The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1881-07-12
Another Reason for Reducing the Price
Of Gas In wheeling.

AnOlheF Reason Tor Reducing tue Price
OF Gas IN wheeling.
When, within the memory Of living
men, the gas.burner took the place OF the
time.honored oil.lamp, the improvement,
both 90 regards the brilllanCy Of the light
and the convenience OF the user, was so
great that the ultimate condition OF per.
lection appeared to have been reached.
Nothing, apparently, remained for the
engineer to effect but improvements 10 the
details OF the works and apparatus, 80
that this great boon OF modern times
might be- utilized to the largest extent, II
Ia only In recent years that much atten.
ton has been bestowed upon the utilizI.
ton OF by.products, with Q view Of cheap.
ening the cost OF production Of
the gas, and that the consumer
has become alive TO theimportanCe oil hay.
lug q gas Of high illumira'iong power
and free from naueeousc constituents, such
as bi.sulphide o; carbon, thus providing q
gentle Btimulant for steady progress on
the part OF the gas manager. The oonGi-
ton OF sleadiness and comfort has been
somewhat rudely shaken by the introduc.
ton within the last years or two OF the
electric lights, which, owing to its greater
brilianCy and C~heapness, threatens to do
Tor gas what gas did for oil hall a century
before. The lighting Of The city Of
London and Of many public halls and
woke furnishes indiBputable proof that
the electric light 10 not an imaginary, but
A real and formidable competitor to gas Rs
a n illuminant, and II is indeed time for
gaa engineers ard managers to look seri.
ously 10 their position with regard to this
new fiysl; to decide whether TO meet
Il a. a foe, and contest lie progress inch
nv inch, or 10 accept ct once
the new condition Of ihirgs, concedinR
the ground that cannot reasonably be
m%sintRined, and 10 look about Ia search
Of suUh cumpeueatipg 6elds as may be dis.
covered Tor q continuation or ex'enston oil
their labots. For my own part | present
myselt before you both as o rival and ag q
friend; as q rival because | atn one Of the
promoters OF electric illumination, aud ss
4 friend because | have advocated aud ex.
tended the use Of gas Tor heating pur.
posss during the last twenty years, and
Am by nc means disposed 10 rellnquish
my advocacy Of pas both as an iIlumlna'
tinp and.as q heating egent. Speaking as z
pas engineer, I should be rather disposed
to regard the electric light as q welcome
incentive 10 fresh exsftion, confidently
anticipating achievements by the use
OF cas- which would probably have been
iobe postponed under the continued
regime OF 4 monopoly. Already we OBJ.
serve, both In our lhorouRhtarea and In
our apartments, gts.burners producing 0
brighter and more powerful light than
WAS to be eeen p%teviouslvj and although
Gas will have to yield to the %electtIc light
the illumination Of our light houses, halls,
and great thotonehiafes, II will be In a
position, I believe, to hold lite own ss q
domestic illumihant, owing 10 ite great
convenience Of ussge, and 10 the facility
with which II can b. s%ubdivided and reg.
ulated. The loss which 1t is likely 10 aus.
tain In large appliances as an illur1 iuant
would be more than compensated by il
use 40 a heating sgent, to which the at
tention OF both the producer and cons1m.
az has lavteily been largely directed.-C
w StmenS Nature.