
 
 One day while working away in his crude 
 laboratory he made a startling discovery. In his 
 own words, he found that a heated crucible 
 " did belch forth a wild spirit or breath. This 
 spirit, up to the present time unknown, but not 
 susceptible of being confined in vessels, nor 
 capable of being reduced to visible body, I call 
 by the new name of gas." 
 
 No doubt van Helmont was thoroughly 
 frightened at first when he saw or felt the pres- 
 ence of this spirit, and it was quite natural for 
 him to refer to it as a geest. The words " Geest " 
 and *^ Geist " in the Dutch and German 
 languages mean ghost. Some students, however, 
 think that the word, gas, was named from
 
 RE GAS 4 ELECTRIC NEWS 
 
 Jean Baptiste van Helmont 
 Who Gave Gas Its Name 
 
 Philippe Lebon. French 
 Discoverer of Gas 
 
 COURTESY. BALTIMORE GAS 4 ELECTRIC NEWS. 
 
 William Murdock, Inventor 
 
 of First Steam Locomotive 
 
 and the First Gas Engineer 
 
 Frederick Albert Winsor. 
 Whose Vision of Gas Serv- 
 ice Would Assure a "City 
 Beautiful"
 
 Ques t for Gold Revealed Soul of Coal 13 
 
 the Greek word, ''Chaos," meaning "without 
 form." 
 
 But the ghost that frightened van Helmont 
 doesn't scare any of us today. Every boy and 
 girl is familiar with the experiment of heating 
 a piece of wood or coal in a test tube, and seeing 
 the gas escaping at the top. You can perform 
 this experiment any time. 
 
 Take a common clay pipe, put a small lump 
 of coal in the bowl, then cover the bowl air 
 tight with a thin layer of soft clay. Hold the 
 bowl of the pipe over a burning gas jet or a 
 small fire — and look out that you don't burn 
 your fingers or set anything on fire. The coal 
 in the bowl will soon begin to give off a gas. 
 Apply a lighted match to the end of the pipe 
 stem and you'll find that this gas burns. 
 
 After all the gas has been driven off from the 
 coal, remove the clay covering of the bowl. Now 
 you will find that the heavy coal has changed 
 from black to gray, and has swelled out into a 
 light and porous substance. This we call coke 
 and is practically pure carbon. Throw it into 
 a fire and you'll find that it burns quickly with-
 
 14 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 out smoke and little ash, provided the coal was 
 of good quality. 
 
 In this manner, then, did gas come to be 
 discovered and named. Both discovery and 
 christening were enshrouded with mystery, and 
 mysterious and elusive has gas remained unto 
 this day. 
 
 Gas may thus rightly be called the Soul of 
 Coal.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 THE ^'WILD SPIRIT" RE-DISCOVERED AND TAMED 
 
 To great ends and projects had they life been given; 
 
 Right well and nobly has the goal been won; 
 For this, O Great Discoverer, thou has striven; 
 
 Take, then, our thanks, for all that thou hast done. 
 
 — Nora Hastings. 
 
 TO MANY readers it has, no doubt, oc- 
 curred that people must have known about 
 gas long before van Helmont's experiment. Yes, 
 there were people who knew about gas, but it 
 was the kind that issued from the ground and 
 to the people of ancient times it was thought to 
 be ordinary air mixed w^th some ill-smelling 
 substance or even manifestations of spirits — 
 good or evil. 
 
 And these ancient people were just as mysti- 
 fied and terrified at these wild spirits as was the 
 alchemist who gave the name to gas. They 
 believed them to be the working of some super- 
 natural agency. Sometimes the ill-smelling air 
 or vapor was set on fire by lightning and then 
 the natives were more frightened than ever. 
 
 15
 
 16 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 In many lands the element of fire was wor- 
 shiped. This had its origin because of the 
 difficulty of starting fire with a spark and also 
 because of the attractiveness of light over 
 darkness; also because fire became connected 
 with purity. China and India had their fire- 
 worshipers. So did Egypt, Assyria and Chal- 
 dea. In Persia the priests had, in their 
 devotion to the sacred element, established 
 certain religious rites. These priests were 
 known by the name of Magi, and were sooth- 
 sayers or fortune tellers. The words, magic and 
 magicians, come from the word. Magi. The 
 Three Wise Men, who followed the star in the 
 East, were Magi priests. The picture showing 
 these three men worshiping the Christ Child 
 is, as you know, called the Adoration of the 
 Magi. 
 
 Here one idea of gas as a magician has sug- 
 gested another and another until I almost forgot 
 to remind you how gas was discovered in 
 Greece. It happened this way: While a 
 Greek lad was looking after his goats one day he 
 noticed that some of them became very giddy
 
 '' Wild Spirit" Re-discovered and Tamed 17 
 
 whenever they came to a certain spot. He went 
 to investigate the cause of this peculiar be- 
 havior of the animals and was very much 
 affected himself by something that arose out of 
 the ground. He lost no time in telling the 
 villagers about it and they ran in great excite- 
 ment to the place and all had the same ex- 
 perience. 
 
 In those days the Greeks considered persons 
 who were weak-minded or epileptic as special 
 favorites of their gods and so treated such 
 unfortunates reverently and as if they were 
 inspired. Whatever it was that issued from the 
 ground, it seemed to make the villagers light- 
 headed and talkative. They acted queerly and 
 their speech became very disconnected and hard 
 to understand. And so the villagers concluded 
 that there must be a god living at this place. 
 They later appointed a priestess to converse with 
 this god, and also built a temple where persons 
 might go for advice, provided they brought 
 gifts to the god. And that is how "gas became 
 the Oracle of the Gods" and why the Temple 
 and Oracle of Delphi became famous.
 
 18 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 The gas at Delphi is thought to have been 
 natural gas. This gas was found in many parts 
 of the world, but it took many centuries before 
 its value was understood. China was the first 
 to turn it to a practical use. Near Pekin, gas, 
 escaping from beds of soft coal, was carried 
 through pipes made of bamboo to salt works 
 and used to boil the salt water so as to evaporate 
 the water from the salt. The gas was brought 
 through bamboo pipes into Pekin for lighting 
 that city. 
 
 Natural gas is often found in connection with 
 oil, and petroleum has been known from the 
 earliest times. The first notice of it in the Bible 
 occurs in Maccabees, Book II, Chapter 1, which 
 relates that when the Jews were led into Persia, 
 they found pits in which the priests concealed 
 the sacred fire they required for their sacrifices. 
 These pits were enclosed and called nephtar 
 from which we get the word, naphtha. This 
 Jew's pitch was probably the bitumen of Judea. 
 The naphtha springs of Persia, the fire-wor- 
 shipers of Baku, and the fire-wells of China 
 recall other interesting facts and fancies about
 
 First Oil Well Drilled (69 Feet Deep- 
 
 August. 185^ 
 
 First Oil Well in England. Bored 3.078 Feet Deep at Hards- 
 toft, Derbyshire, 60 Years After Drake's Well, by American 
 Geologists. Engineers, Drillers, and ^[achinery
 
 ^' Wild Spirit '' Re-discovered and Tamed 19 
 
 the early knowledge of rock-oil. Bitumen was 
 used in building the towxr of Babel, and paving 
 the streets of Babylon 2000 B. C. 
 
 The United States is fortunate in that it 
 possesses great stores of natural gas, oil, and 
 coal. A Franciscan missionary, Joseph de la 
 Roche d'Allion, mentions, in a letter written in 
 1629, oil springs in the State of New York. Oil 
 seemed to have been a favorite medicine of the 
 Seneca Indians; Kier, a druggist of Pittsburgh, 
 who claimed it cured his wife, bottled it, and 
 sold it as *^ American oil," long before that 
 region became famous for its oil and natural gas. 
 
 The first oil well in the world to be drilled 
 was on the flat lands of Oil City, south of Titus- 
 ville, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, August 
 28, 1859, under the direction of Colonel E. L. 
 Drake. John D. Rockefeller, who developed 
 this industry, arrived there in 1865. 
 
 Many oil wells, while being drilled, yielded 
 a gas which was soon applied to useful work. 
 The natural gas industry began after 1870. 
 Fairview, Pennsylvania, made extensive use of 
 natural gas in 1872.
 
 20 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 Natural gas has been found in greatest abun- 
 dance in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, 
 Oklahoma and Texas. The French Jesuits dis- 
 covered and reported columns of fire while they 
 were exploring the Ohio Valley. Washington 
 was so impressed by it that in 1775 he tried to 
 have one square mile in Kanawha Valley — the 
 center of burning gas — set aside for public 
 exhibit. 
 
 The first use made of natural gas in the 
 United States, however, was in 1821 in the town 
 of Fredonia, Chautauqua County, New York, 
 where gas had been piped to supply thirty 
 burners. The village inn was lighted by gas 
 when La Fayette passed through Fredonia in 
 1824. Virginia used natural gas for heating 
 furnaces in evaporating salt water. 
 
 Natural gas, itself, yields a valuable gas, 
 helium, now being used in balloons because it 
 will not catch on fire. 
 
 While England is well supplied with coal, it 
 is thought to have little natural gas or petroleum 
 deposits. But in the early days of coal mining, 
 gas in some form was, of course, encountered.
 
 ^' Wild Spirit '' Re-discovered and Tamed 21 
 
 While this gas is different from natural gas and 
 from gas that is manufactured, it is extremely 
 interesting to learn what people thought about 
 it. Miners were overcome by it and so called it 
 "choke-damp." It not only choked miners to 
 death but also caused explosions when it came 
 in contact with the miner's open lamp, and so 
 was also called " fire-damp." 
 
 Thomas Shirley in 1667 wrote in the Trans- 
 action of the Royal Philosophical Society of 
 London thus about natural gas that arose from 
 a well and ground near Wigan. He had visited 
 the place in 1659 and found a spring ''Where 
 the water did burn like oyle," and "did boyle 
 and heave like water in a pot." On investiga- 
 tion he found this to " arise from a strong breath, 
 as it were, a wind which ignited on the approach 
 of a lighted candle" and "did burn bright and 
 vigorous." 
 
 Between 1660 and 1670 Dr. Clayton, a rector 
 of Crofton, in Yorkshire, experimented with 
 natural gas. He set a man to dig the ground 
 at Wigan and found at a depth of half a yard 
 a "shelly coal." This he heated in a closed
 
 22 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 vessel and found that a '^ spirit which issued out 
 caught fire at the flame of a candle." He col- 
 lected the gas in bladders and amused his friends 
 by pricking holes in them with a pin and light- 
 ing the colorless gas with a candle. Dr. Clayton 
 thus succeeded in producing from coal van 
 Helmont's "wild spirit," but he also, like many 
 earlier and later experimenters, failed to turn 
 gas to any practical use. 
 
 Over a hundred years after Shirley and Clay- 
 ton had described the burning of natural gas 
 and coal gas, another Englishman began to 
 experiment with various kinds of gases. He 
 found that " the gas obtained by distillation from 
 coal, peat, wood, and other inflammable sub- 
 stances burnt with great brilliancy upon being 
 set fire to; and it occurred to him, that by con- 
 fining and conducting it through tubes, it might 
 be employed as an economical substitute for 
 lamps and candles." This man was William 
 Murdock. 
 
 In 1792 (three hundred years after Columbus 
 discovered America) he conducted gas through 
 seventy feet of tinned iron and copper tubes to
 
 jo Uh 
 
 s i^
 
 " Wild Spirit '* Re-discovered and Tamed 23 
 
 light his house and grounds at Redruth, in 
 Cornwall. In the wall of a modest house in 
 Cross Street is a tablet bearing the following 
 inscription: 
 
 WILLIAM MURDOCK 
 
 Lived in this house 
 
 1782-1798 
 
 Made the first locomotive here, 
 
 and tested it in 1784. 
 
 Invented Gas-Lighting, 
 
 and used it in this house in 
 
 1792. 
 
 Murdock's regular work, that of construction 
 and erection engineer for James Watt, the in- 
 ventor of the steam engine, prevented him from 
 perfecting his idea. However, in 1797 he had 
 lighted his own house and office at Old Com- 
 nock with gas; and in 1798 had lighted one 
 of Boulton and Watt's shops at Soho, near 
 Birmingham. 
 
 In April, 1802, he gave a public exhibition of 
 gas lighting at Soho to celebrate the treaty 
 between Great Britain, and France, Spain and
 
 24 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 Holland, known as the Peace of Amiens — a 
 city famous for being the birthplace of Peter 
 the Hermit and also for its cathedral. 
 
 A man named Matthews, who visited this 
 public display, described it as follows: 
 
 The illumination of Soho works on this occasion was one 
 of extraordinary splendour. The whole front of that ex- 
 tensive range of buiHIngs was ornamented with a great 
 variety of devices, that admirably displayed many of the 
 varied forms of which gas light is susceptible. This lumi- 
 nous spectacle was as novel as it was astonishing; and 
 Birmingham poured forth in numerous population to gaze 
 at and to admire this wonderful display of the combined 
 effects of science and art. 
 
 Murdock estimated the yearly cost of this 
 lighting, two hours daily, to be £2,000 for 
 candles and only £600 with gas. 
 
 In 1804 Murdock built a gas works and 
 lighted the cotton mill of Messrs. Phillips and 
 Lee at Manchester with 900 burners. On Feb- 
 ruary 25, 1808, he read a paper before the Royal 
 Society of London describing this installation 
 and was awarded the Count Rumford Gold 
 Medal. 
 
 Murdock was born in 1754 at Bellow Mill, 
 Ayrshire, Scotland, birthplace of Dunlop, in-
 
 ^^ Wild Spirit '* Re-discovered and Tamed 25 
 
 ventor of the pneumatic tire. He was said to 
 have worn a hat made of wood turned in an oval 
 lathe of his own invention. But, if his hat was 
 wooden, his head was not, for he has many 
 achievements to his credit. While working with 
 
 Early experimental gas plant 
 
 Boulton and Watt he made many improvements 
 in the steam engine; invented the D-slide valve 
 used to this day in steam engines; also invented 
 the " gas tip." He first burned gas by lighting 
 it at the end of a pipe. One day he wanted to
 
 26 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 Stop the flow of gas in a hurry and seized his 
 wife's thimble and thrust it over the light which 
 was immediately extinguished. Noticing, how- 
 ever, that the flow of gas had not been entirely 
 stopped he applied a match and discovered that 
 the thimble was full of holes and that the tiny 
 jets gave a brighter illumination than the big 
 flare from the end of the pipe. Acting on this 
 suggestion he constructed what became known 
 as the Cockspur burner — the forerunner of the 
 '' flat flame burner.'' 
 
 He was always tinkering away at some con- 
 traption generally useful. His early experi- 
 ments in gas-making were conducted in an old 
 kettle borrowed from his mother. Learning of 
 a newly patented steam engine he walked to 
 Birmingham and obtained employment with 
 James Watt, who had become associated with 
 Matthew Boulton for the purpose of making 
 steam engines at Soho Works. These engines 
 were an improvement over the Newcomen en- 
 gine, and wxre used for pumping water out of 
 the coal mines. Before very long, Murdock 
 was traveling day and night from mine to mine
 
 '' Wild Spirit " Re-discovered and Tamed 27 
 
 installing steam engines and pumps or fixing 
 balky ones. 
 
 He had many opportunities to work for rival 
 firms but always remained loyal to his employ- 
 ers. For some time he had felt that it was prac- 
 ticable to apply steam as power for drawing 
 coal cars and carriages, but Watt disliked the 
 idea of anyone but himself developing the 
 steam engines for any purpose, and always dis- 
 couraged Murdock by saying: "You are hunt- 
 ing shadows, William That would mean 
 
 a miracle." 
 
 In spite of this discouragement William spent 
 many evenings between 1781 and 1783 in build- 
 ing a steam locomotive. It resembled a tricycle, 
 19 inches long, 14 inches high, with a copper 
 boiler with a fire box and flue, a spirit lamp and 
 one double-acting cylinder, two driving wheels 
 and a steering wheel. After making satisfac- 
 tory trials of his locomotive in his house, he 
 tried it out one evening. According to Alex- 
 ander Murdock: 
 
 It was a dark night, early in the year of 1784, and the 
 road chosen was a lonely lane bordered with high hedgerows,
 
 28 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 leading to the parish church and rectory. The boiler was 
 filled, the lamp was lighted; soon the steam got up, and off 
 went the engine, puffing and snorting at the rate of 6 or 8 
 miles an hour. It soon outran the inventor, and then the 
 night air was rent by a succession of frightened cries for 
 help. Murdock, hurrying up, found the worthy rector, 
 who, hearing a puffing and snorting, and seeing only a fiery 
 eye rushing along not much above the level of the ground, 
 believed he had encountered the Evil One in person. 
 
 As Watt's agent, Murdock was soon riding 
 around from mine to mine in his rattling and 
 snorting steam carriage which he lighted with 
 gas. 
 
 So, if it had not been for Watt's opposition, 
 steam locomotives would have been working 
 forty years before George Stephenson built 
 them, for hauling coal cars at Killingworth and 
 for hauling freight between Liverpool and 
 Manchester. 
 
 Murdock also used a gas lantern made of a 
 bladder equipped with a tube and a gas tip. 
 This with his w^ooden hat made him appear 
 very ridiculous at night. Murdock was really 
 the "father of the gas industry," when priority 
 of practical achievement is considered. He 
 died in 1839.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 HOW A MADMAN STARTED THE FIRST GAS 
 COMPANY 
 
 Fm thankful that the sun and stars 
 
 Are all hung so high; 
 That no presumptuous hand can stretch 
 
 And pull them from the sky. 
 If they were not, I have no doubt 
 
 But some reforming ass 
 Would recommend to take them down 
 
 And heat the world with gas. — Anon. 
 
 WHILE Murdock was experimenting 
 with coal gas several other men were 
 interested in the same subject. Jean Pierre 
 Minckelers demonstrated in 1784 to his class at 
 the University of Louvain that a gas distilled 
 from coal v^^ould burn. Lebon, another French- 
 man, in September, 1799, obtained a patent for 
 making gas by distilling coal or wood and 
 in 1801 lighted his house and gardens in Paris 
 with gas. 
 
 A German by the name of Frederick Albert 
 Winsor heard of Lebon's experiment and jour- 
 
 29
 
 30 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 neyed from Frankfort to Paris to see " the 
 wondrous effects of common smoke being made 
 to burn with greater brilliancy and beauty than 
 wax or oil." He tried hard to learn Lebon's 
 secret, but failed. German-like he persevered 
 and succeeded the next winter in exhibiting at 
 Brunswick, a series of experiments which 
 demonstrated that lighting could be done with 
 a gas distilled from wood. Winsor later went 
 to London and there, in 1803, he began experi- 
 menting with Lebon's gas apparatus. Winsor 
 was the first to advocate the distribution of gas 
 for lighting from a central source and proposed 
 the organization of a company for " enlightening 
 the inhabitants of London." His enthusiasm 
 and extravagant claims for gas created great 
 opposition to his scheme. 
 
 Even the level-headed Sir Walter Scott was 
 dead set against the idea and wrote to a friend, 
 " There is a madman proposing to light London 
 with — what do you think ? Why, with smoke." 
 
 Napoleon, when he heard of it, dismissed the 
 project d.s une grand e folie (a big humbug). So 
 Winsor was ridiculed everywhere. Actors in
 
 How a Madman Started First Gas Company 31 
 
 public halls poked fun at this tireless promotor. 
 One humorous writer burlesqued him thus: 
 
 And when, ah Winsor! — distant be the day — 
 Life's flame no longer shall ignite thy clay; 
 Thy phosphor nature, active still and bright^ 
 Above us shall diffuse post-obit light. 
 Perhaps, translated to another sphere. 
 Thy spirit — like thy light, refined and clear — 
 Ballooned with purest hydrogen, shall rise. 
 And add a patent planet to the skies. 
 Then some sage Sidophel, with Herschel eye, 
 The bright Winsorium Sidus shall descry; 
 The Vox Stellarum shall record thy name. 
 And thine outlive another Winsor s fame. 
 
 Fortunately Winsor was able to cope with his 
 adversaries both in prose and poetry. The fol- 
 lowing poem shows his versatility: 
 
 Must Britons be condemned forever to wallow 
 In filthy soot, noxious smoke, train oil, and tallow, 
 And their poisonous fumes forever to swalloiv? 
 For with sparky soots, snuffs, and vapors, men have 
 
 constant strife; 
 Those who are not burned to death are smothered 
 
 during life. 
 
 In the meantime Winsor obtained the first 
 English patent for gas-making purposes, May 
 18, 1804. He advertised his invention in pub- 
 lic lectures. He prophesied a universal use of
 
 32 The Rotnance of the Gas Industry 
 
 gas for lighting, heating, power, and in the 
 chemical arts. 
 
 In May, 1804, he gave a public demonstration 
 of gas lighting at the Lyceum Theater, London, 
 where, in a series of lectures, he raised 
 £50,000. 
 
 And so, in spite of ridicule and strong oppo- 
 sition, due to superstition and the influence of 
 Murdock and doctors, he managed to raise 
 money and organize a company. He laid 
 leaden pipes in Pall Mall, December, 1806 — 
 the first gas mains laid in a public street. On 
 January 28, 1807, one side of Pall Mall was 
 lighted with gas; in June of the same year, both 
 sides. And on July 12, the first meeting of gas 
 stockholders was held and the National Light 
 & Heat Company proposed. 
 
 On May 5, 1809, he applied to the House of 
 Commons for a charter for the company, but 
 was opposed by Murdock and Watt. He and 
 the stockholders applied to Parliament in 1810 
 for permission to form the London and West- 
 minster Gas Light & Coke Company, and an 
 Act of Incorporation was granted. In April,
 
 Hoiv a Madman Started First Gas Company 33 
 
 1812, this company was granted a Royal charter. 
 
 Thus was formed the first gas company in the 
 world. 
 
 Samuel Clegg, who had been a pupil of Mur- 
 dock at Soho Works, Birmingham, applied him- 
 self also to gas apparatus. He built several gas 
 works; introduced the wet lime purifier in 
 1809 and the hydraulic main in 1812; and in 
 1813 became engineer of the London & West- 
 minster Gas Light & Coke Company. On De- 
 cember 9, 1815, he invented the first gas meter; 
 he also obtained a patent for a rotary retort, and 
 a governor. In 1816-17 he constructed the first 
 cylindrical gasometer, or gas holder. In 1816 
 he invented a wet meter with revolving drum. 
 This was remodeled and improved by John 
 Malam in the following year. 
 
 There are many other men who contributed 
 inventions and apparatus to the new industry, 
 but it developed very slowly because people for 
 a long time remained in great dread of the mys- 
 terious and ill-smelling vapor.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 ''A LIGHT HERE, MAIDS, HANG OUT YOUR LIGHT " 
 
 PVith the link-boys running on before 
 
 To light her on her way, 
 A-lounging in her sedan goes 
 
 Belinda to the play. 
 In patch and powder, puff and frill. 
 
 From satin shoes to hair — 
 Of all the maids in London town 
 
 I wot there's none so fair. — Arthur Ketchum. 
 
 WHILE the pioneers of the gas industry 
 considered gas applicable to all sorts of 
 uses, those who devoted themselves exclusively 
 to the manufacture of gas confined its applica- 
 tion to lighting. This was quite natural, for 
 light was at that time the most essential want of 
 the people. 
 
 Man, we are told, at first lived in caves. 
 When he learned to protect himself from ani- 
 mals and from cold he became more and more 
 sociable and so the desire to live together in 
 larger units grew. Gradually villages, towns, 
 and cities were built, and then the matter of 
 lighting at night became a great problem. 
 
 34
 
 *'A Light Here, Maids, Hang Out Light " 35 
 
 For illumination, first, pine knots were used ; 
 then oil lamps (saucers with wicks dipping into 
 animal oil) ; next, candles; and finally, gas. 
 
 The first artificial lighting by ^' fire pans" or 
 "censers" occurred about 1450 B. C. Oil lamps 
 were first used in 500 B. C. 
 
 The first street lighting was done for protec- 
 tion of wayfarers against the criminally inclined. 
 
 In 1416 Sir Henry Barton, Lord Mayor of 
 London, ordered lanthorns and lights to be hung 
 out on winter evenings between All-Hallows 
 and Candlemas. Although this practice was 
 continued for three hundred years, it was not 
 strictly observed. One old cry of the watchman 
 who reminded the people at dusk was as follows : 
 
 Lanthorn, and a whole light! 
 Hang out your lights! Hear! 
 
 In the time of James I (1566-1621) the watch- 
 man's cry ran like this: 
 
 A light here, maids, hang out your light. 
 And see your horns be clear and bright. 
 That so your candle may shine. 
 Continuing from six to nine; 
 That honest men that walk along 
 May see to pass safe without wrong.
 
 36 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 These watchmen used to make the night hide- 
 ous with their cries. 
 
 The lanthorn was an invention of King 
 Alfred, who lived between 848 and 900 A. D. 
 It consisted of a candle inclosed by four sides 
 made of transparent horn. The first English 
 primer you remember, was called a hornbook, 
 because the alphabet, digits, and Lord's Prayer 
 were protected by a thin slice of horn. Alfred 
 also invented a "clock" which consisted of a 
 candle that burned four hours. 
 
 Here are two more cries of Old London: 
 
 Twelve oclocke 
 Looke well to your locke. 
 Your fier and your light. 
 And so good-night. 
 
 List good people all! 
 
 Past ten o' clock e, the houre I call. 
 
 Now say your prayers, and take your rest 
 
 With conscience clear and sins confessed. 
 
 I bid you all good-night! 
 
 Good-night! 
 
 Describing the celebration of Midsummer 
 Eve in London in 1511, Knight says the age was 
 one of general lawlessness — that thieves and 
 murderers, one hundred strong, often attacked
 
 ''A Light Here, Maids, Hang Out Light " 37 
 
 the homes of the wealthy. A lone pedestrian 
 had little chance out on a street at night, so 
 people kept themselves within doors. 
 
 At that time lights were made of pitchy ropes 
 set in iron frames. 
 
 In 1694 a corporation was licensed to sup- 
 ply glass lights. The age of the flambeaux came 
 in 1738. Officious and villainous looking link- 
 boys hung around taverns and amusement places 
 begging to escort the pedestrians home through 
 narrow, crooked, and unpaved streets. Their 
 torches burned oily rags. 
 
 If you want to know the social life of this 
 period, read John Gay's The Beggar s Opera, 
 written in 1728 — a satire on the politics and 
 criminal laws of that day which, after all, seems 
 rather modern. 
 
 An Act of Parliament in 1744 ordered the 
 complete lighting of London — probably by oil. 
 
 In 1762 the lamplighter became a familiar 
 figure. He trimmed the oil wicks of the lamps 
 in the morning, using a ladder. 
 
 Westminster Bridge was lighted by gas for 
 the first time on December 31, 1813. The
 
 38 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 populace was dumbfounded and lamplighters 
 refused to have anything to do at first with the 
 new light. 
 
 The use of gas lights in the streets of London 
 excited the crowds, who expected to see the 
 buildings blown to atoms at any moment by the 
 daring use of the new illumination. 
 
 Thomas Rowlandson, the English artist and 
 caricaturist, then in the height of his powers, 
 made a caricature of these crowds, with the title 
 of A Peep at the Gas Lights in Pall Mall, for 
 Arthur Ackermann and Sons, art publishers. 
 
 In those days dealers in art goods were the 
 recognized friends of the artist and to them 
 flocked caricaturists, illustrators, lithographers, 
 engravers, and their patrons. Here were dis- 
 cussed the discoveries of the age. 
 
 Arthur Ackermann, the head of the house, 
 was a leader in the field of applied science. He 
 was very much interested in the discovery of 
 coal gas and built an experimental plant to show 
 the public what could be done with gas. 
 
 In April, 1814, the oil lamps in the streets of 
 St. Margaret's Parish, Westminster, were re-
 
 ''A Light Here, Maids, Hang Out Light '' 39 
 
 placed with gas lamps. Even the House of 
 Commons was gas lighted, but people were still 
 suspicious, so the piping was kept away from the 
 wall and no one dared to touch the pipes with 
 the bare hand. 
 
 At this time it is doubtful which was the more 
 startling innovation, gas lighting or the unique 
 apparel of Beau Brummel, who, then in his 
 sartorial glory, appeared in London society 
 wearing the new-fangled breeches which fitted 
 tightly to his legs down to his feet and buttoned 
 at the ankle. 
 
 Just as the new fashion in breeches spread to 
 the Continent and to America, so did the new 
 method of lighting spread to those countries. 
 
 On November 9, 1815, the Guildhall was 
 lighted. The price of gas was 15 shillings 
 a 1,000 cubic feet. The gas meter had not been 
 invented, so the charge was based upon esti- 
 mated consumption. London had three gas 
 plants with fifteen miles of main. In 1850 she 
 had thirteen gas companies, and competition 
 was keen and ruinous. In 1860 these were con- 
 solidated into practically three companies, the
 
 40 
 
 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 Gas Light & Coke, South Metropolitan, and 
 Commercial Gas Companies. 
 According to E. S. Cathels, there still existed 
 
 Main pipe, leadim^from Uie Gas-light station, or^ 
 apparatus, situated in Brick Laiie,neaf Old St. ^ • 
 
 Main pipe, leading from the Gas-light apparatus, k % 
 or station, in Westminster. 
 
 • The gasometer at this place is equal in capacity to 22,000 cubic fect% 
 
 t The capacity qf the gasometer here is equal to 15,928 cubic feet. 
 
 J At this station the gasometer is equal in capacity to 14,808 cubic/eet. 
 
 Sketch of London 1815, showing location of gas mains. 
 From Accum's " Treatise on Gas Lighting " 
 
 a "Reign of Terror" in 1865, when even 
 men of light and learning who controlled the 
 knowledge of science of the Royal Society, wrote
 
 ''A Light Here, Maids, Hang Out Light '' 41 
 
 in a ^'vulgar frenzy" as to the dangers of gas, 
 gas making, and gas distribution. Gas holders 
 were incased in buildings, but it was only a short 
 period of stage fright, not by the actors, but by 
 the lookers-on. 
 
 Paris was first lighted in the year 1524. In 
 1558 the inhabitants were ordered to hang out 
 lighted candle lanterns in front of their houses, 
 and this action gives Paris the credit of being 
 probably the first modern city to attempt civic 
 street lighting. 
 
 In 1662 an Italian abbe obtained the exclusive 
 right to let out torches and lanterns for hire 
 from booths, where linkmen and boys waited to 
 attend carriages or foot passengers. They were 
 paid by time and carried an hour glass to avoid 
 disputes in charges. 
 
 In 1766 pitch or resin bowls were substituted 
 for the candle lantern, and reflecting lamps were 
 suspended over the middle of the road. 
 
 In 1820 Paris was lighted by gas. A French 
 author of that day wrote thus of this event: 
 "Where gas light exists, there is no night; where 
 gas light is, there is continuous day."
 
 42 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 In 1803, Main Street, in Richmond, Virginia, 
 was brilliantly lighted by a huge gas lamp 
 erected on a forty-foot tower. 
 
 An inventor named Benjamin Henfrey had 
 come to Richmond the winter before and held 
 an exhibition of his new invention, *' Inflam- 
 mable air," at Hay Market Garden. Admis- 
 sion was fifty cents and thousands of persons 
 witnessed the wonderful sight. 
 
 The "new light" w^as made in a tea-kettle 
 from wood and pit coal. 
 
 In order to satisfy the people that the demon- 
 stration was not a fraud, a committee of six 
 prominent citizens, including the mayor, was 
 requested to see the experiments of lighting and 
 cooking. Its report was convincing and a sub- 
 scription started to build an octagon light tower 
 vs^hich was erected within a few months. 
 
 The large lantern, forty feet above the ground, 
 was supplied with gas generated in a still in the 
 cellar. It was successful at first, but did not 
 last long, and Main Street went back to the ani- 
 mal oil lamps. 
 
 While Murdock, Winsor, and Clegg were
 
 ''A Light Here, Maids, Hang Out Light " 43 
 
 working out the manufacture of coal gas in 
 England, David Melville, in 1812, lighted his 
 house in Newport, R. I., with gas; also a factory 
 at Pawtucket. Melville induced the govern- 
 ment to give gas lighting a trial and it w^as 
 adopted and used with great success for one year 
 at Beaver Tail Lighthouse. 
 
 Newport, therefore, has a claim to being a 
 pioneer in gas lighting in this country. 
 
 In the Annals of Philadelphia, Watson relates 
 that: The first gas made in Philadelphia was 
 manufactured by Michael Ambroise and Com- 
 pany, Italian fireworkers and artists, in August, 
 1796, in an exhibition. They first used it as an 
 illuminant in April, 1812. 
 
 On December 28, 1815, gas lighting was first 
 proposed for Philadelphia by James McMurtie. 
 In 1830 she drew up "A Public Remonstrance 
 against Lighting with Gas.'' That was when 
 Philadelphia used candles, lanterns, whale oil 
 lamps and, later, kerosene lamps. Gas was not 
 adopted until the year 1836, when the Philadel- 
 phia Gas Company began to operate as a public 
 utility on February 8.
 
 44 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 On June 13, 1816, there appeared in the Bal- 
 timore newspapers the sensational announce- 
 ment of an exhibition of : 
 
 "Gas Light without Oil, Tallow, Wick or 
 Smoke" to be given in the Museum and Gallery 
 of the Fine Arts in Holliday Street, established 
 by Rembrandt Peale in 1813." A small admis- 
 sion fee was asked for the privilege of seeing the 
 new lights. 
 
 Peale had built the museum to exhibit a 
 skeleton of a mastodon which his father, Charles 
 Wilson Peale, the portrait painter, had exca- 
 vated at Newburg on the Hudson. 
 
 The new lights, it is said, attracted more atten- 
 tion than the skeleton, which was supposed to be 
 10,000 years old. 
 
 In fact, the exhibition was so successful that 
 on June 17, 1816, an ordinance was passed per- 
 mitting Peale and others to manufacture gas, 
 lay pipes in the streets, and to contract with the 
 city for street lighting. This was the first gas 
 company founded in the United States. On 
 February 5, 1817, it was incorporated as the Gas 
 Light Company of Baltimore.
 
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 Rembrandt Peale, Who Or- Robert Wilhelm von Bunsen. 
 ganized the First Gas Inventor of the Gas Burner 
 
 Company 
 
 Carl Auer von Welsbach. In- Professor Thaddeus S. C. 
 ventor of the Gas Mantle Lowe. Inventor of Carbu- 
 
 reted Water Gas Apparatus
 
 ''A Light Here, Maids, Hang Out Light '' 45 
 
 Boston had gas in 1822, but the suburbs were 
 slow to adopt it. Not until 1853 was a gas com- 
 pany formed in Cambridge, when Gardiner 
 Hubbard secured gas for the university. This 
 is the Hubbard to whom must be given much of 
 the credit for bringing Bell's telephone before 
 the public twenty-five years later. 
 
 In New York City the first house lighted by 
 gas was No. 7 Cherry Street. This was the 
 home of Samuel Leggett. The people stood in 
 the street gazing in awe and fear upon the new 
 illumination. 
 
 An editorial in the New York Evening Post, 
 April 24, 1824, reads as follows: 
 
 The exhibition of gas lights last evening at 286 Walter 
 Street, attracted a great number of ladies and gentlemen, 
 notwithstanding the unfavorable weather .... Six new 
 burners .... rendered the display considerably more bril- 
 liant than the preceding occasion. 
 
 In the American Gas Light Journal of De- 
 cember 1, 1859, there appears the following 
 anecdotes: 
 
 A Pennsylvania gas engineer told us a good story of a 
 Dutchman from the interior coming to the gas office to get 
 a demijohn of gas, he and his frau vas going to haf a partee
 
 46 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 mit some neighbors, and dey vant to see tee gas, and he had 
 promised to his frau to light tee lamps mit gas, und he had 
 brought a demijohn to fetch him home. 
 
 No persuasion would convince him that gas was not trans- 
 ferable in such vessels. He had traveled ten miles fur him, 
 and de volks would whale him if he gave dem no gas mit 
 deir supper. 
 
 At length the engineer consented, and filling the demijohn 
 with ammoniacal water sent the Dutchman home in high 
 glee. What astonished him most was that there was nothing 
 to pay. He probably found "something to pay" when his 
 friends were assembled to see him light his lamps mit tee 
 gas. 
 
 The London Monthly for October, 1814, how- 
 ever, tells about 
 
 Butts of Gas for Export : A new establishment has opened 
 at Worship Street in addition to one in City Road, both 
 manufacturing gas preserved in butts like beer and sent any 
 distance. Hundreds of butts and larger reservoirs were 
 filled during summer and stored for winter. One mile of 
 public streets and houses of Parliament lighted with com- 
 pressed gas. 
 
 In an early issue of the American Gas Light 
 Journal we find the following interesting infor- 
 mation from correspondents: 
 
 A lady resident, within the lamp and watch district of 
 New York City, steadily refuses to have the Manhattan gas 
 inserted into her house, because, she says, it is the breath of 
 the devil. 
 
 The night express on the New Haven Railroad has two 
 gas burners on each car. Containers were filled with gas 
 in the same way that an engine takes on water.
 
 ''A Light Here, Maids, Hang Out Light '' 47 
 
 One correspondent wrote: "Why are not carriage 
 lamps lit with gas? A meter could be placed under the 
 driver's seat to contain a month's supply for private car- 
 riages, and a week's for hacks. It would be a vast im- 
 provement over candles and oil." 
 
 Steamboats also are lighted with gas. 
 
 A tabulation for 1860 showed 381 companies 
 capitalized at $47,911,215. Coal gas was pro- 
 duced by 346 companies and rosin gas by 35. 
 The price of coal gas ran from $3.43 in Massa- 
 chusetts to $10.05 in California. The District 
 of Columbia paid $3.25. Rosin gas ran from 
 $5.93 in North Carolina to $7.00 in Maine, 
 Ohio, Rhode Island, and Virginia. 
 
 The same authority credits the following 
 cities as being the first in their respective states 
 to have gas companies: 
 
 1817, Baltimore, Md. 
 
 1822, Boston, Mass. 
 
 1823, New York City, N. Y. 
 1833, Evansville, Ind. 
 
 1835, New Orleans, La. 
 
 1836, Monroe, Mich. 
 
 1838, Louisville, Ky. 
 
 1839, St. Louis, Mo. 
 
 1841, Cincinnati and Philadelphia. 
 
 1846, Newark, N. J., and Charleston, S. C, 
 
 1847, New Haven, Conn.
 
 48 The Romance of the Gas Indu stry 
 
 1848, Providence, R. I. 
 
 1849, Chicago, 111., Great Falls, N. H., Port- 
 
 land, Me., and Savannah, Ga. 
 
 1850, Wheeling, W. Va., and Nashville, 
 
 Tenn. 
 
 1852, Montgomery, Ala., Milwaukee, Wis., 
 
 Montpelier, Vt.,San Francisco, Cal., 
 and Wilmington, Del. 
 
 1853, Vicksburg, Miss., and Wilmington, N. 
 
 C. 
 
 1854, Dubuque, Iowa. 
 
 1855, Washington, D. C. 
 
 1857, St. Paul, Minn. 
 
 1858, Galveston, Texas. 
 
 1859, Leavenworth, Kans., and Portland, 
 
 Oregon. 
 
 In 1850 the following cities in New York 
 State were listed as having gas companies: New 
 York City, 1823; Brooklyn, 1825; Manhattan, 
 1830; Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Troy, 
 1848; Auburn, Poughkeepsie, and Williams- 
 burg, 1850. 
 
 Illinois cities having gas in 1855 were: 
 Chicago, 1850; Quincy, Rock Island, and 
 Springfield, 1854; Galena, Ottawa, and Peoria, 
 1855.
 
 ''A Light Here, Maids, Hang Out Light " 49 
 
 The following account on the introduction of 
 gas service in Chicago is given in Kirkland's 
 History of Chicago: 
 
 Among the elements essential to the health and comfort 
 of inhabitants of any city are light and pure water, the 
 former of which has been more easily obtainable than the 
 latter, although Lake Michigan washes the shores of the 
 city. 
 
 In 1849 an act was passed by the legislature authorizing 
 the formation of the Chicago Gas Light & Coke Company. 
 
 The work of laying mains and constructing the necessary 
 buildings was completed in 1850 and the city was lighted 
 with gas in September in that year. 
 
 This event formed an epoch in Chicago's history. The 
 filling of the pipes with the lighting fluid and the bursting 
 forth of the brilliant flames when a match was applied, 
 illuminating with a new and beautiful light stores and 
 streets and buildings, were watched with intense interest 
 and delight by an admiring crowd of citizens. 
 
 The works were situated on the south side of Monroe 
 Street near Market. 
 
 The cost of lighting the city lamps was fixed at $15 a post. 
 By 1855 nearly 78 miles of service pipe had been laid and 
 there were almost 2,000 consumers of gas. 
 
 In the year 1916 a section of a wooden gas 
 pipe was dug up by laborers excavating for the 
 new Canal Street sewer opposite the North- 
 western Railroad Station. It was presented to 
 the Chicago Historical Society. It was a part 
 of a special main laid from the original gas 
 works at Monroe and Market streets, to the first
 
 50 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 station of the old Galena and Chicago Union 
 Railroad, located at Canal and Kinzie streets. 
 The main was laid in 1850 at a great expense. 
 Its three-inch bore furnished gas to light the 
 station and seven street lamp posts. 
 
 In 1854 Governor John Reynolds published 
 in Belleville a book, Sketches of the Country, in 
 which he stated: 
 
 Gas is used in this city to a great extent, and a company 
 is organized with a capital of $207,400 to furnish it. This 
 is another evidence that the people of Chicago prefer light to 
 darkness. Five miles and 2,978 feet of large gas-pipes have 
 been laid under ground in this city the last year, and the 
 total of the smaller pipes laid throughout the city is thirteen 
 miles and 638 feet. 
 
 In Andreas' History of Chicago we find the 
 following interesting account of the first use of 
 gas in Chicago. 
 
 The early history of the gas company and the 
 lighting of the city by that method is as follows : 
 An Act was approved February 12, 1849, 
 authorizing the formation of the Chicago Gas 
 Light & Coke Company, with H. L. Stewart, 
 W. S. Bennett, F. C. Sherman, P. L. Updike, 
 and P. Page as incorporators. Under its
 
 ''A Light Here, Maids, Hang Out Light " 51 
 
 charter, the company was given the exclusive 
 right to supply the city with gas for ten years. 
 In October the work was begun of laying the 
 mains, erecting works, and getting the whole 
 system into operation. The contract for this 
 was let to George F. Lee, of Philadelphia, and 
 the work was completed in August, 1850. The 
 city was lighted with gas for the first time 
 Wednesday afternoon, September 4, 1850. From 
 the Gem of the Prairie, bearing date of the 
 seventh of that month, the following interesting 
 account is taken: 
 
 The Gas Alight ! Wednesday marked an era in Chicago. 
 At about 2 o'clock p. m. the gas pipes were filled, and the 
 humming noise made by the escaping gas, at the tops of the 
 lamp-posts, indicated that everything was all right. Shortly 
 afterward the fire was appHed and brilliant torches flamed 
 on both sides of Lake Street as far as the eye could see, and 
 wherever the posts were set. The lanterns not having been 
 afiixed to the posts, the bright, gaseous flame eddied and 
 flickered in the wind, sometimes apparently disappearing, but 
 anon shooting up as brightly as ever. The burners in. Reed 
 & Co.'s and in Keen's were lighted about the same time, 
 presenting a steady golden fiame. We believe these estab- 
 lishments had the honor of first lighting up with gas ; others 
 will not be m.uch behind them. In the evening the lamps 
 were again lighted, and for the first time in the history of 
 Chicago several of the streets were illuminated in regular 
 city style. Hereafter she will not hide her light under a 
 bushel.
 
 52 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 Of the initial illumination the Chicago Jour- 
 nal also said: 
 
 Some of the stores on Lake Street, particularly those 
 devoted to California ware, made a brilliant appearance, and 
 the gas lent an additional glory to refined gold. But the 
 City Hall, with its thirty-six burners, is the lightest of all, 
 night being transformed into mimic day. 
 
 In 1849 the population of Chicago was 23,047. 
 The larger part of the population lived north of 
 the present mouth of the Chicago River. The 
 portions between Wabash Avenue and Adams 
 and Jackson streets were regarded as out of 
 town where wolves prowled about. Residents 
 pastured their cows there and a few lived there 
 in true country fashion. There were no sewers, 
 paved streets, sidewalks, omnibuses, nor rail- 
 roads. The Illinois and Michigan Canal, how- 
 ever, was in operation. The first boat had 
 arrived at Chicago from La Salle on April 23, 
 1848. 
 
 The development of gas lighting is chiefly 
 due to Robert Wilhelm von Bunsen and his 
 eminent pupil, Carl Auer von Welsbach. 
 These two men made possible the utilization of 
 gas for lighting and heating purposes.
 
 ''A Light Here, Maids, Hang Out Light " 53 
 
 Bunsen, an eminent German chemist, in- 
 vented in 1855 the blue flame gas burner with 
 which we are all familiar. This burner made 
 it possible to burn coal gas economically with an 
 intensely hot but smokeless flame. 
 
 All early burners were upright. Practically 
 no improvement in the Bunsen straight tube 
 burner was made until the ^'Kinetic burner" 
 was developed. In this type the gas carried 
 along about four times its volume of primary 
 air, making possible almost perfect combustion 
 and a more attractive burner design. 
 
 The '^ lime-light " was developed this time. 
 A piece of lime placed in an oxy-hydrogen flame 
 became heated to a brilliant incandescence 
 which was suitable for stage lighting and pro- 
 jection work. 
 
 Gillard, a Frenchman, made a gas mantle of 
 fine platinum wire, but its light was of too low 
 candle power. In 1881, Lungren, an American, 
 molded a mantle of magnesia, lime, and zirconia 
 for which the Franklin Institute awarded him 
 a medal. 
 
 Among the scholars who came from all parts
 
 54 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 of the world to study under Bunsen at Heidel- 
 berg was Carl Auer. While experimenting in 
 Bunsen's laboratory, Auer discovered accident- 
 ally that certain rare earths glowed brightly 
 when introduced in the flame of a gas burner. 
 This led him to apply oxides of cerium and thor- 
 ium to a cotton webbing, and thus the gas mantle 
 was invented. For this accomplishment he was 
 given the title of '^ von Welsbach." 
 
 The mantle produced a much better light 
 than the flat flame or slip tip burner. It gave 
 six times more light and used less gas. 
 
 The open flame burner required a gas rich in 
 illuminating qualities. The mantle burned a 
 leaner gas and made it unnecessary to keep up 
 two standards of heating and candle power. 
 
 It took a long time, however, for people to 
 adopt the gas mantle. They did not understand 
 that to persist in burning a high candle power 
 gas was just as wasteful and expensive as to 
 insist on using cream and eggs in preparing food 
 when milk and some other ingredient would 
 make just as palatable a dish. The slight cost 
 of a mantle kept them from getting a better light
 
 ''A Light Here, Maids, Hang Out Light '' 55 
 
 with a lower gas consumption. Complaints on 
 the amount of the monthly gas bill have been 
 due largely to the use of obsolete or inefficient 
 gas burning appliances. Carelessness has also 
 been the cause of large bills. Jules Verne's hero 
 in Around the World in Eighty Days had a big 
 gas bill to pay because he forgot to turn the gas 
 light off in the bathroom. 
 
 The incandescent gas mantle was, there- 
 fore, not used to any great extent until 1890. 
 The inverted gas mantles were introduced in 
 1900. 
 
 The Welsbach mantle was applied to street 
 lighting in 1896. Street lighting by gas has, un- 
 fortunately, always been placed at a great 
 disadvantage in the United States because of the 
 reluctance of communities to replace the open 
 flame burner with gas mantles. 
 
 In Europe, however, where economy is the 
 watchword everywhere, gas lighting was exten- 
 sively used. Inverted gas mantles, high pressure 
 gas and several systems of automatic and 
 distance lighting and extinguishing made gas a 
 formidable rival of electricity.
 
 56 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 On seeing Paris lighted by electricity Robert 
 Louis Stevenson wrote in his Virginibus Puer- 
 isque, a remarkable literary appreciation of gas 
 lighting, entitled "A Plea for Gas Lamps.'^ 
 This closes : 
 
 A new sort of urban star now shines out nightly, horrible, 
 unearthly, obnoxious to the human eye; a lamp for a night- 
 mare! Such a light as this should shine forth only on 
 murders and public crimes, or along the corridors of 
 lunatic asylums, a horror to heighten horror. To look at it 
 only once is to fall in love with gas, which gives a warm 
 domestic radiance fit to eat by. That ugly blinding glare 
 may not improperly advertise the home of slanderous Figaro, 
 which is a back-shop to the infernal regions; but where soft 
 joys prevail, where people are convoked to pleasure and the 
 philosopher looks on, smiling and silent, where love and 
 laughter and deifying wine abound, there, at least, let the old 
 mild lustre shine upon the eyes of man. 
 
 Gas lighting has always had to fight hard 
 against competitive illuminants. The reason for 
 this has best been stated by Messrs. Goddard 
 and Mitchell before the Eastern Counties Gas 
 Managers Association (England) in 1889: 
 
 Supplying gas of a quality above that for which the con- 
 sumers' burners were adapted has done gas companies a 
 
 great deal of harm When people burned other kinds 
 
 of illuminants, they were satisfied with a much smaller 
 quantity of light. They said : " How hot your gas makes 
 the room ! " And why ? Because they were using ten to
 
 ^'A Light Here, Maids, Hang Out Light " 57 
 
 tw^elve times more light than if they burned candles or oil; 
 and the result was great heat. 
 
 Th's condition held true in competing with 
 electric lighting. Gas units gave a greater vol- 
 ume of light than electric units and, of course, 
 more heat. But when units are comparable 
 there is practically no difference in heat. Doctor 
 Rideal brought this fact out in his famous series 
 of experiments on the comparative value of gas 
 and electricity for lighting. The Welsbach 
 Company has made a brief summary of this re- 
 port in a pamphlet, Hygienic Value of Gas 
 Lighting. 
 
 The statement that " gas burns up the oxygen 
 in the air " has also done a great deal of harm 
 to the industry. Even doctors believe this. But, 
 it is only a half truth and that is why it has been 
 so injurious. Gas does burn oxygen, but there 
 is always plenty of oxygen left in the room be- 
 cause no room is air-tight. The earth's atmos- 
 phere contains about twenty per cent of oxygen 
 and this proportion is maintained within eleven 
 miles of the ground. So, if gas is being burned, 
 more air and oxygen is constantly rushing in
 
 58 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 through pores and crevices to fill the vacuum. 
 Nature, you know, abhors a vacuum. 
 
 As a matter of fact gas is really a good scav- 
 enger in that it burns up the impurities in the 
 air. If any personal discomfort is experienced 
 w^here gas is used, it is generally caused by car- 
 bon monoxide which is the result of incomplete 
 combustion of the gas due to improperly regu- 
 lated or designed burners. 
 
 When a rich gas is imperfectly burned, car- 
 bon is formed, some of which escapes into the 
 air and blackens ceilings. Gas, however, is not 
 the only cause of blackened ceilings. Any cur- 
 rent of air from a heated stove, or radiator will 
 carry along the dust in the air and deposit it on 
 ceiling or wall.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 HOW SUNSHINE IS RELEASED FOR THE USE OF 
 
 MAN 
 
 / remember^ oh yes, I remember 
 
 When light was beginning to daivn. 
 
 How I floated about in the ether — 
 A poor little atom forlorn 
 
 And went through the chaos and darkness. 
 
 — Author Unknown. 
 
 ACCORDING to geologists, learned persons 
 who have made a study of the earth, 
 millions of years ago, when our forefathers still 
 lived in caves and trees and were having a 
 strenuous struggle to keep alive, a mineral was 
 formed, without which we too would be having 
 a very difficult time. In this particular age a 
 large part of Mother Earth was covered with 
 immense forests — very high and thick — more 
 luxuriant than the densest jungles of our tropics 
 today. Man was still uncivilized, in fact, was 
 as savage as the beasts that inhabited this jungle 
 world. There were in those days real dragons 
 
 59
 
 60 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 and monsters — and their names are mammoth 
 too, ichthyosauria, dinosauria, etc. Some flew, 
 some crawled, some ran, and some swam. These 
 lived and fought in the luxurious vegetation on 
 land and in water. 
 
 Brute force ruled and the strongest survived. 
 Man, with brain not yet developed, had an 
 uphill fight to survive against the strength, the 
 claws, and the teeth of savage beasts. 
 
 Now there is in the leaves of ferns, plants, and 
 trees a mysterious substance called chlorophyll. 
 It gives the green color to the foliage in the 
 same way that the haemoglobin in the red-cor- 
 puscle gives the red color to the blood. Both 
 chlorophyll and haemoglobin perform some 
 chemical miracle, and are essential to the life 
 of the plant or the animal. 
 
 Maple sugar, you know, is really made in the 
 leaves of the maple tree. Now in some wonder- 
 ful way the chlorophyll uses the light of the 
 sun to form carbohydrates, and thus each leaf 
 stores away a little bit of the radiant energy re- 
 ceived from the sun. Astronomers say that this 
 energy amounts to about 5,000 horse-power an
 
 How Sunshine Is Released for Use of Man 61 
 
 acre at the earth's surface at noon time. That 
 is quite a large amount of heat to receive for 
 nothing, but then the sun is just one giant heat 
 engine that has been working for a billion, 
 yes, maybe a hundred billion years. Its tem- 
 perature has been estimated at 5,000 to 8,000 
 degrees Centigrade. Every square yard of its 
 surface emits 12,500 to 75,000 horse-power. The 
 energy produced by three square feet of Old 
 Sol's surface is equalled by few of our largest 
 electric power plants. To produce three square 
 feet of the sun's energy would require the burn- 
 ing of a layer of coal twenty feet thick every 
 hour. The sun is continually sending forth out 
 into space about half a trillion horse-power of 
 energy. Most of this is wasted. Our earth 
 intercepts about one two-billionth of it. The 
 energy falling on an average sized roof, if util- 
 ized, is thought to be sufficient to light a modern 
 city. According to a prominent chemist, the 
 Sahara Desert receives daily a solar energy 
 equivalent to six million tons of coal. 
 
 While ferns, plants, and trees in jungles were 
 absorbing the radiant energy from the sun
 
 62 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 certain changes were slowly taking place during 
 these millions of years. Like all youngsters, our 
 Mother Earth was beset with frequent spells of 
 convulsions, fevers, etc. Her face was all 
 broken out in spots. The luxurious vegetation, 
 which died, underwent partial decay, and be- 
 came covered by upper growths of vegetation, 
 was buried under millions of tons of heavy rock 
 — thousands of feet below the earth's surface. 
 This imponderable mass exerted an immeasur- 
 able pressure upon the buried vegetation. The 
 long ages of resulting heat and chemical action 
 gradually changed these dense green forests into 
 the compact black mass, now known as coal. 
 The coal mines of Illinois and of Pennsylvania 
 were therefore on a trackless jungle. Just 
 how long it took nature to build these mines 
 is uncertain. But a beech forest one hundred 
 years old is thought to supply enough material 
 for a coal vein only three-fourths (^) of an 
 inch thick. Many veins range from twenty to 
 thirty feet thick, and veins two hundred and 
 fifty feet thick have been mentioned. 
 
 A tallow candle makes its own gas as it burns
 
 Primeval Forest Whose Luxuriant Vegetation Absorbed 
 Radiant Energv and Was Converted into Coal 
 
 Undercutting a Breast of Coal with a Compressed Air 
 Puncher
 
 How Sunshine Is Released for Use of Man 63 
 
 and is, therefore, really a small gas factory. 
 While it burns its own gas completely it is more 
 convenient and economical to have gas manu- 
 factured on a large scale and delivered in pipes, 
 whenever and wherever it is needed. Since 
 we have learned that the sun is the source of all 
 energy — light and heat — and know how this 
 energy w^as stored up in coal, we are now ready 
 to learn how this energy is released and con- 
 verted into a fluid form, gas, for the use of man. 
 
 We have learned that gas exists in the earth. 
 But since it occurs only in certain sections of the 
 country it has to be piped long distances to sec- 
 tions that do not have natural gas, which in- 
 creases the expense of distribution. Further- 
 more, these natural gas regions are gradually 
 being exhausted and have to be supplied from 
 other fields. The gas fields of Pennsylvania are 
 rapidly becoming depleted and a pipe line run- 
 ning all the way from Texas carries natural gas 
 from that region to Pennsylvania just as pipe 
 lines carry oil from Oklahoma regions to 
 Whiting, Indiana. 
 
 So in order to supply people with a clean fuel
 
 64 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 in convenient form, gas has often to be manu- 
 factured. Manufactured gas is made either 
 from coal or oil and these, we have seen, might 
 really be called solidified or liquefied sunshine. 
 There are three chief kinds of gases made from 
 coal and oil: 
 
 1. Coal gas from coal. 
 
 2. Carbureted water gas from coke and oil. 
 
 3. Oil gas from oil alone. 
 
 We have seen how the coal gas process was 
 discovered in England. It was quite natural 
 that gas should be made from coal because it was 
 very plentiful. The cost of transportation was 
 low, and oil scarce. However, processes for 
 making oil gas were considered. Between 1815- 
 1823 several companies had been formed but 
 these failed. 
 
 In 1819 David Gordon obtained a "patent for 
 making vessels of great strength'' which led to 
 the formation of "The London Portable Gas 
 Company." This project also failed. 
 
 It is interesting to note that Murdock had also 
 tried to make gas portable. In one of his de- 
 scriptions he says:
 
 How Sunshine Is Released for Use of Man 65 
 
 Bags of leather and of varnished silk, bladders and vessels 
 of tinned iron were filled with the gas, which was set fire 
 to and carried about from room to room with a view of 
 ascertaining how far it could be made to answer the purpose 
 of a movable or transferable light. 
 
 You will remember that Murdock was ridi- 
 culed for wearing a wooden hat and carrying a 
 gas lantern made of a bladder. 
 
 Experimental Gas Container of 1780 
 
 When the gas industry was started in the 
 United States it naturally copied the process 
 used in Europe. Good gas coal was not always 
 readily accessible. Natural gas and petroleum 
 were keen competitors, so a cheaper process than 
 coal gas was desirable and later developed. The
 
 66 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 fundamental discovery which led to the intro- 
 duction of coal gas for city and home use has 
 been described. 
 
 All coal gas is produced by heating bitu- 
 minous (*^soft") coal in closed vessels, called 
 retorts or ovens, to a temperature which will 
 cause the coal to decompose. 
 
 Not all bituminous coals are satisfactory. 
 *^ Gas Coal " must possess about one-third vola- 
 tile matter (the part that is driven off to pro- 
 duce the gas), a low per cent of ash, less than 
 one per cent of sulphur (because of trouble in 
 removing the sulphur later) and in addition 
 must produce a salable residue called coke. 
 
 Retorts in which the coal is heated (that is, 
 subjected to destructive distillation) are of rath- 
 er varied design, but the principle of operation 
 is the same for all. Coal is fed in at the top 
 and travels slowly toward the bottom. In the 
 first foot or two little change occurs in the ap- 
 pearance of the coal, but during travel, the coal 
 nearest the wall becomes pasty and swells and 
 some gas begins to come off and pass out at the 
 top through the " Hydraulic main."
 
 Hoiv Sunshine Is Released for Use of Man 67 
 
 As the coal travels farther down the retort, 
 more and more of it becomes pasty and more 
 gas is produced. By the time the coal has trav- 
 eled half vs^ay down the retort, it has all softened 
 and some of it is beginning to ^' coke," that is, 
 become dry and hard because the volatile or gas- 
 eous matter is nearly all gone. When the coal 
 has reached the bottom of the retort, practically 
 all the gas has been driven off by the heat and 
 there remains the porous brittle coke composed 
 of the '' fixed carbon " and the mineral matter 
 or ash of the original coal. 
 
 The water g^s process was foreshadowed by 
 Fontana in^S^j^in 1834 Ibbetson applied the 
 idea by passing steam through a mass of incan- 
 descent carbon. Within thirty-five years there 
 were over sixty patents for water gas processes 
 issued. 
 
 Professor Thaddeus S. C. Lowe, however, is 
 the father of the carbureted water gas process, 
 which is, therefore, generally referred to as the 
 Lowe process. He secured a patent in 1872 for 
 making water gas, and also one in 1873 for a 
 coal gas process. Tessie Du Motay also per-
 
 68 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 fected the same process at the same time but 
 independently of Professor Lowe. 
 
 Lowe first began making gas for balloons in 
 1862, during the Civil War for the Army of the 
 Potomac, and was said to be perfecting the 
 construction of a huge airship like the Zeppe- 
 lin, just before he died. Napoleon, you remem- 
 ber, made good use of balloons when he was 
 master of Europe. 
 
 Professor Lowe patented, in 1865, the first 
 machine for making ice; and founded, on 
 Mount Lowe, in California, the observatory 
 which bears his name. He was born in 1832 
 and died in 1913. 
 
 Carbureted water gas is made intermittently 
 and the process involves the production of two 
 kinds of gases, blue gas (or water gas) and oil 
 gas to carburet or "enrich" the blue gas. 
 
 Coke and oil are the chief raw materials for 
 making carbureted water gas. The coke must 
 be hard to crush, low in sulphur, and low in ash 
 which should have a high fusing temperature. 
 If anthracite ("hard") coal is used instead of 
 coke, the coal must fulfil the same requirements
 
 How Sunshine Is Released for Use of Man 69 
 
 ^QP.S OIL 
 
 SUPERH[ATE 
 
 CW».3URETCR 
 JBlRST IMLET 
 
 USED ONl-Y TO 
 HEBT CHECKER 
 BRICK WKEN CA» 
 IS NOT BtlN4 
 WAOL. 
 
 roOR WHICH 
 IS REMOVED 
 TO CHRRCE. COKES 
 
 INTO &ENtRRT0R 
 
 (M, NEEDED. 
 
 SARBURLTER. 
 
 CENERRTOR. 
 
 DOOR 
 WHICH IS' 
 REMOVED TO 
 CLEAN OUT 
 CL1NKE.RS AND 
 /»5MtS. 
 
 &i3- 
 
 rh 
 
 SUPE.RHERTER 
 BLRST INLE.T 
 
 USED ONLY TO 
 HEAT CHECKER 
 BP.ICK WHEN <;ASI» 
 NOT OElNCMROt. 
 
 OP^RPTINC. FL<?9,|^ 
 
 -VERY HOT COKE 
 
 ACTS ON STLRMTOFORM 
 BLUE OR WATER GAS. 
 
 7<— BLAST 09EOT0 HtflT COKt »ft«C», 
 
 INLET. CBS \S NOT 6EINC MADt. ' 
 
 ... ^ '/:':"X ^ ^7ffvy^^^^^■!; ^ ^.•'^ -^ .- ■ . ■ ,. 
 
 What goes on in a " gas machine "
 
 70 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 as the coke. Oil for carbureting should contain 
 little sulphur and asphalt. 
 
 One type of carbureted water gas set consists 
 of three round steel towers, the generator, the 
 carburetor, and the superheater. The last two 
 are lined with firebricks, and are almost filled 
 with layers of bricks so as to give a honeycomb 
 interior. 
 
 The generator is filled almost full of burning 
 coke and air is blown through it until the fuel 
 is nearly white hot and the checker bricks in 
 the other compartments are dull red. Then the 
 air is shut off and steam is passed through 
 the hot fuel bed. Steam reacts with the hot 
 carbon (which is a large part of coke) to pro- 
 duce blue gas which is composed of two gases, 
 hydrogen and carbon monoxide. 
 
 But blue gas does not have a high enough 
 heating value and has to be passed into the other 
 chambers where gas oil (part of petroleum after 
 gasoline, kerosene, etc., have been removed) is 
 sprayed upon the hot checker bricks. The gas- 
 oil decomposes into oil-gas which mixes with the 
 blue gas, thus increasing the heating value to
 
 How Sunshine Is Released for Use of Man 71 
 
 the point required for lighting, heating, cook- 
 ing, and power. 
 
 When the coke and the checker bricks have 
 become cool (because it takes a lot of heat to 
 make gas), the oil and steam are shut off and air 
 again blown through the coke until the set is hot 
 enough to make gas. This cycle of "blows and 
 runs" is repeated throughout the twenty-four 
 hours, with intermissions only to '^ charge " more 
 coke into the generator or to clean ashes from 
 the generator grate. 
 
 Charles Lampkin operated one of Professor 
 Lowe's first carbureted water gas sets. Everyone 
 was afraid the apparatus would explode, and to 
 protect the operator the valves were placed 
 behind a stone wall. Peep-holes were made in 
 the wall so that those present could watch the 
 set. Everyone was surprised when there was no 
 explosion. 
 
 At Phoenixville, Pa., the first water gas plant 
 was built in 1874; the second plant was installed 
 in 1874-5 at Conshohocken, Pa., and caused a 
 revolution in gas making. It was a " one-man 
 plant" for William M. Cosh made all the gas,
 
 72 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 put in services, set all meters, took meter read- 
 ings, made out bills, collected the money, banked 
 it, bought and paid for all material used. 
 
 The apparatus for the new process was more 
 compact, and generally required less labor, so 
 its use spread quite rapidly, especially when 
 Pennsylvania petroleum became commercially 
 available. 
 
 The water-gas process was introduced into 
 England by an American called Van Steen- 
 burgh, in 1889. Alexander C. Humphreys, 
 President of Stevens Institute, built the first 
 plant at Beckton in 1890. A modification of the 
 Lowe plant, known as the " Humphreys and 
 Glasgow," is the one most used in England, 
 where the process is chiefly used to enrich and 
 augment the supply of coal gas. 
 
 In England a process of making gas from oil 
 was promoted as early as 1820, and in spite of 
 vigorous opposition a Bill for that purpose was 
 defeated and Bristol lighted with gas in 1823. 
 
 On the Pacific Coast where coal is scarce, gas 
 is made from oil which is plentiful. Two men 
 lay claim to the method: E. C. Jones, until
 
 MANUFACTliRE OF COAL GAS 
 
 MANUFACTURE OF C4RBURETTED 
 >«S^i...c» WATER GAS 
 
 Water Gas Apparatus
 
 How Sunshine Is Released for Use of Man 73 
 
 recently Chief Engineer of the Pacific Gas and 
 Electric Company, and Leon P. Lowe, son of 
 Professor Lowe who invented the carbureted 
 water-gas method, which is the basic process. 
 
 It is claimed that the Jones process w^as in- 
 stalled December, 1904, and that Lowe's patents 
 were secured respectively, in 1906 and 1908. 
 
 Oil gas is made in an apparatus similar to 
 that for making carbureted water-gas. How- 
 ever, the entire apparatus is filled with checker 
 bricks, and oil alone is used for fuel. 
 
 During the heating period oil is burned with 
 air in the checkerwork; then during the gas- 
 making period oil is decomposed by the heat 
 retained in the checker brick. But there is much 
 lamp black (carbon) produced when oil is 
 decomposed; so steam is introduced with the 
 oil to react with the hot carbon, just as in 
 making carbureted water-gas, thus increasing 
 the amount of gas produced. 
 
 In order to have a steady supply of coke of 
 uniformly high quality for their water-gas 
 plants, some gas companies operate by-product 
 coke-ovens. Such a plant produces both coal
 
 74 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 gas and coke. The operation is somewhat as 
 follows: Bituminous (soft) coal, crushed to a 
 uniform size that 80 per cent of it will pass 
 through a screen with quarter-inch openings, is 
 hoisted to large coal bins located above the cok- 
 ing-ovens. Four chutes at the bottom of these 
 bins deliver the coal into four compartments of 
 a larry car. This larry is electrically driven on 
 a track laid on the top of the ovens that are to be 
 charged, and is filled with coal. When the coal- 
 loaded larry is immediately over the ovens, the 
 charging doors are opened, the coal allowed to 
 drop from the compartments into the ovens, and 
 the oven doors closed and luted (sealed). 
 
 The coal in the air-tight chambers is then 
 gradually heated, practically melted, by indi- 
 rect heat conducted into the several flues built in 
 the brick walls surrounding the ovens, and 
 produced by the combustion of fuel gas. The 
 temperature in these wall flues varies with the 
 coking period, but is generally kept at 2400° to 
 2600° Fahrenheit for a sixteen to tvventy-four 
 hour period. 
 
 At the end of the carbonizing period the oven
 
 Hoiv Sunshine Is Released for Use of Man 75 
 
 doors at each end of the oven are removed and 
 the hot coke forced out by the pusher ram into a 
 coke car which is hustled to a quenching station 
 where just enough water is sprayed on the coke 
 to stop it from burning. 
 
 The coke car delivers the coke onto a sloping 
 wharf where it cools before being low^ered on 
 the belt conveyor. On this belt the coke is car- 
 ried over a series of screens where it is separated 
 into several sizes according to use. Other belts 
 carry the coke away — the large size to the coke 
 bins for water-gas production or into cars for 
 metallurgical uses; smaller size for domestic 
 use; and the finest, called "breeze," to the boiler 
 house for generating steam. 
 
 That disposes of the coke. The gas produced 
 is handled in the usual way. It leaves the oven 
 chambers through a pipe, usually called the 
 "hydraulic main" into a primary cooler, 
 condenser, then to the exhausters, through the 
 tar extractors, under pressure, to the saturators 
 where the ammonia sulphate is removed. The 
 gas goes next to another cooler, part returned to 
 the ovens for reheating them up for the next
 
 76 TJie Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 charge, and the remainder through the purify- 
 ing apparatus and into the storage holder for 
 delivery to the consumer. 
 
 The by-product coke-oven process was pri- 
 marily designed for producing coke for steel- 
 making purposes; it also yields large quantities 
 of industrial gas, ammonia, tar and other by- 
 products. The coal gas process primarily sup- 
 plies gas. Coke, ammonia, tar, etc., are by- 
 products. 
 
 Besides the coal gas and the by-product coke- 
 oven processes, a third method of distilling coal 
 on a large scale is in beehive coke-ovens. Coke 
 alone is produced, the gas is partly used to 
 produce the heat needed in carbonizing the coal, 
 or is allowed to escape in the air. Because of 
 its waste, this method is rapidly being replaced 
 by ovens of the recovery type. 
 
 In the preceding paragraphs, the method of 
 making gas in each of four ways has been briefly 
 told. There are other gases, such as producer 
 gas, Pintsch gas, etc., but the processes are vari- 
 ations of those described. 
 
 There are in all manufactured gas, even
 
 m
 
 How Sunshine Is Released for Use of Man 77 
 
 though the best quality of coal, coke and oil is 
 used as prescribed under each process, impuri- 
 ties which give to gas a strong smell. Some of 
 these impurities are injurious to health and 
 therefore must be removed. 
 
 Cover 
 
 Purifying box 
 
 As the gas is released from the coal, coke, or 
 oil it passes through several large containers, 
 (condenser, scrubber, and purifier) through
 
 78 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 cold water, over wooden slat trays, ahd through 
 wood shavings mixed with iron oxide. Little 
 by little the tar and vapors settle in the water 
 
 Relief gas holder. Notice water at bottom even with gas 
 
 inlet and outlet. Row boats, used in constructing large 
 
 storage holders, are often left in holders 
 
 and on the wood, sulphur and ammonia are 
 removed in scrubbers and purifying boxes. Not 
 all these impurities can be removed, however.
 
 How Sunshine Is Released for Use of Man 79 
 
 And it is a good thing that they cannot. For 
 the gas is colorless and cannot be seen; and, if 
 it also had no smell, we would not be able to 
 notice it w^hen it escaped. 
 
 Unless gas is kept under perfect control, it 
 becomes dangerous just like fire, water, and 
 electricity. After being made, gas is stored in 
 large tanks. These tanks are called gas holders, 
 since they hold the gas in storage until mother 
 needs it for preparing breakfast and the manu- 
 facturer for heating. 
 
 Lavoisier, a Frenchman, discovered the prin- 
 ciple of the gas holder in 1781. A holder is 
 built like a collapsible drinking cup turned 
 upside down. The lowest section is practically 
 filled with water; the cups, or overlapping rims, 
 are also filled w^ith water to keep them gas-tight. 
 As the gas enters at the bottom, it slowly pushes 
 up first the top lift and then the others, one by 
 one. 
 
 In the early days of the industry, gas holders 
 were inclosed in brick buildings to keep them 
 from being blown down by strong winds, and to 
 keep the water in the cups from freezing in win-
 
 80 
 
 The Roma?ice of the Gas Industry 
 
 ter. There are two such built-in holders in 
 Chicago. Today, an excellent system of guide 
 framing and steam circulation in cups do away 
 with the necessity for this building protec- 
 tion. 
 
 Gun barrels screwed together into a continuous tube for 
 delivering gas 
 
 Were it not possible to keep the '^soul of 
 coal" in tight holders and pipes, gas would be 
 doing a great harm — instead of a great good — 
 in this world. Fortunately men have learned 
 not only how to keep gas under control — just 
 as the fisherman did with the wicked genie that
 
 H ow Sunshine Is Released for Use of Man 81 
 
 almost escaped from the urn he found near the 
 seashore — but also to put gas to thousands of 
 profitable uses. 
 
 From the holder gas is conducted to homes 
 and factories, first in large cast iron or steel 
 mains, and from these through smaller pipes, 
 called "services," to the exact place where heat 
 or light is wanted. 
 
 It is said that at first gun barrels were used 
 in England to distribute gas ; wooden pipes have 
 also been used. A small company in Rhode 
 Island has still 300 feet of wooden mains in use. 
 Glass and concrete pipes have been used. 
 
 Both gas and water are delivered in cities 
 through pipes. The gas supply never fails. It 
 is always ready for immediate delivery. Use 
 it in any quantity and pay for it after use. 
 
 Managers of gas plants take great pride in 
 manufacturing and selling to the public a ser- 
 vice that never fails — although labor and ma- 
 terial may be scarce and dear. 
 
 In King's Treatise on the Manufacture and 
 Distribution of Coal Gas published in 1878 we 
 read:
 
 82 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 Before the invention of the meter the quantity and cost of 
 the gas supplied to the pubhc were estimated by the number 
 of hours it was consumed through burners of a given size, 
 inspectors being appointed to go the round of the several dis- 
 tricts at stipulated hours of the night, to see that the lights 
 were duly extinguished according to contract. When the 
 light was seen to be burning beyond the prescribed hour in 
 any premises, the inspector announced his visit by striking an 
 iron rod which he carried, or if this was ineffectual, by a 
 loud rap at the door of the consumer, and this was usually 
 the signal for a general extinguishment, resort being then 
 had to the dim and imperfect light of the candle or oil 
 lamps as they then existed ; and when these warnings were 
 of no effect, it was the inspector's duty to close the tap at- 
 tached to the service pipe in the street outside. 
 
 It will readily be understood that the contract system was 
 fruitful of complaint and disagreement between the compa- 
 nies and their customers and that unscrupulous consumers 
 reaped advantages at the expense of the companies, and be- 
 yond what their more honest neighbors cared to appropriate. 
 In this w^ay the introduction of some method of measurement 
 by automatic and inexpensive means became a matter of 
 pressing necessity; but even after the invention of the meter, 
 for many years the system of allowing private consumers to 
 burn by contract was continued to a greater or less extent. 
 The adoption of the meter was even discouraged by some of 
 the companies, so difficult is it to move some minds out of 
 the rut in which they have been accustomed to travel. 
 
 Peckston in his Theory and Practice of Gas 
 Lighting, 1833, says: 
 
 The idea of selling the gas by measure, instead of the inac- 
 curate method of disposing thereof by the time of burning 
 and size of burner, seems to have originated with the Char- 
 tered Gas Light Company in the year 1815; for, in the 
 latter end of that year, or very early in the ensuing one, Mr.
 
 How Sunshine Is Released for Use of Man 83 
 
 Samuel Clegg, who was at that time its engineer, constructed 
 a gas meter of the following description: To a wooden 
 frame were attached two small cylindrical vessels, in which 
 worked two gas holders, each containing, we w^ill say, for the 
 sake of speaking of a specific quantity, one cubic foot. 
 
 About 1840 (this quotation is from Richards' Practical 
 Treatise on the Manufacture and Distribution of Coal 
 Gas), the Chartered Company began to understand the great 
 importance of the instruments in question, and by their 
 directors it w^as resolved that meters should be introduced to 
 the exclusion of contract burning, or, as it may now be nec- 
 essary to explain, the sj^stem of charging a certain sum per 
 annum for each light upon the premises, as universally 
 adopted before the introduction of the meter. This resolu- 
 tion met with the strongest opposition from consumers ; and 
 subsequently, when it was decided that the supply would be 
 discontinued if not furnished by this means, many submitted 
 for a time to that alternative rather than admit the "mystery 
 box," as it w^as sometimes called, into their premises. 
 
 And it must be admitted when all circumstances are con- 
 sidered, that there was some excuse for this prejudice, for 
 the action of the instrument itself, measuring constantly and 
 silently, a subtle fluid like gas, was to many no doubt myste- 
 rious. Moreover, a most imperfect surveillance had previ- 
 ously been observed with respect to contract consumers, who 
 frequently burned three or four times the quantity of gas 
 they were entitled to, which by the meter was, however, cor- 
 rected, w^hen for want of a better means of explanation, the 
 extra charge was attributed to a system of jugglery, of 
 which, by some consumers, gas inspectors were considered 
 adepts. 
 
 In France the meter was legalized as a measure in 1846, 
 when the government made the necessary stipulation as to 
 range or variation from the correct measurement, and the 
 other rules to be observed in the construction of these instru- 
 ments. A few years afterwards most of the continental 
 countries adopted similar steps.
 
 84 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 Both manufactured gas and natural gas had 
 been sold on a contract basis. It was this unme- 
 tered service that exhausted the supply of 
 natural gas so early in the United States. 
 Natural gas was allowed to burn both day and 
 night. Companies that furnished manufactured 
 gas, however, had an inspector make the rounds 
 at a certain hour at night. He announced his 
 visit with loud rappings on the sidewalk when 
 people would resort to candles or oil lamps. If 
 they did not discontinue gas lighting, he would 
 promptly shut ofi the gas. 
 
 In 1859 there were nearly 1,000 public gas 
 works in England. The 1921 Gas World 
 Directory gives the following statistics on the 
 gas industry in Great Britain and Ireland for 
 1920: 
 
 Gas undertakings 1,159 
 
 Consumers 8,102,226 
 
 Meters 4,337,987 
 
 Cookers and grillers 4,915,846 
 
 Cubic feet of gas 260,764,000,000 
 
 Australasia is credited w^ith 166 gas under- 
 takings; Canada with 42; and all other British 
 possessions with 12.
 
 »KEN FROM ADVERTISEMENT IN AMERICAN GAS LIGHT JOURNAL. 
 
 Reading Gas Meter (1860) and Mailing Letter in Box Attached 
 to Gas Light Post
 
 Gas Meter with Glass Sides Sliows Inside Mechanism
 
 How Sunshine Is Released for Use of Man 85 
 
 Statistics for otiier European countries would 
 in all probability show similar large increases. 
 
 In 1860 there were 23 gas companies in Can- 
 ada. Among the earliest towns to have gas were: 
 Halifax, 1843; Montreal and Quebec, 1847; 
 Toronto, 1848; and Ottawa in 1854. 
 
 Cuba, Mexico and South America had 14 
 gas companies in 1859. 
 
 Statistics compiled by the American Gas 
 Light Journal in 1859 showxd that there existed 
 297 gas companies in the United States capital- 
 ized at $42,861,174, supplying a population of 
 4,857,000 through 227,605 private meters. 
 
 There has been wide growth in the use of gas 
 in the last twenty years. Statistics show the 
 growth as follows: 
 
 GAS PRODUCTION, 1901 TO 1920, IN 1,000 CUBIC FEET. 
 
 1901 101,625,366 191 1 159,100,674 
 
 1902 92,714,667 1912 178,228,754 
 
 1903 105,676,479 1913 188,285,840 
 
 1904 1 13,930,140 1914 198,838,834 
 
 1905 112,444,237 1915 204,309,522 
 
 1906 122,849,725 1916 231,381,313 
 
 1907 132,011,582 1917 264,493,003 
 
 1908 138,570,073 1918 271,593,141 
 
 1909 143,1 17,693 1919 306,632,786 
 
 1910 149,430,549 1920 319,888,000
 
 86 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 The American Gas Association reported the 
 following statistics for the year 1920: 
 
 Water gas companies 444 
 
 Coal gas companies 220 
 
 Coal gas and water gas mixed 145 
 
 By-Products coke oven plants 86 
 
 Oil gas 62 
 
 Coke oven mixed with other gas 8 
 
 Oil gas and coal gas mixed 2 
 
 Oil gas and water gas mixed 2 
 
 Coal gas and natural gas mixed 1 
 
 Uncertain 6 
 
 Distributing plants (gas bought) 76 
 
 Total number of plants 1,052 
 
 Carbureted water gas 
 
 manufactured 211,571,000,000 cubic feet 
 
 Coal gas 65,545,000,000 " " 
 
 Oil gas 23,707,000,000 " " 
 
 Other gases 49,409,000,000 " " 
 
 Total 350,232,000,000 " " 
 
 Cities supplied with gas - . . . 4,600 
 
 Miles of mains 68,450 
 
 Gas users (households and indus- 
 tries) 8,837,270 
 
 Population served 45,997,000 
 
 Coal used — bituminous 7,778,000 short tons 
 
 Coal used — anthracite 2,025,000 " " 
 
 Gas oil used 954,516,000 gallons 
 
 The gas for domestic purposes was used in the 
 following appliances:
 
 How Sunshine Is Released for Use of Man 87 
 
 Cooking appliances 6,670,000 
 
 Water heaters 1,423,000 
 
 Room heaters 1,124,000 
 
 Gas mantles for lighting 10,000,000 
 
 The average monthly consumption shows that 
 there is still a large field for gas service in 
 homes. In manufacturing processes for heating 
 purposes of all kinds the field is even greater. 
 Before many years the proportion of gas used 
 for industrial purposes should be as large, if not 
 larger, than that for household uses. Just what 
 that would mean can be seen from the following 
 table: 
 
 KOW GAS WAS USED IN 1920 
 
 Illumination 67,176,000,000 cubic feet 21.00% 
 
 Domestic (not ilium.).. 172,740,000,000 " *' 54.00% 
 
 Factories 69,320,000,000 '* " 21.67% 
 
 Miscellaneous 10,652,000,000 " " 3.33% 
 
 Total 319,888,000,000 " " 100.00% 
 
 A report of the Bureau of Census issued July 
 30, 1921, gives the following progress of the 
 petroleum and natural gas industries for the 
 period between the years 1909 and 1919:
 
 88 The Romance of the Gas Ind ustry 
 
 Per cent 
 1919 1909 inc. 
 
 Number of enterprises. 9,814 7,793 25.9 
 
 Number of petroleum 
 
 and natural gas wells 260,673 166,320 56.7 
 
 Number of natural gas 
 
 — gasoline plants ... 1,118 
 
 Number of persons em- 
 ployed 125,077 59,085 111.7 
 
 Power used (horse- 
 power) 1,821,367 1,221,969 49.1 
 
 Capital invested $2,421,485,942 $683,268,497 254.4 
 
 Products 1,001,316,060 185,416,684 440.2 
 
 Petroleum (42 gallons) 360,016,400 171,559,394 109.8 
 
 Natural gas (1,000 
 cubic feet) 1,276,152,627 559,800,490 118.2 
 
 Natural gas gasoline 
 
 (gallons) 453,949,852 
 
 Now as to coal: The U. S. Geological Sur- 
 vey estimated the total production of coal in the 
 world as 1,430,000,0(X) tons in 1920. Of this 
 amount the United States produced about 
 586,000,000 tons, and Great Britain, second in 
 rank of output, 232,975,000 tons. 
 
 The growth of the manufactured gas industry, 
 however, is not to be measured by the total num- 
 ber of companies listed in a directory, year by 
 year. In the early years one community was 
 often served by two or more companies. Com-
 
 How Sunshine Is Released for Use of Man 89 
 
 petition for patrons was very keen, and when gas 
 rates were cut the service eventually suffered. 
 
 When two companies existed in the same 
 town there were two groups of manufacturing 
 and distribution plants, offices and employes. 
 But, the greater part of one plan was a duplica- 
 tion of the other. One line of gas mains in a 
 street serves as well as two; one superintendent 
 can run a large plant or department about as 
 easily as he can a smaller one. The cost of 
 manufacturing and delivering 1,000 cubic feet 
 of gas is much less for a large company than it 
 is for a small one. Since, because of friction, 
 one 36-inch gas main will deliver as much gas 
 as seventy-eight 6-inch mains (w^hich cost 6.7 
 times as much as the 36-inch main) , it would be 
 both foolish and wasteful to let more than one 
 gas company lay mains in streets. 
 
 And so investors in gas companies — just as in 
 other businesses — and patrons of gas service 
 finally realized that one large company could 
 operate much more efficiently and economically 
 than several small plants. They, therefore, soon 
 curbed cut-throat competition in gas service and
 
 90 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 merged several companies under one manage- 
 ment, as was done in Chicago and elsewhere. 
 
 Of late years this consolidation has slowly 
 been extended to include smaller cities and 
 towns with the result that these small communi- 
 ties enjoy the same standard of service as the 
 densely populated cities and with a lower price 
 and better service than the small companies 
 could give. Even gas and electric companies 
 have been consolidated so that today hundreds 
 of communities are being served by the same 
 super-utility with the result that costs of opera- 
 tions are lower and service to patrons better. 
 
 A good example of the economical results of 
 such a consolidation is the case of the Public 
 Service Company of Northern Illinois, a com- 
 pany supplying one hundred and sixty-five towns 
 with both gas and electricity. 
 
 The average coal consumption of forty-four 
 independent companies before consolidation ran 
 from eight to twelve pounds a kilowatt hour of 
 electrical energy; the average consumption of 
 this company ran about two pounds of coal a 
 kilowatt hour of energy produced.
 
 How Sunshine Is Released for Use of Man 91 
 
 If these forty-four plants had continued to 
 furnish separate service, they would today col- 
 lectively be using up yearly two million tons of 
 coal more than is used now under the consolida- 
 tion. 
 
 This achievement is what actuated a presi- 
 dent of gas and electric properties in fifteen 
 states to say in an address entitled, " Why I am 
 in the Public Utility Business." 
 
 It is a great pleasure. to be engaged in a business which, 
 from an industrial and financial point of view, makes two 
 blades of grass grow where one grew before. 
 
 New York City is supplied with gas by the 
 Consolidated Gas Company of New York, a 
 merger, November 11, 1884, of seven competing 
 companies as follows: The New York Gas 
 Light Company, incorporated 1823; Manhattan 
 Gas Light Company, 1830; Harlem Gas Light 
 Company, 1855; Metropolitan Gas Light Com- 
 pany, 1855; New York Mutual Gas Light 
 Company, 1866; Municipal Gas Light Com- 
 pany, and the Knickerbocker Gas Light Com- 
 pany in 1876. Today the Consolidated controls
 
 92 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 all the gas and electric companies (about 20) in 
 the Boroughs of Bronx, Kings, Manhattan, 
 Richmond and Queens. In 1921 New 
 1,007,279 gas meters and sold 
 cubic feet of gas; and S2A^677 electric meters 
 which registered 1,186,346,264 kilowatt hours of 
 electric energy. 
 
 Chicago is today served by The Peoples' Gas 
 Light and Coke Company, incorporated under 
 a special act of the State of Illinois, February 
 12, 1855. It is the second oldest gas company 
 in that city. The Chicago Gas Light & Coke 
 Company is older, being organized on Febru- 
 ary 12, 1849 — just forty years after Lincoln's 
 birth. 
 
 The Peoples Company is a consolidation of 
 fifteen other companies. The Act of Consolida- 
 tion occurred in 1897 when seven competing 
 companies were merged. In that year there 
 were 1,525 miles and 583 feet of gas main, and 
 199,473 meters in use. Today these total 3,144 
 miles of mains and 706,680 meters. Chicago's 
 system of mains today is long enough to supply 
 gas for lighting the Statue of Liberty in New
 
 How Sunshine Is Released for Use of Man 93 
 
 York on the east and the harbor of San Fran- 
 cisco on the west. 
 
 In 1849 Chicago's area was 9.76 square 
 miles; in 1922, the area was 200 square miles. 
 
 A gas company furnishes a community with 
 a service that the individuals themselves cannot 
 supply so well separately. The fact that this 
 service or utility is sold to the general public 
 has led to classing such companies as public 
 utility corporations. A utility or public service 
 corporation must get its right to operate from 
 some legislative body, a town, city, or state. 
 Furthermore, because it serves the general pub- 
 lic, either solely or partially, the interest of the 
 community must be protected as to price de- 
 manded for the service and as to the quality or 
 standard of the service furnished. Also the 
 interests of investors must be constantly pro- 
 tected so that they will invest their savings in 
 securities of the gas companies, thereby provid- 
 ing the money for building plants and equip- 
 ment for serving the public. 
 
 The protection for patrons and investors is as- 
 sured through a neutral body usually called the
 
 94 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 State Public Utilities Commission. In Illinois 
 the regulatory body is called the Illinois Com- 
 merce Commission. Regulation of utilities by 
 state commissions means seeing that the service is 
 good, that the price for it is sufficient to permit 
 of maintaining good service, of keeping the 
 plant in first-class condition and of paying a fair 
 rate of return on the money invested. 
 
 In Great Britain utility questions are settled 
 directly between the gas undertakings and the 
 municipalities. In the United States and its 
 territories there are fifty-two commissions that 
 have jurisdiction over public utilities. A better 
 understanding between utilities and communi- 
 ties has gradually developed during recent 
 years, because people realize that the success of 
 the public utilities and of the community are 
 inseparable. 
 
 Regulation by state commission has also cre- 
 ated a growing confidence, on the part of the 
 public, in privately owned and operated utilities 
 so that agitation by politicians and newspapers 
 for public ownership and operation, federal or 
 municipal, is now infrequent and generally fu-
 
 How Sunshine Is Released for Use of Man 95 
 
 tile. Furthermore, frank and open publicity on 
 all matters concerning utilities has proved with- 
 out a doubt that government ownership and op- 
 eration of public utilities is a failure. The last 
 proof of this is the report of an investigation of 
 the largest government owned electric power 
 system in the world, representing an investment 
 of $200,000,000. This investigation disclosed 
 that privately owned and regulated utilities sell 
 more service per capita and at lower rates than 
 governmental utilities, besides being more re- 
 liable. 
 
 The result, therefore, of a better understand- 
 ing between utilities and patrons is that the util- 
 ities are finding it more and more easy to induce 
 their employes and patrons to invest their savings 
 in securities of utilities serving their immediate 
 communities. 
 
 This practice of community or customer own- 
 ership of utilities is rapidly establishing a real 
 public ownership by persons vitally interested 
 in the industrial and civic progress of their 
 community.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE " GAS FAIRY " IN THE HOUSEHOLD 
 
 All day work in the shop. 
 
 The weary tread 
 Of toil that knows ?io change — 
 
 And this is BREAD. 
 
 At night when work is done. 
 
 Her hand in mine. 
 The hope of happier days — 
 
 And this is WINE. 
 
 — Elizabeth Reeve Cutter. 
 
 CORPORATIONS that supply us with 
 water, light, heat, telephone, and trans- 
 portation are called public service corporations. 
 They furnish the public with a very necessary 
 service and are, therefore, better known as pub- 
 lic utilities. 
 
 We use the service of these so-called public 
 utilities every day in the year and have become 
 so accustomed to them that, just like breathing, 
 we do not give a moment's thought to them nor 
 to the machines, men, and methods that have 
 made them possible. 
 
 96
 
 The " Gas Fairy '' in the Household 97 
 
 For suppose that an evil genie should sud- 
 denly, at the wave of his hand, stop the delivery 
 of gas, electricity, and water; the running of 
 electric and steam cars; communication by tele- 
 phone, telegraph, and wireless — in your com- 
 munity. 
 
 In a short time there would be darkness, 
 hunger, thirst, fire, disease, crime, murder, and 
 death everywhere. 
 
 Or just suppose again that an accident hap- 
 pened last night destroying the gas works and 
 stopping the supply of gas indefinitely without 
 notice — that a family of four are living in a 
 six-room house supplied with gas for lighting, 
 cooking and heating. 
 
 Daddy would have to go to work this morn- 
 ing without his usual bath, shave, and breakfast. 
 Mary and John would have to eat a cold break- 
 fast and would arrive late at school. That 
 would be an awful way to start the day. 
 
 During the day Mother would try to buy an 
 oil stove and find that they had all been sold out 
 early in the morning. She might resurrect an 
 oil lamp for lighting.
 
 98 The Roynance of the Gas Industry 
 
 In the course of time she would have bought 
 a coal range and a supply of coal — and you 
 know what that would mean — coal dust and 
 smoke. She would also buy at least six more 
 oil lamps for kitchen, dining room, parlor, three 
 bedrooms, and the hall, because electricity 
 would not be available for weeks and weeks — • 
 so many people would want service all at once 
 and, of course, the electric company would not 
 be prepared to take care of them on such short 
 notice. 
 
 Mother's daily duties would now include 
 cleaning and filling seven (7) lamps. Her work 
 would consist of the following operations: 
 
 1. Collecting and carrying 7 lamps into kitchen. 
 
 2. Bringing in oil can. 
 
 3. Removing carefully 7 shades and 7 chimneys. 
 
 4. Scrubbing soot from awkward inside of 7 chimneys. 
 
 5. Snuffing and trimming 7 dirty wicks. 
 
 6. Unscrewing cap of kerosene can and 7 burners to let 
 
 in kerosene. 
 
 7. Filling bowls on 7 lamps with oil. 
 
 8. Screwing on 7 burners. 
 
 9. Wiping ofl 7 bowls and stands. 
 
 10. Putting on 7 chimneys and 7 shades. 
 
 11. Carrying and placing 7 lamps back into their proper 
 
 brackets. 
 
 12. Screwing on cap of kerosene can, and carrying and 
 
 storing away can and soiled cloths.
 
 The '' Gas Fairy ^' in the Household 99 
 
 13. Cleaning up table and trying to wash from hands and 
 clothes the "smell that won't come off." 
 
 Unlucky number of operations, you'd sa}^ 
 Yes, and just think of the time wasted in per- 
 forming these useless operations, nearly a hun- 
 dred — just count them yourself — every day — • 
 365 days a year — while the smelly kerosene 
 soils, sickens, and disgusts Mother. Compare 
 that situation with the comfort, convenience, 
 and economy of time with lighting by gas — 
 and don't forget the soft, soothing color of gas 
 lighting. No light can be compared with the 
 " Warm domestic Radiance of Gas Light " so 
 vividly described by Stevenson. 
 
 The world is too much with us; late and soon. 
 Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers. 
 Little ive see in Nature that is ours; 
 We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! 
 
 — ^Wordsworth. 
 
 Now if there is so much work connected with 
 caring for oil lamps, just think how much more 
 there is in storing and handling the coal needed 
 for cooking and heating. A well-known and 
 authoritative efEciency expert has calculated
 
 100 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 that Mother takes 2,113 steps in preparing three 
 meals a day in an average kitchen and that three- 
 fourths of these, or 1,592 steps, can be saved. 
 This efficiency expert says: 
 
 Not more than 15 steps at most should be taken to make 
 a pot of coffee nor more than 18 steps for making a batch of 
 bread, yet the average housewife takes 330 steps to make 
 bread. Not more than 36 steps should be taken to make the 
 great American favorite apple pie, yet the average house- 
 wife takes about 260 steps. Two hundred and twenty-four 
 of these steps are wasted effort — useless slavery. 
 
 No wonder that the important and fascinating 
 art of cooking has fallen into disuse, that the 
 shortest path to a man's heart is no longer by 
 way of his stomach. To avoid the drudgery of 
 cooking, many housewives have come to patron- 
 ize delicatessen stores, where a miscellaneous lot 
 of ready-to-serve foods makes it possible to pre- 
 pare a meal in a very short time — very often to 
 the detriment of the health of the family and at 
 an increased cost. 
 
 Fortunately most mothers can today save these 
 1,592 useless footsteps by properly arranging the 
 equipment in the kitchen. 
 
 A twist of the wrist and — PRESTO! —
 
 The '' Gas Fairy " in the Household 
 
 101 
 
 Mother can have a clean fuel for lighting, cook- 
 ing, and heating — whenever she wants it and for 
 as long as she likes it, so gas is really the ideal 
 fuel in a household — the model servant in the 
 home. 
 
 OiNiNG ROOM I 
 
 QNtN G ROOM 
 
 ■WBLE 
 
 
 \^v 
 
 STOVE 
 
 
 
 • PANTW 
 
 TABLE 
 
 H 
 
 I 
 
 SINK 
 
 M 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Poor and good arrangement of a kitchen 
 
 Figare 1— Large kitchen in which the in- Figure 2— Same kitchen as shown in fig- 
 
 convenient arrangement of sink and table ore 1. The diatances traveled have been 
 makes it necessary to walk long difft'^Ti''^^ reduced and many steps saved by cutting 
 
 in preparing and serving a meaL 
 
 another door into the dining-room and by 
 moving the table and sink nearer to stove 
 and pantry. 
 
 Many utility companies are today endeavor- 
 ing to revive interest and pride in home work 
 by showing women how to save labor, time, and 
 money — by properly equipping and arranging 
 the kitchens by using labor-saving devices and 
 efficient household utilities, and by preparing 
 more nourishing and palatable food. Better
 
 102 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 cooked foods should go far toward producing 
 better digestion, better dispositions, better 
 health, better homes and fewer divorces. And 
 for gas companies to stimulate this interest by 
 means of a '' Home Service Department '' should 
 be the easiest undertaking in the world, for — to 
 paraphrase a well-known slogan — ^' The Taste 
 is long remembered after the Price of a Dinner 
 has been forgotten." 
 
 Man is the only animal that is able to make 
 use of fire. It took him a long time to learn 
 how to make it at will, how to control it, and 
 how to use it effectively. He used it first to 
 protect himself from wild beasts and to keep 
 himself warm; later for lighting and cooking 
 purposes. 
 
 The walls of the tombs of the Egyptians 
 portray as early as 4000 B.C. the preparation of 
 meals. A painting of the royal bakery and 
 kitchen of Rameses HI (about 1600 B. C.) illus- 
 trates boiling in pots and frying on griddles. 
 Bas-reliefs of camp-life of the Assyrians and the 
 Babylonians give pictures of cooking over small 
 braziers, and baking in a cylindrical stove.
 
 Modern Gas Heater of Radiant Fire Type
 
 The " Gas Fairy ^' in the Household 105 
 
 Man of the glacial period roasted his meats 
 on spits over embers of an open fire. 
 
 Boiling was done in water placed in the 
 hollow of a rock into which hot stones had been 
 thrown. 
 
 Even in Homer's time meat was roasted in 
 barbecue fashion. Ulysses tended the fire; 
 Achilles turned the spit; and Patroclus poured 
 the wine. 
 
 The Romans perfected the brazier. They 
 developed from Epicures into gluttons. They 
 bathed, and barbered before meals; reclined on 
 couches w^hile being served with long courses 
 announced by "nomenclators." 
 
 "When the barbarians came in at the front 
 door the cooks went out at the back door" is 
 literally true because the northern invaders did 
 not relish the Roman delicacies. And so the 
 Roman culinary art practically died out, and 
 during the Middle Ages cooking and heating 
 was the crude method of barbarians. 
 
 In A Dissertation on Roast Pig, Charles Lamb 
 relates entertainingly how a Chinaman, w^ho 
 kept his pig in the parlor, discovered how to
 
 104 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 cook meat. His house caught on fire accident- 
 ally (maybe a cow overturned a light) and 
 burned up his Lares and Penates, including his 
 
 pig. 
 
 While poking among the ruins, his hands 
 came in contact with the dead pig, which was 
 still very hot. His fingers were severely burned 
 and he quickly thrust them into his mouth. 
 Somejof the burned flesh of the pig had stuck to 
 his fingers and so he found his fingers very palat- 
 able. This was his first taste of cooked meat, 
 and so good did roast pig seem, that the China- 
 man continued to rebuild his house and to burn 
 it down in order to get roast pig — until finally 
 he discovered he could get roast pig without 
 going to the trouble of building and burning his 
 house. 
 
 The early application of gas for cooking 
 would be very interesting to tell, but space per- 
 mits only mention of the main facts. 
 
 Winsor was probably the first to suggest 
 manufactured gas for cooking and heating, in 
 his patent of 1805, but little of either was done 
 until 1825, when a magazine described:
 
 The '' Gas Fairy " in the Household 10 5 
 
 A small oven having a circle of gas flames with a reflect- 
 ing cone, enclosed, in a cylinder of tin, from the top of which 
 a pipe carried off the burnt air. 
 
 Nay, it will almost appear incredible to assert, that the 
 same table, desk or sideboard, which furnishes a light or 
 flame, will serve to warm my room, and even dress my 
 victuals in case of need ; and, by the mere turning of a cock, 
 or the corking or uncorking of a small pipe or tube. 
 
 Thus did Winsor prophecy a universal appli- 
 cation of gas in lighting, heating, power, and an 
 important role in the chemical arts. 
 
 James Sharp of Northampton, England, 
 demonstrated in 1830 or 1832, in his own home 
 the practicability of gas cooking. A few years 
 later John Barlow had a kitchen apparatus for 
 roasting, boiling, and steaming. Inventions for 
 cooking and heating by gas became numerous. 
 
 In 1840 Delbruck patented a burner consisting 
 of two tubes — one within the other — one for 
 gas and one for air, both under pressure. 
 
 Thomas Fletcher improved the Bunsen burner 
 in 1854. 
 
 In 1850 James Sharp roasted a quantity of 
 meat and cooked a variety of vegetables, pud- 
 dings, and pies in connection with a lecture on 
 "Gastronomy.'' A French chef, Soyer, the
 
 106 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 greatest master of the art of cooking at that time, 
 roasted a joint of meat weighing 535 pounds in 
 a brick oven equipped with 216 gas jets. Alex- 
 ander Graham exhibited a gas cooking oven in 
 1851 and sold many of these for hotel and res- 
 taurant purposes, but none for domestic use. 
 
 In 1851, Samuel Clegg, Jr., in a letter to the 
 editor of the Journal of Gas Lighting, wrote: 
 
 In the Expositor of last week I saw a portrait of Mr. 
 Sharp, the manager of the Southampton Gas Works, and 
 an article claiming for him the invention of cooking by gas. 
 Now, I do not beh'eve any man living can claim it as his in- 
 vention. In 1739 Dr. Clayton boiled eggs by a gas flame; 
 in 1792 Mr. Murdock frequently cooked chops and steaks 
 over gas jets; and, in 1824, I perfectly well remember the 
 men at the Aetna Iron Works, near Liverpool, making a gas 
 cooking apparatus, which consisted of a gun-barrel turned 
 backwards and forwards, and pierced with numerous small 
 holes. When anything had to be fried the gridiron was 
 kept in a horizontal position; when anything had to be 
 roasted it was turned in a vertical position, and a plate of 
 tin was placed behind the meat, as a reflector, or hastener, 
 as I think the cooks call it. Mr. Sharp may have contrived 
 a stove for cooking by gas; that is, pieces of iron so placed 
 as to hold different things — some perhaps, requiring to be 
 boiled, others to be fried or roasted ; but I believe that Mr. 
 Alfred King, of Liverpool, arranged (I won't call it in- 
 vented, for it is not worth the name, and I am sure Mr. 
 King will not quarrel with the word) the first convenient 
 apparatus for cooking by gas. Gas cooking stoves are not 
 yet perfect; but they are already economical, and I hope 
 will very soon be universal.
 

 
 Pompeian Brazier with Water-back 
 
 First Bathtub Built About 2000 B. C, Found in the Ruins 
 of the Palace of King Minos
 
 The ^' Gas Fairy '' in the Household 107 
 
 Six years later an extract from the original 
 minutes of the Middlesborough, England, Cor- 
 poration (Gas Dept.) ran as follows: 
 
 Mr. Avery has applied for a supply pipe from the works 
 to his hotel to enable him to use gas in the day for cooking. 
 The Committee agree to laying a pipe so soon as the appa- 
 ratus is ready, provided Mr. Avery will guarantee a reason- 
 able additional consumption to warrant the outlay. 
 
 Note that the gas was evidently shut off in 
 the town during the day and that this is a re- 
 quest for a continuous supply for cooking. 
 
 The first issue, July 1, 1859, of the American 
 Gas Light Journal carried two advertisements 
 for gas stoves and cooking apparatus. 
 
 A range with a "porous" burner on the sur- 
 face combustion principle was exhibited in the 
 Fair of the American Institute at New York in 
 1859. Providence, R. L, gas company has the 
 distinction of having opened, in 1873, the first 
 distinctive gas appliance store. Today every 
 gas company carries a stock of approved gas ap- 
 pliances — gas ranges for the home, restaurant, 
 and hotel. 
 
 Have you ever asked yourself: What in the 
 world would we do without water? Water to
 
 108 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 slake our thirst; water with which to wash 
 things clean; water to bathe in? 
 
 With the Egyptians bathing was a religious 
 rite; even Moses, you remember, established a 
 religious ordinance that the Jews should: 
 " Bathe his flesh in running water and be clean." 
 
 The Greeks are said to have been the first to 
 use bath tubs. As a matter of fact they were 
 not tubs at all but clumsy bowls — large enough 
 to hold water for a bath, but not large enough 
 to hold the bather. The bather stood on a stone 
 slab, dipped water out of the bowl, and poured 
 this over his body — ugh! The water was cold 
 because the Greeks thought that hot water would 
 weaken the body instead of invigorate it. 
 
 In Homer's time warm baths were in use, 
 however. And after the fifth century bathing 
 became a luxurious practice among the Greeks. 
 
 On the island Crete, in the city of Cnosus — 
 famous in the legend as the home of King Minos 
 and the labyrinth where the Minotaur was con- 
 fined — has been discovered, as far as we know, 
 the first bathroom built (about four thousand 
 years ago).
 
 The '' Gas Fairy " in the Household 109 
 
 The Romans developed bathing to a fine art. 
 Every family that could afford it had a bath- 
 room. This they called the balneum. Public 
 baths, called Thermas, were provided for the 
 men and the women. Here both rich and poor 
 spent their spare time in the pursuit of health 
 and beauty — exercising, resting, eating, con- 
 versing, or listening to lectures. The largest 
 Therma covered a square mile of ground. The 
 Diocletian accommodated 3,200 bathers at one 
 time. Maecenas was the first to have a swim- 
 ming tank of hot water. 
 
 According to Pliny, for six hundred years 
 Rome used no medicine but her baths. 
 
 People of all times, of course, have made use 
 of both cold and hot water — to some extent. 
 They washed and bathed — occasionally — in 
 ponds, rivers, lakes, or the ocean. 
 
 In 1127 Henry I of England included bathing 
 in the initiatory ceremony for knighting six 
 favored commoners. He called them the 
 Knights of the Bath, and thus originated the 
 '^Orderof theBath." 
 
 Robert Hicks in 1825 took out a patent for:
 
 110 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 Heating water in baths by means of burning spirits of 
 turpentine and carbureted hydrogen gas in chambers in the 
 bath, or tubes passing through or under them. 
 
 To Lord John Russell is attributed the inven- 
 
 Courtesy — Gas-Age Record. 
 
 Before the days of gas-fired water heaters 
 
 tion of a bath tub. In 1830 he was thought to 
 have been the only Englishman addicted to 
 taking a daily bath. Adam Thompson of Cin- 
 cinnati, Ohio, visited Lord Russell about ten 
 years later and had taken a hot bath in Russell's 
 tub. Promptly after his return to America,
 
 The '^ Gas Fairy '^ in the Household 111 
 
 Thompson had a cabinet maker build for him a 
 similar bath. This was made seven feet long 
 and four feet wide, of mahogany, lined with 
 sheet lead. It weighed nearly a ton. 
 
 On December 20, 1842, at about 8 A. M., 
 Thompson took his first morning bath. He was 
 so pleased with it that he later invited his friends 
 to test the efficacy of his new bath. 
 
 They also became very enthusiastic. But, the 
 introduction of bath tubs and daily bathing was 
 not so easily facilitated throughout the United 
 States. Boston in 1845 made bathing unlawful 
 unless taken upon the advice of a physician. In 
 1850, President Fillmore ordered a bath tub in- 
 stalled in the White House. 
 
 In 1860 every first-class hotel in New York 
 advertised bath tubs. The Turkish bath was 
 introduced into America about 1865. The 'first 
 public baths in Chicago were established in 
 1891. 
 
 Since those days the value of bathing and of 
 plenty of water — especially "hot water" — has 
 slowly come to be fully appreciated. So gradu- 
 ally the "Order of the Saturday Night Batb''
 
 112 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 has given way to the new " Order of the Daily 
 Bath." For people have learned that ^' A Bath 
 a Day is the best Health Insurance." 
 
 All forms of utilizing gas is by heat. Light 
 is produced either by carbon in the open flame 
 becoming luminous, or the mantle glowing; 
 heat by directing fire into a limited space or on 
 surfaces. 
 
 The earliest means of heating water is thought 
 to have been by placing heated stones in water. 
 Winsor exploited gas for heating water. 
 
 The development of gas water heater was 
 slow until natural gas was discovered in Penn- 
 sylvania. The evolution of circulating water 
 heaters in the United States may be stated as 
 follows : 
 
 Gas water back, previous to 1860. 
 
 Application of burners to the storage tank in the early 
 sixties. 
 
 First appearance of the circulating water heater in 1883. 
 Tubular heaters made of iron, brass and copper. 
 Sectional heaters made of iron, brass. 
 Coil heaters (single or double) — made of copper. 
 
 In England water heaters are called "Gey- 
 sers," which is a very appropriate name since
 
 The *' Gas Fairy '' in the Household 113 
 
 they spurt forth hot water and sometimes steam 
 — whenever wanted. 
 
 The first patent for an instantaneous auto- 
 matic gas water heater was taken out in Eng- 
 land, 1885. In the same year one appeared in 
 the United States. Beckfield in 1895 developed 
 one with the gas regulated by a water pressure 
 valve, and Ruud in 1897 one with a thermostat 
 controlling the gas supply. 
 
 Today, gas makes it possible to have hot water 
 ready w^ithin a few minutes for washing or bath- 
 ing. It is a luxury in enjoyment and a trifle in 
 expense. 
 
 Monday used to be the day dreaded by many 
 women — but not so today for those women who 
 have a gas laundry. Mrs. Modern Woman runs 
 water into her electric-driven washing machine, 
 dumps in the clothes and soap, lights the gas, 
 and reads the morning paper until the clothes 
 have boiled; then she turns the gas lower and 
 lets the mechanism of the washer remove all the 
 dirt from the fibers — while finishing the paper. 
 The clothes cleaned, she turns out the gas, opens 
 the drain from the washing machine, throws
 
 114 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 a lever to stop the machine and start the wringer. 
 As the clothes are fed through the wringer, they 
 fall into the rinse water, from which they are 
 again put through the wringer and are ready for 
 the gas-heated dryer. The dryer, though only 
 eight feet long and two feet wide, dries clothes 
 faster than they can be washed or ironed. 
 
 The washing ^'on the line" of the dryer, the 
 gas to the ironer is lighted. Several pieces are 
 removed from the dryer and placed on the table 
 of the ironer; then she sits down, starts the rolls 
 and as the pieces come through the ironer, hangs 
 them across the folding rack at one end of the 
 ironer. Ninety-four per cent of the family 
 ironing requires no further work — tablecloths, 
 Madeira, shirts, shirt-waists all go through — 
 with the help of the gas fairy. 
 
 The cost of operating each one of the three 
 necessities for washing, drying, and ironing is 
 about five cents an hour. For a family of five, 
 the washer and dryer would be run one-half to 
 one hour each and the ironer about an hour — 
 total cost ten to fifteen cents, and the heaviest lift 
 is the weight of a tablecloth, sheet, or blanket.
 
 The " Gas Fairy " in the Kousehold 115 
 
 That is how the up-to-date housewife finds 
 time to go shopping on Monday, to make calls, 
 and to improve her mind. And in some homes 
 today the tired business man does not have to 
 fire the furnace, or carry out ashes, because the 
 house is entirely heated with gas. 
 
 Penelope, the wife of Ulysses, threw glowing 
 embers out of braziers upon the floor and placed 
 dry wood on them to warm the room. That 
 was the primitive way of room heating. The 
 Greeks added spices and gum to the burning 
 charcoal to give the smoke a more agreeable 
 odor. The American Indians built a fire in the 
 center of their wigwams and let the smoke es- 
 cape at the top. 
 
 The Romans were very progressive in cook- 
 ing and in heating public buildings. Seneca 
 wrote : 
 
 Many inventions have come within my memory such as 
 windovi^s made of transparent plate, suspended baths, and 
 pipes from hypocausts so inserted into the walls as to spread 
 an equal warmth through the room, and heat what rooms 
 are beneath as well as above. 
 
 A hypocaust was a low basement chamber 
 where fuel was introduced and burned. It was 
 invented by Sergius Orato in 100 B.C. A room
 
 116 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 Jr{//. J /_ /> 
 
 Courtesy — Barstow Stove Co. 
 
 Roman hypocaust, the forerunner of the modern hot-air 
 
 furnace 
 
 above the hypocaust became heated and from 
 this room flues ran along the floor and upward 
 inside the walls to other rooms. The modern 
 hot air furnace, only a hundred years old, is built 
 on the principle of the hypocaust.
 
 The '' Gas Fairy " in the Household 117 
 
 Water for the famous baths of the Romans 
 was heated by hypocausts. 
 
 Another way of heating water besides in tanks 
 was by means of " dracones" — coils of thin brass 
 pipes passing through large jars heated by 
 flames. This resembles the instantaneous hot 
 water system of today. 
 
 Heating of private buildings was crude 
 everywhere even with the Romans. Chimneys 
 had been invented, but they were not used for 
 kitchens or houses. House heating was done 
 either in braziers or on a stone in the middle of 
 the room. The smoke and soot flew everywhere 
 except up through the hole in the roof. Em- 
 peror Jovain is said to have been suffocated from 
 charcoal fire while sleeping in his bedroom in 
 Dadastana in Galatia. 
 
 The ruins of Pompeii, however, show that 
 chimneys were used in bake shops. And Strabo 
 says they were used in smelting ores. Chimneys 
 were first introduced in France in the eighth 
 century; but it was six hundred years before 
 they were generally adopted. 
 
 Lebon's "thermolamp,'' a closed stove burn-
 
 118 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 ing wood or coal and furnishing both heat and 
 light, seems to be the first attempt to use gas for 
 heating a room. It was patented between 1786 
 and 1801. 
 
 Winsor, we have seen, advocated gas for heat- 
 ing while attempting to organize the National 
 Light and Heat Company. Other patents in 
 England, by Barres in 1833 and by Hadden and 
 Johnstone, related to "warming the interior of 
 buildings." After 1840 various appliances for 
 heating by gas were devised and a demand 
 created for them by public lectures and exhi- 
 bitions. 
 
 A letter, dated London, December 24, 1849, 
 states that: 
 
 We heat offices, bedrooms, halls, and a variety of places 
 where chimney flues are objectionable and our churches have 
 frequently gas stoves beneath the floors. Indeed every year 
 gas is supplanting coal, and were it not that we love the sight 
 of the open fire, it would do so much faster. 
 
 Edwards took out a patent in 1849 for a 
 *^gas fire" which consisted of refractory ma- 
 terials which became glowing red by the burn- 
 ing gas. Besides these terra cotta stoves, there
 
 The '' Gas Fairy " in the Household 119 
 
 were the '^ Cheerful '^ which had a floral design 
 embossed in the corrugated plate where the gas 
 burned, also the ^'Brilliant." 
 
 The forerunner of the late asbestos backed 
 gas stove was patented in 1856. Several ven- 
 tures were made to use gas for heating on a large 
 
 Early English terra cotta gas stoves 
 
 scale, but all were unprofitable. The Gas Fire 
 Company, incorporated in 1852 for the "pro- 
 duction of fires and heat by the agency of gas in 
 dwellings and other buildings within England," 
 was one. 
 
 The first gas heating stoves in the United 
 States were used in Boston in 1859. 
 
 In the natural gas regions heating by gas was
 
 120 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 very extensive. The asbestos log, and other 
 imitations of coal and wood, did not permit of a 
 perfect combustion of the gases, and so these 
 appliances, therefore, always produced a bad 
 odor of unburned gases in the room which pre- 
 vented their wide adoption for manufactured 
 gas. 
 
 " Reflector" type is one of the earliest in this 
 country. 
 
 A very cheerful and economical space heater 
 is the "Radiant gas heater" types. One con- 
 sists of refractory uprights which glow with 
 cheery warmth. The gas burns perfectly and 
 there is no odor. 
 
 Hot water and steam radiators heated by 
 gas are now available for any kind of building. 
 
 It makes no difference how small or large the 
 space may be that needs to be heated, gas can do 
 it, provided the right appliance is selected. 
 
 Gas is today an essential household service 
 and more reasonable in price than any other 
 commodity. Many a man, woman, and child 
 spends more on amusements and luxuries, day by 
 day during the month, than the month's gas bill
 
 The '' Gas Fairy " in the Household 121 
 
 amounts to. In most homes the money spent for 
 daily newspapers is more than it costs to cook 
 for the entire family.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 GAS SERVICE — THE GROWING GIANT IN INDUS- 
 TRIES 
 
 The scientific spirit has cast out the demons and 
 presented us with Nature, clothed in her right 
 mind and living under the reign of law. It has 
 given us for the sorceries of the alchemist, the beau- 
 tiful laws of chemistry; for the dreams of the 
 astrologer, the sublime truths of astronomy ; for* 
 the wild visions of cos?nogony, the monuinental 
 records of geology; for the anarchy of diabolism, 
 the laws of God. — James Abram Garfield. 
 
 JUST as there is a great deal of mystery con- 
 nected with the origin of our earth, just so 
 is there a large amount of speculation and con- 
 troversy concerning the sun, and especially as 
 to its source of energy. Some astronomers and 
 physicists think the heat of the sun is due to or- 
 dinary chemical and physical processes. Others 
 say that its tremendous heat energy cannot be 
 caused by mere combustion because if the sun 
 were made of solid coal, burning in oxygen, it 
 would be black in three to four thousand years. 
 Then some say this heat is produced by the re- 
 
 122
 
 Gas Service — Groivin^ Giant in Industry 12 3 
 
 sistance that matter meets as the sun contracts 
 through gravitation. Lord Kelvin found that 
 by the contraction theory the sun could not have 
 existed for more than ten million to eighteen 
 million years, and ten million years was consid- 
 ered merely as a day in the making of our world. 
 And so others have advanced the theory that 
 this intense heat and prodigal outflow of energy 
 may be due to the breaking up of atoms — sim- 
 ilar to that observed in uranium and radium. 
 Radium you know — the most mysterious and 
 fascinating mineral yet discovered — releases at 
 least ten million times more energy than is pro- 
 duced by any chemical action known. 
 
 Whatever the source of the sun's energy may 
 be, astronomers tell us that there occurs on the 
 sun terrific eruptions or explosions so powerful 
 that they hurl a stream of gas a distance farther 
 than from the earth to the moon — with a 
 velocity frequently of a hundred miles a second 
 and sometimes two hundred. 
 
 We all know that gunpowder, dynamite, and 
 TNT can do a great deal of damage. They 
 did great harm during the last war. If properly
 
 124 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 directed they can be made to perform useful 
 work. For instance, dynamite is used today for 
 blasting rock and "plowing" the farmer's land. 
 The Liberty motor, as well as all automobile 
 engines, use the energy released in the vaporized 
 gasoline to travel in the air and on land. 
 
 It was Abbe d'Hautefeuille who, in 1678, in- 
 vented an engine that used explosive power to 
 drive a piston working in a cylinder. Huygen, 
 a Hollander, made a similar engine in 1680. 
 John Barber, an Englishman, in 1791 used a 
 mixture of hydrogen, carbon gas, and air to 
 effect an explosion for motor purposes. Lebon 
 used coal gas in 1799 to drive an engine. 
 
 But it was the Frenchman, Lenoir, who made 
 the first practical engine driven by gas (1860). 
 Since that year there have been a thousand and 
 more patents issued for gas engines. These are 
 used generally in large installations in natural 
 gas regions, but also in industries where fuel gas 
 is a by-product of the plant. 
 
 By using the gas exhaust for heating water it 
 is possible for many factories to make consider- 
 able saving in other fuels.
 
 Gas Service — Growing Giant in Industry 125 
 
 Several types of gas turbines, made on the 
 same principle as the steam turbine, but using 
 explosive energy of burning gases, have also 
 been perfected. 
 
 " Gas to generate steam " was the cry of God- 
 dard (England) in 1870. Fletcher, in 1886, 
 submitted a new departure in water heating. 
 
 Before 1880 the Tyson Engine Company of 
 Philadelphia had made about one hundred 
 small gas generated steam engines for driving a 
 sewing machine. 
 
 Gas-fired steam engine for running sewing machine
 
 126 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 Gas is today the most convenient and satis- 
 factory means of heating water for domestic 
 purposes. It promises to become so also for 
 heating water for factory uses. Boilers can 
 easily be equipped to burn gas with automatic 
 gas control. Specially designed boilers are, 
 however, more economical. 
 
 It seems absurd to say that ice and cold can 
 be made from heat, nevertheless it is true. In 
 the absorption process of refrigeration a strong 
 solution of ammonia iniwater is heated by a gas 
 flame; the ammonia boils before the water does, 
 is led off and liquefied; the liquefied ammonia 
 is allowed to enter the cooler or refrigerator 
 coils, where it again becomes a gas. 
 
 When any liquid is vaporized it absorbs a 
 great deal of heat from its surroundings. This 
 is the way that ice and cold are produced by 
 using gas heat. 
 
 The usual methods of using gas for factory 
 purposes are briefly: 
 
 1. Luminous burners (Open flame) 
 
 2. Bunsen burners (Atmospheric) 
 
 3. Blast burners 
 
 4. Surface combustion
 
 Gas Service — Growing Giant in Industry 127 
 
 5. High-pressure gas 
 
 6. Oxygen gas burner 
 
 Before putting in a gas burning appliance the 
 combustion expert must know exactly what has 
 to be accomplished by heat, the best appliance 
 for doing it, etc., etc. 
 
 In an advertisement dated July, 1859, Eisner 
 of Berlin stated that there was scarcely a branch 
 of domestic or factory heating for which gas 
 could not be recommended. If anyone knows 
 of one today, any gas engineer will willingly 
 apply himself to the problem. 
 
 Josiah Pemberton used gas for soldering but- 
 tons in his factory in Birmingham, the front of 
 w^hich he lighted with gas in 1806. 
 
 Mackintosh, a Scotchman, in 1840 made sev- 
 eral tons of '^cemented" steel by applying gas to 
 iron at a dull red heat — the steel getting its car- 
 bon from the gas. 
 
 A singeing apparatus for use in wool works 
 was exhibited at the Paris Exposition in 1867; 
 jewelers were using gas in 1879. Several forms 
 of boilers for generating steam with gas were 
 shown at the Royal Agricultural Societies Ex- 
 hibition.
 
 128 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 In 1879 the South Shields Gas Company in 
 England exhibited over 300 appliance uses for 
 gas. Today gas burning appliances number 
 thousands and thousands, and the industries in 
 which they are used are almost that number also, 
 and they are increasing in number daily. 
 
 We have seen that gas is an all around servant. 
 It is used for lighting, for cooking, for heating, 
 and for power purposes. 
 
 The role of heating, however, holds forth the 
 greatest possibilities for gas. 
 
 Here are a few illustrations where gas is used 
 daily: Baking and candy making, coffee roast- 
 ing, smoking meat, pasteurizing milk, glass 
 melting, china decorating, hat shaping, shoe 
 drying, clothes pressing, cigar lighters, barber 
 boilers, vulcanizing, lumber drying, tinning, 
 varnish boilers, rivet heaters, forging, brass 
 melting, galvanizing, coloring and rust proofing 
 metal, welding and cutting metal, melting type, 
 foundries, etc., etc. 
 
 The purposes for which gas is used are limit- 
 less and fascinating; model glass butterflies; but- 
 ton making; dies for coins and plates for paper
 
 Ice Afachine Burning (ias. Producing Refrigeration Equiv- 
 alent to 500 Pounds Dailv 
 
 Battery of Coffee Roasters
 
 
 Shrinking Cloth with Steam from Gas-Fired Boiler 
 
 Heating Rivets and Bending Angle Iron and Plates in Manu- 
 facturing Fire Doors
 
 Gas Service — Growing Giant in Industry 129 
 
 money made in Uncle Sam's mints; soldering 
 wedding rings; electric light bulbs; crude rub- 
 ber would be worthless without gas heat and the 
 small amount of carbon which it precipitates in 
 the rubber; one college professor lays claim to 
 making alcohol from city gas; and Humane 
 Societies are adopting gas as the most merciful 
 means of executing wounded animals. 
 
 As a fuel in factories it possesses many advan- 
 tages over other fuels. It is clean, convenient, 
 ahvays ready for use day and night in any quan- 
 tity, and uniform in quality. It requires neither 
 storage nor handling. 
 
 It has been but a few years since bakers 
 thought that the only way possible to bake bread 
 was in the old coal and wood fired ovens — a 
 slow, laborious, and intermittent method. Yet 
 today they produce the same evenly textured 
 bread with its crisp crust in gas fired ovens, some 
 of enormous size; and the production of these 
 loaves is a continous process. 
 
 Along with bread we may easily associate 
 coflFee. It used to be ridiculous even to speak of 
 roasting coffee except over a fire of pea coal.
 
 130 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 Yet in the last two or three years most of this 
 equipment has been replaced by roasters fired 
 internally with gas as fuel. In some wholesale 
 grocery houses batteries of them may be seen and 
 strangely enough the coffee has still the same 
 delicious bouquet as when roasted with pea coal. 
 
 So we may with very little effort observe the 
 varied applications of gas to our industrial 
 activities. Steam generated in gas-fired boilers 
 up to ten horsepower and sometimes higher is 
 becoming more common every day — modern 
 laundries have them; every tire vulcanizing 
 shop must have one to operate at all; it has 
 found its way into dairies for sterilization; 
 tailoring houses require them in connection with 
 their steam pressing equipment; and in a host of 
 other operations where low pressure steam is 
 required and where it is unsatisfactory to bother 
 with a large steam generating plant the gas-fired 
 steam boiler finds ready application. 
 
 Continuing our search we find practically all 
 of our candy cooked in gas-fired kettles; enam- 
 eling and japanning is done in gas-fired ovens; 
 and foundry cores are baked in similar ovens.
 
 Gas Service — Grooving Giant in Industry 131 
 
 Hot oil at a temperature of 600° F. is circulated 
 through a series of pipe coils to heat asphalt to 
 coat felt paper in the preparation of prepared 
 roofing. The temperature of this asphalt must 
 be uniform and constant. Gas-firing does the 
 trick. 
 
 We may not be so well acquainted with the 
 use of gas in the metallurgical industries, but it 
 is universally conceded by tool and die makers 
 that gas is the only fuel to use in annealing, tem- 
 pering, and drawing of steel. Soft metal melt- 
 ing is a gas process. As examples we may cite 
 lead melting for the manufacture of storage 
 plates, aluminum and its alloys for die casting, 
 babbitts and bearing metals, and brass for cast- 
 ing. Steel specialties which require to be case 
 hardened have up to the present time been 
 packed in cumbersome metal boxes along with 
 "carburizing" material and heated to a specific 
 temperature. Recently a rotary furnace has 
 been installed in Chicago which is not only fired 
 by gas, but the gas also acts as the carburizer — 
 and no boxes. 
 
 There is really no branch of industrial
 
 132 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 activity which is not in one way or another 
 *^ going to gas." Why? Because modern gas 
 engineering has perfected automatic and abso- 
 lute temperature control. Combustion engineers 
 have studied and applied radiant energy from 
 highly heated surfaces in "surface combustion" 
 types of furnaces. Single pipe systems have 
 been devised whereby gas is delivered to the 
 oven or furnace premixed with the exact amount 
 of air to burn it completely and efficiently. Re- 
 generative and recuperative furnaces have been 
 improved. In fact, recent advances in gas en- 
 gineering have made it possible to apply gas in 
 the industries for purposes never before thought 
 of. 
 
 Gas is " always on tap." Whether needed to 
 warm the baby's milk at 3 A. M. or to melt tons 
 of metal at midday, gas service is ready to serve 
 2i\. any time, day or night. 
 
 Faithful performance in years past has estab- 
 lished for gas service a reputation of depend- 
 ability so that to this day gas is always used in 
 "Exit" lights in churches, schools, public halls, 
 theaters, and wherever people assemble.
 
 Gas Service — Gro icing Giant in Industry 133 
 
 Next to dependability, comes the convenience 
 of gas service. 
 
 As a matter of fact we who live in cities can- 
 not dress in the morning, eat breakfast, or read 
 a newspaper without being indebted somewhere 
 to the " Gas Fairy " for the convenience. We 
 once heard a '^ gas man " give a lecture in which 
 he showed that everything he wore had been 
 made with the aid of gas, either directly or in- 
 directly. 
 
 No young lady enjoys a soda, box of candy, 
 a movie, or an automobile ride to which this 
 " Fairy " or the " Giant Genie," gas, has not con- 
 tributed its portion of service.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 A CITY BEAUTIFUL WITHIN TWENTY YEARS 
 
 Earth has not anything to show more fair: 
 
 Dull would he be of soul who could pass by 
 
 A sight so touching in its majesty: 
 
 This City now doth, like a garment j wear 
 
 The beauty of the morning; silent, bare, 
 
 Ships, toiuers, domes, theatres, and temples lie 
 
 Open unto the fields, and to the sky; 
 
 All light and glittering in the smokeless air. 
 
 Wordsworth — Upon Westminster Bridge. 
 
 WHEN Winsor organized the National 
 Light & Heat Company he firmly be- 
 lieved that the new mode of lighting and heat- 
 ing would bring about the entire abolition of 
 smoke and consequently of chimney sweeping; 
 that an investment of £5 would return to the 
 subscriber an income of £570 a year; also that 
 the national debt of England could be paid of?, 
 and a large revenue raised by a government tax 
 upon products obtainable from coal. Large 
 sums of money were subscribed to accomplish 
 these objects, but the brilliant hopes of Winsor 
 
 134
 
 A C ity Beautiful within Twenty Years 135 
 
 evaporated into thin air and it is believed that 
 he died a poor man. 
 
 Winsor realized the possibilities of gas. He 
 had a vision, but nowhere yet has it been at- 
 tained. Said he: 
 
 Since the beginning of the world mankind has lost above 
 80 per cent in all combustibles by the mere evaporation of 
 smoke. This very smoke which often proves troublesome 
 and dangerous to health and houses, is no\y discovered to 
 contain the most valuable substances — oil, pitch, acid, coke, 
 and gas; which latter product not only furnishes the most 
 intense heat, and the purest light, whenever it is wanted, but 
 can also be applied to supersede the dangerous and expensive 
 steam engines. 
 
 There's hardly a thing that man may name 
 Of use or beauty in life's small game. 
 But you can extract in alembic or jar 
 From the "physical basis" of black coal-tar: 
 Oil and ointment, and wax and ivine. 
 And the lovely colors called aniline; 
 You can make anything from a salve to a star. 
 If you only know how, from black coal-tar, 
 
 — Punch. 
 
 A gas expert recently stated that within 
 twenty years American cities could be made 
 smokeless, sootless, and spotless if gas were uni- 
 versally adopted for fuel. The great cost of 
 smoke and soot to modern cities is not fully 
 realized.
 
 136 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 A few years ago some one estimated that the 
 people of Chicago suffer yearly a damage of 
 about fifty million dollars from smoke. That is 
 a pretty huge yearly loss, nearly twenty dollars 
 for each person living in that city to pay for the 
 *^ black genie lurking in the chimney." 
 
 In 1911 the Chicago Association of Com- 
 merce, realizing the great harm to its citizens 
 and property due to smoke, appointed a com- 
 mittee to study the problem of smoke abatement 
 and electrification of railroads. After five 
 years of study by engineers a report, in 1915, 
 costing $500,000 was published which set forth 
 the results of the investigation. 
 
 These were in brief: 
 
 1. Cost of electrifying railroads would be about $274,- 
 
 440,630, but 
 
 2. Steam locomotives were guilty of only a small part of 
 
 the damaging smoke, and the 
 
 3. Eh'mination of this part (4.25 per cent) would pro- 
 
 duce hardly noticeable results. 
 
 Their report reviewed all the literature on the 
 smoke problem and exploded a popular fallacy 
 by pointing out that the "visibility of smoke, 
 which has been the sole object of complaint and
 
 A City Beautiful within Twenty Years 137 
 
 regulation, is a matter of secondary importance; 
 that injury to animal and vegetable life and to 
 property is due almost wholly to the invisible 
 gases and solids emitted and this is the big thing 
 to be overcome." 
 
 According to the report: 
 
 High pressure steam plants were found to produce 44.49 
 per cent of all visible smoke emitted within the city limits. 
 Metallurgical and other manufacturing furnaces produce 
 28.63 per cent; steam locomotives, 22.06 per cent; and 
 domestic fires, 3.93 per cent (from 15 to 20 per cent during 
 three winter months). 
 
 Of the total solids in smoke, metallurgical and similar 
 furnaces are guilty of contributing 64.26 per cent; high 
 pressure steam plants 19.34 per cent; domestic fires 8.60 
 per cent; and steam locomotives 7.47 per cent. 
 
 Of the total gaseous pollution of the air 44.96 per cent 
 is due to high pressure steam plants, 23 per cent to domestic 
 fires, 21.13 per cent to metallurgical and other furnaces, and 
 10.31 per cent to steam locomotives. Steam vessels and gas 
 and coke plants produce negligible quantities of smoke. 
 
 The per capita for consumption of coal in 
 Chicago was 8.3 tons, which was larger than for 
 any other city. 
 
 Other American cities have tried to solve the 
 smoke nuisance — Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, 
 and New York. These and many smaller cities 
 are still more or less cursed by the Evil Genie — 
 Smoke.
 
 138 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 " More persons are devitalized, disabled and 
 poisoned by the impurities contained in smoke- 
 polluted air, than by the noxious ingredients in 
 food and water." 
 
 The truth is that smoke has been a bothersome 
 problem for every people. But it grew more and 
 more aggravating as the use of coal increased. 
 A few cities have partially solved it by forbid- 
 ding the burning of soft coal. 
 
 In Great Britain coal was being mined about 
 the tenth century. London declared war on the 
 smoke nuisance in 1273 by passing a statute 
 prohibiting its use within the city. And again 
 in 1306, Edward I issued a restraining proclama- 
 tion because of the '^ sulferous smoke and savour 
 of the firing." 
 
 In 1307 a commission was appointed and in- 
 structed to inquire " of all such who burn sea 
 coal in the city, or parts adjoining, and to punish 
 them for the first offense with great fines and 
 ransoms and upon the second offense to demolish 
 their furnaces." A royal decree was issued pro- 
 hibiting its use, but as wood grew scarcer it was 
 disregarded and the prejudice wore off.
 
 A City Beautiful within Twenty Years 139 
 
 In 1648 the people of London petitioned 
 Parliament to prevent the importation of coal 
 into the city. 
 
 About the year 1750, when steam was being 
 applied to industrial purposes, coal began to be 
 used more and more extensively, and conse- 
 quently smoke became more abundant and 
 troublesome. The last patent issued to James 
 Watt (July 9, 1785) was a device which was 
 intended to prevent black smoke. 
 
 In 1819 William Brunton at the Eagle Foun- 
 dry in Birmingham was granted a patent for a 
 coking stoker with a horizontal circular grate — 
 the first practical mechanical stoker in the his- 
 tory of the world. Therefore, over a hundred 
 years ago the principles of combustion and the 
 prevention of smoke were understood and 
 applied, but without much success. 
 
 In 1819 the British Government appointed a 
 committee in the House of Commons to investi- 
 gate the smoke situation; another committee was 
 appointed in 1843, 1846, 1854, and 1866. Re- 
 ports were issued in 1843 and 1845, but no legis- 
 lation passed. In 1875 the Public Health Act
 
 140 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 was passed to deal with this question — which 
 was really a serious one as evidenced by the 
 number of investigations made. 
 
 Queen Elizabeth prohibited the burning of 
 coal in London while Parliament was in session 
 because the health of "the knights of the 
 shires might suffer during their abode in the 
 Metropolis." Evelyn says that musical friends 
 of his who came to London actually lost three 
 whole notes in range of their voices. 
 
 Although several commissions have attacked 
 the smoke problem and numerous anti-smoke 
 devices were invented and installed, London is 
 still suffering greatly from the smoke nuisance, 
 which is largely aggravated by its fogs. The 
 London medical officer of health stated, in his 
 report for 1915-16, that about 55 tons of soot, 
 grit, and dust fell every month in London. 
 
 Pittsburgh's soot deposit has been placed at 
 from 600 to 2,000 tons a square mile yearly 
 according to a report of the Mellon Institute. 
 The same authority says: " The annual loss in 
 Pittsburgh to fuel users alone in imperfect com- 
 bustion, amounts to more than $1,500,000."
 
 A C ity Beautiful within Twenty Years 141 
 
 Mr. John W. McLusky, engineer and man- 
 ager of the Glasgow Gas Department, in a paper 
 treating of the hygiene of gas heating, said that 
 observations carried out by the Coal Smoke 
 Abatement Society showed that ten years ago 
 61,000 tons of solid matter were deposited 
 annually from the atmosphere in the city of 
 London, and the latest statistics of the Govern- 
 ment's Advisory Committee on Atmospheric 
 Pollution recorded a deposit for the year ending 
 March, 1916, of about 55,000 tons, and for 1920 
 of about 40,000 tons. A very large proportion 
 of this deposit is wasted carbonaceous matter 
 which has its origin mainly in the domestic coal 
 fire and kitchen grate. Glasgow has a propor- 
 tionate deposit amounting in 1920 to about 370 
 tons per square mile as registered in Richmond 
 Park by the special instruments of the Govern- 
 ment's Committee. 
 
 No vv^onder collars, clothes, and streets become 
 dirty quickly. Smoke and soot also do great 
 damage to household furnishings, curtains, 
 draperies, wall paper, paint, and even stone, 
 iron, and steel structures.
 
 142 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 A gas engineer of The People's Gas Light & 
 Coke Company stated that if every person in 
 Chicago would contribute $5 to a smoke abate- 
 ment fund the greatest advance for making 
 Chicago a ^'City Beautiful" could be made at 
 once. The Chicago report quoted from before 
 says that: 
 
 The Committee finds that domestic fires, including fur- 
 naces in apartment buildings, produce 57 per cent of all the 
 soot or tarry products of combustion discharged in the 
 atmosphere of Chicago, and, for this reason, constitute the 
 most objectionable source of atmospheric pollution in the city. 
 Soot is shown to be damaging to clothes, property, and 
 vegetation. 
 
 The committee forgot, however, to empha- 
 size the damage done to the health of 2,701,705 
 people. To every inhabitant of Chicago the 
 saving in clothes, health and property, now 
 damaged by smoke, would easily be worth $5 
 every year if coal and oil fires were changed to 
 gas fires. 
 
 The cost to Pittsburgh families for increased 
 laundry, dry cleaning, painting and decorating, 
 extra light and general cleaning has been esti- 
 mated to average about $100 a year for each 
 family.
 
 A City Beautiful within Twenty Years 143 
 
 The smoke nuisance is the greatest hindrance to the high- 
 est development of civic beauty and refinement. It defaces, 
 disfigures or destroys buildings and restricts the styles of 
 architecture. Smoke not only destroys the life of building 
 materials, but destroys the expression of architecture so that 
 the buildings are reduced to a shabby mass of begrimed 
 masonry. 
 
 We know that smoke is the result primarily 
 of improper burning of soft coal; that house 
 chimneys produce the most smoke; that smoke 
 prevention appliances — though easily adapted 
 to factories — are not very practical for homes; 
 that central heating plants, because of the sea- 
 sonal nature of heating requirements, great 
 radiation losses, and large capital involved, v^ill 
 not solve the smoke problem. Neither will 
 zoning — the confining of future building de- 
 velopment to types of districts. Since smoke- 
 belching chimneys are no longer an index of in- 
 dustrial efficiency and prosperity, therefore, 
 every public-spirited citizen should use a smoke- 
 less fuel, either coke or gas for cooking and 
 heating, install the best fuel appliances, and 
 learn to use these efficiently. 
 
 If the inhabitants could be sufficiently inter- 
 ested in a Community Betterment Plan, gas-
 
 144 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 burning appliances would gradually be installed 
 throughout the city. The air would become 
 pure, the atmosphere clear, and the streets, 
 buildings, and interiors clean and habitable. 
 Both health and wealth would be greatly fur- 
 thered by a universal use of gas. 
 
 But decreased laundry bills, less soot and 
 smoke and noxious gases in the air, and a more 
 beautiful city are not the only advantages that 
 the use of gas is bringing to individuals and to 
 communities — the universal use of gas is imper- 
 ative from the viewpoint of national economy. 
 In any heating installation, gas delivers several 
 times as much of the energy originally in the 
 coal as will any other method of utilizing the 
 coal. 
 
 A small steam power plant seldom delivers 
 in mechanical energy more than 5 per cent of 
 the energy of the coal fired — and many of these 
 plants deliver less than 2 per cent of the original 
 energy of the coal. Contrast this with the 14 
 per cent, or more, of the coal converted into 
 mechanical energy by first making the coal into 
 gas. Then, too, in heating and stationary power
 
 A City Beautiful within Twenty Years 145 
 
 plants, gas is a more flexible fuel than oil and 
 gasoline and would release millions of barrels 
 of oil yearly. This would extend our mineral 
 oil resources years beyond the present estimate 
 of twenty years, by using gas from coal, of which 
 we have in the ground a supply to last at least 
 two hundred years. 
 
 This two hundred year supply of coal — some 
 optimist estimated it at three thousand years — 
 can be made to last much longer if it is first con- 
 verted into gas for heating. Some seem to 
 think that electricity will soon be the heating 
 agent. Electricity has many advantages over 
 coal and oil and in a few cases may have some 
 over gas, but in the long run as a heating tool 
 electricity is more expensive. 
 
 A natural gas engineer has made some very 
 interesting comparisons as to the cost of heating 
 with gas and with electricity. 
 
 He estimated that there are 6,000,000 homes 
 in the United States that are wired for electric- 
 ity. If all these houses used electricity for both 
 cooking and heating, it would require yearly 
 750,000,000 tons of coal — which is more coal
 
 146 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 than is mined yearly in the United States and 
 twenty times more than now used by electric 
 plants to generate electricity. 
 
 At present, gas companies are using about 
 9,000,000 tons of coal yearly; and to furnish 
 6,000,000 homes with fuel for cooking and heat- 
 ing would require only about 62,000,000 tons 
 which is quite a saving in comparison with 750,- 
 000,000 tons by electricity. 
 
 Besides this economy in coal there is, accord- 
 ing to the same authority, another great saving 
 in the cost of additional electric equipment- — 
 which would require a capacity of 150,000,000 
 kilowatt hours or seven times the present one of 
 20,000,000 kilowatt. 
 
 Evidently there is plenty of work yet for both 
 services — gas for heating and electricity for 
 power — without unnecessarily wasting coal 
 through competition for the heating load. 
 
 That there is a big field for eliminating fuel 
 waste can readily be seen from a tabulation 
 which appeared in the Coal Age of November 
 11, 1920. 
 
 Of the 2,000 pounds of coal in a mine:
 
 A Cit y Beautiful 'Within Twenty Years 147 
 
 Pounds. 
 
 Left for pillars and extraction 600 
 
 Consumed in the mining process 31 
 
 Reduction of steam for transporting the coal mined .... 82 
 
 Lost by shrinkage 13 
 
 Lost due to improper combustion 446 
 
 Lost by radiation of heat 51 
 
 Lost in the ashpit 51 
 
 Conversion of heat into mechanical energy (steam) . . .650 
 
 Total, 1,924 
 Only 76 out of 2,000 pounds actually go into mechanical 
 energy. 
 
 These estimated figures on coal economy and 
 waste are given here to stimulate serious thought 
 on conservation of fuel. 
 
 The world's power and heat will in all prob- 
 ability depend for many future generations upon 
 '' black diamond " coal. Water-power often 
 called "white coal," is plentiful but very expen- 
 sive to get. Tidal waves and steam from vol- 
 c-anoes as harnessed in Italy to a turbine produc- 
 ing 30,000 horse-power are unique but rare 
 sources of energy. 
 
 Another national economy that is being intro- 
 duced by the gas industry is the complete gasi- 
 fication of coal and a decrease in the amount of 
 oil used in the carbureted water-gas process.
 
 148 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 Each year more and more of the heat energy of 
 coal is being made available by increased 
 efficiency and better processes in the gas indus- 
 try. And combustion engineers claim that a 
 *' leaner " gas can be burned more efficiently than 
 the so-called '' richer " gas of a few years ago. 
 
 The economy of converting coal into gas is 
 apparent from the products obtained when one 
 ton is distilled in a modern by-product coke- 
 oven wherein one ton of coal yields one ton of 
 products. Thus 2,000 pounds of coal yield 
 1,400 pounds of smokeless fuel (coke) ; 12,000 
 cubic feet of gas; 25 pounds of ammonia sul- 
 phate; iJ/$ gallons of benzol (for high explo- 
 sives and motor fuel) ; and 9 gallons of tar. 
 These products have a total value at least 
 fifteen times as great as that of the original ton 
 of raw coal. 
 
 Contrary to public belief, gas causes less fire 
 loss than any other fuel. Statistics compiled by 
 the Actuarial Bureau of the National Board of 
 Fire Underwriters show that gas does not cause 
 one-seventh the loss that matches and smoking 
 do.
 
 A City Beautiful within Twenty Years 149 
 
 • FIRE LOSS IN UNITED STATES 
 
 5-Year Yearly 
 
 Cause Period Average 
 1. Unknown causes (probably 1916-1920 
 
 largely preventable) . . .$442,423,079 $88,484,615 
 
 2. Exposure (including con- 
 
 flagrations) 232,888,419 46,577,683 
 
 3. Matches and smoking 90,271,334 18,054,266 
 
 4. Electricity 85,735,168 17,147,033 
 
 5. Stoves, furnaces, boilers 
 
 and their pipes 63,324,07' 12,664,814 
 
 6. Defective chimne3^s and 
 
 flues 61,975,786 12,395,157 
 
 7. Spontaneous combustion.. 61,192,591 12,238,518 
 
 8. Lightning 48,563,955 9,712,791 
 
 9. Sparks on roofs 41,667,246 8,333,449 
 
 10. Sparks from machineiy. . . 39,673,406 7,934,681 
 
 11. Petroleum and its products 33,973,457 6,794,691 
 
 12. Miscellaneous knowncauses 25,832,124 5,166,424 
 
 13. Sparks from combustion.. 25,051,580 5,010,316 
 
 14. Incendiarism 16,628,095 3,325,619 
 
 15. Open lights 16,287,028 3,257,405 
 
 16. Hot ashes and coals, open 
 
 fires 15,563,630 3,112,726 
 
 17. Gas, natural and manufac- 
 
 tured 12,776,382 2,555,276 
 
 18. Explosions 10,342,225 2,068,445 
 
 19. Ignition of hot grease, oil, 
 
 tar, wax, asphalt, etc. . . 6,262,261 1,252,452 
 
 20. Rubbish and litter. ...... 3,751,974 750,394 
 
 21. Steam and hot water pipes 2,066,832 413,366 
 
 22. Fireworks, fire crackers, 
 
 etc 1,927,499 385,499 
 
 Total $1,338,178,142 $267,635,620 
 
 *The Bureau estimates that 25 per cent should be added 
 to this total to account for losses not reported.
 
 150 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 If the total amount lost in the five years, $1,672,722,677, 
 had been used constructively instead of being literally thrown 
 away, the sum would have built 334,540 dwellings, costing 
 on the average $5,000 each, thus supplying homes for 
 1,672,720 people. This exceeds the total population of Con- 
 necticut, Nevada, and Wyoming. 
 
 Or, it would have constructed 16,727 school houses, cost- 
 ing $100,000 apiece. 
 
 The total given is terrific enough, in itself, but when it is 
 compared with certain other financial items, the picture stag- 
 gers belief. The sum exceeds, for example, the value of the 
 entire gold production of the United States during the nine- 
 teen years from 1902 to 1920, inclusive. It equals, in value, 
 16,727 grams of radium, the costliest of earth's products. — 
 Safeguarding America Against Fire^ January, 1922, issue. 
 
 When coal is burned in the open air nothing 
 is left but a small amount of ashes. When heat- 
 ed in a closed vessel where the oxygen of the 
 air cannot reach it, carbon or coke is left after 
 all the gas has been driven off. Gas and coke 
 are thus the two main products of this process, 
 which is called " destructive distillation of 
 coal." 
 
 As the gas escapes it is cooled off, washed, 
 and purified so that tar, ammonia, sulphur, etc., 
 are removed from it. The extent of distillation 
 and purification depends upon what product is 
 most wanted: If illuminating gas, the benzine 
 is left in the gas; if tar products, the benzine is
 
 A Citv Beautiful within Twenty Years 151 
 
 taken out; if coke, the by-products of tar, 
 ammonia, and light oils are allowed to burn up. 
 
 It has been estimated that $75,000,000 worth 
 of by-products are burned up yearly by the old- 
 fashioned bee-hive coke-ovens. You can ima- 
 gine what a display of fire-works hundreds of 
 these gas-burning ovens produce on a dark 
 night. 
 
 For years and years the gas works used to 
 burn up or throw away in the river a smelly 
 mass which, unless removed from the gas, 
 stopped up mains and service pipes. The wasted 
 tar was later used in celebrating the Fourth of 
 July and for roofing paper. 
 
 This tar is today the most harmful and at the 
 same time the most useful material in the world 
 for it is used in both warfare and in trade. 
 From this black ill-smelling mass the chemist 
 produces colors that eclipse the blue of the sky, 
 the red of the rose, the green of the grass, the 
 golden yellow of the sunset, in fact, that rival 
 the rainbow in hues. 
 
 It was in order to supply us with these colors 
 that the Deutschland made its under-sea voyage
 
 152 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 to Baltimore, landing July 10, 1916, with a 
 cargo of priceless chemicals and dyes. From 
 coal tar is derived a substance which has a 
 sweetening power more than five hundred times 
 that of sugar, and innumerable other substances, 
 some deadly, some curative, and many which 
 are today indispensable both in the home and in 
 industry. 
 
 You remember that some of the alchemists of 
 old claimed that the crude products of coal 
 possessed medicinal qualities. Bishop Berkeley 
 wrote a book to prove that wood tar would cure 
 all diseases. Coal tar contains only about a 
 dozen primary products, but from these the 
 chemist is able to build up thousands and thou- 
 sands of new substances. Here are a few sam- 
 ples: perfume and poison gas; headache reme- 
 dies and paint; explosives and fertilizers; moth 
 balls and photographic developers; flavoring 
 materials and carbolic acid. 
 
 The search itself rewards the pains: 
 
 So though the chymist his great secret miss. 
 
 For neither it in art nor nature is. 
 
 Yet things well worth his toil he gains. 
 
 And does his charge and labor pay 
 
 With good unsought experience by the way.
 
 Products Chived from Coal 
 
 I Gas I |Ga5Liqoor| 
 
 l—IP-y-FIF^kl l^ 
 
 \a...u [InJiJ^rnt^LtL.! 
 
 PE^ 
 
 I LlOHT Oil I 
 
 J „ I „ I zx 
 
 IheavyOilI 
 
 I Pitch | 
 
 ^ 
 
 3 | c.„o.«... | p;^,c,L ||o-....c,.,|[rW7 
 
 [d^n nrF^ F^ F^^y^F;^^ 
 
 ,0^ ^ 
 
 
 !?■■■•■--.■■ I rsfen I ->-!■- ii^~~. I 
 
 .^:i 
 
 
 
 
 [^ 
 
 ^^ 
 
 -| i».-»;.'...| i^«-. .^-^-.|i—J"' i r 
 
 c;;^ 
 
 r
 
 A City Beautiful unthin Twenty Years 153 
 
 It is chemistry that has made the gas industry 
 so fascinating and vigorous, and is rapidly mak- 
 ing gas the Aladdin or the ally of all industries. 
 
 The rapidly growing demands for fuels are 
 making conservation of our national resources 
 more and more important every year. Since 
 the burning of coal in the home, in the factory, 
 and in the bee-hive coke-oven is not only a crim- 
 inal waste but also a menace to health and prop- 
 erty, that method should not be permitted in 
 this enlightened age. Individuals and indus- 
 tries should cooperate in keeping cities clean 
 and healthful and also in making it profitable 
 for chemists to develop the by-products derived 
 from coal in the manufacture of gas. 
 
 From the preceding we see that the gas indus- 
 try is today an intensely interesting and also an 
 extremely important one. In importance it 
 rivals the steel industry, for it too is a necessity 
 in industries during peace and the backbone of 
 military operations in times of war. It is in- 
 deed a strategic industry, and its products 
 should therefore be developed with the greatest 
 foresight and patience so that America may
 
 154 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 never again be at the mercy of a foreign coun- 
 try for dyes, medicinal materials, and explosives 
 for defense. 
 
 " In peace, and even in war, chemistry paints 
 the whole picture of progress." — A. Mitchell 
 Palmer, Former U, S, Alien Property Custo- 
 dian.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 "semper fidelis" 
 
 Fear not to go tvhere fearless Science leads. 
 Who holds the keys of God. 
 
 — W. T. Richards. 
 
 THIS Story has set forth briefly the begin- 
 nings and progress of an industry which 
 has the unique distinction of being old yet ever 
 new. It is old when the years of its service are 
 compared with those of other public utilities, 
 and new when the field of its ever-growing 
 influence, usefulness, and performance is fully 
 considered. 
 
 We are indebted to the ancient alchemists and 
 to sturdy pioneers, both considered with sus- 
 picion, for a partial realization of an ideal ser- 
 vice. It remains for the modern gas engineer 
 and the chemist to make the realization com- 
 plete. In doing that, however, they may have to 
 revise some of their opinions considerably, even 
 to the extent that the alchemists of old may have 
 been right after all in their contention that the 
 baser metals can be converted into gold. Wit- 
 
 155
 
 156 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 ness: The properties of radium which threaten 
 to revolutionize everything we know about the 
 earth below and the heavens above. 
 
 The history of the gas industry everywhere 
 has been one of public service. Very rarely, 
 indeed, do we hear of an interruption in a gas 
 supply when once a gas plant has been built. 
 These rare instances have invariably been due 
 to conditions which made it utterly impossible 
 to continue business. A public utility is, from its 
 very nature and purpose, compelled to supply 
 service even at a loss and has been forced to do 
 so many times in the past. No private business 
 would do so. 
 
 The gas business has ever had quite an ele- 
 ment of uncertainty in it. Its early pioneers in 
 all countries made practically no profit from it, 
 and yet they remained true to their vision. Their 
 successors have also taken a great pride in sup- 
 plying, under all conditions, a service which 
 never fails. 
 
 Of all services, therefore, gas has rightly 
 earned through past performances, the name of 
 semper fidelis — always faithful.
 
 APPENDICES
 
 APPENDIX A 
 
 CHRONOLOGY OF THE E.AJILY DEVELOPMENTS OF THE GAS 
 INDUSTRY 
 
 B. C. 
 
 4000 Paintings on walls of tombs portray Eg>^ptians pre- 
 paring meals. 
 2000-1200 First bathroom built, discovered on the Island of 
 
 Crete in the ruins of the city of Cnosus. 
 1600 Paintings of royal bakery and kitchen of Rameses in. 
 
 illustrate boiling in pots and frying on griddles. 
 1450 First artificial lighting by ''fire-pans" or "censers." 
 750 Assyrian and Babylonian bas-reliefs of camp-life show 
 cooking over small brazier, and baking in a cylin- 
 drical oven. 
 500 Oil lamps first used. 
 400 Saint Jerome relates that some streets in Jerusalem 
 
 and Antioch were lighted at night. 
 300 Earliest mention of coal by the Greek philosopher 
 
 Theophrastus. 
 100 Sergius Orata invented hypocaust — Roman system of 
 heating rooms and baths with hot air. 
 
 A. D. 
 
 852 First mention of coal In England; contained in the 
 Saxon Chronicle of the Abbey of Petersborough. 
 
 1000 Coal began to replace wood and charcoal. 
 
 1127 "Order of the Bath" established by Henry i. of Eng- 
 land. 
 
 1180 Coal first mined systematically in England. 
 
 1250 Coal became a commercial commodity. 
 
 1259 King Henry in. granted charter to mine coal in New- 
 castle. 
 
 1272 Coal used in London. 
 
 1316 A royal proclamation issued forbidding the use of coal 
 
 in London on account of the " noisome smell." 
 
 159
 
 160 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 1415 First regular street lighting in London. 
 
 1490 First base-burning stove used in Alsace. 
 
 1500 About 1500 Brazil Valentine discovered muriatic, sul- 
 phuric, and nitric acids. 
 
 1500 Forks in use in Italy. 
 
 1509 Box stoves made of cast iron in Ilsenberg. 
 
 1541 About this time Paracelsus discovered hydrogen gas. 
 
 1560 Special licenses granted to make charcoal and smelt 
 iron. 
 
 1580 Use of coal prohibited by Queen Elizabeth in London 
 while Parliament was in session, because " the health 
 of the knights of the shires might suffer during their 
 abode in the Metropolis." 
 
 1608 London company sent eight Poles and Germans to 
 
 Jamestown Settlement to make pitch, tar, glass, and 
 soap-ashes — the beginning of the American Chemi- 
 cal industry. 
 
 1609 Van Helmont settled in Brussels and gave the name 
 
 of "Gas" (from "Geist," meaning ghost or spirit) 
 to the aeriform bodies produced by combustion and 
 by fermentation. 
 
 1611 Forks introduced in England. 
 
 1624 In Louvre a fireplace was built with air passages at 
 sides. 
 
 1635 Hooke, the inventor of watches, first to study com- 
 bustion. 
 
 1645 British Royal Society formed (constitution adopted 
 1662). 
 
 1659 Thomas Shirley investigated a natural gas well in 
 Lancashire, England, and wrote the first description 
 of experiments with natural gas published in the 
 Transactions of the Royal Society for June, 1667. 
 
 1662 The use of coal had become so extensive that in 1662 
 the sum of £200,000 was raised by means of a 
 "Health Tax" imposed on fireplaces by King 
 Charles ii. 
 
 1662 Robert Boyle enunciated the statement known as 
 "Boyle's Law."
 
 Appendly: A 161 
 
 1662 Abbe Laudati Caraffe secured first concessions for 
 street lighting of Paris by torch bearers. 
 
 1660-1670 Dr. Clayton experimented with natural gas 
 at Lancashire, England, and distilled coal to produce 
 gas, ^yhich he stored and lighted. An account of his 
 experiments was published in the Transactions of the 
 Royal Society for 1739. 
 
 1667 September. Paris streets lighted by candles set in glass 
 boxes by royal decree. 
 
 1675 Coal distilled for the production of tar. 
 
 1676 Boyle's Law confirmed by ]Mariotte. 
 
 1679 A "coal mine" near Ottawa, III, U. S. A., men- 
 tioned by Father Hennepin, a Jesuit missionary. 
 
 1681 Aug. 19. John Joachim and Henry Serle granted a 
 patent (No. 214) for 14 years for "a new way of 
 making pitch, and tarre out of pit coals." 
 
 1697 First street lighting ordinance passed in New York 
 City. 
 
 1700 Coal exported from England to European countries. 
 
 1716 Guthsmann, librarian to the king of Portugal, in- 
 vented apparatus for baking bread, and cooking 
 meats with the rays of the sun. 
 
 1723 Cardinal Polignac put flues at both sides and back but 
 people objected to breathing "air that had passed 
 through red hot pipes." 
 
 1726 Dr. Stephen Hales published "Vegetable Statiks," 
 describing his experiments on the distillation of coal. 
 
 1744 Benjamin Franklin constructed the box stove called 
 
 the Pennsylvania fireplace. 
 
 1745 Oil lamps first used in Paris streets. 
 
 1749 Coal mined in Richmond Basin, Virginia, U. S. A. 
 
 1754 Dr. Joseph Black discovered carbonic acid gas (carbon 
 
 dioxide). 
 
 1755 Coal discovered in Ohio, U. S. A. 
 
 1757 Franklin suggested four glass panes for John Clifton^s 
 tin lantern frames — for street lighting in Philadel- 
 phia.
 
 162 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 1760 Theory of Specific Heat and of Latent Heat, pro- 
 pounded by Dr. Steven Black. 
 1762 Oil street lamps first lighted in New York City. 
 
 1765 Reflector oil lamps introduced in Paris. 
 
 1766 A gold medal offered by the French Academy of 
 
 Science as a prize for the best essay on street light- 
 ing, won by Lavoisier. 
 
 1767 Hydrogen discovered in water by Henry Cavendish. 
 1770 Joseph Priestley gave "rubber" its name because it 
 
 removed pencil marks. 
 
 1774 Oxygen discovered by Joseph Priestley in England, and 
 
 by Charles Scheele in Sweden. 
 
 1775 The composition of atmospheric air discovered by 
 
 Lavoisier. 
 
 1776 The water lute (water seal) invented by Priestly. 
 
 1777 Hot water sj^stem invented by Bonnemain; first used 
 
 for incubators. 
 1781 A patent granted to the Earl of Dundonald for dis- 
 tilling coal. All the products of distillation were 
 mentioned except gas. 
 
 1781 The gas holder invented by Lavoisier. 
 
 1782 Argand invented "Argand lamp." 
 
 1784 James Watt heated his study by steam. . 
 
 1784 Jean Pierre Minckelers lighted gas distilled from coal 
 
 as a demonstration to his class in the University of 
 
 Louvain. 
 
 1784 Murdock constructed a high pressure engine running 
 
 on wheels (scared village parson to death). 
 
 1785 Murdock invented first oscillating engine. 
 
 1787 Lord Dundonald lighted up Culross Abbey with pat- 
 
 ented process for obtaining coal tar. 
 
 1788 Diller, a German, exhibited at the Lyceum, Strand, 
 
 London, fire-works produced by inflammable gas. 
 1790 Anthracite coal first mined in Pennsylvania. 
 1792 Chemical Society of Philadelphia (the first of its 
 
 kind) founded by James Woodhouse. 
 1792 William Murdock distilled coal in an iron retort and 
 
 conducted the gas seventy feet through tinned iron
 
 Appendix A 163 
 
 and copper tubes to light his house and grounds at 
 Redruth in Cornwall. 
 1796 Benjamin Rumford suggested warming rooms by 
 means of chimneys — from which idea the radiator 
 developed. 
 
 1796 August. Manufactured gas exhibited in a museum in 
 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 1797 Murdock lighted with gas his house and office at Old 
 
 Comnock. 
 
 1798 Murdock lighted with gas one of Boulton and Watt's 
 
 shops at Soho, near Birmingham. 
 
 1799 Murdock invented the "D" slide valve (used in steam 
 
 engines and gas meters). 
 
 1799 September. Philippe Lebon (in France) patented a 
 "Thermolampe" for the production of gas by dis- 
 tillation from wood, coal, etc. 
 
 1801 Lebon lighted with gas his house and gardens in the 
 Rue St. Dominique, Paris. 
 
 1801 Lebon obtained first patent for gas power. 
 
 1801 "Lime light" invented by Robert Hare. 
 
 1802 April. Murdock gave a public display of gas lighting 
 
 at Soho to celebrate the Peace of Amiens. 
 
 1803 Main Street, Richmond, Va., was lighted by a huge 
 
 gas lamp on a 40-foot tower. 
 1803 Frederick Albert Winsor began experimenting with 
 Lebon's gas apparatus at Hyde Park, London. 
 
 1803 Murdock invented a steam gun anticipating Perkin's 
 
 apparatus. 
 
 1804 Murdock built gas works and lighted Boulton and 
 
 Watt's shops at Soho. 
 1804 May. Winsor obtained first English patent for gas- 
 making apparatus. 
 
 1804 Winsor gave a public display of gas lighting at the 
 
 Lyceum Theatre, London. 
 
 1805 Murdock built gas works and lighted the cotton mill 
 
 of Messrs. Phillips & Lee at Manchester; nine hun- 
 dred burners were supplied. 
 1805 Samuel Clegg built gas works and lighted the cotton 
 mill of Mr. Henry Lodge, near Halifax.
 
 164 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 1806 Edward Heard patented a process of using lime as a 
 purifier. 
 
 1806 December. Lead pipes were laid in Pall Mall, Lon- 
 
 don, by Winsor — first gas mains in a public street. 
 
 1807 January 28. One side of Pall Mall lighted with gas. 
 1807 June 4. Both sides of Pall Mall lighted with gas. 
 
 1807 July 12. First meeting of gas stockholders (proposed 
 
 National Light & Heat Company, London). 
 
 1808 February 25. Murdock read a paper, describing the 
 
 gas installation at Phillips & Lee's cotton mill, be- 
 fore the Royal Society, and was awarded the Count 
 Rumford Gold Medal. 
 1808-10 Yarn and lead for jointing probably invented by 
 Simpson. 
 
 1809 May 5. Hearingjbefore the House of Commons, upon 
 
 Winsor's application for a charter for the " National 
 Light & Heat Company." He was opposed by Mur- 
 dock and Watt. 
 1809 Clegg wrote a paper on the application of gas lighting 
 in mills and factories, and was awarded a silver 
 medal by the Society of Arts. 
 
 1809 Wet lime purifier introduced by Clegg in a plant to 
 
 light Mr. Harris' factory at Coventry. 
 
 1810 Application made to Parliament by Winsor and his 
 
 stockholders to form the London and Westminster 
 
 Gas Light & Coke Company. 
 1810 Act of Incorporation passed by Parliament in favor of 
 
 the London and Westminster Gas Light & Coke 
 
 Company. 
 1812 David Melville, in Newport, R. L, lighted his house 
 
 with coal gas. 
 1812 April. A Royal Charter granted to the London and 
 
 Westminster Gas Light k Coke Company. This 
 
 was the first gas company formed. 
 
 1812 The hydraulic main introduced by Clegg in a plant 
 
 to light the cotton mills of Ashton Brothers at Hyde. 
 
 1813 Clegg became engineer of London and Westminster 
 
 Gas Light & Coke Company.
 
 Appendix A 165 
 
 1813 March 18. David Melville obtained a patent on his 
 apparatus for making coal gas. 
 
 1813 December 31. Westminster Bridge (opened 1750) 
 
 lighted with gas for the first time. 
 
 1814 April. The oil street lamps of St. Margaret's Parish, 
 
 Westminster were replaced with gas lamps. 
 
 1815 December 9. First gas meter invented by Clegg. 
 1815 December 28. Gas lighting first proposed for Phila- 
 delphia by Mr. James McMurtie. 
 
 1815 First treatise on gas lighting published by Frederick 
 Accum. 
 
 1815 Murdock invented an apparatus for heating water for 
 
 the baths at Leamington (present hot water system). 
 
 1816 Conservatory at Brompton, England, heated by hot 
 
 water. 
 
 1816 The cylindrical gas holder first appeared, constructed 
 at the works of the London and Westminster Gas 
 Light & Coke Company, under direction of Samuel 
 Clegg. 
 
 1816 First gas company incorporated in the United States, 
 at Baltimore, Maryland. 
 Note — June 13, 1816; Peak's Museum, Baltimore, 
 advertised a display of gas lighting. June 17, 1816: 
 First gas company founded in the United States, at 
 Baltimore, Maryland, by passage of an ordinance 
 permitting Rembrandt Peale and others to manufac- 
 ture gas, lay pipes in the streets and to contract with 
 the city for street lighting. February 5, 1817: Gas 
 Light Company of Baltimore, the first gas company 
 in America, incorporated. 
 
 1816 (?) Murdock invented first atmospheric railway, an 
 extended air tube for sending letters and parcels. 
 
 1816 Clegg invented the wet meter with revolving drum. 
 
 1817 Clegg's wet meter remodeled and improved by John 
 
 Malam. 
 1819 William Brunton invented the first mechanical stoker.
 
 166 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 1819 June 19. Ed. Heard and David Gordon obtained a 
 
 patent for compressing gas in metal drums to fur- 
 nish a portable supply. 
 
 1820 Process of Oil Gas manufacture, patented by Taylor 
 
 and IVIartineau. 
 
 1820 John Malam patented the first dry meter, which proved 
 
 unsatisfactory. 
 
 1821 Act of Parliament passed, authorizing the erection of 
 
 oil gas works. 
 
 1821 April. Oil gas works built at Bristol, Colchester, Dub- 
 lin, Edinburgh, Hull, Leith, Liverpool, Norwich, 
 Plymouth, and Taunton. 
 
 1823 Malam patented a process of dry lime' purifying. 
 
 1823 The Boston (Massachusetts) Gas Light Company es- 
 
 tablished. 
 
 1824 January 19. Broadmeadow patented the exhauster. 
 
 James Russell filed patent specifications for "'an 
 improvement in the manufacture of tubes for gas.'* 
 
 1824 William Congreve patented an inferential meter de- 
 
 pending on time outlet was open. 
 
 1825 The gas governor invented by Samuel Crossley. 
 1825 New York Gas Light Company established. 
 1825 Benzole discovered by Faraday. 
 
 1825 First gas lamps in Brooklyn, New York. 
 
 1825 Robert Hicks patented process for " Heating water in 
 baths by means of burning carborated hydrogen gas 
 in chambers in the bath or tubes passing through or 
 under them." 
 
 1825 James Mackintosh began manufacture of garments 
 
 waterproofed with rubber made solvent with a prod- 
 uct derived from coal tar. 
 
 1826 Gas heated lime light used for signaling. 
 
 1828 First gas works in Boston, Mass., built on Hull Street. 
 
 1829 January 1. First gas lamps in Boston lighted in Dock 
 
 Square. 
 
 1830 First base-burning stove in the United States. 
 
 1830 Manhattan Gas Light Company established in New 
 York.
 
 Appendix A 1^ 
 
 1830 Clegg patented a dry meter. 
 
 1830 Lord John Russell, inventor of a bath tub, first Eng- 
 lishman to take "a bath a day." 
 
 1832 Meters first manufactured in the United States by 
 Samuel Hill, in Baltimore, Maryland. 
 
 1832 Philo Penfield Stewart began building cooking stoves. 
 
 1833 March 19. A dry meter invented by James Bogardus, 
 
 an American engraver, was patented by Miles 
 Berry. Defects caused abandonment. 
 1833 Ebenezer Goddard invented a dry meter. 
 
 1833 October 12. The Telescopic Holder patented by 
 
 Hutchinson, engineer of the London Metropolitan 
 Gas Company. This holder was invented in 1824 
 and described in Creighton's Encyclopedia. 
 
 1834 New Orleans first lighted by gas. 
 
 1835 First hot air furnace built in Worcester, Massachu- 
 
 setts. 
 
 1835 Gas meters manufactured in New York by Young, 
 
 and in 1836 by Samuel Down. 
 
 1836 Bogardus improved his dry meter. 
 
 1836 Controversy on surface combustion between Farady 
 and de la Rive closed, and subject dropped. 
 
 1838 Discovery of preservation of wood by dipping It in 
 coal-tar. 
 
 1840 Meters adopted by the London and Westminster Gas 
 Light and Coke Company. 
 
 1840 Delbruck Invented a burner In which he passed one 
 tube through the interior of another — using both 
 gas and air. 
 
 1842 December 20. Adam Thompson, of Cincinnati, Ohio, 
 took "first bath" In his improved hot and cold water 
 bath tub, made of mahogany, 7 feet long, 4 feet wide, 
 lined with sheet lead; weight, one ton. 
 
 1842 Edge patented an Inferential meter measuring part of 
 
 the gas used. 
 
 1843 William Richards made a dry meter with two dia- 
 
 phragms, two slide valves and a dial, which, with 
 minor Improvements, Is the meter In use today.
 
 168 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 1844 Havana, Cuba — James Robb, New Orleans banker, 
 erected gas plant owned by him and Queen Mother 
 of Spain. 
 
 1844 Croll and Richards patented an improved dry meter 
 
 which is the basis of the present meter. 
 
 1845 Von Hofmann separated coal into a number of differ- 
 
 ent substances (10 crudes of today) by heating in a 
 closed vessel. 
 1845 First buildings heated by steam in the United States, 
 Eastern Hotel, Boston ; factory at Burlington Wool- 
 en Mills, Vermont. 
 
 1845 Boston made bathing unlawful except upon medical 
 
 advice. 
 
 1846 Gas meters made legal in France. 
 
 1847 Nitro-glycerine discovered by Sobrero, an Italian 
 
 chemist. 
 
 1848 Constantinople — Sultan's palace and mosques gas 
 
 lighted. 
 
 1849 A company formed in Boston, Mass., by Mr. George 
 
 Darracott, to manufacture meters. 
 
 1849 Edwards took out patent for "gas-fire." 
 
 1850 James Sharp delivered a lecture on ''Gastronomy'* 
 
 demonstrating gas cooking. 
 
 1850 First attempt at outdoor distance lighting by Profes- 
 sor Klinkelfuss at Gottingen. 
 
 1850 Soyer, French chef, used 216 gas jets to roast a joint 
 of meat weighing 535 pounds — called new dish a 
 *' Baron & Saddleback of Beef a la Magna Charta." 
 
 1850-60 London street lamps equipped with carbureting 
 tanks filled with light volatile oils through which air 
 passed before reaching burner. 
 
 1850 President Fillmore ordered bath tub installed in the 
 
 White House. 
 
 1851 George Knowles exhibited a gas heating stove. 
 
 1851 Alexander Graham, Glasgow hotel proprietor, ex- 
 hibited a gas cooking oven. 
 1851 Davis gas cooking stove used in U. S.
 
 Appendix A 169 
 
 1852 "The Gas Fire Co." incorporated for heating dwell- 
 ings with gas. 
 1855 Carree invented ammonia absorption machine. 
 
 1855 Robert Wilhelm von Bunsen devised the burner which 
 
 bears his name (basis for gas utilization). 
 
 1856 William Henry Perkin discovered first coal tar dye — 
 
 mauve. 
 
 Edward Owen secured a patent (British) for 
 
 making gas from brewer's hop waste. 
 
 1857 Theodore Fletcher improved the bunsen burner. 
 
 1858 Fred Krause (N. Y.) patented a ''porous'* burner gas 
 
 stove. 
 
 1859 Samuel T. McDougal (N. Y.) advertised gas stoves 
 
 and cooking apparatus. 
 1859 Gas Generating k Cooking Range Co. (N. Y.) ad- 
 vertised. 
 
 1859 Shaw's patented gas cooking stoves advertised (steak 
 broilers, smoothing irons, nurse lamps, bread toasters, 
 miniature gas furnaces, hatter's irons, laundry stoves, 
 bathroom stoves, heating stoves, oyster or bird roast- 
 ers, gas ovens). 
 
 1859 H. B. Musgrave, Cincinnati, advertised gas cooking 
 stoves. 
 
 1859 Col. Drake sunk his first oil well near Titusville, Pa., 
 thus the American petroleum industry was born. 
 
 1859 Cement joints in use. 
 
 1860 Every first class hotel in New York City had bath 
 
 tubs. 
 1863-4 Earliest gas power engine (Lenoir invention) — ex- 
 hibited by Goddard. 
 
 1863 Separate mains for heating and lighting proposed in 
 
 England. 
 
 1864 Charles Burnham & Co., Philadelphia, selling Old 
 
 Dominion Gas Cooking Stove. 
 
 1865 Turkish bath introduced in America. 
 
 1866 Coal gas used to light railroad carriage in U. S. and 
 
 Germany.
 
 170 The Romance of the Gas I ndustry 
 
 1866 Dynamite discovered by Sir Alfred Nobel, a Swede, 
 and founder of the Nobel Peace Prize. 
 
 1868 Turned and bored cast-iron pipes used. 
 
 1870 Application of gas to generate steam advocated by 
 Ebenezer Goddard. 
 
 1870 Japan had one gas plant (120 in 1921, also 100 dye 
 
 factories). 
 1870-80 Pintsch gas patents issued in U. S. 
 
 1871 Cubic foot bottle for measuring gas — invention of 
 
 Hartley & Glover — described. 
 1873 Advantages of coal gas as heating agent (gas engine, 
 soldering, brazing) presented. 
 
 1873 Providence, R. I., opened first distinctive gas appliance 
 
 store. 
 1873-74 Lowe invented carbureted water gas apparatus. 
 
 1874 August 1. American chemists gather at Priestley's 
 
 grave, Northumberland, Pa., to celebrate centennial 
 
 of discovery of oxygen. 
 1874 Concrete gasftanks universal in England. 
 1876 First coffee percolator patented (called "Coffee and 
 
 Tea Press"). 
 1876 Royal Baking Powder Co., baked cakes on gas stoves 
 
 at Centennial Exhibition. 
 1876 April 6. Thirty-five chemists founded the American 
 
 Chemical Society — the largest in the world. 
 
 1878 Outdoor distance lighting problem attempted and in 
 
 some cases very satisfactory. 
 
 1879 W. W. Goodwin & Co., advertised "Sun Dial" range 
 
 — first approach to modern gas range. 
 
 1879 American Meter Company sent a representative "to 
 select and import for them the best makes of French 
 and English gas cooking stoves adapted for use in 
 the U. S." 
 
 1879 Fletcher's gas range, imported from England, used in 
 Oakland, Cal. 
 
 1881 November. Messrs. J. Wright Company, Birming- 
 ham, advertise in U. S., solid flame stove.
 
 Appendix A 171 
 
 1882-83 First inverted incandescent lamp exhibited by Clay- 
 
 mond. 
 1883 First platinum basket gas mantle. 
 
 1883 First circulating or tank water heaters appeared in the 
 
 U. S. 
 
 1884 Gas for heating bakers' ovens, proposed by W. J. Boer. 
 
 1885 Incandescent gas mantle invented by Welsbach. 
 
 1885 First garbage destroyer built in U. S., by army officer. 
 (Used coal as fuel.) 
 
 1885 English patent for instantaneous automatic water 
 heater. 
 
 1885 First patent for vapor heating applied by Tudor in 
 Boston. 
 
 1885 H. A. Toby patented an instantaneous automatic gas 
 water heater with thermostatic control. 
 
 1890 Bone & Wheeler revive incandescent surface combus- 
 tion method. 
 
 1890 Incandescent gas mantle introduced in Nineties. 
 
 1891 First "up and down" run in gas machine used. 
 1891 First public baths established in Chicago. 
 
 1894 Gas mantles first used m street lights. 
 
 1895 J. C. Beckfield invented an instantaneous gas water 
 
 heater using copper coil and water pressure valve to 
 control gas flow. 
 
 1896 Incandescent gas mantle applied to street lighting. 
 
 1897 Single copper coil gas water heater introduced. 
 
 1897 October. German chemists, after twenty years' study, 
 make artificial indigo from naphthalene. 
 
 1897 Edwin Ruud invented instantaneous gas water heater, 
 using copper heating coil with thermostat to control 
 fuel supply. 
 
 1897 Edwin Ruud combined advantages of water pressure 
 
 and thermostatic control in a single gas water heater. 
 
 1898 Madame Curie discovered radium in pitchblende. 
 
 1899 Oil gas process introduced in California by E. C. 
 
 Jones. 
 1901 Blackfriars bridge lighted by high-pressure gas. 
 1904 First display of successful inverted gas mantle.
 
 172 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 1906 Platinum sponge exhibited for igniting gas without 
 
 flame. 
 1909 Gas incinerator developed. 
 
 1909 First meeting of the Illuminating Engineering Society, 
 
 London. 
 
 1910 Madame Curie and Debierne isolated metallic radium 
 
 from its chloride. 
 
 1911 188,855,400 cubic feet gas sold for gas engines in 
 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 1915 Refrigeration by gas (ammonia absorption principle) 
 
 introduced. 
 
 1916 Franklin Automobile Co. install gas for japanning, 
 
 using 800,000 cubic feet a month. 
 
 1917 "Touch a button" gas lighter perfected. 
 
 1920 Of several industrial plants in Chicago each uses 
 15,000,000 cubic feet of gas a month.
 
 APPENDIX B 
 
 DATES GAS LIGHTING WAS INTRODUCED IN THE PRINCIPAL 
 CITIES OF THE WORLD 
 
 1807 London, England 
 
 St. Petersburg, Russia 
 
 1816 Liverpool, England 
 
 Lyons, France 
 
 1816 Baltimore, Md. 
 
 1836 Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 1817 Manchester, England 
 
 Mobile, Ala. 
 
 1818 Sheffield, England 
 
 Pittsburgh, Pa. 
 
 Glasgow, Scotland 
 
 1838 Nantes, France 
 
 Edinburgh, Scotland 
 
 Leipsic, Germany 
 
 1819 Birmingham, England 
 
 1840 Cincinnati, Ohio 
 
 Bristol, England 
 
 Montreal, Canada 
 
 Paris, France 
 
 1841 Manchester, N. H. 
 
 Brussels, Germany 
 
 Sydney, Australia 
 
 1822 Munich, Germany 
 
 Toronto, Canada 
 
 Belfast, Ireland 
 
 1843 Halifax, Canada 
 
 1823 New York, N. Y. 
 
 1844 Hamburg, Germany 
 
 1825 Amsterdam, Nether- 
 
 1845 Madrid, Spain 
 
 lands 
 
 1846 Rouen, France 
 
 Hanover, Germany 
 
 St. Louis, Mo. 
 
 Ghent, Belgium 
 
 1847 Fall River, Mass. 
 
 Rotterdam, Nether- 
 
 Breslau, Germany 
 
 lands 
 
 Newark, N. J. 
 
 1827 Berlin, Germany 
 
 1848 New Haven, Conn. 
 
 1828 Boston, Mass. 
 
 Paterson, N. J. 
 
 1829 Dresden, Germany 
 
 Providence, R. I. 
 
 1832 Louisville, Ky. 
 
 Rochester, N. Y. 
 
 1833 Vienna, Austria 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 1834 New Orleans, La. 
 
 Buffalo, N. Y. 
 
 Havre, France 
 
 1849 Quebec, Canada 
 
 1835 Caen, France 
 
 Norfolk, Va. 
 
 Amiens, France 
 
 Cleveland, Ohio 
 
 Bologne, Italy 
 
 Detroit, Mich. 
 
 173
 
 174 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 1849 Syracuse, N. Y. 
 Utica, N. Y. 
 
 1850 Chicago, III. 
 Columbus, Ohio 
 Hartford, Conn. 
 Worcester, Mass. 
 Kingston, N. Y. 
 
 1851 Hamilton, Ohio 
 
 1852 Indianapolis, Ind. 
 Memphis, Tenn. 
 Buenos Ayres, Argen- 
 tina 
 
 1853 Brockville, Canada 
 Rome, Italy 
 Heidelberg, Germany 
 Milwaukee, Wis. 
 
 1854 Belleville, 111. 
 Nice, France 
 St. Joseph, Mo. 
 San Francisco, Cal. 
 Toledo, Ohio 
 Ottawa, III. 
 
 1855 Vera Cruz, Mex. 
 
 1856 Atlanta, Ga. 
 Melbourne, Australia 
 Warsaw, Russia 
 Valparaiso, Chile 
 
 1857 Scranton, Pa. 
 St. Paul, Minn. 
 Copenhagen, Denmark 
 
 1858 Tasmania Island 
 
 1860 Portland, Ore. 
 
 1861 Malta Island 
 
 1862 Shanghai, China 
 Hong Kong, China 
 
 1863 Smyrna, Asiatic Tur- 
 
 key 
 
 1864 Alexandria, Egypt 
 
 1865 Bombay, India 
 Rio Janeiro, Brazil 
 Christchurch, New 
 
 Zealand 
 
 1866 Oakland, Cal. 
 
 1867 Moscow, Russia 
 Kansas City, Mo. 
 Los Angeles, Cal. 
 
 1868 Ceylon (Island) 
 Omaha, Neb. 
 
 1869 Stockton, Cal. 
 
 1870 Leeds, England 
 
 1871 Yokohama, Japan 
 Minneapolis, Minn. 
 
 1872 Tokyo, Japan 
 Montevideo, Uruguay 
 
 1873 Seattle, Wash. 
 
 1878 Cologne, Germany 
 
 1879 St. Johns, Newfound- 
 land 
 
 1885 Tacoma, Wash. 
 1887 Spokane, Wash. 
 
 Chronology compiled by W. R. Morgan of San Fran- 
 cisco as printed in Gas Institute News, April 1, 1912, has 
 been used as a basis and additions made to it.
 
 APPENDIX C 
 
 JOURNALS AND ASSOCIATIONS OF OR RELATED TO THE 
 GAS INDUSTRY 
 
 (United States unless otherwise indicated) 
 /. Journals 
 
 American Gas Association Bulletin of Abstracts (bi- 
 monthly), 1906- 
 
 American Gas Association Monthly, 1919- 
 
 American Gas Engineering Journal, title changed March 5, 
 1921, to American Gas Journal. 
 
 American Gas Journal (New York), 1859- (Earlier titles, 
 American Gas Light Journal; A. G. L. J. & Chemical 
 Repertory; American Gas Engineering Journal.) 
 
 American Gas Light Journal. Title changed 1917 to Amer- 
 ican Gas Journal. 
 
 American Gas World — 2 numbers — Dec. 7, 1912, and 
 Jan. 20, 1913. 
 
 Chemische Umschau auf dem Gebiete der Fette, Oel, 
 Wachse und Harze, July, 1858 — . First title. Journal 
 fiir Gasbeleuchtung und verwandte Beleuchtungsarten 
 sowie fiir Wasserversorgung. 
 
 Gas Age, 1913-1921 (Earlier title Progressive Age), con- 
 tinuing as Gas Age-Record. 
 
 Gas Age-Record (New York), 1883— consolidation 1921 
 of Gas Record (Chicago) & Gas Age. 
 
 Gas & Water Times (London), July, 1853- 
 
 Gas Industry, 1901. 
 
 Gas Institute News, 1912-1918. See American Gas Asso- 
 ciation Monthly. 
 
 Gas Journal (London), Feb. 1, 1849- Earlier title Journal 
 of Gas Lighting, Water Supply & Sanitary Improve- 
 ment. 
 
 175
 
 176 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 Gas Record (Nov. 25, 1912— Aug. 1921). See Gas Age- 
 Record. 
 
 Gas World (London), 1853- 
 
 II Gaz (Italian). 
 
 Le Gaz (Paris), Feb. 10, 1857- 
 
 Intercolonlal Gas Journal (Canada), 1907- 
 
 Jahrbuch der Gastechnik (German), 1910- 
 
 Le Journal de I'Eclairage au Gaz (Paris), April 15, 1852- 
 
 Journal des Usines a Gaz (French). 
 
 Journal du gaz et de I'electricite (Paris), 1897-1902. 
 
 Journal of Electricity, Power & Gas (San Francisco), 1887- 
 1916. Continued as lournal of Electricity. 
 
 Light, Heat k Power, 1881- 
 
 Natural Gas Industry, 1908- (Buffalo.) Various titles, 
 Natural Gas & Gasoline Journal, etc. 
 
 Progressive Age, 1883-1912. (Earlier titles. Progressive 
 Age & Water Gas Journal ; Progressive Age, Gas-Water- 
 Electricity), continuing as Gas Age-Record. 
 
 Public Service Magazine (Chicago), 1906- 
 
 Water & Gas Review (New York), 1890. 
 
 Water Gas Journal (New York), 1883- 
 
 //. Associations 
 
 American Association of Petroleum Geologists. 
 
 American Gas Association, New York (consolidation of 
 American Gas Institute and National Commercial Gas 
 Association ) . 
 
 American Gas Institute, Oct. 17, 1906-1918 (consolidation 
 of American Gas Light, Ohio Gas Light, and Western 
 Gas Association; continued as American Gas Associa- 
 tion ) . 
 
 American Chemical Association, formed 1876. 
 
 American Gas Light Association, 1873-1906. See American 
 Gas Institute. 
 
 American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers 
 (U. S.). 
 
 American Petroleum Institute, March 14, 1919.
 
 Appendix C \77 
 
 American Petroleum Society, Sept. 10, 1913. 
 
 Arkansas Public Utilities Association, 1917. 
 
 Association of Natural Gas Supply Men. 
 
 British Commercial Gas Association (London), 1912- 
 
 By-Product Coke Producers, 1919—. 
 
 Canadian Gas Association, June 26, 1908- 
 
 Compressed Gas Manufacturers Association. 
 
 Congress of Gas Associations of America. First, St. Louis, 
 
 1904. 
 Cornish Association of Gas Managers (England), 1908. 
 Eastern Counties Gas Managers' Association (England), 
 
 1888- 
 Empire State Gas & Electric Association, 1905- 
 Gas, Electric & Street Railway Association of Oklahoma, 
 
 1912- 
 "Gas Meters." ^ 
 
 Gas Sales Association of New England. 
 Guild of Gas Managers of New England. 
 Illinois Gas Association, May 18, 1905- 
 Illuminating Engineering Society, 1906- 
 Indiana Gas Association, 1909- 
 Indiana Public Utility Association. 
 Institution of Gas Engineers, 1863- (Founded as the British 
 
 Association of Gas Engineers In the same year) ; largest 
 
 membership. 
 International Acetylene Association, 1898- 
 Internatlonal Gas Congress (Paris), 1900. 
 International Gas Congress (San Francisco), 1915. 
 Iowa District Gas Association, 1905- 
 Irish Association of Gas Managers (England), 1887. 
 Isle of Wight Gas Association (England), 1903. 
 Kansas Gas, Water, Electric Light & Street Railway 
 
 Association. 
 London and Southern District Junior Gas Association (Eng- 
 land), 1902. 
 Manchester and District Junior Gas Association (England), 
 
 1898.
 
 178 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 Manchester District Institution of Gas Engineers (Eng- 
 land), 1870. 
 
 Michigan Gas Association, 1894- 
 
 Midland Association of Gas Engineers and Managers (Eng- 
 land), 1877. 
 
 Midland Junior Gas Association (England), 1905. 
 
 Missouri Association of Public Utilities. 
 
 National Commercial Gas Association. Sec American Gas 
 
 Association, 1906-1918. 
 National Gas Appliance Manufacturer's Association. 
 National Gas Engine Association. 
 Natural Gas Association of America, 1906- 
 Natural Gas and Petroleum Association of Canada. 
 Natural Gas Supply Men. 
 
 New England Association of Commercial (Gas) Managers. 
 New England Association of Gas Engineers, 1871- 
 New Jersey State Gas Association, 1911- 
 North British Association of Gas Managers (England), 
 
 1861- 
 North Carolina Gas Association. 
 Northern District of Ireland Gas Managers' Association 
 
 (England), 1904. 
 North of England Gas Managers' Association (England), 
 
 1877- 
 
 Ohio Gas Light Association, 1885-1906. See A. G. I. 
 Oklahoma Utilities Association. 
 
 Pacific Coast Gas Association, 1893- 
 Pennsylvania Gas Association, 1909- 
 Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Men's Association, 1921- 
 
 Scottish Junior Gas Association (Eastern District [Eng- 
 land]), 1904. 
 
 Scottish. Junior Gas Association (Western District [Eng- 
 land]), 1904. 
 
 Societe Technique de I'lndustrie du Gaz en France, 1874- 
 
 Society of Gas Lighting, 1885. 
 
 South Central Gas Association.
 
 Appendix C 179 
 
 Southern Association of Gas Engineers and Managers (Eng- 
 land), 1875. 
 Southern Gas Association, 1909- 
 Southwestern Electrical and Gas Association, 1905— 
 
 The Ohio Gas & Oil Men's Association, 1918- 
 
 Wales and Monmouthshire District Institution of Gas En- 
 gineers and Managers (England), 1905. 
 
 Waverly Association of Gas Managers (England), 1861. 
 
 Western Gas Association, 1878-1906. See American Gas 
 Institute. 
 
 West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association. 
 
 Wisconsin Gas Association, 1902- 
 
 Yorkshire Junior Gas Association (England), 1903.
 
 APPENDIX D 
 
 REFERENCE BOOKS ON THE GAS INDUSTRY AND ALLIED 
 SUBJECTS 
 
 A SHORT list of the best historical and modern works 
 -^"^ from the collection in the Library of The People's Gas 
 Light & Coke Company, Chicago, Illinois. 
 
 Accum — Practical treatise on gas light. 2d ed. 1845. 
 
 American Gas Association — Gas Chemist's handbook. 1922. 
 
 American Gas (Journal's) Catalog & Directory, 1922 — 
 
 American Meter Co. — Meter proven 1915. 
 
 Bacon & Hamor — American Petroleum Industry, 2 vols., 
 1916. 
 
 Bov^ditch — Analysis, technical valuation, purification and 
 rise of coal gas. 1867. 
 
 Brown's Directory of American Gas Companies & Gas En- 
 gineering Catalog. 1887- 
 
 Christopher — Modern coking practice. 2 vols. 1917. 
 
 Clegg — Manufacture of coal gas. 1872. 
 
 Colyer — Gas works arrangement, construction and ma- 
 chinery. 1884. 
 
 Cooper — By-products coking. 1917. 
 
 Dibdin — Public lighting by gas and electricity. 1902. 
 
 Dowson — Producer gas. 1912. 
 
 Emmons — Geology of petroleum. 1912. 
 
 Forstall — Manual of gas distribution. 1920. 
 
 Gas consumer's guide. 1871. 
 
 Gas Machinery Co. — Carbureted water gas apparatus, 28 p. 
 
 Coal gas apparatus. 52 p. 
 
 "Gas World" Year Book. 1911— 
 
 General Gas Light Co. — ^\Vhat the government says about 
 your cost-of-light. 12 p. 
 
 Gentsch — Incandescent gas lighting. 1896. 
 
 Gerhard — Piping installation in buildings. 1907. 
 
 180
 
 Appendix D 181 
 
 Great Britain — Commissioners of Patents for inventions. 
 Abridgments of the specifications relating to the pro- 
 duction and application of gas. 1681 to 1858. 584 p. 
 1860. 
 Hamor and Padgett — Examination of petroleum. 
 
 Hastings — Gas engineering and manufacture; a review of 
 the Institution of Gas Engineers, 1863-1913. 4 parts. 
 1915-16. 
 
 Hole — Distribution of gas. 2d ed. 1909. 
 
 Hughes — Treatise on gas works. 1871. 
 
 Humphreys — Water gas in U. S. 1912. 
 
 Hunt — Gas lighting. 1904. 
 
 King's Treatise on the science and manufacture of coal-gas. 
 3 vols. 1878. 
 
 Koppers Co. — By-product coke and gas oven plants. 68 p. 
 
 By-product coke and gas ovens. 37 p. 
 
 Lunge — Coal-Tar and Ammonia. 5th ed. 3 vols. 1916. 
 
 Masse — Le gaz. 3 vols. 1914. 
 
 Matthews — Compendium of gas lighting. 1817. 
 
 Meade — Modern gas works practice. 2d ed. 1921. 
 
 National Commercial Gas Association — Industrial Fuel 
 booklets. 1916. 
 
 National Commercial Gas Association — Practical Gas Edu- 
 cational course. 1915. 
 
 National Commercial Gas Association — Utilization of gas 
 appliances. 1914. 
 
 Nicolls — Story of American coals. 
 
 Peckston — Practical treatise on gas lighting. 1841. 
 
 People's Gas Light & Coke Co. — How (carbureted water) 
 gas is made. 6 p. III. 
 
 Public Utility Reports, annotated. Rochester, N. Y. 1915- 
 
 Richards — Manufacture of coal gas. 1877. 
 
 Rideal — Relative hygienic value of gas and electric light- 
 ing. 1908. 
 
 Russell — Operation of gas works. 1917. 
 
 Russell and Wills — Chemical control of gas manufacture. 
 1916. 
 
 Stone — Testing of gas meters. 1909.
 
 182 The Romance of the Gas Industry 
 
 Strachc — Gasbeleuchtung. 1913. 
 
 Thorpe — Coal: its history and uses. 
 
 U. S. Mines Bureau Publications. 
 
 U. S. Patent Office — Patents of gas meters. 1837-97. 
 2 vols. 
 
 *U. S. Standards Bureau — Measurements for the house- 
 hold. 1915. (Price 15c.) 
 
 *U. S. Standards Bureau — Standards for gas service. 4th 
 ed. 1920. (Price 20c) 
 
 U. S. Standards Bureau — Standard methods of gas testing. 
 1916. 
 
 Wagner — Coal gas residuals. 1914; also 2d. ed. 1918. 
 
 Warnes — Coal tar distillation and working up of tar 
 products. 2d ed. 1917. 
 
 Wehrle — American Gas Works Practice. 1919. 
 
 Woodall & Parkinson — Distribution by steel. 1911. 
 
 Readers can obtain both interesting and practical informa- 
 tion on the gas industry by applying to their local gas com- 
 panies and public libraries. 
 
 Research students are referred especially to the publica- 
 tions and services of the U. S. Bureau of Standards, the 
 U. S. Bureau of Mines, the Library of Congress (all at 
 Washington, D. C.) and to the excellent technical libraries 
 in Chicago (The John Crerar), in New York (The En- 
 gineering Societies) and in Pittsburgh (The Carnegie). 
 
 ♦ These tTTO books should be in every household. Circular No. 55 
 is of especial value, furnishing authoritative information on testing 
 the accuracy of the amounts of commodities purchased ; methods of 
 heating and of refrigeration; best methods of lighting; reading 
 water, electric, and gas meters ; and many other household subjects, 
 especially those relating to the kitchen. (Both obtainable only from 
 the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. Postage 
 stamps arc not accepted in payment.)
 
 APPENDIX E 
 
 PUBLIC UTILITY INFORMATION 
 
 THE following organizations are specializing on utility 
 subjects, and are in a position to supply readers with 
 authoritative and up-to-date information. Apply to the one 
 in your locality. 
 
 Georgia Committee on Public Utility Information, Atlanta, 
 Georgia. 
 
 Illinois Committee on Public Utility Information, Chicago, 
 Illinois. 
 
 Indiana Committee on Public Utility Information, Indian- 
 apolis, Indiana. 
 
 Iowa Committee on Public Utility Information, Des Moines, 
 Iowa. 
 
 Kentucky Committee on Public Utility Information, Louis- 
 ville, Kentucky. 
 
 Michigan Committee on Public Utility Information, Ann 
 Arbor, Michigan. 
 
 Missouri Committee on Public Utility Information, St. 
 Louis, Missouri. 
 
 Nebraska Committee on Public Utility Information, Lincoln, 
 Nebraska. 
 
 New England Bureau of Public Service Information, Bos- 
 ton, Massachusetts. 
 
 New York State Committee on Public Utility Information, 
 New York, N. Y. 
 
 Ohio Committee on Public Utility Information, Cleveland, 
 Ohio. 
 
 Oklahoma Committee on Public Utility Information, Okla- 
 homa City, Oklahoma. 
 
 Rocky Mountain Committee on Public Utility Information, 
 Denver, Colorado. 
 
 Texas Public Service Information Bureau, Dallas, Texas. 
 
 Washington Committee on Public Utility Information, 
 Seattle, Washington. 
 
 Wisconsin Public Utilities Bureau, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 
 
 See also Appendix D. 
 
 183
 
 INDEX
 
 INDEX 
 
 Abu Bekr, Caliph, 10 
 
 Accum, Frederick, 40, 165 
 
 Achilles 103 
 
 Ackermann and Sons, Arthur, 
 3S 
 
 Adoration of the Magi 16 
 
 Air, discovery of conitituents 
 162; inflammable 42; and 
 gas for lighting 57; agencies 
 in Chicago polluting 137 
 
 Alchemista, Ben Jonson's 4; 
 Milton's 6 ; description 8 ; 
 laboratory 9; libraries of 
 Alexandrian Schools 9, 10; 
 definition 11; as first apothe- 
 caries, chemists and druggists 
 11; general 152, 155 
 
 Alchemy, rewards and study, 9 
 
 Alcohol from gas 128 
 
 Alexandria, Egypt, 9, 10 
 
 Alfred, King, 36 
 
 All-Hallows 35 
 
 Aluminum 131 
 
 Ambroise and Company, Mi- 
 chael, 43 
 
 American Chemical Society 
 founded 170 
 
 American Gas Association 86 
 
 American Gas Light Journal 
 45, 46, 107 
 
 American Meter Co. 170 
 
 Amiens, Peace of, celebrated by 
 gas lighting, 24 
 
 Ammonia, absorption machine, 
 169; principle 172 
 
 Ammonia sulphate 75 
 
 Amru, Mohammedan General, 
 10 
 
 Andreas' History of Chicago 50, 
 51 
 
 Antioch's streets lighted at night 
 
 159 
 Appliances (gas) in use — in 
 
 Great Britain 84; in U. S. 
 
 87 
 Appliance store, first, 170 
 Apothecary shops, origin of, 11 
 Argand lamp invented 162 
 Associations, list of gas, 176-179 
 Auburn, N. Y. 48 
 Ayrshire, Scotland, birthplace of 
 
 Murdock and Dunlop 24 
 
 Babel, Tower of, 19 
 
 Babylon 19 
 
 Baby's milk 132 
 
 Baker's ovens gas heated 171 
 
 Baking bread 129; and cooking 
 159; and kitchen 159 
 
 Balloons in Civil War used 
 water gas 68 
 
 Balneum 109 
 
 Baltimore, Md. 47; gas light- 
 ing exhibit in Peale's Museum 
 44, 165; Gas Light Company 
 of Baltimore incorporated 44 
 
 Barber, John, 124 
 
 Barlow, John, 105 
 
 "Baron & Saddleback of Beef a 
 la Magna Charta " 168 
 
 Barres 118 
 
 Barton Sir Henry, 35 
 
 Bath, Knights of and Order of 
 tiie Bath, origin. 109, 159; first 
 Englishman addicted to daily 
 110; Turkish, introduced in 
 U. S. Ill, 169; Order of 
 Saturday Night Bath gives 
 way to new Order of the 
 Daily Bath 112; first Amer- 
 ican built 110, 111, 167 
 
 187
 
 188 
 
 Index 
 
 Bathtub, English inventor, 110, 
 167; patent 109-110; first 
 made in U. S. Ill; used in 
 New York HI, 169; in White 
 House 111, 168 
 
 Bathing, before days of gas-fired 
 water heaters 110; unlawful 
 in Boston 111, 168. 
 
 Bathroom, first, 108, 159 
 
 Baths, early bathing with Egyp- 
 tians, Jews, Greeks, Romans, 
 English in United States 108- 
 111; Roman's medicine 109; 
 first public in Chicago 111, 
 171 
 
 Beau Brummel 39 
 
 Beaver Tail Lighthouse 43 
 
 Beckfield, J. C, 113, 171 
 
 Beckton, England 72 
 
 Beehive coke ovens 76 ; esti- 
 mated loss in by-products 151 
 
 Beer and gas butts 46 
 
 Beggar's Opera 37 
 
 Bellow Mill 24 
 
 Bell's telephone 45 
 
 Benzole discovered 166 
 
 Berkelev, Bishop, 152 
 
 Berry, Miles, 167 
 
 Bible, Old Testament translated 
 into Greek, 9 
 
 Birmingham, Eng. 26, 127 
 
 Bitumen, of Judea 18; used in 
 Tower of Babel and streets of 
 Babylon 19 
 
 Black Arts 6 
 
 "Black diamond" 147 
 
 Black, Dr. Joseph, 160 
 
 Black, Dr. Steven, 162 
 
 Blackfriars Bridge 171 
 
 Bladder, gas container, 65 
 
 *' Blows and run," cycle of, 71 
 
 Blue gas 68, 69, 70 
 
 Boer, W. J., 171 
 
 Bogardus, James, 167 
 
 Boilers, early gas fired, 127 
 
 Bone & Wheeler 171 
 
 Bonnemain 162 
 
 Books on gas and related in- 
 dustries 180-182 
 
 Boston, 45, 47, 166, 168; Boston 
 Gas Light Co. 166 
 
 Boulton and Watt's shop gas 
 lighted 23 
 
 Boyle, Robert, 160 
 
 Braziers 102, 103, 115, 117 
 
 Bread, steps necessary in mak- 
 ing, 100 
 
 "Breeze" 75 
 
 "Brilliant" gas heater 119 
 
 Bristol, England 72 
 
 British Royal Society formed 160 
 
 Brompton, England 165 
 
 Brooklyn, N. Y. 48, 166 
 
 Brunton, William, 139, 165 
 
 Buffalo, N. Y. 48 
 
 Bunsen burner 53, 105, 126 
 
 Bunsen, Robert Wilhelm von, 
 52-54, 169 
 
 Burners, Cockspur 26 ; kinds of 
 126-7; Delbruck's 167; Flet- 
 cher's 169; "porous" surface 
 combustion burner exhibited at 
 New York Fair 107 
 
 Burnham & Co., Charles, 169 
 
 Butterflies, model glass 128 
 
 Button-making 127, 128 
 
 Butts of gas for export 46 
 
 By-product coke-oven process 
 and operation 73, 76, 148 
 
 Cakes baked on gas stoves at 
 Centennial Exhibition 170 
 
 Cambridge, Mass. 45 
 
 Candle-" clock " of King Alfred 
 36; lantern 41 
 
 Candlemas 35 
 
 Capitalization of gas companies 
 in the United States 47, 85 ; of 
 petroleum and natural gas 
 companies in the U. S. 88
 
 Ind 
 
 ex 
 
 189 
 
 Caraffe, Abbe Laudati, 161 
 
 Carbon dioxide discovered, 161 ; 
 monoxide 58 
 
 Carbonizing period 74 — 75 
 
 Carbureted water gas, father of, 
 67; process 68, 71; William- 
 son " machine " 69 ; danger of 
 early operations 71 ; intro- 
 duced into England 72 
 
 Carbureter 69 
 
 Carburizing 131 
 
 Carree 169 
 
 Carriages lighted by gas 47 
 
 Cathels, E. S., on " Reign of Ter- 
 ror " 40 
 
 Cavendish, Henry, 162 
 
 Ceilings, how blackened 58 
 
 Cement joints used 169 
 
 Censers 35, 159 
 
 Census reports on gas industry 
 87, 88 
 
 Centennial Exhibition 170 
 
 Cerium 54 
 
 Charcoal 115, 117; license is- 
 sued 160 
 
 "Charging" generators 71 
 
 Charles II. 160 
 
 Charleston, S. C. 48 
 
 Chartered Gas Light Company 
 82, 83 
 
 Checker brick 69, 71 
 
 "Cheerful" gas heater 110 
 
 Chemical industry, beginning of 
 American, 160; miracle 60 
 
 Chemical Society of Philadelphia 
 162 
 
 Chemist of old 152, 155 
 
 Chemistry, origin as science 11; 
 the Aladdin and ally of indus- 
 tries 153, 154 
 
 Chicago, 48; area in 1849 and 
 1922, 93; location of first gas 
 works 49-51 ; description by 
 Kirkland of first gas lighting 
 49 ; by Governor John Reyn- 
 olds 50; by Andreas 50-51; 
 
 from Gem of the Prairie 51; 
 from Chicago Journal 52 ; first 
 street gas lighted 51 ; wooden 
 mains 49 ; population and 
 primitive condition in 1849, 
 52; prices for gas in 1850, 49; 
 first boat arrived 52; yearly 
 damage due to smoke 136, 
 142 ; per capita coal consump- 
 tion 137 
 
 Chicago Association of Com- 
 merce, Report on Smoke 
 Abatement and Electrification 
 136, 142 
 
 Chicago Gas Company, miles of 
 mains, number of meters and 
 patrons 92 
 
 Chicago Gas Light & Coke Co 
 49, 92 ; incorporators 50 
 
 Chicago Historical Society 49 
 
 Chicago Journal 51 
 
 Chimneys, first use, 117; in 
 Louvre 160 
 
 Chinese first to use gas 18 
 
 Chlorophyll and haemoglobin 60 
 
 Choke-damp 21 
 
 Christ Child 16 
 
 Cincinnati, Ohio 47 
 
 "City Beautiful" 134, 135 
 
 Claymond 171 
 
 Clayton, Dr., 21, 106, 161 
 
 Clegg, Samuel (pupil of Mur- 
 dock), 33; invents gas meter — 
 description 83; wet 165; dry 
 167; cylindrical holder 33, 
 164; built gas works 163; in- 
 troduced wet lime purifier 164 ; 
 hydraulic main 164; engineer 
 for first gas company 164; pa- 
 tent for first rotary retort and 
 gas governor 33; silver medal 
 given for paper describing gas 
 lighting 164 
 
 Clegg, Jr., Samuel, 106 
 
 Clinton, John, 161
 
 190 
 
 Index 
 
 Clothes dryer, gas-heated, 114 
 
 Cnosus has first bathroom ever 
 built 108 
 
 ComI Age 146 
 
 Coal distillation — to produce gas 
 and tar , 161; described, 161, 
 patent 162, at University of 
 Louvain 162 
 
 Coal gas-plant built for London 
 artist 38; manufacture of 66, 
 61 
 
 Coal, England 159; first mention, 
 first mined, replaces wood, a 
 commercial commodity, char- 
 ter granted for mining at New- 
 castle, used in London 159; 
 Queen Bess prohibits use 160; 
 exported 161 
 
 Coal, how formed 59-62; an- 
 thracite 68 ; first miner in 
 Pennsylvania 162; bituminous 
 74; gas engine 124; Health 
 Tax imposed on use of 160; 
 resources estimated 145 ; pro- 
 duction in 1920 — of world, 
 United States and Great Bri- 
 tain 88; amount of tons 
 mined converted into mechan- 
 ical energy 144, 147; amount 
 required for cooking and heat-, 
 ing (gas vs. electricity) 145-6; 
 value of original and of by- 
 products 148 
 
 Coal, United States 161, mined 
 at Ottawa, 111., and Richmond 
 Basin, Va., discovered in Ohio 
 161; tons mined yearly 146; 
 amount used in gas manufac- 
 ture 86, 146 
 
 Coal tar 151, 166; Punch on 
 135; dye (first) 169 
 
 Cockspur burner 26 
 
 "Coffee and Tea Press" 170 
 
 Coffee-percolator patent 170; 
 roasting 129-130; steps neces- 
 sary in making 100 
 
 Coke bins, breeze, car 75 ; hot 
 69 ; how made and composi- 
 tion 43, 66, 68, 150; quench- 
 ing 75 
 
 Coke ovens — by-product 73; 
 beehive 16 
 
 " Coking " coal 67 
 
 Colors rivaling the rainbow, 
 source of, 151 
 
 Columbus and Ptolemy 9 
 
 Combustion — principles 139; im- 
 portance of perfect 53, 58; en- 
 gineer 127, 148; studied by 
 Hooke, inventor of watches 
 160; surface 167, 171 
 
 Commons, House of, first gas 
 lighted, 39 
 
 Community Betterment Fund 
 143 
 
 Competition in gas industry 89 
 
 "Confidence men," early, 7 
 
 Congreve, William, 166 
 
 Conshohocken, Pa. 71 
 
 Consolidated Gas Company of 
 New York 91 
 
 Consolidation of gas companies 
 — benefits and economies 90, 91 
 
 Constantinople, Sultan's palace 
 and mosques gas lighted 168 
 
 Cooking and heating by gas — 
 early uses 104-106; vs. elec- 
 tricity 145 
 
 Cooking, benefits of good, 101- 
 102 
 
 Cooking by gas — inventors 106; 
 lectures 168 
 
 Cooking stoves 167 
 
 Cosh, William M., 71 
 
 Cotton Mill lighted by gas 24 
 
 Croll 168 
 
 Crossley, Samuel, 166 
 
 "Crudes," first coal, 168 
 
 Cubic foot bottle for measuring 
 gas 170 
 
 Culinary art, Roman, 103
 
 Index 
 
 191 
 
 Cups of a gas-holder, descrip- 
 tion 79 
 Curie, Madame, 171, 172 
 Customer ownership of public 
 utilities 95 
 
 Dairies 130 
 
 Darracott, George, 168 
 
 Darwin (quotation) 1 
 
 Davis 168 
 
 Debierne 172 
 
 De la Rive 167 
 
 De la Roche d' Allion 19 
 
 Delbruck, patents of burner 105; 
 
 167 
 Delphi, Oracle, Priestess and 
 
 Temple 17 
 "D "-slide valve 25 
 Deutschland 151 
 Devil, disciples of 6 ; gas, the 
 
 breath of the 46 
 Dies for coins 128 
 Diller 162 
 Diocletian 9, 109 
 Discoveries of the age discussed 
 
 by early London artists 38 
 Diseases cured 10, 152 
 Distillation of coal, destructive 
 
 66, 150 
 District of Columbia 48 
 Divorces caused by poor cooks 
 
 102 
 Domestic uses of gas 87 
 Down, Samuel, 167 
 Dracones for heating water 117 
 Dragons and monsters 59-60 
 Drake, Col. E. L. 19; 169 
 Drugs, first made 11 
 Dubuque, Iowa 48 
 Du Motay, Tessie, 67 
 Dundonald, Lord, 162 
 Dunlop, inventor of pneumatic 
 
 tire, birthplace 25 
 Dutchman's party supplied with 
 
 gas in a demijohn 45-6 
 
 Dwarfs 7 
 
 Dynamite discovered 170 
 
 Earth, birth and history 1, 2, 3, 
 
 jungle life 59, 60, 61, 62 
 
 Economy, results of consolida- 
 tion of utilities 90, 91 ; in use 
 of coal 144 
 
 Edges 167 
 
 Edward L 138 
 
 Edwards 118, 168 
 
 Electricity, as competitor in gas 
 lighting 56, 57; as a heating 
 agent 145 ; energy and meters 
 in New York City 92 ; equip- 
 ment necessary to supply 
 homes (wired with electricity) 
 for cooking and heating 146 
 
 "Elixir of Life" 10 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen, 140, 160 
 
 Eisner 127 
 
 Energy, per cent of total in coal 
 delivered as mechanical, 144 
 
 England's national debt paid oflF 
 by gas 134 
 
 English primer 36 
 
 Evansville, Ind. 47 
 
 Evelyn 140 
 
 Exhauster 75 ; patent 166 
 
 Exits, why gas lighted 132 
 
 Fairies 7 
 
 Faraday 166, 167 
 
 Fillmore, President, installed 
 bathtub in White House 111, 
 168 
 
 Fire, first uses of 102; fi.re- 
 damp 21; fire-pans 159; fire- 
 wells of China 18; fire-wor- 
 ship 16, 18; loss in the U. S. 
 — according to causes 149; 
 due to gas 148 — equivalence 
 in new buildings 150 
 
 Flat flame burner 26 
 
 Fletcher, Thomas, 105, 125, 168, 
 170
 
 192 
 
 Ind 
 
 ex 
 
 Fontana foreshadowed water gas 
 process 67 
 
 Food preparation 159; Egyp- 
 tians, Assyrians, Greeks and 
 Romans 102-103 
 
 Forks, first use in Italy 160; in 
 England 160 
 
 Fortune-tellers, early, 16 
 
 Foundry 130 
 
 Fourth of July 151 
 
 Franklin, Benjamin, 161 
 
 Franklin Automobile Co. 172 
 
 Franklin Institute 53 
 
 Fredonia, Chautauqua Co., N. 
 Y. 20 
 
 Fuels, used in gas production in 
 U. S. 86; advantages of gas 
 as 129, 145; w^aste 146, 147; 
 conservation 146, 147 ; imper- 
 ative 153 — through use of by- 
 product coke ovens 148 — by 
 complete gasification 147 
 
 Furnace, rotary gas 131 
 
 Galena, Illinois 48 
 Galveston, Texas 48 
 Garbage destroyer, first 171 
 Gas known to ancients 15; 
 amount used in U. S. in 1920 
 for lighting, domestic and 
 industrial purposes 87 
 Gas appliance store, first all- 107 
 Gas bill — and newspaper bill 
 compared 121 ; of Jules Verne's 
 hero 55 
 " Gas burns up oxygen " a half 
 truth 57; gas a scavenger 58 
 Gas coal, composition of good 66 
 Gas Coke, qualities of good 68 
 Gas Companies, in South Amer- 
 ica 85; in the United King- 
 dom, Australia, Canada and 
 United States 84-88; United 
 States — first organized and in- 
 corporated 44, 164, 165; first 
 
 cities to have 47, 48, 86 ; early 
 companies 47-52; New York 
 State 48 
 
 Gas Company, first 32, 33; first 
 meeting of stockholders 32; 
 a public service corporation 
 93 
 
 Ga?, early use for exhibition and 
 lighting by Minckelers 162; 
 by Lord Dundonald 162; by 
 Diller 162; by Murdock 23; 
 by Ambroise 43, 163 ; by Mur- 
 dock 23, 163; by Lebon 163; 
 by Murdock 23-24 and by Hen- 
 frey 42; by Winsor 30, 32, 
 163; for Ackermann 38; by 
 Clegg 163; by Winsor 32, 
 164; on Westminster Bridge 
 165; by MacMurtie 165; by 
 Peale 44, 165; in New York 
 45 
 
 Gas engine — inventor and first 
 practical 124, 169, 172; ex- 
 haust heats water 124 
 
 Gas engineering, books on 180, 
 182 
 
 "Gas fairy" 133; in the house- 
 hold 96-122; makes wash day 
 a shopping day 113-114; helps 
 the tired business man 115 
 
 Gas Fire Company 119; gas fire 
 patent 118, 168; for heating 
 buildings 169 
 
 Gas Generating and Cooking 
 Range Co. 169 
 
 Gas, how measured before in- 
 vention of meter 82 
 
 Gas industry — indebted to ar- 
 tists 38, 44; rivals steel indus- 
 try 153 ; old yet ever new 155 ; 
 and public service 156 
 
 Gas inspectors, early 82-84 
 
 Gas, kinds of manufactured 64 
 
 " Gas Lamps, A Plea for " by 
 Stevenson 56
 
 Index 
 
 193 
 
 Gas Lantern of Murdock 28 
 
 Gas lighting — Culross Abbey 
 162; Matthew's description of 
 public display of gas lighting 
 at Soho in celebration of 
 Peace of Amiens 24; in 
 early London 37-41; London 
 crowd caricatured 38; first 
 treatise on 165 ; created " Reign 
 of Terror " 40 ; makes " con- 
 tinuous day " in Paris 41 ; early 
 in United States 42, 43, 44, 52 ; 
 for night express, carriages 
 and steamboats 46, 47; in early 
 Chicago 49, 50, 51, 52 ;_ for- 
 midable rival of electricity in 
 Europe 55; and automatic dis- 
 tance extinguishing 55; why 
 hot 56; hygienic value of 57; 
 warm domestic radiance of 
 56, 99 
 
 Gas Lights in Pall Mall, A Peep 
 at 38 
 
 Gas log, inefficient 120 
 
 " Gas machine " Williamson car- 
 bureted water 69 ; description 
 70 
 
 Gas manufacture, in clay pipe 
 or test tube 13; and delivery 
 79-81_ 
 
 Gas oil, spray 69; used in 
 manufacture in the U. S. 86 
 
 Gas ordinance, first American 
 44 
 
 Gas, origin of the word, 12-13; 
 discovery and experiments by 
 van Heimont 11, 12; Shirley 
 21; Clayton 21, 22; experi- 
 ments in bladder amuses 
 friends 22; Murdock 22, 28; 
 Minckelers 29; Lebon 29; 
 Winsor 29, 30; compressed 
 in drums 166; to light Houses 
 of Parliament 46; in demi- 
 john 45, 46 ; exported in butts 
 46 ; hazards and stage fright 
 
 41 ; must be kept under con- 
 trol 80-81; premixed with 
 air 132 
 
 Gas pipes, first made from gun 
 barrels 80-81 ; Londoners sus- 
 picious of piping in House of 
 Commons 39 
 
 Gas plant, experimental 25; 
 " one man " carbureted water 
 71-72; smallest 62-63 
 
 Gas processes, coal gas, 66, 67; 
 carbureted water gas 67, 68, 
 69, 70, 71, 72; oil-gas 72-73; 
 by-product coke-oven 73-76; 
 beehive coke-ovens 76 
 
 Gas production (1,000 cubic 
 feet). Great Britain 84; 
 United States 85, 86; New 
 York City 92 
 
 Gas service, never fails 81, 132; 
 at a " twist of the wrist " 100 ; 
 model servant in the house 
 101; the growing giant in in- 
 dustries 122; " semper fidelis " 
 133, 156 
 
 Gas standards 54, 56, 57, 93, 94 
 
 Gas statistics, see latest editions 
 of ^xowix's Directory of Amer- 
 ican Gas Companies and Gas 
 World Directory (English) 
 
 Gas supply shut oflF during the 
 day 107 
 
 Gas, the Soul of Coal 14; the 
 Oracle of the Gods 17 
 
 " Gas tip " invented 25 
 
 " Gastronomy" 105, 168 
 
 Gas turbine 125, 147 
 
 Gas World Directory 84 
 
 Gases in coal mines 21 
 
 Gay, John 37 
 
 " Geest," " Geist, " ghost, gas 12 
 
 Gem of the Prairie 51 
 
 Generator 69-70 
 
 Genie (evil) stops delivery of 
 gas 97-99 
 
 Geysers 112
 
 194 
 
 Index 
 
 Ghost of van Helmont 12 
 
 Gillard 53 
 
 Glasgow 141 
 
 Goats intoxicated by gas 16 
 
 Goddard on high quality gas 56- 
 
 57 
 Goddard, Ebenezer 125, 167, 
 
 169, 170 
 Gold, quest for 5 
 " Gold-brick artists," early 7 
 *' Golden Touch " 5 
 Goodwin & Co., W. W. 170 
 Gordon, David 64, 166 
 Governor, first patent for gas 
 
 33, 166 
 Graham, Alexander 105, 168 
 Great Falls, N. H. 48 
 Guildhall gas lighted 39 
 Gun barrels used for gas pipes 
 
 80, 81 
 Guthsmann 161 
 
 Hadden 118 
 
 Haemoglobin and chlorophyll 60 
 Hales, Dr. Stephen 161 
 Halifax, Canada 85 
 Happiness, spiritual 11 
 Hare, Robert 163 
 Hartley & Glover 170 
 Hastings, Nora (quotation) 15 
 Hautefeuille, Abbe d' 124 
 Havana, Cuba 168 
 Hawthorne 5 
 Hay Market Garden 42 
 Health and smoke 138, 139, 142 
 Health Tax imposed on fire- 
 places 160 
 Heard, Edward, 164, 166 
 " Heat the world with gas " 29 
 Heat, how produced by gas 112; 
 for factory purposes, applica- 
 tion of gas heat 126-127; la- 
 tent and specific heat pro- 
 pounded 162 
 Heater (gas) "Cheerful" 119 
 "Brilliant" 119 
 
 Heating, advantages of gas for 
 168; by electricity 145; costs 
 — gas <vs. electricity 145, 146 
 
 Heating stoves — cast iron box 
 used 160; Franklin invented 
 cast iron box 161 
 
 Heating <vs. candle power 54 
 
 Helium 20 
 
 Helmont, John Baptist van, 11, 
 160 
 
 Henfrey, Benjamin 42 
 
 Hennepin, Father, 161 
 
 Henry I. of England 109 
 
 Henry HI. 159 
 
 Hicks, Robert, 109, 166 
 
 High-pressure gas lighting 171 
 
 Hill, Samuel 167 
 
 Hobgoblins 7 
 
 Hofmann, von 168 
 
 Holder (gas) — inventor and de- 
 scription 79, 162; storage 76; 
 relief 78 ; incased in brick 
 buildings 41, 79; London's 40 ; 
 first cylindrical 33, 165; tele- 
 scopic — invented patent 167; 
 concrete 170 
 
 Home Service Department, re- 
 viving pride in the home 100, 
 101, 102 
 
 Homer 103, 108 
 
 Hooke 160 
 
 Hop waste (patent) gas from 
 169 
 
 Hornbook 36 
 
 Hot air heating, early 159, 161; 
 first furnace in U. S. 167; 
 first patent 171 
 
 Hot water system invented and 
 first used for incubators 162; 
 conservatory 164; gas-fired 
 120 
 
 Hour glass used by Paris link- 
 boys 41 
 
 House and space heating with 
 gas, early 118, 169; Roman
 
 Index 
 
 195 
 
 brazier 117; English terra cot- 
 ta gas heaters 119; Reflector 
 type 120; first heaters (fore- 
 runners of asbestos gas heat- 
 ers) 119; stove exhibited 
 (1851) 168; modern radiant 
 fire type 120; number of gas 
 heaters in U. S. 87 
 House heating, early methods 
 with Greeks, Romans and 
 American Indians 115, 116 
 Hubbard, Gardiner 45 
 Humane Societies adopt gas 129 
 Humphreys, Alexander C. 72 
 Humphreys and Glasgow carbu- 
 reted water gas process 72 
 Hutchinson 167 
 Huygen 124 
 
 Hydraulic main 33, 66, 164 
 Hydrogen discovered 160; in 
 
 water 162 
 Hygienic value of gas lighting 57 
 Hypocaust, inventor 115; fore- 
 runner of modern hot air fur- 
 nace 115, 117, 157 
 
 Ibbetson and water gas 67 
 
 Ice-making machine, first 68 ; 
 gas-fired 126 
 
 Illinois and Michigan Canal 52 
 
 Illinois Commerce Commission 
 94 
 
 Illuminating Society of London 
 172 
 
 Impurities in gas 77, 78 
 
 Incinerator, gas 172 
 
 India, Why Columbus searched 
 for 9 
 
 Indigo from napthalene 171 
 
 Investors in securities of public 
 utilities protected 93 
 
 Iron oxide 77 
 
 Iron smelting, license issued 160 
 
 Ironer, gas-heated and electric- 
 driven 113 
 
 James I. 35 
 
 Jamestown Settlement 160 
 
 Japanning, 130, 172 
 
 Japan's gas plants 170 
 
 Jerusalem's streets lighted at 
 
 night 159 
 Jesuits discovered burning gas in 
 
 Ohio Valley 20 
 Joachim, John 161 
 Johnstone 118 
 Jones, E. C. 72, 73, 171 
 Jonson, Ben (quotation) 4 
 Journals, list of gas 175, 176 
 Jo vain, Emperor, 117 
 
 Kanawha Valley's burning gas 
 20 
 
 Kelvin, Lord 123 
 
 Kempis, Thomas k 11 
 
 Ketchum, Arthur (quotation) 34 
 
 Kier, Pittsburgh druggist sells 
 petroleum for medicinal pur- 
 poses 19 
 
 Kinetic burner 53 
 
 King, Mr. Alfred, invented first 
 gas cooker 106 
 
 King's Treatise on the Manufac- 
 ture and Distribution of Coal 
 Gas 81, 82 
 
 Kirkland's History of Chicago ^9 
 
 Kitchen, poor and good arrange- 
 ment of, 101 ; useless steps in 
 a, 100 
 
 Klinkelfuss 168 
 
 Knowles, George 168 
 
 Koran and Alexandrian Library 
 10 
 
 Krause, Fred 169 
 
 Labor saving devices for women 
 take the drudgery out of house- 
 work 10 
 
 La Fayette saw early use of nat- 
 ural gas 20 
 
 Lamb, Charles, 103
 
 196 
 
 Ind 
 
 ex 
 
 Lamp black 73 
 
 Lampkin, Charles, 71 
 
 Lamplighter 37, 38 
 
 Lamps, oil, 159 
 
 Lantern, candle, 49 
 
 Lantern invented by King Al- 
 fred 36 
 
 Lares and Penates, Chinaman's, 
 104 
 
 Larry 74 
 
 Laundries 130; equipped with 
 gas 113; why bills are high 
 141, 142, 144 
 
 Lavoisier, 79 ; awarded prize for 
 essay on street lighting 162; 
 discovers composition of air 
 162, invents gas holder 162 
 
 Leamington baths 165 
 
 " Leaner " gas, efficiency of, 148 
 
 Leavenworth, Kansas 48 
 
 Lebon, Philippe, gas patents and 
 lights Paris house 29, 117, 
 163; patent for " Thermo- 
 lamp " 163 ; first patent for gas 
 power 163 
 
 Leggett, Samuel 44 
 
 Lenoir, invents coal gas engine 
 124, 169 
 
 Liberty motor 124 
 
 Liberty, Statue of 92 
 
 Libraries of early alchemists de- 
 stroyed 9, 10 
 
 Library of gas books 178 
 
 "Light — Let there be" 1; new 
 light made in a teakettle 42; 
 how produced by gas 112 
 
 Lighter, " touch-a-button " gas 
 172 
 
 Lighthouse, gas lighted 43 
 
 Lighting — first artificial 35; 
 159; first central lighting plant 
 30; first outdoor distance 168, 
 170; village lighted with gas 
 lamps on tower (beacon light- 
 ing) 42 ^ ^ 
 
 Lighting gas with platinum 172 
 
 Lime-light 53 ; invented 163 ; gas 
 heated 166 
 
 Lime purifier 164; wet 164 
 
 Lincoln's birthday, two Chicago 
 gas companies incorporated 
 on, 92 
 
 Linkboy of early London 34, 37, 
 41 
 
 Locomotive (first) made by first 
 gas engineer 23 ; description 
 of first trial 27-28 
 
 London and Westminster Gas 
 Light & Coke Co. first gas 
 company incorporated 32, 164; 
 charter granted 164 
 
 London — early lighting, night 
 scenes, 36; pitchy ropes, flam- 
 beaux and oily torches 37; 
 lighting 160 
 
 London — gas lighting — Ly- 
 ceum Theatre 163; first street 
 (Pall Mall) to be gas lighted 
 32, 164; early gas lighting, 
 37, 41 ; Westminster Bridge 
 gas lighted 37, 38, 165; St. 
 Margaret's Parish 38, 165; 
 early gas plants 39; principal 
 gas companies 40 ; street light- 
 ing 168 
 
 London Monthly 46 
 
 London Portable Gas Company 
 64 
 
 London smoke nuisance 138, 139, 
 140 
 
 Louisville, Ky. 47 
 
 Louvain University, Minckelers 
 demonstrates burning of gas 
 at, 29 
 
 Louvre 160 
 
 Lowe, Leon P., 73 
 
 Lowe, Thaddeus S. C, patent 
 for carbureted water gas proc- 
 ess 67 ; for ice machine 68 ; 
 Mount Lowe Observatory 68 
 
 Lungren awarded Franklin In-
 
 Ind 
 
 ex 
 
 197 
 
 stitute medal for gas, mantle 
 53 
 Lyceum Theatre (London) Win- 
 sor gives public demonstration 
 of gas lighting 32 
 
 Mackintosh, James, 127, 166 
 
 Maecenas 109 
 
 Magi of Persia 16 
 
 Magicians 6, 16 
 
 Main Street, first street in the 
 U. S. to be lighted by gas 42 
 
 Mains — \voodcn — (England) 
 49, 81; (Chicago) 50, Rhode 
 Island 81; of glass and con- 
 crete 81; patent for manufac- 
 turing 166; turned and bored 
 cast iron 170; first to be laid 
 in a public street 32; location 
 in London 40 ; separate mains 
 for heating and lighting pro- 
 posed 169; cost of 1-36" and 
 78-6," each delivering same 
 volume of gas 89; miles in U. 
 S. 86 
 
 Malam, John, 33, 165, 166 
 
 Manhattan, N. Y., 48 
 
 Manhattan Gas Light Co. 166 
 
 Man's early struggle against 
 wild beasts for supremacy 60 
 
 Mantle (gas), inventor and 
 composition of, 53-55; open 
 flame vs. 54, 55; first plati- 
 num basket 171 ; incandescent 
 171 ; inverted 171 ; for street 
 lighting 171 
 
 Maple sugar, miracle maker of, 
 60 
 
 Mariotte 1^1 
 
 Martineau 166 
 
 Mary gold 5 
 
 Mastodon and gas lights 44 
 
 Matthews' description of public 
 display of gas lighting at So- 
 ho 24 
 
 McDougal, Samuel T., 169 
 
 McLusky, John W., 141 
 
 McMurtie, James, 43, 165 
 
 Meat cooking, Chinese discovery 
 of, 103, 104 
 
 Mellon Institute, Pittsburgh 140 
 
 Melville, David 43, 164; patent 
 for coal gas making 165 
 
 Metals — transmutation of, 6-12; 
 uses of gas for melting 131; 
 meter (gas) first 33, 165; de- 
 scription 83; wet 33, 165; 
 first dry 166; inferential 167; 
 introduced by 'London gas 
 company and opposition to 82, 
 83; legalized in France 83, 
 168; made in U.S. 167; made 
 in N. Y. 92; made in Boston 
 168; number in use, Great Bri- 
 tain 84; U. S. 85 
 
 Midas, King, 5 
 
 Midsummer Eve, celebration of, 
 36 
 
 Milton (quotation) 6 
 
 Milwaukee, Wis. 48 
 
 Minckelers, Jean Pierre, 29, 162 
 
 Minos (King) and labyrinth of 
 Minotaur 108 
 
 Miracle workers 60 
 
 Mitchell on high quality gas 56 
 
 Monday made a shopping day 
 for woman by the gas fairy 
 113, 114, 115 
 
 Montgomery, Ala. 48 
 
 Montpelier, Vt. 48 
 
 Montreal, Can. 85 
 
 Moses 108 
 
 Mother a slave to oil lamps 98 
 
 Murdock, Alexander, 27-28 
 
 Murdock, William — "father of 
 the gas industry" 22, 23, 24, 
 25, 26, 27, 28, 65; birthplace 
 24; entered employ of Boulton 
 & Watt 26 ; invents " gas 
 tips " 25, 26 ; used bladder gas
 
 198 
 
 Index 
 
 lantern 28; travelled in car- 
 riage run by steam and lighted 
 by gas 28 ; gas lighted own 
 houses 23, 162; Boulton & 
 Watt's Shops 23; 163; cele- 
 brates Peace of Amiens with 
 public exhibition of gas light- 
 ing at Soho 23, 24, 163 ; builds 
 gas works for lighting shops 
 and cotton mill 24, 163; read 
 paper on gas lighting before 
 Royal Society of London and 
 received Count Rumford Gold 
 Medal for achievements in gas 
 lighting 24, 164; cooked chops 
 and steak over gas jets 106 ; in- 
 vented first oscillating steam 
 engine 162; improved steam 
 engine 25 ; invented " D "- 
 slide valve 163; invented first 
 steam locomotive (40 years be- 
 fore Stephenson) 27, 162; 
 description of first trial 27-28 ; 
 invented steam gun, anticipat- 
 ing Perkin's apparatus 163; 
 invented atmospheric railway 
 and apparatus for heating wa- 
 ter for baths 165; died 28 
 
 Muriatic acid discovered 160 
 
 Musgrave, H. B., 169 
 
 "Mystery box" 83 
 
 Naphtha springs of Persia 18 
 
 Napoleon 68;"une grand folic" 
 30 
 
 Nashville, Tenn. 48 
 
 National Board of Fire Under- 
 writers 148 
 
 National Light & Heat Com- 
 pany 134; organized 32; 
 meeting of stockholders 164; 
 charter 164 
 
 Natural gas, first notice of in 
 Bible 18; discovery in Greece 
 16; ignited by lightning 15; 
 first use in U. 8., and where 
 
 found, 18, 20, 160, 161; piped 
 from Texas to Pennsylvania 
 and from Oklahoma to Indi- 
 ana 63 ; production in 1,000 
 cubic feet 88 
 
 Natural gas industry, beginning 
 of in U. S. 87, 88 
 
 Nephtar, bitumen of Judea 18 
 
 Newark, N. J. 48 
 
 Newcastle, England 159 
 
 Newcomen's steam engines 26 
 
 New Haven, Conn. 48 
 
 New Haven Railroad used gas 
 light on night express 46 
 
 New Orleans, La. 47, 167 
 
 Newport, R. I. 43 
 
 New York City 47,^ 48; first 
 house to be gas lighted 44; 
 early gas companies 91, 92; 
 first street lighting ordinance 
 161 ; first use of oil lamps for 
 street lighting 162 
 
 Ne'w York Evening Post 45 
 
 New York Gas Light Co. 166 
 
 New York State early gas com- 
 panies 48 
 
 Nitric acid discovered 160 
 
 Nitro-glycerine discovered 168 
 
 Nobel Peace Prize 170 
 
 Nobel, Sir Alfred 170 
 
 " Nomenclators, " Roman 103 
 
 Observatory, Mount Lowe 68 
 
 Oil, American, 19 
 
 Oil City and first oil well drilled 
 19 
 
 Oil gas In England 64, 72; in- 
 ventor and process 72-73 ; pro- 
 cess patented 166; works au- 
 thorized by Parliament 166; 
 process in California 72, 73, 
 171 
 
 Oil lamps first use 35, 159; Paris 
 161; New York 162 
 
 Oil springs of New York state 
 19
 
 Index 
 
 199 
 
 Oil well first drilled 19, 169 
 
 Old Comnock, Gas lighting in 
 23 
 
 Old Dominion Gas Cooking 
 Stove 169 
 
 Oracle of Delphi, origin, 17 
 
 Orato, Sergius, 115, 159 
 
 Ordinance, first American city 
 gas, 44 
 
 Ottawa (Canada) 85; (Illinois) 
 48 
 
 Owen, Edward, 169 
 
 Oxygen discovered 160; centen- 
 nial of discovery 170; in 
 earth's atmosphere 57; and gas 
 lighting 57 
 
 Palmer, A. Mitchell, (quotation) 
 154 
 
 Pall Mall, first street to be gas 
 lighted 32; Rowlandson's 
 "Peep at the Gas Lights" 38; 
 sketch showing 40 ; first gas 
 mains laid in a public street 
 164 
 
 Paracelsus 160 
 
 Paris, Lebon's house gas light- 
 ed 29; first street gas lighting 
 41; Stevenson's comparison of 
 gas and electric lighting 56; 
 early street lighting, first con- 
 cession (torch bearers) 161; 
 linkboys use hour glass 41 ; 
 candles set in glass boxes 161 ; 
 oil lamp, 161; reflector oil 
 lamps introduced 162 
 
 Parliament lighted by com- 
 pressed gas 46 
 
 Pasteurizing 128 
 
 Patents, first for making gas, 
 French 29; English 31; Amer- 
 ican 165 
 
 Patroclus 103 
 
 Pawtucket, R. I. 43 
 
 Peale, Charles Wilson, 44 
 
 Peale, Rembrandt, 44, 165 
 
 Peak's Museum, gas lighting ex- 
 hibition, 44, 165 
 
 Peckston's Theory and Practice 
 of gas lighting 82 
 
 Pekin, early lighting by natural 
 gas, 18 
 
 Pemberton, Josiah, 127 
 
 Penelope 115 
 
 People's Gas Light and Coke 
 Co., The (Chicago) 92, 142; 
 library 180 
 
 Peoria, 111. 48 
 
 Perfume and poison gas 152 
 
 Perkin, William Henry, 169 
 
 Persons employed in petroleum 
 and natural gas industries in 
 United States 88 
 
 Peter the Hermit, birthplace, 24 
 
 Petroleum, used as a medicine 
 19; in England 20; industry 
 in the U. S. 87-88; estimated 
 resources 145 
 
 Philadelphia Gas Companv 43 
 
 Philadelphia, Pa., 47; "Public 
 Remonstrance " against gas 
 lighting 43, 164; streets light- 
 ed with Clifton's tin lantern 
 equipped with four glass panes 
 (Franklin's idea) 161 
 
 Phillips and Lee, Manchester 24 
 
 Philosopher's Stone, Roman rule 
 endangered, 9; properties of, 
 10 
 
 Phoenixville, Pa. 71 
 
 Photography 152 
 
 Piccadilly, sketch showing, 40 
 
 Pie, steps necessary in making 
 apple, 100 
 
 Pig, A Dissertation on Roast, 103 
 
 Pine knot the first lighting 35 
 
 Pintsch gas, 76, 170 
 
 Pitch, Jew's, 18 
 
 Pittsburgh, yearly damage due 
 to smoke 142
 
 200 
 
 Index 
 
 Platinum sponge for 4ighting gas 
 172 
 
 Plowing by dynamite, 124 
 
 Polignac, Cardinal, 161 
 
 Pompeii 117 
 
 Ponce de Leons, early, 10 
 
 Population served by gas com- 
 panies — Great Britain 84; 
 United States 85, 86 
 
 Portable gas 46 ; Murdock's de- 
 scription 64, 65, 166 
 
 Portland, Me. and Ore. 48 
 
 Poughkcepsie, N. Y. 48 
 
 Price charged for public service 
 93, 94 
 
 Prices for gas, in London 39; in 
 Chicago 49; in U. S. 47; con- 
 tract system 82, 83 ; compared 
 with that of other commodi- 
 ties 120, 121 
 
 Priestley, Joseph, 162; invents 
 water lute 162; grave of 170 
 
 Producer gas 76 
 
 Prosperity of utilities and com- 
 munities inseparable 94 
 
 Providence, R. I. 48 ; opened 
 first gas appliance store 107, 
 170 
 
 Ptolemy and Columbus 9 
 
 Publicity establishes confidence 
 between utilities and commun- 
 ities 95 
 
 Public ownership of utilities in 
 the United States 94, 95 
 
 Public Service Company of 
 Northern Illinois 90 
 
 Public service (or utilities) com- 
 missions 94, 183 
 
 Public service (or utilities) cor- 
 porations, definition, source of 
 rights, why regulated 93, 94, 
 96 
 
 Punch, (quotation) 135 
 
 Purifier, (wet lime) introduced 
 33 
 
 Purifying apparatus 76, 77 
 
 Pusher ram 75 
 
 Quebec, Canada 85 
 Quincy, 111. 48 
 
 Radiant energy of sun 59-62 
 
 Radiant gas heater 120 
 
 Radiator, origin of, 163; gas- 
 fired steam 120 
 
 Radium 123, 156; in pitch- 
 blende 171 ; isolated from 
 chloride 172 
 
 Railroad carriages gas lighted 
 169 
 
 Rameses III. 102 
 
 Range, first gas cooker 106; 
 first approach to modern gaf 
 range 169; for hotels and res- 
 taurants 106, 107; advertise- 
 ment in first issue of Ameri- 
 can Gas Light Journal 107, 
 168; first approach to modern 
 gas range 170; imported from 
 England and France 170 
 
 Redruth, (Cornwall) first house 
 lighted by gas, 23 
 
 Reflector gas heater 120 
 
 Refrigeration by gas-fire (ab- 
 sorption process) 126, 172; 
 machine 169 
 
 Regulation of public utilities 94, 
 95 
 
 Retort, first patent for rotary, 33 
 
 Revnolds, Governor John, 50 
 
 Richards, William, 165, 168; 
 treatise on gas manufacture 83 
 
 Richmond, Va. 42 
 
 Rideal on hygiene of gas light- 
 ing 57 
 
 Robb, James, 167 
 
 Robin Goodfellow 7 
 
 Rochester, N. Y. 48 
 
 Rockefeller, John D., 19 
 
 Rock Island, 111. 48 
 
 Rock oil 19 
 
 Roofing 131, 151
 
 Index 
 
 201 
 
 Rosin gas prices 47 
 Rowlandson, Thomas, 38 
 i^oyal Baking Powder Co. 170 
 Royal Philosophical Society of 
 
 London 21, 40 
 Rubber, 128; how named 162; 
 
 waterproofing by 166 
 Rumford, Benjamin, 163 
 Russell, James, 166 
 Russell. Lord John, 110, 167 
 Ruud, Edwin, 113, 171 
 
 Sacrifices, natural gas used in, 18 
 
 Safeguarding America against 
 fire 150 
 
 Sahara Desert's solar energy 61 
 
 Salamanders 7 
 
 San Francisco, Calif. 48 
 
 Saturators 75 
 
 Savannah, Ga. 48 
 
 Scheele, Charles, 162 
 
 Scott, Sir Walter, on "Lighting 
 London with Smoke" 30 
 
 Scrubbers 78 
 
 " Secret, The Great, " 10 
 
 Semper fidelis 155-6 
 
 Seneca 115; Seneca Oil 19 
 
 Serle, Henry, 161 
 
 Sewing Machine driven by Ty- 
 son engine 125 
 
 Sharp, James, 106, 168 
 
 Sharp, John, 105, 106 
 
 Shavings 77 
 
 Shaw's gas cooking stoves 169 
 
 Shea, Sir Martin (quotation) 8 
 
 Shirley, Thomas 21, 22, 160 
 
 Simpson 184 
 
 Singeing apparatus 127 
 
 Smoke abatement committees — 
 Chicago 136, 137; American 
 cities 136-138; London 139; 
 Pittsburgh 140 ; Glasgow 141 ; 
 smoke nuisance in London 138, 
 139, 140 
 
 Smoke, wondrous illumination 
 by 30; cause of 143; injury 
 
 due to visible and invisible 
 gases 136, 137; yearly damage 
 in Chicago 136, 142; effect on 
 buildings 143, on singers 140; 
 an index of inefficiency 143 
 
 Sobrero 168 
 
 Soho 23, 24 
 
 Soot, and health 140, 141, 142, 
 143, 144; in air, amount of, 
 London 140, 141; Pittsburgh 
 140; Glasgow 141 
 
 Soul of coal 14, 80 
 
 South Shields Gas Company 128 
 
 Sover, French master chef 105, 
 106, 168 
 
 Spain, gas plant for Queen Mo- 
 ther of, 168 
 
 Spices and gum in room heating 
 115 
 
 "Spirit, wild," 12, 22 
 
 Spirits in river and lake waters 
 7 
 
 Springfield, 111. 48 
 
 Stack valve 69 
 
 Star in the East 16 
 
 Statistics on growth of gas in- 
 dustry, Great Britain 84; Can- 
 ada and South America 85; 
 United States 85, 86, 87, 88 
 
 Statistics of petroleum and nat- 
 ural gas industries in United 
 States 88 
 
 Steam boilers with automatic 
 control, gas-fired 126 
 
 Steam generated by gas 170; in 
 gas-fired boilers 130 
 
 Steam heat used by Watt 162; 
 first building in the United 
 States heated by steam 168 
 
 Steam locomotive, inventor 23 ; 
 description 27, 28 
 
 Steam used in making gas 69-71 
 
 Steamboats lighted by gas 47 
 
 Steel, "cemented" 127; draw- 
 ing and tempering 131 
 
 Stephenson, George, 28
 
 202 
 
 Index 
 
 Stevenson, Robert I.ouis, 56 
 
 Stewart, Philo Penfiekl, 167 
 
 Stoker, first mechanical, 139, 165 
 
 Stone of Wisdom 10 
 
 Stove, first base-burning, 160; in 
 U. S. 166; "porous" burner 
 gas 169; gas 169; solid flame 
 gas 170 
 
 Strabo 117 
 
 St. Louis, Mo. 47 
 
 St. Paul, Minn. 48 
 
 Strand, sketch showing, 40 
 
 Street lighting, first, 35; London 
 35, 36, 37, 38, 39,40,41; Paris 
 41 
 
 Sulphuric acid discovered 160 
 
 Sultan's palace and mosques gas 
 lighted 168 
 
 "Sun Dial" range 170 
 
 Sun, how its radiant energy 
 is stored 60, 61, 62; source of 
 all energy 63 ; an acre at earth's 
 surface 60, 61 ; temperature 
 and total energy 61 ; explana- 
 tion 122, 123 ; explosions 123 ; 
 rays bake bread and cook 
 meats 161 
 
 Sunshine stored for tlie use of 
 man 59, 60 
 
 Superheater 69 
 
 Superstitions, early, 7 
 
 Syracuse, N. Y. 48 
 
 Tailoring 130 
 
 Tallow candle a gas factory 62, 
 63 
 
 Tar, extractors 75 ; how removed 
 from gas 77, 78 ; derivatives 
 152; produced by distillation 
 of coal 161; patent for mak- 
 ing pitch 161 
 
 " Taste is long remembered after 
 the price of a dinner has been 
 forgotten" 102 
 
 Taylor 166 
 
 Temperature during cooking pe- 
 
 riod 74; automatic and abso- 
 lute control 132 
 
 Theophrastus 159 
 
 Thermas 109 
 
 "Thermolamp" 117, 118, 163 
 
 Thermostatic controlled gas wa- 
 ter heater 113, 171 
 
 Thompson, Adam, 110, 167 
 
 Thorium 54 
 
 Tidal power 147 
 
 TItusville, Pa. 169 
 
 TNT 123 
 
 Toby, H. A. 171 
 
 Tom Tumbler 7 
 
 Toronto, Canada 85 
 
 " Touch a button " gas lighter 
 172 
 
 Transmutation of metals 6, 7, 8, 
 9, 10, 11, 12 
 
 Troy, N. Y. 48 
 
 Tudor of Boston 171 
 
 Turbine, 125, 147 
 
 Tyson gas-fired steam engine 125 
 
 Ulysses 103 
 
 Union hours, alchemists disre- 
 gard, 8 
 
 " Up and down " runs first 171 
 
 Users of gas, Great Britain 84; 
 United States 85, 86 
 
 Uses for gas, first for lighting 
 34; in the U. S. 87, 128; heat- 
 ing greatest role 128 
 
 " Utility Business, Why I am in 
 the," 91 
 
 Valentine, Brazil 160 
 Van Steenburgh 72 
 " Vegetable Statiks " 161 
 Verne, Jules, 55 
 Vicksburg, Miss. 48 
 Virginihus Puerisqiie 56 
 Volcanoes harnessed 147 
 Vulcanizing 130 
 
 Washing, drying and ironing 
 cost 114
 
 Index 
 
 203 
 
 Washing machine, electric-driv- 
 en and gas-heated 113 
 
 Washington, D. C. 48 
 
 Washington impressed by burn- 
 ing gas 20 
 
 Watchmen's cries, London, 35, 
 36 
 
 Water heaters, gas, develop- 
 ment and thermostatic control 
 112, 113; circulating 171; 
 first patent for instantaneous 
 113; automatic 171; copper 
 coil 171 ; number in U. S. 27 
 
 Water heating, early means of. 
 112; patents for gas 166; by 
 gas for factories 126 
 
 Water lute (seal) invented 162 
 
 Water power 147 
 
 Watt. James, 23, 25, 26. 28; pa- 
 tent for smoke prevention 13^: 
 heated his study by steam 162 
 
 Wedding rings 128 
 
 Welsbach. Carl Auer von, 52. 
 53. 54. 171 
 
 Welsbach Company 57 
 
 Welsbach mantle applied to 
 street lighting 55 
 
 Westminster Bridge fLondor.) 
 opened, first gas lighted 37, 
 38. 165 
 
 V^Hieeling. W. Va. 48 
 
 "White coal" 147 
 
 White House instals bathtub 111, 
 168 
 
 Wiean, England 21 
 
 Williamsburg. N. Y. 48 
 
 Williamson carbureted ^ water 
 gas machine 69; operation 70, 
 71 
 
 Wilmington, Del. and N. C. 48 
 
 Winsor, Frederick Albert, 29, 30, 
 31, 32, 33; fails to learn Le- 
 bon's gas secret 30; called 
 " madman " by Scott 30 ; his 
 plan to light London by 
 " smoke " through central 
 plant a " big humbug," says 
 Napoleon 30; burlesqued by 
 actors and his reply 31; ob- 
 tained first English patent for 
 making gas 31; lectures on 
 and public demonstrations of 
 gas lighting 32; 163; organ- 
 izes gas company 32; laid first 
 gas mains in a public street 
 and lighted it by gas 32 ; in- 
 corporates and obtains charter 
 for London and Westminster 
 Gas Light & Coke Co.^ 32, 33 ; 
 first gas utility promotion 134; 
 English patent for gas making 
 163; advocates gas for cook- 
 ing and heating 104, 118 and 
 for abolition of smoke 134, 
 135; petitions Parliament for 
 permission to form gas com- 
 panv 164 
 
 " Wise Men, Three, " 16 
 
 Witches 7 
 
 Wooden gas mains in Chicago 
 49 
 
 Woodhouse. James, 162 
 
 Wood tar 152 
 
 Wordsworth (quotation) 99 
 
 Wright Company, J., 170 
 
 Yarn and lead for jointing 164 
 
 Zepoelin. early American, 68 
 Zoning 143
 
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