[Stoves] A bright idea - Wood Gas Lantern Video

[Jeff Davis]

Dear All,



Manufactured Gas
Manufactured coal gas (sometimes referred to as "town gas"), and its
several variants, was used for lighting throughout most of the nineteenth
century. Consumers also used this gas as a fuel for heating and cooking
from the late nineteenth through the mid-twentieth century in many
locations where natural gas was unavailable. Generally, a rather simple
process of heating coal, or other organic substance, produces a flammable
gas. The resulting gas (a combination of carbon monoxide, hydrogen and
other gasses depending upon the exact process) was stored in a "holder" or
"gasometer" for later distribution. Coal based "gas works" produced
manufactured gas from the early nineteenth century through the
mid-twentieth century. Commercial utilization of manufactured coal gas
occurred prior to that of natural gas due to the comparative ease of
producing coal gas. The first manufactured coal gas light demonstration in
the United States apparently took place in 1802. Benjamin Henfrey of
Northumberland, Pennsylvania, used a "thermo-lamp," reportedly based on
European design, with which he produced a "beautiful and brilliant light,"
Despite Henfrey's successful demonstration in this case and others, he was
unable to attract financial support to develop further his gas light
endeavors.

Other experimenters followed, but the most successful were several members
of the Peale family. Charles Willson Peale, the family patriarch,
Revolutionary War colonel, and George Washington's portraitist, opened a
museum in Independence Hall in Philadelphia and subsequently transferred
control of it to his son Rubens. Seeking ways to attract paying visitors,
Rubens decided to use gaslights in the museum. With technical assistance
from chemist Benjamin Kugler in 1814, Rubens installed gaslights. He
operated and maintained the museum's gas works for the next several years
until his fear that a fire, or explosion, might destroy the building
caused him to disassemble the equipment.

Rembrandt Peale in Baltimore
In the meantime, Rembrandt Peale, another of Charles' sons, opened a new
Peale Museum in Baltimore. The Baltimore museum was similar to his
father's Philadelphia museum in that it contained both works of art and
specimens of nature. Rembrandt understood that his museum's success
depended upon its ability to attract paying visitors, and he installed
gaslights in the Baltimore museum.

The first advertisement for the museum's new gas light attraction appeared
in the "American and Commercial Daily Advertiser" on June 13, 1816. The ad
stated:

Gas Lights - Without Oil, Tallow, Wicks or Smoke. It is not necessary to
invite attention to the gas lights by which my salon of paintings is now
illuminated; those who have seen the ring beset with gems of light are
sufficiently disposed to spread their reputation; the purpose of this
notice is merely to say that the Museum will be illuminated every evening
until the public curiosity be gratified.
Controlled by a valve attached to the wall in a side room on the second
floor next to the lecture hall, Rembrandt Peale dazzled onlookers with his
"magic ring" of one hundred burners. The valve allowed Rembrandt to vary
the luminosity from dim to very bright. The successful demonstration of
gas lighting at the museum underscored to Rembrandt the immense potential
for the widespread application of gas lighting.

In his successful gas light demonstration, Rembrandt recognized an
opportunity to develop a commercial gasworks for Baltimore. Rembrandt had
purchased the patent for Dr. Kugler's gas light method, and he organized a
group of men to join him in a commercial gas lighting venture. These men
established the Gas Light Company of Baltimore (GLCB) on June 17, 1816. On
February 7, 1817, the GLCB lit its first street lamp at Market and Lemon
Streets. The Belvidere Theater located directly across the street from the
gas works became the first building illuminated by GLCB, and J. T. Cohen
who lived on North Charles Street owned the first private home lit by gas.
Rembrandt's role at GLCB soon diminished, in large part because he lacked
understanding of both business and relevant technological issues.
Rembrandt was ultimately forced out of the company, and he continued his
career as an artist.

The Gas Light Company of Baltimore was the first commercial gas light
company in the United States. Other entrepreneurs soon thereafter formed
gas light firms for their cities and towns. By 1850, about 50 urban areas
in the United States had a manufactured gas works. Generally, gas lighting
was available only in medium sized or larger cities, and it was used for
lighting streets, commercial establishments, and some residences. Despite
the rapid spread of gas lighting, it was expensive and beyond the means of
most Americans. Other than gas, whale oil and tallow candles continued to
be the most popular fuels for lighting.

1840s-50s: Use of Manufactured Gas Spreads Rapidly
Manufactured gas utilization for lighting and heating spread rapidly
throughout the nation during the 1840s and 1850s. By the mid-nineteenth
century, New York City ranked first in manufactured gas utilization by
consuming approximately 600 million cubic feet (MMcf) per year, compared
to Philadelphia's consumption of approximately 300 MMcf per year.

Developments in portable gas lighting allowed for gas lamp installations
in some passenger railroad cars. In the 1850s, the New Jersey Railroad's
service between New York City and Philadelphia offered gas lighting. Coal
gas was stored in a wrought-iron cylinder attached to the undercarriage of
the passenger cars. Each cylinder contained enough gas to light the two
burners per car for fifteen hours. The New Haven Railroad also used gas
lighting in the smoking cars of its night express. Each car had two
burners that together consumed 7 cubic feet (cf) of gas per hour.

Challenge from Electric Lighting and Consolidation
Although kerosene and tallow candles competed with coal gas for the
nineteenth century lighting market, it was electricity that forced
permanent restructuring on the manufactured gas industry. In the early
1880s, Thomas Edison promoted electricity as both a safer and cleaner
energy source than coal gas which had a strong odor and left soot around
the burners. However, the superior quality of electric light and its rapid
accessibility after 1882 forced gas light companies to begin promoting
manufactured gas for cooking instead of lighting.

By the late nineteenth century, independent gas distribution firms began
to merge. Competitive pressures from electric power, in particular, forced
gas firms located in the same urban area to consider consolidating
operations. By the early twentieth century many coal gas companies also
began merging with electric power firms. These business combinations
resulted in the formation of large public utility holding companies, many
of which were referred to collectively as the "Power Trust." These large
utility firms controlled urban manufactured and natural gas production,
transmission, and distribution as well as the same for electric power.

Manufactured gas continued to be used well into the twentieth century in
many urban areas that did not have access to natural gas. Between 1930 and
the mid-1950s, however, utility companies began converting their
manufactured gas plants to natural gas, as the natural fuel became
available through newly built long-distance gas pipelines.

The rest of the story at:
http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/castaneda.gas.industry.us

-- 
Jeff Davis

Some where 20 miles south of Lake Erie, USA