Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1888-01-07
ARTIFICIAL Gas.

1 SoAs Ss ~ . hNSk sA ~ oA<AAUcO SVssvOAO>A
at Andover. Mass. recently. declares thai
artificial gas is the noblsst work Of man,
and gives his reasons for that belief. ''In
the shallow seas Of the silurian division oi
geologic time. six hundred feet below the
level Of our present oceans. remarked the
colonel. vegetable life in the carbeniferous
period began and has constituted the basis
Of our oils and gases." Gas production. "
he continues, is the breaking up Of the
chemical compounds and the letting looss
Of the spirits of nature" We quote, q
follows, newspaper report Of the points
of the address:
The carbon Of the earth has come from
the atmosphere or envelope of the globe.
The envelope gathers carbon from space.
aud mingling with our oxygen, forming
carhanic acid, furnishes food for plants.
| which constitutes our fuel. This cosmic
quantity Of carbon Is lessening; 1t is now
reduced to fourteen thousands part of an At
mospher; upon less, vegetation will Ian
guish and life become extinct. Our planets
are undoubtedly picking up what may be
called planet food as they are whirled
through space and are growing. The
fuel of the sun is cosmic also. The
dead planets are those that have failed to
attract carbon. The moon has lost its car
bon and 1t Is ss dead rs an ash heap. Thus
celestial chemistry teaches US most f0rcibly
the economies that should be inauguratod.
and the production of artificial gas Ia BE-
coming by far the greatest creature that has
ever evolved from the mind of man. We
are standing upon the threshold of . most
important revolution that will inv live the
moral, social and industrial fabric Of the
race. II will be as bloodless rs an opera
tiOn Of nature, and from 1t the greatest ex-
pectations Of advancement may be awaited
with cheerful confidence.
Bear in mind that this Is not said Of na-
tural gas. Natural gas Is freak. 1t has
nowhere proved permanent and at all times
trustworthy. II may flame up and waste
itself this year and utterly fail US the next
But artificial gas may be made from coal.
water. and perhaps other substances and
elements that are always within reach, and
- the processes are uniform and always
available. the supply need never fail.
We should light our houses and streets
By artificial Illumination; We should heat
our houses and run our machinery BY
means Of electricity or manufactured gaA
There Is too much waste in the use of coal
or crude oil. even, as fuel. Gas made from
these materials is the highest result Of SCI
ence and skill. II Is the refined essence Of
illumination and heat. and in using gas We
can take just what We need. and keep In
store what We do not need.
Great Strides are made In the utilizing Of
electricity q an illuminating agency and
as motive. and but small portion of the
brain power and experimenting devoted -
this line Of enterprise wsuld give 10 great
and wonderful results In the cheapuess and
utility of manufactured gas. We believe
We can have nearly - cheap manufactured
gas In Springfield, in the next i've years.
for fuel and for the moving Of machinery.
as II We had IN abundant dow Of natural
gas from the several wells which have besn
drilled here. Shall there Be remarkable
achievements froIn investigation. invention
and experiment In electricity and meme q
ail in the line OF manufacturing gas :.
Gas will not ''go." II will stay and Il
viii gssw. Capital and public-spiritsd q.
tsrprise should give attention TO this mat
ta. Lst ss havespen fires. fed BY coal o.
oil gas-sy manufactured gas-and cooking
and heating stev0 fed BY the same auid,
and machinery moved BY IL Why not !:
Tho RKPUBLIc's peesses and folding ma
chine are moved By . gas engine. which
never faiis md which Is nun At greatly lsss
cost than machinery can be run BY engines
moved by steam, gsndered BY the consump-
ten Of coal and requiring an engineer. II
fsur-horse power engine can be run BY
manufactured gas, why. not . foar-hundred
horse power engine? This use Of Kas in
heating does away with all klpdling Of
fires: one has only 70 turn on the gas and
ignite It with . match; there 10 neither
I'D nor coal to be stored or lugged about
no ashes 10 accumulate and to b carried
Of. Cooking by gas Is the best process
known. There il only one thing TO be
sought out and discovercd-a radical
reduction of the cost of production.
There comes the rub" That this obstacle
will be overcome in the near future. we
cannot doubt Inventive genius will not
achieve wonderful results in all other lines
and leave the manufactured gas industry In
the lurch. 1t does not seem possible that
enterprise in this line has reached its ultt-
ma thule
WONAN'S WORK AND TEE OHIO CEN
TENSIAL. Ar COLCMBUS
The Ohio state board Of centennial man