34 CONSTRUCTION AND MANAGEMENT OF SMALL GASWORKS. 



advantages of direct communication, by means of special 

 charges for siding rent, or a charge for laying down the 

 special siding that is three or four times that of the actual 

 structural cost. So it is advisable, before concluding the 

 purchase of a site that offers the advantage of direct 

 communication, to ascertain the terms of the railway 

 company, and to arrange the heads of a provisional 

 agreement. I have known cases where the special charges 

 quite covered the advantages of direct connection, and the 

 cost of unloading to the gas company was as much as if 

 the stuff had to be carted a quarter of a mile. 



The advantage may also be neutralized, to a large extent, 

 by unsuitable designing of the works. Many years ago I 

 visited a works and observed the railway trucks close on the 

 boundary of the property, and congratulated the manager on 

 his advantage as compared with another works where 

 everything had to be hauled half a mile. He was some- 

 what dubious on the point, and explained that the retort 

 house and coal store had, for some reason, been built on 

 the opposite side of the yard, with the result that every ton 

 of coal had to be barrowed a considerable distance, and the 

 cost of clearing and trimming, for a truck actually on the 

 premises, averaged out about yd. per ton. In the case of 

 water carriage, it may also happen that the quay or wharfage 

 dues practically neutralize any saving due to the direct 

 connection. 



If carting of coal or other material cannot be avoided, a 

 difference of 200 yards or so as regards distance does not 

 greatly affect the cost. That is to say, if one site is 

 500 yards distant and another 300, no very great degree of 

 favour need be extended to the latter on that account. The 

 labour of loading and, perhaps, unloading, amounts to a 

 considerable part of the total, At one works, where the 



