The Washington herald., 1909-02-01
Mr. Le CIerc. and is here printed Ia the
record in full as follows:
..a--r-- NJ 4, y


tally interested in the recently proposed
legislation concerning the presence Of
carbon monoxide in Illuminating gas. The
committee on gas and lighting Of the
citizens association beg to present the
following reports Of complaints regarding
the gas situation in this suburb
For more than a year the people OF
TakoHa Park have been troubled with an
insufficient amount Of gas for both cook
ing and Illuminating purposes the guam
tity being 50 low that on very frequent
occasions the gas lights in both the gas
ovens and IN the ordinary Illuminating
jets have become extinguished- This
has been the case particularly between
the hours Of and In the evening and
q and IN the morning. and We have
been especially troubled IN having our
gas go out since the month Of October.
Very often it happens that the lights
which heat the ovens Of gas stoves will
go out. while the small jets on top Of
the same stoves. or lights IN the kitchen
or other parts Of the house viii remain
lighted. This produces q condition which
is dangerous not only as regards fire b.
explosions. but, IN the light Of the recent
disclosures. also as regards the health
and very life Of our citizens. for quite
often the leakage OF gas is not noticed
for some little time. In fact. one OF our
citizens reports the following case Quot
ing from his letter.: One evening, owing
70 the failure TO remember that I had
two Jets lighted when the gas failed. one
in my furnace room was not turned of.
fortunately I discovered the odor Of gas
and located Il the next morning without
"a light Had the furnace been lighted
there would certainly have been an ex-
plosion which would have wrecked the
house. IN the same letter is the follow
Ing: During the latter part OF October
the lights went ont IN all parts OF my
house repeatedly in the evening. An
other citizen has written that he had a
light burning low in his dark room Just
a few days ago He left the room with
the light stiIl burning, intending 70 &C
back Immediately He was. however.
prevented from doing so az the tine, and
did not actually go back for two days.
When he again went 70 his dark room he
was just on the point OF lighting q match
and OF entering when he detected the
Odor Of gas. On investigation he found
the gas light had gone out and the room
was alied with gas. Had he not no
ticed the odor OF gas. but had lightsd the
match. as had been his custom before
entering the room. there is no doubt as
TO the consequences There would have
been an explosion. with loss Of property
by FIRE and probably also loss OF life. This
same citizen writes that Last winter il
was common occurrence for all the lights
to fuctUate and finally go out entirely.
A third citizen OF Tskoma Park -riJes:
December s 1895, 10 the Gas Company:
Our gas has gone out every day az
about SD p m for the last seven days
I have complained repeatedly 10 the
Gas Company. This unsatisfactory coz
ditiOn has existed since last October
StiU another citizen writes: The gas
lights IN the room and oven have re-
peste6ly gone out while being used. This
70 the great danger Of every one con
cerned. FOR Il frequently happened that
one Sight or one burner would so out.
while the other did not. Had IL aot had
immediate attention. Il would have auto
matically set OF an explosion Another
of our citizens writes: Frequently the gas
when IN use vii go out, and constant
watohfulness Is required to turn OF the
Jets when this occurs An officer OF the
Bliss Electrical School says I distinctly
remember two occasions n October when
the i0w Of gas ceased entirely about
?. n. and after complaining about the
leak Of gas later in the night says. I
had several times before noticed the light
as being bad late az night on my retiring.
and had complained about t. Another
gentleman writes: It is almost impossl-
bic 10 cook with il (the gas). and il re-
peatediy goes out. thereby sndangerinE
both life and property
These cases are not isolated ones. but
are quite frequent ia TakOms Park both
in the District Of Columbia an6 iR Mary
land The following taken from another
letter viii show 10 what dangers we are
subjected nearly every day: On one oc-
c2sion. when the gas went out entirely.
number Of jets were lit Our cook
failed 10 turn of one. and when the gas
came on again. this one was not noticed
by the cook and she lit other Jets in the
room A serious accident was prevented
by my wife. who entered the kitchen a
few minutes later and detected the odor
OF gas On November = a similar incl
dent occurred Ohis time the burner Fl
the oven went out and was unnOdced for
some tinel- Within the last two months
the gas hiss gone OFT entirely several
times One OF our Oldest residents
writes: We have numerous gas Jets
going Fl my house. self-lighting. and they
are continually going out. and nothing
but the strong smell Of gas escaping
warns Us Of the fact I consider the pres
ent condition OF things extremely danger
Gus. We have a score OF such COM
plants. and there are many more who
are suffering these Inconvenience and
are exposing themselves 10 danger 10 life
and property who would also complain
did they but have the opportunity
Complaints have also been entered
concerning the larger size OF bills under
this regime OF low gas pressure. and g
very serious violation OF the street light
regulations has been noticed. viz that
Up TO about s ,. N. the street lamps are
so poorly lighted that they afford very
little protection. This IS. OF course, due
TO the low gas pressure
Now, gentlemen. when L Is realized
that on the very evening preceding the
fire which destroyed the Bliss Electrical
School the gas pressure was so low II
Takoma Park that the gas lights are
known 70 have gone out. ard that on
many occasions the lights did actually
become extinguished in the Bliss school
itself Cbefore the frel. one can easily
see that we are living IN danger OF hav-
ing our own home likewise destroyed by
FIRE
The danger 10 FIRE, however, IS not
the most serious one to which We are
subjected. We are fully aware OF the
facts brought about BY the recent IN
vestigation regarding the Bremerman
fatality We realize fully that when our
lights 20 out and the leakage Of gas is
unnoticed for some time. there is a con-
slant danger 20 health, and even TO life
itself The Washington city gas con-
tainsaS0 per cent Of carbon mOnoxide-a
gas which Is so deadly that when q
guinea pig IS exposed TO an atmosphere
containing per cent OF carbon monoxide
for fifteen minutes Il collapses as though
dead; that birds placed IN an atmosphere
Of per cent carbon mOnOxide for three
minutes are killed outright: that even in
as small quantities as 1 per cent carbon
monoxide IN air an exceedingly poison
Gus character is impaired 10 the atmos-
phere We know. from the Massachu-
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