Daily Democrat and news. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1859-1864, 1860-03-20
For the Democrat aud News.
Water Gas.

MEssRs. Errors AS corroborative
of the views | have been enabled to pre-
sent through your columns, in regard to
the actual yaLue of ''Prof. Sanders
Water Gas" which has been so siren
uously pulled up by the stockholders OF
the Davenport Gazette, | would request
the publishing of the enclosed slip,
taken from the Delaware Gazette. This
paper, it may be observed, is published
in Wilmington, Delaware, where the
first great attempt was made to foist this
humbug on the community. 1t would
appear from its want of success that they
share Chemist" in Wilmington, and
will probably be able to discover one or
more in Philadelphia. NJ. d.
The WATER Gas AGAIN We see by the
Philadelphia Press of Monday, that the editor
of that paper is determined to puff up" the
Water Gas system. and make the recent exper-
iment of it here Q success even at the expense
of the reputation for truth Of the company
iberality the water gas spectators were en-
ablel to make the trial Of their sys EN-. 1t
seemed remarkably singular to us that the
press of Wilmington were excluded from wit
Messing the experiments with the gas, and that
it was wholly confined to gentlemen Of the
Philadelphia newspapers, who came here and
enjoyed the magnificent spectacle gratis OF
seeing one of our common gas burners taken
off and another burner put on, with an orfice
four times as large, evolve flame three times as
large as that evolved by the burner removed,
while We who annually pay large sum to
the company for lighting our establishment.
sat in our sanctum, totally ignorant OF the fact
that the Philadelphia editors were in our city,
or that the experiment was being tried. But
this seems more easily understood now. 1t may
be that ours is an obscure paper in Whining.
ton," as the editor of the Press alleges; but it
affords US pleasure to know that the water
gas company confined their invitations to wit
ness these experiments to gentlemen of Phil
adelp hia, whom they kne~ they could trust for
reasons which, doubtless, the gentlemen who
terms the Wilmington papers obscure" best
knows The press of Wilmington does not
own dollars worth Of the swater gas stock,
nor il it, SO far As we know, interested in the
coal gas company here. We have. therefore.
nothing to make by incorporating the facts.
The Philadelphia Press may, or may not. have
enjoyed favors similar to those bestowed upon
the Wisconsin Legislators in the notorious rail
road bond swinde, for all that we know. But
we cannot why 30 many puts should 10
given to what We have reason to believe is a
system many years since tried and abandoned.
What other reasons could induce the editor of
the Press to waste two whole columns Of lead
ed editorial in the advocacy of the water gas
system, and the detraction Of the press Of
Wilmington, MS we'll % the Coal Gas Company
here, which, he gives his readers to under
stand, allows our city to remain. comparative
w. in IA position but little above total dark
ness? Why this experiment was not success
fully tried in Philadelphia. Kensington or
Northern Liberties, is q question yet unan-
swered. We think that the Wilmington Com
psny were fortunate In not being swindled in
adopting q system that has not even the merit
Of being new, and upon which We believe the
office at Washington cannot issue patent, be-
cause It has long since been exploded, as We
shall show from thu following extracts from q
| standard work published in 1855, entitled
chemical Technology, or Chemistry in its APP
pication to the Arts and Manufactures, by Dr.
Edmund Rollins, Professor Of Chemistry in
| Queens College, Galway"
| "Mr, Sanders, of the Hibcrnia Gas Works, made
extensive experiments with the Wow to render
| water gas luminous early as the year 1884, and
| enrolled patent for his invention in 1885. His
plan was to transmit steam through coke wood
CHARCOAL heated to redness in succession Of one,
| two or three retorts, fully to re-convert the
carbonic acid at first produced, into carbonic oxld
| gas single retort, with horizontal partition to
| within few inches at one end, was sometimes
used Tor the same purpose. The mixture Of by
drogen and carbonic oxd was then passed tn rough
limo to remove the carbobc acid, and then into
another retort heated to redness, into which were
introduced resin or oil Of resin. These substances
were allowed to enter the retort in regulated guam
tlies according to tn supply Of water gas, by
wa,ch the more volatile portions were taken ub
| and carried forward. As much naphthaine was
| thus voiatilised; it was found necessary 70 mass
| the gas through eondenscrs in which it separated
before the gas was allowed to enter tho ma;ns
The first idea in this process was to convert tho
substances containing cess Of carbon. nv mca =.
Of steam, into defiant gas, carbonic oxide and Nv
drogen this, howeevr failed in practice. the h;1h
| temperatu-e Destroying the defiant and hes1v
Hydrocarbons, and the patcLtec was cortantsa
| with impi egnatng purified watcr Gus with vsrv
volatile hydro carbons, although even this was
Of Illuminating gas"
Many other plans have been patented to Oh
tain these products among them were Dono-
vans. Loves. NJ. Jobard's. Of Brussels; Sci.
ligue's. Of Paris, Manley's Val Marines, Rad.
leys, Whites and others. But no new prirci.
pies were introduced, nor has there been any
new principle introduced by Prof Sanders. Of