The Opelousas courier., 1888-01-14
ARTIFICIAL LIGHT.
I~llpminative Agencies of the
Past and Present.
From the Days of Bonfires to
the Era of Electric Light.

l lCEtulC III hJSbOh oh IN SN"JNN
artificial light, stil TINT thee practice
Of fires in open spaces was common In
ancient times. AS civilization advanced
lamp laws were passed to prohibit
Eonfircs. For centuries bonfires were
common with the Celtic natives OF
Europe, especially at festival times.
Beacon fires were often used as signals.
In Spain taxes were levied to sustain
beacons at the time Of the Armada. In
Sthe Book of jeremiah, in the Bible,
there is an a"llusion to the fire signal.
There was q mast and tar barrel on
Beacon Hill. 1t swas never used and
was blown down in 1899.
The use Of whale oil originated with
the Norwegians. In 1850 the Dutch hal
800 vessels, employing $4,000 men, in
tho business. Ii New England the
whales were first caught from small
boats. The Indians engaged with avidi-
ty in the hunt for whales. In 1853 there
were 600 vessels of 900, O00 tons5urden
engaged in the American whale fishery
The argand lamp was first used liz 1900.
The decline in whale fishery was due to
the discovery of oil in Pennsylvania.
Candles were spoken of first in a re-
mote period. Their use really began in
the early history of Christianity. AS
late as the sixteenth century their use
was limited. In spite of modern methods
the candle is used for certain purposes,
and the soft light cannot fail to please
the eye. The honor and merit of the
first application of coal gas seems to be-
long to William Murdoch, of Redworth,
Cornwall. In 1909 he lighted IN ex-
tensive manufacturing establishment.
France also claimed the honor of its first
demonstration, but not satisfactorily.
January %, 1907, saw a number
of London streets lighted by gas. The
amount of eco, 900 was raised, and the
King petitioncd for the Incorporation of
a company. Two companies supply
London at 70 cents per I, 900 cubic feet,
and their capitals $50, 900, 900. Coal
gas was first used in Baltimore III fofoP
and for some time its progress was slow
and unsatisfactory. Now there are over
/, 1000 works in the United States, fur
nishing employment tqIover %, 200 men,
a portion being for theE manufacture of
water gas.
In 1898 a F%renchma5 discovered the
process by which watsF gas was made.
In 1875 Professor Lowe established the
first works in the United States. The
business has increased enormously here,
but not always, because hard coal aud
naphtha are SO expensive. Natural gas
has been known and extensively us,d in
Asia and China for a long time. History
tells us of a well in France in the time
of julius Cesar. The first in the United
!. States was ii Charleston. The Taylor
house in Fredonia, N. Y, was illumin-
ated in 1924 in honor of Lafayette. The
nature and efficiency of natural gas is
but partly understood.
Petroleum was known to mankind
from the dawn of history. 1t wasspoken
Of in Sweden in 1850. In Western
Pennsylvania it was found on the ground,
and used as a medicine many years be-
fore wells were bored. In 1853 a well
~ feet deep, yielded more than |, 900
barrels a day. Then a reckless spirit of
speculation arose. It enriched a few,
whiFc it ruined thousands. The
standard drill is five and one-half inches,
the flow being as great fgom a small as
from a large hole. In 1880 the produc-
ton amounted to rs, 000, 000 5arrels, and
the stock on hand June /, 1880, was
valued at SIT, 900, 600. Russia has valu-
able deposits at Baku, long known, but
just put to commercial use. The value
of experts thence in 1883 was SIS, 900,
900. In Russ a they are ahead of Amer
lea, in being able to use the residuum of
petroleum. So abundant is the oil in
!, Baku that work can be carried on by its
fame in the night, and the oozing of the
oil from the ground prevents dust.
In concluding, Mr.. Monks said that
he had heard a great deal said about the
size Of the statue of Liberty on Bedloe's
Island as being the highest statue ever
known in modern or ancient times. To
test this he had made a scale of the
lighthouse Paaros, which had stood in
the harbor of Alexandria, and was re-
garded as one of the seven wonders of
the world, making his computations
from the account in Josephus and judg
ing by the distance it could be seen at
sea. Placing the model Of Pharos
against L model Of the statue Of Liberty,
eAe forme1 was seen to be much the
higher Of the two.
A WoRde1TuI Watch Dial.
"a gentleman connected with the IL