Daily Kennebec journal., 1904-08-20
MANY IMPROVEMENTS
Being Made at the Gas House in This
City.


quite a chanse has taken place at
the gas house during the summer
months In the way of improvements
ana changes, and one who had been
accustomed to the old ARRANGEMENT of
thiIGs at this establishment wollld
hardly recognize the place at present.
if he had hot been in the yjcinirv since
the alterations We're begun
The greatest change. perbans is in
the addition of new machiparv II
the place of the old generator, tbara bas
pe'n d he" one installed in the plant
that is OF later pattern. and which
VIII elaple the company to generate
gas u iiiuch better advantage. The
w iiiaciiiiie which has been in use
couiu pe operated only with naphtha.
"hiie tie new machine can be used
Mith hetosehe OF any other combus-
''p'e OIL chahse which will enable
gas 10 De made no matter what the
Market conditions may be in the pro-
duction OF any one oil. This chanse
IS felt TO be essential under modarn
conditions of labor and capital ana is
SAID to be almost necessity to ipsura
the production of gas at all times
Another change made is the addi-
ton of new piece of machinery which
has never been used in this city. This T.
called the carhonator and all the gas
made now goes through this cylinder-Jiko
structure before going into the surer-
heater. where formerly the gas Went d.
rectly from the generator into the last
named machine. This carbonator is tiIIad
with bricks which are arranged in parti-
tons or walls all through the cylinder
and in its heated condition the Gas wbic;
has gone from the generator is what is
dried or burned up Il process which adds
greatly to the quality OF the gas. From
here the gas goes into The super-hcater
as formerly and is then prepared for use
Another change is the placing of thess.
machines in n different position from tha,
which they formerly occupied Previous
10 the change just made the machines
sat down in n pit, the tops coming on a
level with the present ground floor I'm
der the present arrangement the pit is
completely filled up, while the work OF
making the gas which has 10 be done a,
the top of these machines is on a plat
form about u feet from the ground floor
This platfOl m is what is called the opei.it-
ing t.oOr and it is here thr: the wOrkrner
are stationed during the process of MAX
ing gas.
THIS changing of the operating floor
from the ground level to some Il feet up
brings the worllmen pretty near the 100!
of the building. and 1t is here that one
gets it hot enough to suit native Afri-
can when the work of making gas is going
on. Mr.. Euglcy. through whose courtesy
the Journal man was Shrwn about jhe
plant states that h" worked on this plat
form one day rec, ntly lor seven hours
with the temperature ai 10. ard that
when ne finished he was pretty nearly eX-
haustcd.
Indeed, il has been found necessary fol
the company to put cupola III The loof i'll
order to make II comfortable to work on
the platform, and carpenters are engaged
in this work at the present time. Wneh
this work is completed the arrangement
will be such that th~ ventilation can b"
very nicely arranged. There will be tlap.;
and blinds in the cupol;l and the amount
of air can be arranged for all kinds oi
weather and all seasons of thc year. II
is not probable however, that anyone VIII
freeze in the building, az Mr.. iIuSicy says
he has never seen the time yet in the
years he has worked there wncn it was
cold enough to close up the doors and
windows after things We're operating H.
good shape.
Many minor changes have beer made
about the plant. including the addition oi
a new hydraulic pump for pumping the
oil into the generator, which is operated
ut n much less pressure than the old one.
ana which will be a great convenience to
the workmen. The whole plant Will be
painted up and frightened up generally
and will be in firs,-elass shape when the
changes are completed.