Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1880-02-27
MINERAL POINT, WIS, FRIDAY FEBRUARY n, 1880.
Water.GaS n ~,

"'',e"'y s'f larch, entitled" Waite,
as rue" is fitted to interest al
readers and us of Wisconsin, e.
peo'a .iy. Methods Of dccomposins
w" or into its constituent gasses
and making application Of its ny
drogen for heating and illuminating
purposes, have been before tn,
public for years, and not without q
fair degree of success, it appears
but only since 1874 have these
methods been SO perfected a. tc
make the use of water-gas, both a
an illuminant and as n fuel, a thor.
oughly economical expedient.
Such is the purporL In brief, OF
the article to which we refer. The
highest claims are put forward for
water-gas as an illumination, rs far
out-rivaling cosl-gas on the score Of
cheapness az well as of agreeable
ness; but in presence Of the Electric
Light, now taken To be well-niyh
an assured success, these claims
are not pressed, 1t is rs u fuel for
family use, and for use in the arts,
displacing in great part every other
form of fuel that we have it now
presented TO our attention. The
process employed, upon analysis,
consists of two stages; first, the in
lection Of steam through a mass of
Goals heated TO redress under in
huence of powerful air blast,
whereby the particles of water
composing the steam ARE deoom-
posed, tho oxygen bctaking itself
with avidity to the Goals, the hy-
drogen (the combustible part), es-
escaping TO chamber above. In
this chamber, which forms, indeed, |
a part of the furnace, lie a mass of |
loosely deposited bricks, which |
under the action of the highly |
come speedily to be raised to q
white heat. The second stage Of
the process is now reached--tho gas
is to be "carbonized," as il is called.
For il is not the flame Of pure
which gives out greatest
heat, but, of hydrogen, with a
proper admixture of carbon. To |
insure this the superhcated gas is
exposed TO u douche from above Of
matter. For illumi-
mating gas, the douche is Of petro-
leum; for fuel-gas, the spray en-
ployed is an injection Of ordinarily
fine coal dust. With this the pro-
cess of manufacture ends. The
distinguishing excellence Of the
patent about the appa-
atus is said to DO, the utilization Of
the carbonic acid gas, Chat is more
or less always in combination with
water through its being converted
into carbonic oxide in which con-
dition it is combustible, and helps
forward, instead Of hindering the
result.
II will at once be perceived that
If the pretensions here made are
well founded, and If the device
carries with it the great economy
claimed, IL will be n god-send i'm
deed 10 numberless languishing
industries. Our zinc furnaces in
this section may soon be revived.
The smelling Of the iron ores Of
Of Sank and Of Dodge counties
may be resumed under far more
favorable auspices than before.
The water pumped from our mines
shall supply largely the motive
power Of the pump ira way hithcr-
70 undreamt Of.
The article assures us that this is
no longer matter Of theory,
merely: that it has been adopted
as practical measure in the iron
furnaces Of Sweden, and is put TO
household use in Russia Its trial
in this country as we learn has
been chiefly in the vicinity Of
Baltimore.