Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1906-03-29
HOW OUR GAS
PROBLEM STARTED
Discovery Of the Present Day
Necessity Made in Peculiar
Manner.
FIND NOT APPRECIATED
Not Until Many Years After It's Prop
critics Were Fully Understood
Was Il Put to Prac-
tioai Use.
FIND NOT APPRECIATED
From the Washington Evening star.

This is the story of tue beginning OF
the gas gu. ion. which troubles most
"i US once IA month and is "A perennial
subject for economic. social and politi-
"a! discussion. III IL "a story not With
out it's dramatic points. AS BELTS the
story of so important Il community.
and not one OF The least interesting
Things about II is hat not until three
quarters OF IL century after the initial
'iistiilatlon OF coal gas was its possibili-
ties fully ana generally realized and its
use as an illurminant assured.
,iut to begin at the beginning of the
beginning Of gas. the discovery that
r"ai. when distilled. would produce AN
lutlammabic gas was made hy Dr. John
clayton about the year l13y. Prior 10
mat time coai miners had experienced
the gas of coal IN the shape OF choke or
hredafnp and had burned II. but were
iguor mt of its true source.
Dr. Clayton made his important dis
spvery IN n rather peculiar manner.
While living In Lancashire he heard
of q; ditch wherein the water would
seemingly burn like brandy" Seeking
j. ne found that what was said OF thus
tanning ditch was apparently true. but
being OF II skepticul turn of mind he
waved "A lighted paper over the water
he had removed from the ditch, and 1t
would not take fire. Next he had the
ditch damned lin order To try whether
steam whicl, arose out OF the ditch
would thc take fire. t" quote his ac-
count. Again no lire resulted, and he
dug In the bottom of ditch until he
struck a Vein OF shelly coal. when In
holding Il lighted candle IN the hole
while looking about. the air catched
I'VE and continued burning"
Apparently ithout realiZing thai the
coat WAS the source of the gas, the good
doctor dug UP some of the fuel, took 1t
hnyyNa Fttk. la-, ,,AA lt.t s-l IL
tort H. an open fire. At first only n
yhlegin, as he called it. resulted, after
ward II black oil. and then likewise
II spirit arose which | could In no ways
rondrnsc. but 1T forced my lutte and
brok" nay glasses"
The spirit wrought similar damages
s"Ncia! times. and once. when the doe
tor was repairing the Lutte, 1t caught
fire at the tinnle of the candle. or
course the good doctor was duly as
tohish"d ana likewise animated to fur
ther investigation. So he caught the
spirit In IL turbinated receiver and
burned ii and filled bladders with 1t
and burned it. keeping 1t In this WAY
Tor Gays nj II time. II remained az
elastic hnd intiarnmablc as the day ii
was distilled ard caught.
l'r. clayton made no attempt to real
lie on his discovery. in all probability
ne did not have the faintest realization
OF the possibilities of the spirit" he
had discovered; and the best use 10
which he put 1t was to surprise ana
entertain hts friends by burning 1t
through p-icks IN bladders. About
Thirty years later DIR. Richard Wat
son tnftcrWard the bishop OF LlandnfO
also failed I" gasp the full Significance
OF his experiments. when he distilled
pit coal. permitted the gas to escape
through curved tubes. also noted it's
great iniiammabtlity and elasticity.
and. further. that 1t retained It's in
namnabtlity after passing through a
great quantity of water. His investi-
gators. however. led to the commercial
tu~st'tatton OF coal for tar: the resultant
gus was looked upOn as "a curious man
Hesitation and IN 1884 1t was exhibited
~ london and other English cities un-
der the name OF philosophical fire
works
Not until n decade nae passed was
Eas nrst. used for economical purposes.
\ Dir. Murdoch. then 81 resident OF
Cornwall. and something of a scientific
investigation. distilled the gas. lighted
mis- house and a street lamp with II.
and used bladderso Of 1t to light the road
at night when travelling In, his little
steam carriage"
Removing shortly after this to Soho.
nenr Birmingham. where he became
connected with the steam engine works
- "a "' " y Jtss hC SVIANlttuSu IlS eXpGTl-
lncnts. ~endeavOring to ascertain the
beat methods Of making. purifying and
BURNING the gas. AS a result he WAS
able IN 1908 to illuminate the foundry.
THE whole front OF hat extensive
range of buildings was ornamented with
a great variety Of device that admir-
nb.y displayed many OF the varied
ceptlhle." wrote n man who witnessed
the display. THE luminous spectacle
was as novel as II was astonishing. and
birmingham poured forth It's hume rous
population to gaze at and to admire this
wonderful display OF the combined ef-
fccts of science and art"
The success Of the illumination must
Y been highly gratifying to MIR. Muir
dOch: at any rate It sent him back to
his crude retorts with renewed energy.
but It failed to give him the inspiration
that here was a great potential public
utility ready to hand and waiting only
for the right mar to make known the
fact ard point the way to its use.
That a was not long in making his
been carrying on his experiments in
Hoho a nan Of the name Of Frederick
Albert Wtnsor had been distillink coal
for gas M experimenting with II in
London In q house loaned him by a re-
tired gentleman Of the metropolis. He
mas set down the motives that animated
him in a pamphlet which he used &c
promote his plans for the formation OF
the first gas company:
The principle that coal and other
combustibles contained. among other
products. q most beautiful and valuable
flame. has been known to the most
learned Of the last century. but how to
make the applicatiOn-hOw to save and
a~nalyxe-how to preserve and refine
how to conduct gas in proper alright
tubes-how to introduce gas fire and
gas lights into a drawing room. shop
and street lamp-hOw to cook. melt.
boil and distil by q gas fire. either in a
kitchen or dining roOn,-how to intro
duce cocker. tar and amlnOntat liquor
for the advantage OF q whole nation
how to make gaR fire and gas lights up
plicable to lighthouses. felegraphs and
culinary purposes: in fine. how to save
ard employ all the valuable component
l..rts OF raw fuel with the greatest pos
sib'e advantage--all these most din
cult points Of my discovery were left n
!,rOblem to theorists. who could write
Sut not p~rncttce-whO could Ill bladders
fro.., ~retorts. tobacco pipes. pots. pans
ar, barrels. with raw smoke. but could
l:Nt Illuminate the rO0ms-whOSe deli
| hands and noses would have
shrunk with horror from my numerous
dirty n laSogsooD e~xpeTainonto n