The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-12-21

light plant being installed first and is
now in running order
All of the above indicate that there
is plenty of gas for all of the needs of
Topeka for some time to comet has
SIMPLY been a question of getting it to
topeka, pushing it along fast enough.
Inc consumers have increased so
rapldiy That the pumps which fur
nlshed ample power last winter Jagged
along and could not force the gas as
quickly as 1t was drawn on. for that
reason extra pumping plants had to be
! constructed and the delay in com
pIeung tnese has brought about the
present conditions. This is as brief
as II can be put At the same time
1t would not be unwise to have a little
coal on hands to tide over the gas un-
I'll the middle of January or for that
matter for a break down that might
take place in the machinery. which
sometimes occurs to the best ma
cnlnery no matter how well con-
structed and maintained.
Formal Notice to Gas Company
Mayor William Green, on Friday
dispatched to l. G. Treleaven. manager
company and also of the Excelsior
Coke d Gas company. formal notifi-
callon OF the resolution passed by the
city council Thursday night. The res
olut1on fnstructS the city attorney that
In case the two local gas companies do
not supply the city of Topeka with all
the gas that it needs for light and heat
by January 1, 1908, that he begin legal
proceedings to revoke the franchises of
both gas companies.
The mayor said he recognized Mr.
Treleaven as the manager of both gas
companies and that he had sent him
two formal and separate notifications
OF the actions of the council. The no
tihcations were delivered to Mr.. Ire
leaven by special officer of the To-
peka police department, detailed by the
mayor for that purpose.
Scientific Statement of Case.
j. F. Lovewell, secretary of the Kan
sas Academy of Science, in a state
ment this morning discusses the ques
ton of the effect of low pressure on
meters, and the possibility of the mix
ture of air with the gas. He says:
considerable criticism is heard of
late about our gas supply and there
seems to be much Misrepresentation in
the application of elementary princi-
pies involved, in the measurement and
distribution of gas. The question most
agftated is whether air has been mixed
with the gas sent through our meters.
1t is not difficult problem to answer
this conclusively by a chemical ana
lyst. Professors Cady and McFar-
land of Lawrence, have studied this
gas during the past year as scientific
problem and have not, so far as l
know, found any air in it. 1t may be
in it now and the way to find out is
constituent Air and gas put into the
same pipe. or vessel will not stratify as
some imagine but by the law of gas
eous diffusion will intimately mix, only
time must be allowed for the law to
act.
"Our gas company uses dry meters,
since the water meter though better in
point of accurate measurement. is Ii
able to freeze. The gas is measured by
volume, that is in cubic feet. A given
volume contains more gas as it is more
compressed. We hear that pressure Is
sometimes high and again low. I'm
doubtedly there is more gas in a cubic
feet when the pressure is high. The
law of pressure is that density. and
therefore quantity, varies as pressure.
Must we conclude therefore that when
the pressure is three inches we get
only half as much gas as when it is
six inches? Reasoning thus we lose
sight of the fact that the gas is under
the. atmospheric pressure all the time,
and this is usually much as $50
inches, so that a variation from six
inches to three inches would not af-
feet the weight of gas in a given vol
ume as much as 1 per cent. Probably
our meters do not measure with suffi-
cient accuracy to take account of such
a small variation"