The Washington herald., 1909-01-21

The deadly effects Of carbon monoxide.
which IS produced in such large quantities
BY the Illuminating gas now sold Wash
inEtOn consumers. was discussed al length
at a special meeting Of the House Com
Eittee on the District Of Columbia yes
terday.
Dr. Harvey W. Wiley. Of tie Bureau OF
Chemistry, and his assistants. Dr. J h
Hayward and Prof. Skinner; General
Counsel Goldborough, Of the Washington
Gaslight Company; Corporation Counsel
Thomas and Gas Inspector RUnyon, at
tended the meeting. with a view Of max
ing recommendation as 20 the bin intro
6uced al the request Of the Commissioners
TO define the quality Of gas furnished in
the District.
10 decision On the bill was reached. but
It IS believed that an announcement VIII
be made tomorrow. following another
meeting Of the committee Il viii be an
nomced to-day whether OF not another
hearing VIII be held tomorrow
should Prohibit Water Gas.
The use Of water gas for Illuminating
purposes should be prohibited BY laW."
said DR.. Wiley. He explained that a good
coal gas does not produce but d very
small quantity Of the carbon monoxide-
The gas used in the District, he said.
was . per cent water product, and pro-
duced about - per cent carbon m0n0xide-
Dr. Wiley -contended that BY fixing
limit OF 10 per cent water gas In the Dis
trict. il could be made certain that after
the coal gas had been manufactured the
manufacturers could not increase the car
bon monOxide percentage 70 the legal
limit with water gas.
Dr- Wiley told the committee that in
England and other foreign countries
where water Cas is prohibited, the death
list was very small in comparison with
that in American cities where the deadly
poison is allowed Dr.. Wiley said that
Il had been proved that when water gas
Was produced IN the gas supply the death
list increased in that city he also sug-
gested that tie candle power used il
Washington homes for Illuminating pur-
poses entirely too high He said
that many. peOpls. IA. fact. the majority OF
the consumers, used improved nantes
and burners. and that II was not neces-
sary % have such . strong light
Fixtures Not Blamed.
The contention that inferior connections
and plumbing were the chief dangers N
Washington was scoffed at by Dr. Wiley.
he said thar II made no difference how
much care was exercised. accidents would
continue; that a harmless product should
be required for the safety Of the public
Dir. Goldborough told the committee
that the retorts used in making % per
cent Of water gas could not be used for
the manufacture Of pure coal gas He
said there was little difference in the
price Of The two products. and that the
gas companies dld not manufacture water
gas for the sake Of economy.
Mr. GoldbOrOUgh informed the commit
tee that the company he represented did
not intend TO take issue with the state
ments Of Dr. Wiley relative 70 the danger
CT carbon mOnOXide, and that the com
pany considered the question grave one,
and didn't want 10 produce a dangerous
article
DR.. Hayward TeStifieS
Or. Hayward was called by the com
mittee and gave statistics on the dan
gerous quality Of carbon monoxide. He
said that in Massachusetts il the thir-
teen years from 1876 TO 1884 there had
been eight cases Of gas poisoning 10
given number Of people as compared with
80 deaths 10 the same number Of people
IN the following fourteen years, during
which time there had been general use
Of water gas.
Citing from the report OF the depart
mental commission Of Great Britain, Dr..
Hayward showed that the death list was
small because 10 water gas was used.
and then comparing statistics he showed
the eR0rmoUs number Of cases Of gas
poisoning in the United States
Dr. Hayward referred briefly 10 the
Bremertou case, where three deaths oc-
Cured the same day from the deadly
carbon monoxide In Illuminating gas He
said that one-tenth Of per cent Of
carton monoxide IS dangerous to health.
and that five-tenth Of l per cent was.
usually fatal
Result of Experiments.
The experiments on rabbits and guinea
pigs. performed 10 determine the deadly
effects OF carbon monoxide. were then
described. DIT. Hayward said that in one
experiment eight rabbits were turned IN
a room containing coal gas. and that at
the end OF eight hours one rabbit was
dead. but that the others recovered
Eight more rabbits were then put n
a room and water gas allowed 10 flow in
at the same rate as coal gas was per-
mitted to run in the other room, and
that at the end Of four hours all were
dead.
AilisOn's Portrait Hung in Senate.
4 portrait Of the late Senator William
3. Allison. OF Iowa. was hung in the