New Britain herald., 1924-11-26
TELLS HISTORY OF ILLUMINATING GAS
People First Thought Flame
 Travelled Through Pipes

automobiles in the state of Rhode 1 Island, said F. (, Freeman, vice | president and chief engineer of the 1 Providence Gas company, at d meet | ing of tho American Society of Me chanical Engineers in the [. C. Goodwin school last evening
 Mr. Freeman told Of some anus 1 ing reactions 10 the first gas com pauy in London and said that the gas company today does not adycr- ,ise itself sufficiently He spoke in part as follows:
 "Ioday gas is more or less a commonplace thing with us, but In years gone by it was mysterious thing. When Sir Walter Scott heard that bondon was going to be lighted he thought it was going 10 be lighted with smoke. When Westminster Abbey in London was first lighted, the people thought the flame travelled through the pipes and Jumped out a: the opening. The members Of Parliament were afraid 10 touch gas pipes with their bare hands for fear they would be burnt. Now we may smile about the ignor- ancc oC these learned men, but I dare say that we do not know very much more about gas than the people Of those times.
 "One trouble with the gas industry is that it has not taken the oppor- tunity to go out and advertise itself. We take the gas business just as a granted thing, as the thing Of everyday, Ii Is nothing but a com- monplace thing to us. This is due to the fact that we have grown up with 1t from childhood. Wo speak of the lock business as being very good, but very seldom do we hear people speak, as a whole, of the public utility as being in good con- dition, but it is just as important for q community to have its utility business in good condition as it is for any other business.
 If we stopped public utilities it would be impossible for Us to have electric, gas, a faucet 10 turn the water on, and many other things which we consider necessity. Can you imagine conditions of that kind7 IL Is impossible 10 do so, but just as soon as you do take public utilities out of our present day life we will have to go back to the day Of living on the farm.
 We consider the steel industry of our country as being a mighty large business, but the public utili- ties is four times as large as the steel industry, eight times as large as the automobile industry, and ten times as large as the meat packing industry
 There are between nine and ten million gas meters in use in the , United States al the present time.
 The gas business is about one hundred years old. It is hundred year old baby that is just beginning 10 open it's eyes and reason that the gas business will enjoy a great future.
 Gas was first used by Murdock of Cornwall, England in l7H2. In the United States it was first used in 1795 al Philadelphia, where 1t was used in museum. It vas first used for commercial purposes in the United States in 1913 at Newport. The first gas plant in the United States was a. Baltimore and this was built in 16I6. Boston built one in 1882, New York in 1923. Carbor- ated water gas was first manufac- turated at Phoenixville, Virginia, in 1875. Lowe was the first man 10 use carboratcd water gas, and he used it to infate balloons.
 When water gas was first used for lighting purposes 1t gave a blue flame, which did not give light, be- cause oil was not mixed with it. l. was made from water.
 Later crude oil was used in the manufacture of water gas Years gone by crude oil could be bought for between oue-half and two cents a gallon, but the oil supply has been decreasing so rapidly that the price today is very high. In five