, 1861-10-18

Of th1s city. there u ons 30 peculiarly Focsted,
In The bnhiness* section Of The city, and ut
out ct It, 80 quietly purHued-:houghi in un.
csss:ng operation day and night, from year 10
year that few know it, locality: aud ssti1
ie"es have ever visited it.. 30 vast corpora
'.on N the city limits, such extensive works
giving employment to Nttle army Of meD,
manntaciuftng an article Indispensable in ats
character, with machinery the most massive
eao most delicate perhaps In the city, cannot
oe without interest to large class Of our !
1eaaefs. We refer to the Chicago Gss WorEs,
located On Monroe, Adams and Wells streets. |
An inspection Of the Works yesterday through |
the courtesy Of the Secretary Of the Company,
J. z. Bu1tls, Esq, has furnished US With some
interesting facts relative to the manufacture |
OF gas which Will probably be new to msuy Of
our.feaders, and Of which VIC give Us detailed
a description IS our space will allow.
The elementary principles: In the manufac-
ture Of gas must be studied at the Rstort
house. The retorts used at these works are
OF fire clay, Of the D pattern, this material be
ing preferable to iron; as 1t accumu1atss little
easoou and can be easily cleaned. These re-
to1ts set In groups into furnaces extending
the whole length of the building. They ara
kept continually at nearly white heat,
snd charged with coal every five hours- a
series Of perpendicular pipes from each rstort
conveys the gas from the dsti1ling coal Into
arge horizontal pipe, called the hydraulic
main, pa1tia1ly filed with water, which serves
to collect 1nrge portion Of the tar and am
monia In these works, as In all larga gas
establishments, the gas is forced from the re-
torts by a revolving e1hauster in 3 separate
building, In this instance carried BY steam
engine which il perfect miracle Of beauty,
and as noise!ess IL it, operations Is a watch.
While in the hydraulic main, considerable
7apor jet remains with the gas, which is re-
moved BY passing it through q series Of con
densing pipes, cooling 1t In its passage. Thence
1t flows through upright iron chambers, where
it is subjected to jets Of spray md thoroughly
c1eansed.
The next operation is the removal Of the
sulphur from the gas, which is accomplished
BY allowing it to pass through beds Of hydrato
of lime, eprink1ed on wooden trays, which
combines with and retains al the impurities.
The gas then flows to the metre where 1t is
measured- The metre in this establishment
Is Of the largest size made and has d capacity
Of SOC, 600 feet per twenty -four hours. The
principle Of the station metre is the same as
in the common house metre, although the ap-
paratus Is necessarily more complicated in It's
construction. The metre Is provided with
clock, to the minute HAND of which, is At
tached an index, carrying pencil which at
once indicates any inegularity in the supply,
and the time Of it's occurrence. The d1als ara
zach fuppned with single. .index, marking the
cubic feet in tens, hundreds, taoas2als, &:
up to ten million. The graduation Of speed
In the revolutions Of these indices is curious
in the extreme, ranging from q visibly rapid
motion, up to revolution once In twelve
years. The gus passes from the metre to the
reservoir, thence to the street mains. Before
reaching the mains, it is subjected to the gov
er1or, IN apparatus contrived to regulate the
pressure, any undue increase being checked
by cone Of iron, which il elevated, and fits
into the opening, By which the gas is admit.
ted to the spparatus, thereby regulating the
flow. A besutifM and. delicate instrument
Of Philade1phia manufacture records upon pa
per, tightly wrapped round revolving cylin-
inder, the exact amount Of pressure at every
1ninute Of the aay. After the record is made,
the gas flows into the mains, aud is thence dis
tributed through the city.
| Such is in brief tbs process OF msnutactur-
| ing gas, Is carried on at the Chicago Gas
| Works. The machinery which accompllshes
| 1t Is very simple in lts construction, ranging
from the most massive iron pipes and castings
to work as delicate and beautiful as the ms
elinery Of alady's watch. The dials upon the
meier, in their noiseless and invisible reyolu-
tions, not only hithfauy mark and calculate
the amount Of gas produced. but at the same
time play the tell-ta1e, by instantly detecting
aud leaving upon record, the neglect ofany ser
want Of the Company in the discharge Of his
! proper duties. The Company use the Penn
| tylYania soft coal, IS it contains less sulphur
than the Illinois coal, and are manufacturing
at present $50 600 cubic feet per day, although
their resources are sufficient for supply Of a
vastly greater amount. In the production Of
this quantity, 16o men are employed, aud fifty
tons Of coal are consumed daily.
These are but few Of the minutia in the
manufacture Of the great nghteconomy, but
sufficient to give our readers an idea Of the
magnitude Of the work being done by this
Company and the general order and system
which prevail in every department.. Every
thing moves as quietly as In a par1or, while day
and night, from one year to another, without
/ resi-, this invisible agent Is flowing under ou1
} feet, shedding light and warmth, cheerfulRess
and joy through every part of the city. A Wis
1t to the works, will amply repsy the curioul
IL the matter OF manufacturing and machinery
; for the trouble, and afford the visitor an op
po1tunity Of inspecting some Of the most ole
gant mechanical construction in the city, o
Il In the West. The CompAry,ars determines
. to affosd no grounds for complaint, aud t
: that end none but faithful, competent wors
men are employed, and supe1intendents wh
give their time and attention personally
:, the various branches Of the works. The II
: suit Is the production Of an excellent artie]
). Of gas, as regular as the sun in its suppl,
i unless interrupted by causes beyond the col
troll Of the company.
FREs.--About nine o'clock, last evening,
u fire was discovered In the mirror estabIisl
l. ment Of Foster d Jenkinson, No. 148 Clar
: ttreet. The fire department Was promptl
9 upon the spot, and by well directed efor
d soon succeeded in checking the flames. II
stock, consisting of moulds, mirrors aud
g choice collection Of prints, was valued
t 5000, and Was nearly ruined by the fire AZ
d the torrents Of water thrown By the steamer
Il The loss, however, will be covered By an Il
I. surance Of $4,000. In the Fireman's ofic
The fire Was first discovered burning in Il
!. Workshop, but the manner in which it o,igi
/ ated is unknown.
Earlierin the evening, an alarm Was soundt
y for The Sixth district, which proved to l
= false,
:.
?. An Inquiry.
4 Will the soldier who called On the "Pst1
otic Women Of America" through the *
umns Of the TRIBUNE, Monday, October lat
and who advised Communication with Il
different regiments give some information
regard to obtaining said communication
There are many pstriohe women In d
Il Western States. who earnestly desire to lab
It, in this great etruggle-woneu whose hear