The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-05-12
BACK TO COAL GAS AGAIN
fHAr's ONE EFFECT or THE RISE
or THE AUTOM0BILE.

In spite OF the very general use Of flu
mlnating gas in this country an astonish-
fnRiy small number Of people seam to know
anything about its manufacture or the
methods OF distribution. AL that the con-
sumers know about the matter generally
is that the gas Ia sent to them through the
mains and service pipes in the street from
big tanks that are almost invariably located
along the riverside, that it's flow is measured
for. them by meters which nine out OF ten
patrons suspect are swindling machines
and that the bills come as regularly as death
and taxes.
Even some Of those who write about gas
in the public prints often make curious blum
ders. For instance a writer In a magazine
said recently that about three-quarters OF
fhe Illuminating gas now made in the United
States was water gas. which means that it
IL made mostly not from coal but from
water-which is undeniably cheap This
would give the impression TO the ordinary
reader that the principal ingredient in 80
called water gas il water, whereas the truth
IN that steam plays only q minor part in the
making OF the gas,
As to the statement that three-quarters
o. all the Illuminating gas made in the United
States is water gas, that might have been
tfae ten or q dozen years ago. but conditions
have so chnaged in the last decade that 1t
is next TO impossible To make water gas at a
profit at the current prices Of oil supplies,
and many Of the companies have returned
wholly or in part 10 the old form OF making
gas direct from bituminous coal.
Thus the Consolidated Gas Company
in.this city, which manufactures 10 900, OOO,-
900 cubic feet OF gas every year and has
been credited by the United States Census
Bureau with making and selling one-fourth
OF all the illuminating gas produced in this
country, is going back to coal gas as fast
ms construction will. allow, and its new
$50, ooO, 900 plant which is being erected
at Astoria will be a coal gas plant with the
exception OF a single unit in which water
gas win be manufactured.
The only reason why this provision for
water gas is made is that the candle power
OF the illuminRnt may he kept up to the
high standard required by the law here.
This standard is twenty-five candles. n
point of efficiency practically beyond the
reach Of coal gas, no matter how much
enricher is used. The product OF the unit
for producing water gas will be used simply
to mix with the coal gas, thus giving the
required candle power.
GAS KIN AFFECTED By THE AUTO.
Curiously enough, the main reason why
the Consolidated and other big gas con-
Germs are going back to old fashioned coal
gas is the very great and spreading popu-
larity OF the automobile for both pleasure
and business purposes Both g~asolene and
naphtha-commonly called gas oil by the
gas men-hgure largely in the making OF
Eo+calied water gas. The price OF this oil
was formerly as low as three cents a gallon
and It was one Of the factors that made
the manufacture OF water gas so cheap
that the system was generally adopted
throughout the country. tst
But tine increased demand for the fluids
caused by the enormous number OF autos
In use has sent the price scurrying up to
something like 20 cents. This, taken. in
connection with the constantly advancing
value Of coal tar, coke and other byproducts
of GOAL gas, has turned the scales,
There are no valuable byproducts to
speak OF in the process of making water gas.
and IL is quito a problem to dispose Of the
~resfdtals. In times gone by this was true
Of coal gas. Coke could be had almost for
the asking and tar had no market.
For certain manufacturing purposes coke
IL now used almost exclusively. while the
numerous uses 10 which tar may he put and
the discovery OF the wonderful drugs and
ooloring matter which can be distilled from
il have made it one Of the most valuable
b~yproducts in the world. As a result the
volume of water gas manufactured in this
country is diminishing instead OF increasing,
and il the price OF gas oil continues to rise
zoe v-sllh 10 ayanfuullu aIlnnla nfa1 hU
coal gas again, especially in the big sea-
board towns. where a ready market is found
for coke and tar.
- The Consolidated company was never
swept of lite feet by the popularity Of water
gas. The largest part of all the gas manu-
faotuired by the original companies in the
consolidation has always been coal gas.
One fire under a section OF retorts in the
East Fourteenth street coal gas plant has
been burning continuously for nearly fifty
years.
little progress as an illuminant, the old
system being generally adhered to by all
the big London companies.
WATER GAS MORE
One Of the greatest objections to water
aaA--not com~meroially-is the deadliness
OF it's effect. wen when used as a mixture.
In tts manufacture the most. poisonous
HH0gQt III luulllldlAlB bdct "a bOhiC .tSiN,
Il increased from 9 TO 80 per cent. That Is
why SO many people who are overcome by
illuminating gas die quickly: II is also
-nnohably the reason why suicide by gas
isso popular with those who wish to live no
longer. ,,
There is a radical difference in the initial
processes Of manufacturing coal and water
,Rases, and yet when lighted the flames pre-
cent precisely the came appearance 70. the
ordinary observer. The oil gas 10 eighty
Whiter. and more brilliant, but when the
seases are mixed none ut an expert can
tell that IL is q composite flame.
Coal gas is produced by the direct de-
~struotive distfllation Of bituminous coal.
whereas the oarboniEatien In making water
gas is produced through the use of anthra-
cite. It was in 1850 that Thomas Shirley
OF England read q paper TO the Royal So
-oisty on an experiment he had made with
gas from q well In Lancashire, resulting
iromthe decomposition OF bituminous coal.
but it was not until 1888 years later that the
practical value Of GOA gas az an illuminant
was demonstrated by William Murdoch, a
Sootchmsn, who constructed the apparatus
Tor lighting his house and office at Redruth,
Cornwall. Later gas was introduced as
an illuminant in the cotton mills at Man
chester.
The experiments OF Lebon in Paris at
tracted the attention Of Winsor, the father
or modern gas Lighting in 1909, and he
urged London to use the nluminRnt for
general lighting, but not until 1910 did he
secure the INCORPORATION OF the Gas Light