The person to whom the world is chiefly indebted for the practical application of gas lighting is Mr. Winsor, who had been a merchant in London. Being very sanguine as to the advantages to be derived from gas lighting, and possessing an ardent temperament which no opposition could quench, he undertook to introduce it to public notice, and to form a company for lighting the whole of England with gas. He hired the old Lyceum Theatre, which he lighted with coal gas, and he there delivered lectures and exhibited experiments to show the benefits that would arise from the universal use of gas light, and coke fuel. He published an extravagant prospectus of a company to be formed, with the following title:—"A National Light and Heat Company, for providing our streets and houses with light and heat, on similar principles as they are now (1816) supplied with water. Demonstrated by the patentee at No. 97, Pall Mall, where it is proved, by positive experiments and decisive calculation, that the destruction of smoke would open unto the empire of Great Britain new and unparalleled sources of inexhaustible wealth at this most portentous crisis of Europe. The serious perusal of this publication, and an attentive observation of the decisive experiments, will carry conviction to every mind."
In this prospectus Mr. Winsor attempted to make it appear that by adopting his plan there would be "a grand balance of profit for the whole realm of £115,000,000," and each shareholder of the company was promised, "at the lowest calculation, £570 for every £5 deposit." He entertained the notion of making the use of gas and coke compulsory, by levying a tax on all who obstinately refused to adopt what would be so much to their own advantage. This tax, he said, "cannot be oppressive in the least, because it falls on the obstinate only, who shall resist the use of a far superior, cheaper, and safer fuel." Not content with the language of prose, Mr. Winsor vented his thoughts and feelings in numerous poetical effusions. The flights of his Muse, however, were not into the regions of sublimity, as may be perceived by the following specimen:—
"Must Britons be condemned for ever to wallow
In filthy soot, noxious smoke, train oil, and tallow,
And their poisonous fumes for ever to swallow?
For with sparky soot, snuffs and vapours, men have constant strife,—
Those who are not burned to death are smothered during life."
Mr. Winsor's absurd statements—in the truth of which he potently believed—and the wild, random manner of making them known, excited much ridicule and opposition. Among his opponents was Mr. Nicholson, the editor of the Chemical Review, who not only challenged Mr. Winsor's estimates, but the validity of his patent, on the ground that Mr. Murdoch was the original inventor. Mr. Winsor's plans and calculations were burlesqued in a cleverly written "Heroic Poem," published in a quarto volume, which, whilst professing to extol the virtues of gas and coke, quizzed its hero most unmercifully. The poem concluded with this address:—
"And when, ah, Winsor!—distant be the day!—
Life's flame no longer shall ignite thy clay,
Thy phosphur nature, active still, and bright,
Above us shall diffuse post obit light.
Perhaps, translated to another sphere,
Thy spirit—like thy light, refined and clear—
Ballooned with purest hydrogen, shall rise,
And add a PATENT PLANET to the skies.
Then some sage Sidrophel, with Herschel eye,
The bright Winsorium Sidus shall descry;
The Vox Stellarum shall record thy name,
And thine outlive another Winsor's fame."
"Though we may smile at Mr. Winsor's extravagant plans and calculations," observes the Journal of Gas Lighting, "we cannot but admire the enthusiasm with which he pursued his object, and ultimately succeeded in establishing the first gas company. The lighting of Pall Mall with gas, in the spring of 1807, gave increased stimulus to the project, and application was made to Parliament to carry it into effect. The bill was opposed by Mr. Murdoch and thrown out; but in the following year (1810) the application was successfully renewed. The scheme, however, as sanctioned by Parliament, was sadly shorn of its magnificent proportions; and, instead of a 'Grand National Light and Heat Company, for Lighting and Heating the Whole Kingdom,' its operations were limited to London, Westminster, and Southwark; nor were any special taxes imposed on those who should obstinately refuse to use the light and burn the coke. The Chartered Gas Company, established by Mr. Winsor's persevering efforts, has served as the guiding star to all other gas companies in the world."
The illuminating property of coal gas depends on the quantity of carbon it contains. Pure hydrogen gas burns with a pale blue flame that gives scarcely any light, though it possesses intense heating power. If, however, minute particles of a solid body—powdered charcoal, for instance—be thrown into the flame, they become white-hot, and the incandescence of those solid particles produces a brilliant light. The same effect is caused by the combustion of the carburretted hydrogen gas, and in a more perfect manner. That gas contains a large portion of carbon in a state of vapour, and when a light is applied to a jet of the gas the hydrogen immediately inflames, the carbon is deposited in the flame, and the minute particles into which it is disseminated become highly heated and ignite.
There are two distinct states of carbonization in illuminating gas. The commoner kind—the ordinary coal gas—consists of two measures of hydrogen mixed with one measure of carbon vapour. The specific gravity of such gas is about one-half that of atmospheric air, and it is eight times heavier than pure hydrogen.[12] The best kind of gas for illumination is obtained from the distillation of oil. It is called olefiant gas, and contains equal measures of hydrogen gas and carbon vapour; its specific gravity is 0.985, being about fifteen times heavier than pure hydrogen.
The rationale of the process of making coal gas consists in expelling the volatile matters from the coal by heat, in closed vessels or retorts, and then separating the gas and purifying it on its passage from the retort to the gas-holder, where it is stored for use.
The retorts are usually made of cast iron, and are about 7 feet long, 14 inches in depth, and the same in width; the shape being that of an arch. The retorts will hold two hundredweight of coal each, but they are never filled, because during the process of distillation the carbonaceous part of the coal expands, and occupies more space than the original quantity, the proportion of expansion being as one and a quarter to one. There is a large aperture for the admission of coal and the extraction of coke, which aperture is covered with a lid, and screwed to make it air-tight. A tube is inserted into the mouth of the retort, to carry off the products of the distillation. That tube rises about twelve feet, and then dips into a large horizontal pipe, one foot in diameter, called the hydraulic main, in which are collected the tar and ammoniacal liquor that distil from the coal. Ten or fourteen retorts are usually set back to back in brickwork, to be heated by one fire; but the plan has been recently introduced of employing long clay retorts, which are charged at both ends. These are found to possess considerable advantage over iron, not only from their lower price, but from the facility with which the carbonaceous deposit is removed, and the full charges worked off. Coke is generally burned in the furnaces, and the heat is continually maintained so as to keep the retorts red-hot.