Evening journal., 1899-12-15
THE NEW GAS LIGHT
USES OF AcETYLENE AND HOW IT
WAS DISCOVERED.

IL May be Used.
1t was discovered by German chem
ist in 1861. that IL a mixture or lime
and carbon were heated to an enormous
temperature the two fused together and
produced what is now known as cali
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 a new gas very
rapidly when brousht into contact
with water. Molssan 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 Moissan 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
spattering OF the molten metal In the
furnace frequently produced conduct
l ing path between the carbon OF his arc
] lamp, so much so as to seriously inter-
fere with and sometimes extinguish the
: arc. To overcome this he placed In the
I furnace mixture OF coke and lime,
which he found TO his astonishment inn
4 mediately combined under the great
heat and produced beautiful, clear call
cium carbide at a comparatively low
cost.
II Capital was at once interested in Mr..
wilson's discovery, end 1t was not long
I before companies were organized in
every State 10 control the Wilson pa
4 tents, but il was also only 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 tc
place the gas upon the market In q
LIQUID form. In order to do this II was
compressed until it became liquid, al
most in the same manner as liquid air Il
produced. II was found, however tina
during compression the explosive quail
ties of the gas increased rapidly unit
/ when, in liquid state, It was extremely
dangerous.
In using the gas In this manner man.
disastrous explosions occurred, and tn
E public quickly denounced the gas, Blu
! further experiments soon proved that
8 the pure gas were used without bein
=, compressed there was only one way 0
{ causing an explosion, and that was b.
r exploding in the gas tank a smal
e quantity Of fulminade OF mercury o
y some other violent explosive. II wa
}. also found quite possible to burn IN
k electric arc within tank Of pure ga
s with perfect safety.
It was decided that the gas woul
n have to be used without being con
+ pressed, and this action was quickly II
t dorsed by insurance underwriters, VIII
d will not now permit the use Of acety
a lene gas under pressure.
Il Calcium carbide was first sold at
: very high price on account OF the fas
L that It required the use Of about fy
z hundred horse power for twenty-fou
b hours to produce a single ton, but theI
are now works at Niagara Falls wheI
Y great quantities are turned out dali
!. by the use OF the inexpensive wat'
a power there. The use OF the carbid
however, has become so general thu
n these works will soon be doubled. an
even then II is expected that It will
almost impossible 80 supply the rapii
r ly growing demand.
The fame Of acetylene Is entirely di
- ferent from ordinary gas, and is muC
y brighter and richer than the incande
cent lamp. II is a solid fame OF twel
u ty-fve candle power, about one inch
|. height and one inch in width, and
- controlled by a specially designed burr
= or, which only consumes about on
'e quarter foot OF gas an hour.
At first glance 1t would seem fro
d. this that the new light is very mu'
u less expensive than the old, but viii
s. the acetylene burner consumes such
'e very small quantity Of gas the cost
10 the carbide is still so high that it
le found that acetylene is very lit
y cheaper than ordinary gas.
II In order to light ones home wi
Sc acetylene It is only necessary to 7
IN place the Olu DuIHeIb Win tue ut
er style, disconnect the house pipes fro
in the meter and connect them to smi
gas generator. This generator is We
re much like an ordinary city gas hol
of er, and consists of a tank Of water.
he which is inverted another tank, the &
n as e is being generated being led in
in the holder between the water and 4
inverted tank, SO that this tank W
rise as the gas is generated until a 81
n ficient amount is admitted to till t
holder.
The rising Of the tank then automa
cally cuts off the supply of water frc
the carbide. and thus prevents the &
cn from generating until such time as mo
ce is needed, when the tank will descer
". In doing so 1t opens valve which
gh lows the water to again come in conts
c. with the carbide and again genera
"a gas.
Vacation schools.
The vacation schools are likely to
. n..t Fr-f.rra ~ q.