The sun., 1912-08-04
FLAMES WITHOUT A WICK"
Centenary 81 The Fisst Commercial
Cse sf Gee.

AAA1s wIIhouI a wAoA.
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ceatenssy 81 The First Commercial
Gee sf 0ss.
Plainly We have progressed far from
the days when member Of Parliament
could dispute the possibility II light
without . wick. when In our own
learned times railway porters can dis.
cues intelligently the higher political
economy and miners win Oxford de-
srees.
These reflections are instinctively
may, speaking generally. SOrly be
termed the centenary Of gas. The prin-
ciple Of coal gas was Of course dis
covered long before 1879. but II WAS in
that year that vas witnessed the hrst
application Of the new illuminant to the
purposes Of commerce.
Lampoons. Parliamentary obstruc.
tion, frank Aouse, were showered upon
the project Of Fighting London with
smoke" (as Sir Walter Scott expressed
~, and not the least formidable ele-
meut Of the opposition was the impos-
sibie attitude Of men Of intellect who
might fairly have been expected to
lend the undertaking . helping hand.
says the London Globe. Thus even Sir
Humphry Davy Joined IN the chorus Of
protest and wanted to know whether
those concerned intended to make .
gasometer Of the dome Of 81. Paurs
Cathedral.
To this Samuel Clegg. one Of the great
eat Of the early Gas engineers, prophet
ically replied that he hoped one day to
see them Of at least - great size. and
his own optimistic expectations proved
an underestimate. for before his work
was finished he had seen the construc.
ton Of reservoir at Beckton 7s6 feet in
sirth, easily larger than the dome Of
the eity's great edihce.
II was years before prejudice died
down, and even then ignorance (Which
had resulted In the myth OF the gas
being carried through pipes In a state
Of combustion) had still to be overcome.
The writer can himself remember old
ladies' who never applied the all I'm
portant match TO the Jet Of the early
gas stove without exhibiting every sign
Of trepidation.
II vas somewhere about 1900 that Q
Dutchman. Van Helmont to wit, pry-
Ing into the properties Of fuel. found
that coal did ''belch forth wild spirit
or breath" which ne forthwith named
gas. deriving the word. a. some say
from the Dutch or German variant Of
ghost. or, others will have II. from the
German CAST. meaning yeast. However
that may be. the close Of the eighteenth
century found the term generally ac-
cepted among scientific dabblers, though
still foreign to the lay vocabulary.
We next come to William Murdock
w.dower. aged %. who lit up his house
at Redruth With gas in 1872. He was
q native Of the Land Of the Mountair
and the Flood" his father. a resource
full miller and mechanic. being Close
ueighbor to the bard who sang It!
Slories, and tenant Of q farm pertain
ing to the iik Of James Boswell. bios
rapher. No man was ever more fltlA
cast for his role on the stage OF thu
world.
We are told that when in the Cornisi
wilds. some mining captains. having At
tempted to bully him. he quietly locked
the door Of the room In which they wer'
assembled. stripped. and. making dcx
ferrous use Of those arms with whicl
nature had supplied him. administered
to more than one Of their number ;
IeODOu OF persuasive esUSoSy suSH y
they would never forget. and such a
lie was never called upon to repeat
lie was. in truth. Of herculean proper
tions. and in muscular power nearly un
rivailed." This was the man who. whil
working with dosged fidelity on behal
Of the great James Watt and his part
ner Boulton. was to md means. in hi
hard earned leisure. for compelling tn
volatile hend'' to the service Of man.
II was here that winsor made hi
appearance. He began the prsctics
propa aEanda. while the inventors. Muir
dock and the rest. were still expert
menting. lie made himself the spon
sor-in-chief Of the gas lighting princi
pie. and while his statements were Of
ten AS wildly misleading as they wer
invariably bombastic. he undoubtedl.
did mora than any other man to stir tn
public Imagination.
His lectures were widely attended
and among his hearers was Thoma
Chalmers. the famous Scottish preacher
who records in his diary for May 20
1897. that "the lecturer. Mr.. winsor. 4
Q mere empiric. and even dull and un
interesting in his popular explanations
The Londoners listened with d. light
and pronounce the metropolis tn,
best mart Of impudence and ignoran
folly" But he concludes. MY own con
viction 10 that, with proper precautions
gas VIII succeed" and this prediction
he backed up by installing gas pipe!