The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-11-19
OUR ARTIFICIAL LIGHTS.
WHAT THE CAS- COMPANIES NAVE
TO SAY ron IN EDISELPES.


F"uh Finding Pronounced Unreosonnbie-
The SnOkiucas Of the MaiunI Gns-Nhy
Gas ~ Dcurer Here than Abrand.
Many Residents Of the upper part of the
city ha,o been complaining bitterly again Of the
rapacity VI thogas companies, the bad quality Of
thor gas, and The cXorbltant price.
You know you pay for what you don't get,
but the only witness whose testimony Is taken Is
tho meter and that belongs 10 the company and
OF course testines in its favor" said nm ill-uscd
gas consumer to the sun reporter However"
said this same gentleman, "wo are not left On
trely to their mercy oil has lately come to the
rescue before long we may sec the companies
more willing to give us better gas Mt lower
prices IL they don't oil will drive gas out Of
every wcll-manaccd house, except for grand oc-
casiOns such ~ parties. why, over In Brook
Ign, tho companies have already been forced to
turn over a now leaf, and now strive to equal the
English companies In the quality and low price
of their gas"
with view to getting at the facts, n SUN re-
porter visited several OF the larger gas works,
and interviewed the engineers about the oaiises
which make gas more expensive here than
abroad. and also rs to the comparative bril-
linncy Of our light. One complaint which seemed
very general among house owners was, that the
gas Of the Mutual Gas Company always smoked.
ard that 1t was destructive Of all frcscoing and
ceiling ornamcntation. The works OF this com
pany, which Is only four years old, were the first
visited. The assistant engineer said Poodle
talk about our gas smoking, but II IL
entirely their own fault: our gas gives
more brilliant Hight than amy other
gas IN this city or elsewhere, and that cannot be
done without the very richness OF the gas pro
ducing smoke where 1t Is used rccklessly aud
allowed To- flare when II should he turned down.
~ our gas was not fully equal To the others, wo
SHOULD mover have had tho success which has
attended IA. We have now ltO miles OF pipe
laid ia the streets, and We supply about 2OW,OW
cubic feet OF gas por day. Then gas L. n
heavier aud denscr gas than any other, which
makes II pass more slowly through the meter,
although We only charge the same price for II,
sou per l,vO feet, or quarter Of a cent n foot.
According to our tests mnde In different parts
OF the city . cubic feet OF Mutual gas IL
equal ~ Illuminating power to ~ of Manhat-
l5A TO 10 candle power white our gas rarely
i4ils below ~ candle power; These tests are
all made with nvc-foot burner that is. a
burner which consumes Ave cubic foot per hour.
-" our work in reducing the price Of gas In this
city has been very great before we began COM
petition with tho Manhattan and New York
companies the city had to pay from $50 To ST. n
year Tor each OF the street lamps; now. we have
brought down the price To about S2i per lamp.
We light about sCIO lamps IN the streets where
our pipes run. The main difference In our pro-
cess from that OF the other companies Is In using
nnphtna ga- in addition to coal gas We use about
q parts Of naphtha gas and - of coal gas. The
only very noteworthy advance made Of late
years In making gas has been In the manner Of
purifying il, lime being now used but little In
comparison with salts Of iron. The old lime
process produced q very disagreeable smell and
made trouble for tho companies: the board Of
Health was always interfering. hut now by the
iron process we nave No smell. rs To the ques-
ton OF smoke, | should ike to show YOU n re-
port II sOme Boston gentlemen who were
appointed bN Massdchusctts to examine the DIFF
the report which was shown the reporter dealt
with the smoky qualities of the Mutual gas aud
attributed II To carelessntss IN the Use OF the
~, burners.
q do not apprehend any serious loss in our
bu~nc IS added the engineer. from the grow
! ing use Of kerosene. over In IlrooAlyn the peo-
PIE rebelled and the general Use Of lamps in the
houses and stores almost ruined the gas COM
pany, hut here In New York, where SO much
| show Is nc, e,-ary. lambs will never much be
used eNc eri Tor reading purposes.
visit to the immense works u the Manhat-
| tai Company. at the foot Of Eighteenth street
and Tenth avenue. was next made. "Our gas II
as good ia quality, II not better, than any used
object of the reporters visit las to price. we
cannot compete with the English and French.
| for many reasons some Of which can give YOU.
In the nr-t place IN England they use for differ
enI purposes much of The refuse which we are
| thrown away yearly IN the refuse OF our own
works. In England. the aniline colors- Of which
We near - much lately are made entirely out o
ga--wor> refuse. There Il no company In thi.
country which has a. Vet taken hold of this mat
ter. aud w. import from England great quaint
ties of these colors every wear. Ngain. sulphnte
OF ammonia whirh may be taken from the
| waters ny which W. wash our gas, l. allowed 1,
| b" wasted here while in England and fRnce II
Is all used A. nncof the ingredients Of Fertilizers
! Ihefc L. "A law IN England compelling every man
| uiacturer OF fertilizers 10 use a certain proper
| tion OF sulphate of ammonia. some Years age
such fertilizers were tried here but failed. ethel
! from The different needs OF or soils or from
want Of good MANAGEMENT. There many
other wasted materials, which abroad are
source OF constant profit, and OF course make
ut Is very hard to tell YOU the improvements II
of little steps Ia advance, which, In the cours,
/ have been innumerabl,, attempts T., imuroyn I IA,
g. n n.f Ala Of hra kkf
that made BY la Mothe, who used oxygen in con
nection with Manhattan gas, and for some
Avenue Hotel with il. That was about fouI
years ago. IL promised well in tho beginning
dazzling for the eyes; double pipe had to b,
used In all houses. for the oxygen and common
gas could only be brought together in thu
burner; then, oxygen being an Odorlcss ga
leaked without IL being possible to detect tn
breakage. When "A gas-main leaks tho sIDeI
announces II at once. but every oxygen pip,
In the city might leak without any smell
being pereeptible An eminent chemist pro
posed to remedy this defect by pertaining tn
oxygen. that room or handkerchief coul,
be scented by turning on the oxygen burner
uxyseni1ed gas could not be made for less thai
" per LOU cubic feet under the most Favorable
circumstances. Alter repeated efforts. the thin,
was given up, La Mothe got up a company Il
buffalo, which spent some s2VeOp. and thel
The burning OF OIL" continued the engineer
"of course hurts our business more or less: bll
IL win neyer AFFECT us as II did the nronklyl
company After witnessing the very Interest
ing test by means OF which II Is ascertained l.
how many candles sas -halDe IL equal, the ST.
reporter left.
Some inquiries were subsequently made at tn
oil stores regarding the immense increase latel
In tn" use OF oil Tor lighting purposes The con
sumption Of oil has doubled in the last foll
years. Hard times make people think u
economy, and using oil instead of gas Is a say
ing OF seventy-nNe cents on the dollar. The In
PRODUCTION OF the stuuent-amp AAs been one q
the greatest successes %; the DAY; the light, f.
reading PURPOSES is better than that II au
gas burner The disuse OF gas In many houses
due almost rs much To the improvement 4
lamps as To the bad qualify and dearne,- of tn
gas.
The Election Goss 10 the House.