8 CONSTRUCTION AND MANAGEMENT OF SMALL GASWORKS. 



whether the consumer uses 100 cubic feet or 20,000 cubic 

 feet per annum. If the average consumption does not 

 exceed 6,000 or 8,000 cubic feet (I know places where this 

 has actually been experienced), the result is that the slot 

 department is a loss, and a drag on the general business, 

 instead of being an assistance and a source of profit. There 

 should be no difficulty, according to the nature of the 

 district, in devising a mutually satisfactory scheme that 

 would protect the gas company without carrrying the 

 appearance of offensive high-handedness to the customer. 



I think the most important improvement as regards the 

 fortunes of the small works is the introduction of steel tube, 

 which affects the position in two ways. By its means the 

 distribution of gas to a distance of ten or twenty mile can 

 be conducted on a paying basis. If there is a fairly large 

 town within the limits of that distance, it may be possible to 

 deliver gas into the works holder at a lower cost than it 

 can be made on the spot. In the small works, the cost 

 into the holder may be 25. 6d. to 35. per thousand cubic 

 feet, but at a 100,000,000 to 200,000,000 works it will be 

 quite is. less. There is a good margin to pay for the cost 

 of delivery, and it may be more advantageous to buy gas in 

 bulk than to make it on the spot, and to shut down the 

 whole of the plant except the gasholders. Or if there is 

 no large town within hailing distance, the question of a 

 district company rather than a single village one is worthy 

 of consideration. Instead of a supply for one small township, 

 a suitable district, ten miles square or so, may be marked 

 out, perhaps including one or more small gasworks that 

 can be secured by amalgamation. The manufacturing, 

 purifying and storage can be conducted, not necessarily at 

 the centre of the district, but at the most convenient locality 

 for cheap delivery of coal, such as in the vicinity of a line 



