The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1899-10-27
THE NEW GAS LIGHT
USES OF AcETYLENE AND HOW IT
WAS DISCOVERED.


Permit Its Use Under Pressure.
Its Cost and How 1t Is Made How
1t May be Used.
1t was discovered by German chem
list in 1861, that If a mixture of lime
and carbon were heated to an enormous
temperature the two fused together and
produced what is now known as cal
cium carbide. Nothing further of note
was accomplished with this new sub
stance until 1894, when Moissan in
vented an electric furnace and found
that by placing carbon and lime direct
ly in the electric arc an enormously
high temperature was available at
comparatively little expense, and the
resulting calcium carbide possessed the
property of generating new gas very
rapidly when brought into contact
with water. Moissan did not pursue
his experiments much further because
the proper and economical construction
of electric furnaces was then very little
known.
AS usual in such cases. the invention
of Mossan was perfected IN America.
Thomas L. Wilson, of st. GATHERINGS,
Ont, was a poor boy, assisting his
mother in the management Of board
ing house. When twenty-nine years old
he crossed the border to the United
States. where his talent was soon recog-
nized, and soon afterward he built a
very large electric furnace for the pur-
pose of experimenting in the production
of alloys of different metals.
While doing so he found that the
splttering OF the molten metal in the
furnace frequently produced conduct
ing path between the carbon of his arc
lamp, so much so as to seriously inter-
fege with and sometimes eXtinguish the
arc. To overcome this he placed in the
furnace mixture Of coke and lime,
which he found 10 his establishment i'm
meGiately combined under the great
h. ana produced beautiful, clear call
cium carbide at a comparatively low
cost.
Capital was at once interested in Mr..
Wilson's discovery, and it was not long
before companies were organized in
every State 10 control the Wilson pa
tents, but it was also only a short time
when it was discovered that acetylene
gas, under certain circumstances, was
OF highly explosive nature.
Contrary TO the advice of Mr.. Wilson,
many of the companies undertook to
place the gas upon the market in
liquid form. In order to do this it was
compressed until it became liquid, al
most in the same manner as liquid air is
produced. 1, was found, however, that
during compression the explosive quail
ltys OF the gas increased rapidly until
v'den, in a liquid state, it was extremely
dan gerous.
In using the gas in this manner many
disastrous explosions occurred, and the
public quickly denounced the gas, but
further experiments soon proved that if
the pure gas We're used without being
compressed there was only one way of
causing an explosion. and that was by
exploding in the gas tank a small
quantity of fulmip3le of mercury or
some other vio.en, explosive. Ii WAS
also found quite possible to burn the
electric arc within a tank of pure gas
with perfect safety.
1t was decided that the gas would
have 10 be used without being COM
pressed, and this action was quickly in
dorsed by insurance underwriters, who
will not now permit the use of acety-
lene gas under pressure.
Calcium carbide was first sold at a
very high price en- account of the fact
that it required the use of about five
horse power for twenty-f0ur
hours to produce a single ton. but there
are now works at Niagara Falls where
great quantities are turned out da
by The use of The inexpensive water
power there. The use of the carbide.
however, has become so general that
these works will soon be doubled, and
even then it is expected that it will be
almost impossible to supply the rapid.
ly growing demand
The fame of ace ylene is entirely diff
ferent from ordinary gas, and is much
brighter and richer than the lncandes-
cent lamp. 1t is solid flame of twen-
ty-fve candle power, about one inch in
height and one inch in width, and is
controlled by specially designed burn
er, which only consumes about one
quarter foot of gas an hour.
At first glance it would seem from
this that the new light is very much
less expensive than the old, but while
the acetylene burner consumes such a
very small quantity of gas the cost of
the carbide is still so high that it is
found that acetylene is very little
cheaper than ordinary gas.
In order to light ones home with
acetylene it is only necessary to re-
place the old burners with the new
style, disconnect the house pipes from
the meter and connect them to a small
gas generator. This generator is very
much like an ordinary city gas hold
er, and consists vi tank of water. ia
which is inverted another tank. the gas
as it is being generated being led into
the holder between the water and the
inverted tank, SO that this tank will
rise as the gas is generated until SUI
ficient amount is admitted to fill the
holder.
The rising of the tank then automati-
cally cuts off the supply of water from
the carbide. and thus prevents the cas-
from generating until such time as more
is needed, when the tank will descend
In doing so 1t opens valve which al
lows the water to again come in contact
with the carbide and again generate
gas.
a racing Dog.
NJ. b. Scott, a veterinary surgeon of
Farihault, $. d., has a novelty in the
shape of wonderful pacing dog. SO
tas as is known, this is the only in
stance on record of a pacing dog,
though trotting dog is not unneard
Of and a man named Harry Ketchum.
4 Canadian, once owned trotter which
he called Doe This dog, which was
A pointer, he exhibited at race tracks
and fairs all over the country. He was
said to have made about $4,000 out of
the animal.