New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1915-11-24
COLD DINNERS FOR
CONSUMERS OF GAS
NEAR SERIOUS BREAK DOWN AT
GAS PLANT SHUTS OFF
FUEL FOR A DAY.
WILL PROBABLY RESULT IN
DOUBLE OUTFIT TO PREVENT
REPETITION.

Weren't you glad that Thanksgiving did
not come on Sunday, the 21st, this year,
but stayed just where it belonged on
Thursday, the 25th? At any rate the
New Ulm Gas Company were grateful
for even that small blessing when some
thing happened that put their gas plant
out of commission last Saturday after
noon at just the time when all the good
housewives of New Ulm had their bread
in the ovens and other Sunday goodies
waiting to go in. Had the trouble at
the Gas plant occurred two hours later
than it did, no one in New Ulm except
4he gas makers would have been any the
wiser altho the gas people would have
had just as much trouble to repair the
damage, but coming as it did just in the
midst of the heaviest call for fuel, every
consumer of gas in the city rose up as
one man and demanded WHY?
''It never rains but it pours" is an old
saying and that was what Mr.. c. R.
Hennick, accountant at the Gas Office
thought as the word reached him Satur-
day afternoon of trouble at the plant. In
the morning, Mr.. Kennedy, president of
the company, had been taken to the
Union Hospital for treatment, leaving
Mr.. Hennick alone on the job. About
.3:45 came an S. O. S. call from the gas
works and Fastening to the scene of the
trouble Mr.. Hennick found grave danger
of the entire plant going up into noise
and dust. The trouble arose from an
unsuspected leak in the boiler that had
allowed all the water to get out before
the gas maker saw it.
Some two months ago all the flues
were renewed in the boilers and evidently
some of the filings from these steel pipes
got into the boiler and settled under
the blowout valve, causing it to
fit loosely and to allow all the water to
escape. 1t is the custom of the plant to
start up at noon Saturday to make up
enough gas to last over Sunday and
Monday and the big fires were built for
that purpose and the making of gas was
in progress when the engineer, Paul
Borchert, discovered that his boiler
was empty.
Hastily having the fires drawn, it was
found necessary to have all the fues
rolled new to make them fit properly and
this could not be done until the various
parts were cooled sufficiently to allow
working upon them. AS there are sever
al tons of fire brick kept heated at
temperature of something like 1900 de-
grees, it took some time for the cooling
process. An electric blower was put on
but at the best that could be done, it was
5 o'clock Sunday morning before Boiler
maker Chas. Leonhardt could get to
work.
It took IL hours to repair the damage
done and at 5 o'clock in the afternoon
the big fires were again roaring and steam
was on. At close to 10 o'clock in the
evening there was gas in sufficient quaint
ties to supply those who were sitting by
their gas stoves watching anxiously for
the first signs Of promise of hot dinner
for the morrow. And those who watched
and waited were able to go to bed at a
reasonable hour, secure in the conviction
that the Gas Company had once more
got started.
Some funny things happened among
the various consumers of gas who were