| 10 | chaldrons of Newcastle coals, at 65s. make | £ 32 | 10 | 0 | ||
| 8 | tons of cannel coal,[15] (this coal is sold by weight) at 100s. per ton | 40 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 7 | chaldrons of common coals for carbonising, at 55s. | 19 | 5 | 0 | ||
| To wages paid the servant for attending the gas apparatus | 30 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Interest of money sunk | 30 | 0 | 0 | |||
| The wear and tear of the gas-light apparatus I consider to be equal to the wear and tear of lamps, candlesticks, &c. employed for oil, tallow, &c. | ||||||
| Total expence of the gas lights | 151 | 15 | 0 | |||
| DEDUCT | ||||||
| 23 | chaldrons of coke, at 60s. per chaldron | 69 | ||||
| Ammoniacal liquor | 5 | |||||
| Tar | 6 | |||||
| Charcoal employed by the copper-plate printers to heat their plates, which is now done with the gas-light flame, cost, annually | 25 | |||||
| Two chaldrons of coals minus used as fuel, for warming the house, since the adoption of the gas-lights, at 65s. per chaldron | 6 | 10 | ||||
| 111 | 10 | 0 | ||||
| Nett expences of the gas-lights | £ 40 | 5 | 0 | |||
| The lights used in my Establishment, prior to the gas-lights, amounted annually to | 160 | 0 | 0 | |||
| My present system of lighting with gas costs, per ann. | 40 | 5 | 0 | |||
| Balance in favor of the gas for one year | £ 119 | 15 | 0 | |||
[15] Although cannel-coal sells at nearly double the price of Newcastle coal, I use it in preference to the latter, because it affords a larger portion of gas, and gives a much more brilliant light.
Such is the simple statement of my present system of lighting, the brilliancy of which, when contrasted with our former lights, bears the same comparison to them as a bright summer sun-shine does to a murky November day: nor are we, as formerly, almost suffocated with the effluvia of charcoal and fumes of candles and lamps. In addition to this, the damage sustained by the spilling of oil and tallow upon prints, drawings, books and paper, &c. amounted annually to upwards of 50l. All the workmen employed in my establishment consider their gas-lights as the greatest blessing; and I have only to add, that the light we now enjoy, were it to be produced by means of Argand’s lamps or candles, would cost at least 350l. per annum.
I am, with respect,
Yours,Strand, March 13,
1815.R. ACKERMAN.”
Another manufacturer who was one of the first that adopted the use of this method of illumination in the small way, and who gave a statement of its advantages to the public, is Mr. Cook, a manufacturer of metal toys, at Birmingham, a clear-headed, prudent man, not apt to be dazzled by a fanciful speculation, but governed in his transactions by a simple balance of profit and loss. There is a naïveté in his own account of the process which will amuse as well as instruct the reader.
“My apparatus is simply a small cast-iron pot, of about eight gallons, with a cast-iron cover, which I lute to it with sand. Into this pot I put my coal. I pass the gas through water into the gasometer or reservoir, which holds about 400 gallons; and, by means of old gun-barrels, convey it all round my shops. Now, from twenty or twenty-five pounds of coal, I make perhaps six hundred gallons[16] of gas; for, when my reservoir is full, we are forced to burn away the overplus in waste, unless we have work to use it as it is made: but, in general, we go on making and using it, so that I cannot tell to fifty or a hundred gallons;—and, in fact, a great deal depends on the coals, some coals making much more than others. These twenty-five pounds of coal put into the retort, and say twenty-five pounds more to heat the retort, which is more than it does take one time with another, but I am willing to say the utmost, are worth four-pence per day. From this four-pence we burn eighteen or twenty lights during the winter season.”
[16] A wine-gallon is equal to 231 cubic inches.
Thus are the candles which Mr. Cook used to employ, and which cost him three shillings a day, entirely superseded. But, besides his expence in candles, oil and cotton for soldering, used to cost him full 30l. a year; which is entirely saved, as he now does all his soldering by the gas flame only. For “in all trades in which the blow-pipe is used with oil and cotton, or where charcoal is employed to produce a moderate heat, the gas flame will be found much superior, both as to quickness and neatness in the work: the flame is sharper, and is constantly ready for use; while, with oil and cotton or charcoal, the workman is always obliged to wait for his lamp or coal getting up; that is, till it is sufficiently on fire to do his work. Thus, a great quantity of oil is always burned away useless; but, with the gas, the moment the stop-cock is turned, the lamp is ready, and not a moment is lost.” We must refer to Mr. Cook’s letter for the details of expence, which he gives with faithful minuteness, and always leaning to the side unfavourable to the gas. The result of the whole is, that he saves 30l. out of the 50l. which his lights formerly cost him: and, when we consider that his calculation allows the gas-lights to burn the whole year, and the candles only twenty weeks, there can be little doubt, that the savings in this case follow nearly the same proportion as in the former. If the apparatus be erected even on a smaller scale, “the saving,” Mr. Cook assures us, “will still be considerable: for the poor man, who lights only six candles, or uses one lamp, if the apparatus is put up in the cheapest way possible, will find it only cost him 10l. or 12l. which he will nearly, if not quite, save the first year.”
Mr. Ackerman having, in this town, set the example of lighting his establishment with gas, several other individuals soon followed the attempt. The following statement will show, that this species of light may be made use of with the greatest advantage, upon a still smaller scale, where no great nicety with regard to the apparatus for procuring gas is required. The following report I have received from Messrs. Lloyd, of Queen Street, Southwark, thimble manufacturers and whitesmiths, who have used the gas-light for soldering and other purposes these five years past.