A SUBSTITUTE FOR GAS.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXVIII, Issue 3829, 12 June 1873, Page 3

A SUBSTITUTE FOR GAS.

The ''Times" describes in detail a new process of oil consumption, which.' is expected to supersede gas. In order to raise an oil lamp to the level of gas in point of cleanliness and convenience, it was first of all necessary to devise a burner and accessories which should thus preserve the wick from becoming loaded with waste. Fer this purpose it was necessary to convert the oil into gas, not in the flame, but somewhat beneath it, and so to regulate the two factors of combustion — the quantity of this gas and the quantity of atmospheric oxygen — that neither of them should be present in excess. Mr Silber has fully attained both these results ; and he has done this not so much by any new invention, as by the patient study of the principles underlying familiar rule-of- i thumb practice, and by the exact adaptation to each other of parts which had previously been adapted only roughly and approximately. It would be impossible without the aid. of diagrams fully to describe his contrivances, but it may be said thaf he has suceeded in producing an argand or circular burner for petroleum which gives a perfectly bright .clear, smokeless, and odorless flame, together with an illumination by the side of which a flame of the same magnitude, furnished by one of Sugg's gaR-burners, looks dull and ghostly. These circular burners for petroleum can be made of any size, from the smallest to a yard or more in diameter, all that is necessary being the introduction in the larger sizes of an inner core of concentric tubes, by which the passage of air to the inner aspect of the wick is controlled, and its course advantageously directed. One of these burners, having a diameter of 1£ in., gives a light equal to that ol 28 standard sperm candles, each consuming 120 j grains per hour. A burner of lf in. j diameter gives a light equal to that of 50 candles ; and in all of them the top pf the chimney may be obstructed without the production of smoko, so that a silver spoon held over the opening remains absolutely untarnished. The complete combustion, moreover, almost entirely spares the wick, which feeds the flame without being itself consumed. The daily passage of a finger over it is all the trimming required, and a single wick is calculated to last for 12 months of ordinary domestic use, and then to require changing chiefly because its conducting power . becomes impaired. The light is uniform and steady, and though brilliant, is of a particularly soft and pleasing color ; and it may, of course, be modified in any desired manner by the use of globes or shades adapted to the requirements of the consumer. It continues without change until the oil in the reservoir is exhausted, and may be fairly said to afford the best artificial light for domestic purposes of any which has yet been produced. A table-lamp, of whatever construction, would be be inferior in convenience to gas on account of the space it occupies, and of the trouble of frequently filling its reservoir. In order to place the two illuminating agents fairly upon a level, the oil must be distributed in pipes like gas, and must be laid on for continuous service to wall and ceiling burners. Mr Silber's contrivances for this purpose were exhibited to a meeting of the Society of Arts two

years ago, and were previously fitted up at his warehouse in Wood street, where have ever since been continuallyjn operation. A full description of the arrangement with sectional diagrams, will be fonnd in the " Society of Arts Journal" for December 23, 1870, and it is sufficient here to say that the oil is contained in a principal tank at the upper part of the house. From this tank it passes through a gauze strainer to arrest foreign impurities, and is conteyed by gravity to all the lower parts of the building. On each floor the feed-

pipe opens by a stopcock into a secondary reservoir, and this stopcock is governed by a rod attached to a float which rests on the surface of the oil. On every floor the burners are on a level with the surface of the oil in their own reservoir, and the open pipes leading to the burners communicate with the reservoirs freely. As fast as oii is consumed by burning, the float sinks on the surface of thot remaining in the corresponding reservoir, and opens the tap sufficiently to admit a fresh supply, which in the case of a single burner, comes only drop by drop, although if there were many burners or alarge consumption it would run in a stream. The practical result is that the oil burners are placed on brackets against the wall, or suspended from the ceilings. They are always ready to be lighted, and when done with they can be extinguished either by turning down the wick or by simply blowing out the flame. There are no taps to turn, and in no case is there any leakage or overflow. For the present, Mr Sliber has not made arrangements to render the lamps above described accessible to the public. They have been produced, as we have said, during the scanty leisure afforded by the conduct of large business transactions of a totally different description ; and tbe inventor has been in no haste to bring them before the woild. We have spoken throughout as if this method of lighting were likely to come into serious competition with gas : and it ia the fact that very eminent chemists entertain this opinion, and believe thafc gas will to some extent be superseded. There 6eems to be no doubt that the oil system will afford for about eighteenpence an equivalent for 1000 cubic feet of London gas ; and the supply of mineral oil in the world is so enormous that it may be regarded as practically inexhaustible, and may certainly be drawn upon for many yeara without enhancement of price. But apart from this consideration, it is obvious that the weak points of an extended system of oil lighting might be very serious, and such as only trial would display. The distribution of oil in pipes, which works with perfect smoothness under the eye of the inventor, might be a different matter where such control was wanting ; and a trained army of "oil fitters" would be required before these pipes could be introduced into existing buildings, or even into buildings in process of construction. Moreover, gas has certain conveniences which must at all times recommend it for many purposes, Mr Silber himself rather disclaims the idea of competing with it, and expects to find his public in the places and countries where no supply of gas is to be obtained.