The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1909-01-31

ueu5 UeN mad TO be very strong men
and men who could stand quite an eS-
pcsUre 10 heat. ana there was another
reason for the rapid extension of water
Als-lL mad gotten difficult TO set hold
( or men 10 handle the eoal-gas process.
Mr. MOOEE-Did il tend 10 shorten
Mr.. FORsTALL-I do not know that
/ II did, because they usually got out af-
Ter seven or eight years. or course.
there are exceptional men. I have
known men to work for ten or fifteen
years, while with the carbureted water
gas the requirement is more one OF In
/ teLlgenCe and not so much Of strength
you are not so exposed to the heat
An ordinary labOrer. with q moderate
amount OF intelligence. can do the work.
No Residuals to Handle
Then, a very important advantage 10
the gas company is that there are no
residuals to handle for CaTbureted water
gas. The manufacture of coal gas com
pels the gas company 10 go into four
different kinds of business. In the first
place, it is a gas company, Then it be
comes "a coke company, tar company
and ammonia company. if coal gas is to
De made cheaDly. The situation was not
$50 bad i'm the Old days. when the gas
companies just sat back and If the peo-
pie wanted to burn gas they could come
and apply for III and get IL, and were
real good but as 1t is now, the gas COM
panies have come to realize that their
business is a competitive one, and II
they are going TO get business they had
better go out after it and persuade peO-
pie they would better use gas.
I'm the old days IT. was comparatively
easy to dispose in the manufacture itself
of the coke. Tt Is the buiEieSt residual
made I'm the process OF making coal gas,
but those We're the days when they We're
selling possibly 1000 and some very
WeIl-managed companies selling 1880
feet a year per iuhabitant OF the town
Now i'm the large cities the Cousump-
ton per iuGaBItauL runs anywhere from
5000 TO 5000 feet.
Surplus of Coke.
] do not think it would be possible for
any of the gas companies along the At
lautic coast TO dispose Of all the coke
that they make without. to "a certain
extent giving up their gas business.
You have TO supply the gas. Il is the
demand for gas you are supplying, and
YOU have to keep your works running,
and the coke comes in, whether you
have a demand for It or not. So that
was the relief that the absence of coke
and tar and ammonia brought to the
coal gas manufacturer. and had a great
deal 20 do with the adopting OF water
gas.
one OF the prominent English gas en-
EiuoCTs visited jhe Newark Gas Works
while I was manager of it, and his de-
scriptiou of the pile of coke he had
stored away In the yards of his works
was heart-Tending. 1t really weighed on
him. and he was over TO Investigate the
question of CaTbuTeted water gas. He
went home and advised his company 90
pat iu caTbureted water gas, they did,
and got rid OF that coke quite quickly.
They not only stopped making IT. 90 q
large extent, but used what they had
made
Not Really a Monopoly.
j touched on a point there 1 want 20
elaborate. The supply of gas Is a mo-
uopoIv in this seuse-that we have set
tied down to.the conviction and practice
OF not allowing more than one gas com
pany to operate in a given locality, be-
cause IT IS 10 the advantage OF the To-
caIIty that that should be so.
But the gas company. even though
there is no other gas company In thar
locality, cannot sell gas unless the gas
Is better for light than electricity uu-
less 10 is better and cheaper Tor heat
or for other reasons it is more advau-
raEe0us for cooking, we viii say Jhau
coal, and they cannot sell il for heating
unless IL Is cheaper, and SO IL IS really
q very competitive business.
The men who are IN Il, VINO are run
Ming the business, know how hard II IS
10 get business in competition with the
other Mluminanrs, suCh as kerosene oil
and electricity. and even Cdnuit>- 4 mere
are more candles made now than there
were even before gas and electricity
Mr. sINs-Ehat do they do with
lIr TORSTALLs-Buru them for lights
and use them In places where there rs
no gas. and ] think You probably so 10
dinners where the only lights iu The
room are candles ] do NOS like H.
Steady Progress Continued.
This steady progress has been con-
tiuued until by the report Of the Geo
logical Survey, the percentage OF water
gas made and distributed through cen
traI stations ia the United States is now
tW0-tlirds OF the total amount made.
That proportion has been maintained
according 20 TWO reports-one for 1905
Sir suIs-Water gas is a growth,
them
MI. FOESTAIL-It started from moth
ing at an There was absolutely no wa
ter gas made before $780, and in the thlr-
tE-uiue years since then ii has gotten
no fu rEF0-IhITls of the total amount
made auG sold iu the United states
1Tr SIMS-Haye you any statistics
showing the number or casualties before
and after the auOptlOut
Gas Manufacture Abroad.
AR. FCESTALL-To a certain extent
they are very hard 10 get
Mr. SI8fS-I want to ask you some
questions along that line when you come
To- IT,
AIr. FORSTALL-TI-e apparently small
use OF carHuTeteu water gas i'm Europe
has been referred TO. That. as DIT. Love
showed. is being changed quite rapidly
bat there is good economical reason
Tor tult. The conditions lu Europe are
not anywhere near as favorable for the
manufacture OF caTbuTcted water gas
economical. as they are iu this couu-
fE.. Take. f0E instance probably all OF
the a-I that H. used Tor making the oil
gas has 100 be imported. and naturally 81
COST. more than BIO the countries from
HH'a. b. d. imported.
Growth IN England.
o9 not know that it always does,
but the FIRST plant in England was i'm
rroauced Do about 1890 and iu the
nineteen years since then its use iu
England has grown TO the extent in
dLaated Ey Dr. Love ina his statement.
and. col course. i'm the United States
there are very few muuicipal-Owned
gas plants but q very striking testi-|
muuT ra Tine fact that caTburotcd wa
I-r Ha- bias mad. It- way 0u its mer-
it's seems fo wa fG Dice iu the extensive
u-e u| .f for municipal Eas plants Iu
England and ou the continent of
I.UEUHa Al. of the larger FuHUIgIuaI