The San Francisco call., 1897-12-19

of coal gas and Lowe gas, ! think
there can be no great difference"
DR.. e. G. Love, Analytical Chemist
and Official Examiner of the city of
New York, was asked for an express
sion of his opinion with special refer
ence to carbonic oxide. His reply is as
follows:
II will say that L think the only
questions relative to water gas that
need be considered by any gas COM
pany are the economy of production
and the quality Of light. 1 do not con-
slider the presence of carbonic oxide
in Illuminating gas as Objectionable.
Il might add that in 1879 the NUM-
cipal Gas Company of this city made
$50, 100000 cubic feet of the so-called
water-gas, and in May 1880, the New
York Company adopted the same pro-
cess, and I have no doubt that the
present yearly consumption of water
gas in this city is over one billion cubic
feet
In the Boston gas report of 1886 Mr..
Granger, an eminent authority on gas,
testifies as follows:
II have given a great deal Of atten-
tion to this subject of the poisonous
G1IGCl VI gas cdllQ nave lllN NSSAlSdICQ
very many cases where persons have
been suffocated from inhaling gas,
both coal gas and water gas, and in
hundred cases in no case have 1 found
that death has resulted from such
causes; in every case the death re-
suited from the persons blowing
out the gas or carelessly leaving the
burner open. The results of my inves-
tigation lead me to this conviction,
that where death occurs the habits
and the physical condition of the indi-
vidual who has inhaled the gas are i'm
portant factors in the case. There are
cases on record where people have
gone to bed and left their burner
open and inhaled water gas all night,
such as 1 have instanced in Norfolk,
and have recovered and have expert
enced no i'll effects. And yet on the
other hand there are cases on record
where persons have inhaled coal gas
for two or three hours and have died.
Why is it that in one case. water gas
or coal gas kills the individual if he
breathes it but two or three hours,
when in the other case it does not kill
him after he has breathed it ten or fif-
teen hours? 1t is either because of the
difference in the habits of life or in the
physical conditions of the different in
dividuals."
1 think have quoted sufficient
authorities to show that gas Of what
ever form, whether it be coal gas or
water gas, is dangerous, and if in
hailed in sufficient quantity will cause
death, and if the case is fairly ana
lyZed it will be found that the greater
number of deaths resulting from the
inhalation of gas are either those of
suicides or people in a state of intoxi-
cation who do not know what they are
doing, and the remainder result from
the stupidity or careleSSness of people
who are not accustomed to the use of
gas.
That the use of water gas is
not regarded by the world at
large as being particularly dan
gerous is seen from the fact
that out of sixty thousand million
cubic feet Of gas manufactured last
year in the United States 40 per cent,
or forty-two thousand million cubic
feet was water gas; and also from the
fact that in England water gas has not
been in use until recent years, on ac-
NCoAAN VI lIlC SCoI Clly VI pelIOleuin ana
it's cost, but now they are erecting
extensive plants, notably at Birming-
ham, where they are building a ten
millionfoot plant.
The statement made in the papers
that bituminous-coal gas in it's ordin-
ary state would give a candle-power of
thirty-three candles is the veriest non
sense, because it cannot be substan-
tiated either in theory or practice
There are one or two cannels and
shales that give a high candle power,
but they are very expensive. The only
high candle-power gases that have
been practically made are acetylene
and water gas enriched by the products
Of petroleum.
The question asked Mr.. Taylor the
other day, if from his analysis of the
gas he could tell what proportion of it
was coal gas and what proportion
water gas, is also a question which I
defy an expert chemist to answer, be
cause it cannot be ascertained after
the gases have once been mixed, as it's
component parts are entirely too sim
liar to be disassociated.
If any one chooses to study the
above facts he will find that the deadly
poison which we are now distributing
through the city of San Francisco is
not so deadly as one is led to believe,
and that with even the most ordinary
care on the part of consumers there
should be no loss of life or injury to
health-in fact no danger whatever.
SAN FRANCISCO GAS AND ELEC-
TRIO COMPANY.
DIV n CROCK ETrT