Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1866-02-13

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| "a 1UEHaAH. ~ a, 1884 N
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pasiss are Enabled 70 Gfer<lz Ineear7 =
Volume Of their Gas md = tae Sam4t
Ds<edoxste IL Quality Tie H<f4 ~
Enfcfibr Gas and Exofbiisat @ -
1san s;ss Organization of 81 opfo "a
compszy IN chicaso. s. {. s S
Rron he chicaso Tines. s ;lz.s| !
The abuses Of - esx h this
city have Of la1c 1HcoIz,1 sous and
50 great tina they sEe 5sl car citizens to
amount 70 ysf5 syle oppression. Not
only Is tlSe guilty OF gas very poor, but the
charges FIR gas foot up to an exorbitant
npount- at first the inferior quality Of the
/ Aas was not 50 generally noticed, and ii was
/ oxfY'bow and then that It's deterioration was
tsisx lily marked. This was usually during
/ (EiSE fsod which elapses from Saturday night
inf Monday, at which time the fame Of
ksse gas was observed to burn more feebly
hid to afford light very dim and faint
/ Complaints were made almost universally
1 3throughout the city, but as nothing was done
officially to remedy the existing evil, the gas
companies seem to have proceeded 10 tske q
bolder step, by making and furnishing for
constant consumption a gas of most inferior
illuminating quality. At the same time
that this deterioration in the Manufactured
article became general there was noticeable
another general fact, namely, that the metre
showed a larger consumption than usual, and
the gas bills were largely increased in
| amount.
1t has been said, and with deal of truth,
| that the way to reach a mans feelings is
through his pocket Therefore when the
people became obliged to pay exorbitant gas
bills, and that, too, for poorer quality of
| TO, they began to grumble. In several fsmi-
llCo ntikCc VI tHttAtStttiS tCAsCiAAAC W GIG
| instituted to solve the mystery, but these ex-
periments generally ended in more complete
nystiication. afaa 80. 80 80
A MYSTERY.
One gentleman who had long been pay
| ing most exorbitant amount for gas, for a
| month caused his family to burn but one jet
of gas in the house, supplying the light
| afforded by the four or FIVE additional burn
ers, which were usually used, by kerosene
| lamps. The amount of gas consumed during
that month was hardly fourth as large as
usual; vet what was the resGltf Simply
that at the end of the month his bill was re-
| turned to him for an amount bnt thirty
cents less than during the month preceding.
| II did no good for him to make complaint;
there was his meter, showing that it was all
right;p and that he had been charged for no
more than the meter had registered.
| In order to show how gas companies are
| enabled to wrong their customers, it may be
| we'll to advert to the manufacture of coal
gas, as also to the method of measuring its
| Illuminating power. s sHt
PROCESS OF MAKING GAS.
BY the science Of photometry gas engi-
neers are enabled to ascertain to great de-
gree of certainty the illuminating power of
| gas, and its consequent value; and they
| have fixed upon a mode Of expression by
which they can designate its illuminating
power with the same precision with which
we designate the purity of gold. There are
various standards used in different countries.
In Europe, the carcel lamp is used. In the
United States, the standard light univer-
sally used Is sperm candle Of such pro-
portions as to burn at the rate of I20 grains
Of sperm in an hour, and when, for instance,
we speak of12-candle gas, we mean that the
light Of such gas, when consumed in a stand
ard burner, and burning at the rate Eve
cubic feet of gas per hour, will equal that of
II standard sperm candles.
The component parts Of purified coal gas
are principally bicarburetted hydrogen, car
buretted hydrogen, and carbonic oxide. OF
these the Illuminating principal is bicarbu-
retted hydrogen Carburetted hydrogen
burns with a blue, slightly yellow fame,
yielding scarcely any light. Bicarburetted
hydrogen is a heavy gas, almost equal in
weight to common air, while carburetted by
drogen gas Is only about half the weight Of
common air; and hence the high specific
gravity of good gas furnishes means of de-
Gliding whether the quality is good or bad.
THE MORE GAS THE LESS LIGHT.
An important fact also connected with this
subject is, that inferior or light gases pass
through burners much more rapidly than
more dense gases, and hence the amount Of
gas consumed will be in proportion to the
Illuminating power--if the gas is poor the
consumption viii be proportionaely larger.
HOW BAD GAS rs MADE.
DIR. Ure, in his Dictionary Of Chemistry,
Arts and Manufactures states that ''if bicar- |
5uretted hydrogen gas is exposed to a full |
red heat, as in passing through red hot |
tube, it is rapidly decomposed, carbon being |
deposited, while hydrogen and light carbu- |
retted hydrogen are produced" II is thus
in the power of gas companies, by increasing
the heat Of their retorts, to greatly increase
the volume of their gas, while they al the |
same time, deteriorate its quality.
When bituminous coal Is placed in a re-
tort ami constantly increasing heat is APP
piled, the first product evolved is steam. AT /
ties Of heavy hydro carbon gases are pro-
duced, which readibly condense into a tarry
fluid. Between temperature Of 700 de-
grees Fahrenheit, when it assumes cherry
red, the gases partake of mixed character,
being partly condensable and partly not. In |
practice, therefore, when it Is desired that
the products of distillation shall be liquid,
the retort is kept at dull red heat; but
when il il desired to produce permanent
gases, the retorts are kept at cherry red
heat When bituminous coal is distilled in
a retort, heated to bright redness, the richest
gases are given off during the first hoar and
a half after which there il a steady de-
crease, both in volume and illuminating
power. Dr. IRE showed that ton of coal;
subjected to the heat stated above, yielded
in six hours II, ,120 feet of gas; but when
subjected to the same heat for four hours, il
produced 9,200 feet He shows, also, that
the light produced by the consumption of
The IL ,i20 feet was equal to 1,597 candles;
while the light produced by the 9,200 feet
was equal TO that Of 1919 candles. IL will
has be seen that, while six hour distilla-
ion shows a gain in volume Of 1920 cubic
ieet Of gas to the ton Of coal, there is posi-
i've loss Of nearly ons-fourth In illuminat-
ing power. The same effect is produced
when the temperature OF the retoTt is raised
20 any thing near white heat, for the dis
illafion proceeds with much greater ra-
pidity, and the gases are TO 4 very great de-
gree deprived Of their Illuminating power,
he bicarburetted hydrogen gas being con-
rerted into common carburetted hydrogen,
which il has been shown has very low IL
uminaiing power.
3As COMPANIES CAN DOUBLE THE CON-
SUMPTION. 49,
When it Is known that gas companies can,
~ fha nae of had Goa md hf haafs H.