54 CONSTRUCTION AND MANAGEMENT OF SMALL GASWORKS. 



CHAPTER V. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



MANY small works suffer a permanent tax by reason 

 of want of a proper design for the mains. There are 

 managers who are continually being harassed to reduce a 

 leakage account for which they are in no sense responsible, 

 and, further, which is beyond their control, or to conform 

 to the conditions of modern supply with an old-fashioned 

 and, from this point of view, utterly insufficient plant. The 

 subject of the proper sizes of mains is affected so much by 

 local conditions that it cannot be treated in detail ; but there 

 are one or two leading considerations that may be noticed. 

 It is no use to give a blacksmith the contract to lay 

 the pipes in the first place, and to select the sizes by 

 guess, rather than by intelligent consideration of the duty 

 they are required to perform, and then to advertise for some 

 genius to come and reduce the leakage. 



The first desideratum is an accurate map of the district. 

 In the United Kingdom this is provided by the Govern- 

 ment Ordnance Survey maps. The scale of 25*344 inches 

 to the mile is a convenient one for laying out mains. These 

 maps can be obtained from booksellers and stationers in 

 every town, who will furnish a key-plan from which the 

 distinguishing numbers of the sheets desired can be selected- 

 They have always proved reliable for measuring the 



