Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-02-25
L0ND0N'S GAS LIGHT.
The Coke Kings Fear Not Rivals in
Dispelling Darkness.
THE ENORMITY OF THE SUPPLY.

THE ENORMITY OF THE SUPPLY
Immense Plants Necessary to Fill th
Fluctuating Demand.
NO SMALL POTATOES OF RESOURCE
The Gas Light and Coal Company is tn
best-abused institution in London.
Secretary to the company, Mr.. Orwell Phi
lips naturally gets most of the abuse. Ye
he takes it like the humorous philosophe
that he is. "'Grasping monopolists, who's
only thought is to plunder the public,
that's what we are called, ha! hal You hav
seen that description of us in the news
papers before now. How illogical som
people are! Nine hundred and ninety min
in one thousand customers who write to me
in complaint or in abuse, tell me that if m,
company won't do this, that or the other
they will transfer their custom elsewhere
perhaps to the electric companies; and We
the 999 denotince us as monopolists How
can we be the monopolists of light supply
in London if those furious letter-writer.
can take their custom elsewhere?"
The gas kings have rivals, says Light anG
Power, bat Mr.. Orwell Phillips fears them
not; the competitive plan of existence, as
viewed from the Horseferry road, bears for
him a most cheerful aspect. He begins by
making short work of a general misconcep.
| tion. "'The effect of London fog upon gas
| consumption, you say; far greater in
fuence is temperature. A moments re-
| Election explains this-gas as a heating and
cooking agent is making great progress; the
time when gas was. used only to give light
is dead and gone. The fact that the con-
sumption of gas is more affected by temper
ature than by darkness is revelation of a
new change in social habits But let us
hear Mr. Orwell Phillips.
Take the half year which ends to-day,
the last day of 1891. In the summer months
of this half year the weather has been rather
like that of spring. Consequently, there
was little f1uctuation in consumption. For
the first four months of the half year, con-
sumption proceeded on level line. In
October it began to decline, and the total
decline has greatly exceeded that of the cor
responding period for 1890, which was a
cold season. But last fortnight fog and
frost came upon us all of a sudden, and up
went the demand upon us at a bound"
Fog Increases the Consumption.
The change in temperature alone would
have led to an immense increase in the con-
sumption of gas, but to this cause was added
the black fog. Here Mr. Phillips paused as
if he had something startling to say.
"The public supposed we should be used
up in three days; ha! hal the public didn't
know better In former years we had fogs
as thick and black as those of last week, but
they only lasted day or two; this fog lasted
six days, and my company successfully bore
the enormous strain upon it. Last Thurs
days consumption of gas was the greatest
for any single day in the company's history.
Can you guess what it wasp
81 cannot; have not the remotest idea. !"
Again Mr.. Phillips paused.
''12S. 900, 600. Can you realize that?"
1 really could not, should like to see the
man who could; 12S 000, 900 of gas-it is
like being lost in the ewigkeit. Let me put
it in my way On that historic Thursday
the company manufactured as much gas as
would form column "a, 242 miles high and
II across. The height of the column would
be about equal to the circumference of the
earth. 1t was the output of the company's
IL monster stations; nor was the Horseferry
Road Company the only gas company at
work on that dismal day, though it was, and
is, by far the largest. Five millions of
human beings creeping, era Wing, blinking,
coughing, feeling their way, and missing it,
underneath their brown-black. poisonous
''counterpane" of fog and smoke, upon the
stgreasiest" and most crowded spot of its
size in this world-and ordering from one
of several companies "a, 900 miles of gas for
a single days necessities-such is the pict-
ure which Mr.. Orwell Phillips figures sug-
gest to the mind Can the gentle reader
rise to the level of the conception?
Fluctuations That Are Tremendous.
"I have told you," said he, "what we did
on that black and cold Thursday. Now 1
shall tell you what we did yesterday, the
30th of December. 1t was dark day Our
output was SO, 900, ,0OOi-4S, ,OOO, 900 less than
black Thursdays. What caused that stu
pendous difference? Why, the difference
in temperature. Yesterday was a warmish
day.
''Most astonishing, Mr. Phillips; you
must have a little in reserve to Withstand
such tremendous fluctuations"
"That we have-we, whom the public and |
the journalists call grasping monopolists,
living by public plunder-at every one of |
Jul IL stdtiOuS Is hSpb Sfcdb OI |
reserve plant and fuel in readiness for |
which may or may not come in |
six, seven, eight or nine months. One-haff |
of our plant is reserved-that is to say,
it is never used except in emergen-
cies. We burned $4,000 tons of Goa
on black Thursday-what do you think of t
that? We burn 1000, 900 tons year. In
the week of fog and cold we had to draw on
our reserve stores; not an ounce of coal
could we land from our fleet of ships in the.
river. During the fog week there were IL
Or - of the company's colliers in the
of them carrying as much as
], 1000 tons. But they dared not move from
nidstream to the wharfs and piers. If they
moved they might go crashing into one an
,ther. Pilots could not see their way. They
could only feel their way" Fancy pilot
ceiling his way; and Charles Lamb feel
ng the pilots cheek, to find out if the pilot
Jaw the joke. 'In fog,'' says Mr.
Phillips, 'the river is always darker than
he streets. You see that we were pretty
veil prepared for black week; but still we
ire not satisfied. London is growing, so is
4ondon's smoke and fog. Supposing we
lad black fortnight, and our ships dared
lot move That would be awkward.
Resources That Are Not Small Potatoes.
cit would"
p Sand therefore am asking my company
or extra plant-three gas holders-at one
# our stations, and am putting the matter
'efore them tomorrow. Here are the esti-
nates. What do you think they amount
o? Guess
"Can't"
1 could only guess that person who
Ion