The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-11-04 00:00:00

THE NORTHERN DAILY TIMES.

24,000 Irishmen, in presence of all that tends to
elevate the mind, refine the taste, and purify the
heart—eagerly listening to the enrapturing grand
Hallelujah chorus, the .effectiveness of which was
increased by the aid of five hundred performers.
Surely after the long reign of Discord which has
preceded, we will not be considered superstitious
if we regard that display as the jubilate shouts of
a revivified nationality, which, like the " giant
form" in the Castle of Otranto, has burst the
cerements of its tomb.

The enthusiasm displayed on the day set
apart for closing the Exhibition, cannot well
be over-rated. Every one was anxions to " take
a last fond look " at the noblest spectacle
ever presented to the public eye. The
doors were opened 'at ten o'clock ; and before
twelve the galleries of the building were thronged
with as fine a collection of natural beauty as any
Metropolis in Europe might be challenged to pro-
duce. Visitors kept pouring in like a torrent;
and notwithstanding the price of admission being
increased to half-a-crown, considerably over 21,000
persons assembled. Upon the arrival of their
Excellencies the Lord Lieutenant and the
Countess of St. Germans, the National An-
them was struck up, upon which the vast
assemblage burst into one hearty and enthusiastic
cheer, which made the walls and roof of the
building reverberate with acclamation. We ear-
nestly hope that the " evil days " which have
fallen upon Ireland, have for ever passed away—
indeed, we believe that they have—and that the
true " Conciliation Hall," which a patriot's genius
has erected, may be viewed as an earnest of " the
good time coming, " when hellish Discord—the
only reptile which ST. PATRICK did not banish—
shall be destroyed—when universal amity and
prosperity shall prevail—and when Ireland herself
shall cease to be a reproach—and, in the words of
RIENZI'S prayer for his fallen country, " rise from
her long prostration, and appear like unto a bride
adorned for her husband," thus eminently real-
ising the appellation of

" Great, glorious, and free—
First flower of the earth, and first gem of the sea. "

GAS " Meters" are the great Wizard inventions of
the ago, "They are meters," save the mark ! And
" they are not meters." Oh ! propitious discovery!
They are " pressure guages," say some peisons.
" They are not pressure guages," exclaim the Gas
Companies. When such disputes as these occur,
honest ends are often attained. For our own part
we question much whether the great Wizard of the
North ever played off a greater delusion on the
public with the same success. The Gas Meter is
a great conjuring box, and those who perform the
best tricks with it, are mainly indebted to engi-
neers and chemists, who act as the accomplices cf
the adroit performers,
The first and great peculiarity of all gases is
the extraordinary extent to which they
expand and to which they can be compressed,
and coal gas, by some strange perversity of
physical arrangement, is capable of greater
compression than many others. The Portable Gas
Company of London usually compressed their gas
in the bottles, in which they delivered it to their
customers to a density of 2,000 lbs. to the inch, or
about 133 atmospheres. The evil of this high den-
sity or pressure was, that the gas passed through
the consuming pipes at precisely the same density
at which it stood in the bottle or magazine. The
consequence was that the jet was discharging gas

at a pressure of 2,000 lbs. to the inch, instead of in
a volume equal to .about 4 or 5 lbs. to the inch,
which is all that would be required to produce the
most brilliant light. Hence the quantity of gas
consumed was 1,995 pounds to the inch more that
was actually necessary for the purposes of lighting

This was not a fatal circumstance for the con-
pany in question. They, as a matter of course,
employed the "Meter," which registered most ac-
curately the number of pounds pressure to the imh,
with which the Company charged its customers in
the usual way, "as per Meter," for so many de u-
sand feet. Now this Company's mode of thing
business will §erve to illustrate the gross imposi-
tion, if not actual fraud, to which the publi) are
exposed, in being made to pay for any pressure
which the Gas Companies choose to put or their
"Meters," instead of the low luminous volume
required.

At one period the public were allowed tie privi-
lege of burning gas without a " Meter," but they
are now compelled, forsooth, to use an iistrument
of plunder, by which companies grow rih. Liver-
pool has long been fleeced to a fearfil extent by
this " Meter," and " extra burners" s3stem. The
latter is perhaps a shade more iniquibus than the
Meter itself. The quantity consumes is regulated
by the pressure at the head or soiree of supply,
totally irrespective of the bore of the pipes
or jets which convey it to the points of con-
sumption, or the number of aifices through
which it is discharged. Large pipes ar e
used for convenience and economy in delivery.
Plenty of pipe room relieves the gasometer by
drawing off the gas ; and it matters not what the
bore of the pipes may be which :lonvey the gas from
the main to the gas " Meters" cf the consumer, the
pressure on the " Meter" wal be precisely the
same ; and let the orifice through which the gas is
discharged be ever so smal:, the density of the
jet, and the quantity of gas expended will be
equal to that which the feed-pipe itself could die.
charge. Were it not for this, the fact of gas being
compressible would no longer be tenable.

To be charged, therefore, for the mere sub-
division of a column of gas, which would be cm-
sumed by one as well as fifty burners, is an
imposition to which the public ought not to sib-
mit. The plunder of the " Meter"-scheme may be
carried on to any extent. The Companies lave
only to increase the pressure, by employing mithi-
nery to force the gas into their pipes, wher the
" meters" will do their part, and the fleecirq pro-
cess may be increased ad libitum. It is really a
monstrous thing to say that all these CorFrations
have been established by acts of Parliament, and
that the collective wisdom of our enlighteied legis-
lative conclaves has not discovered the possibility of
fraud being perpetrated by such means to an ex-
tent hitherto unknown. That the chemical and
engineering professions have remainA silent so
long is equally astounding.
Every chemist is aware, or he ought to be, of
the compressibility of gases, and cial gas in parti-
cular, and every practical enginee? must, or ought
to, know the utter impossibility cf measuring any
given number of cubic feet of gas at a given
density—say 5 lb. to the inch—by the gas " Meter"
in ordinary use. A real Meter is an instrument
which will take ia a certain quantity, in feet or
inches, at a giver density. If 51135. to the inch be
sufficient it should be constructed to receive, and
give off so many inches or feet at 5 lbs. to the inch
density, totally irrespective of the pressure in the
feed pipes Such an instrument would really be a
Meter, and not a mere guage, which registers pres-
sure only, and debits the consumer with four times
the quantity of gas he really requires !
That the Gas Companies will relinquish the
gigantic advantage they have over the public is not
at all probable. What then ought to be done ?

The course we would suggest is to call meetings
in every Ward in the Borough, for the purpose of
petitioning both Houses of Parliament for a most
searching inquity into the •charges and proceed-
ings of incorporated Gas• Companies. It is high
time the Legislature should be made acquainted

with the system by which the British public are
openly " diddled " out of millions annually. Man-
chester should bestir herself, and if the Northern
towns generally were to direct their attention to
this vital question a great national benefit might
result from unity of action. Gas light is too essen-
tial, by far, to the welfare and comfort of this coun-
try to be left in the unsatisfactory position it is in
at present. As for looking to the shareholdets in Gas
Companies for any commiseration or assistance is
perfectly futile. They have quite enough to do to
look after and secure their own interests, as will

be seen by a report of certain proceedings before
the Recorder on the 29th ultimo, which appeared
in the NORTHERN DAILY TIMES of the following day.
In exposing the system we have done our part,
and we now say to the. public, " Go, and do thou
likewise."

CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN ROBERT-
SON GLADSTONE, ESQ., AND THE
MAYOR OF .LIVERPOOL.
The following correspondence has been handed
to us for publication :

[Copy No. I.] . • • •
.SIR,—In the course of the observations that fell
from you in the Town Council, at the meeting on
Monday last, I understood -you to say, that you
had, on several occasions, been provoked to retort,
but that you had been determined, to bear in silence
the remarks that had been made by me.
You must be aware that it would have been in
vain for me to attempt to. reply to this statement
at the moment ; but I am not aware, in fact I deny,
that, on any occasion, I have made use of language
inconsistent with the fair and legitimate rules of
debate, or such as was unbecoming the appoint-
ment I hold as a representative of the people.
You will oblige me, therefore, by informing me
what it is you refer to, when I will take an oppor-
tunity of pointing out another error you committed,
as well as the irrelevancy of your observations, in-
so far as they relate to the real and main point at
issue.

I am, Sir, your obedient Servant,
ROBERTSON GLADSTONE
Samuel Holme, Esq., Mayor, &c., Town-Hall.
Union-court, 2nd Nov., 1853.