COMMENCING OPERATIONS. 67 



satisfactory, because it divides the responsibility, and the 

 manager has not enough to do to fully occupy his time. The 

 local tradesmen is more interested in making a trade profit 

 on the job than in selling gas, so that if the manager does 

 not understand gas cookers and fires, incandescent burners, 

 etc., the concern is at a disadvantage. A man who has 

 been employed at a large gasworks has not enjoyed the 

 facility for acquiring a general all-round knowledge of the 

 conditions of gas manufacture and supply. It can be 

 obtained in an 8,000,000 or 10,000,000 cubic feet country 

 works, where he may be called upon to lend a hand at 

 anything and everything. A competent gasfitter, who has 

 been accustomed to assist at the works when required, and 

 has thus picked up a fair acquaintance with ordinary gas- 

 works routine, or an all-round man at the works, will usually 

 find little difficulty in qualifying, but a man from a large 

 works, as a rule, has had practical experience of one 

 particular department only. 



In a works of 3,000,000 cubic feet per annum or less, 

 there is not enough work to occupy the time of one man j 

 for a considerable part of the year, and it will be well if he 

 can be encouraged to take up some useful occupation, such 

 as cultivating a garden, working a poultry run, keeping bees, 

 or any interesting and remunerative hobby, as idle time is 

 apt to lead to more tobacco and more beer than is good for 

 the interest of the man or of his employers. This difficulty 

 is not so evident now as formerly, because with the advent 

 of incandescent burner maintenance, letting stoves on hire, 

 etc., there is more detail in the small as well as in the 

 large works, and there is no district so small or so poor but 

 that the manager can put in a little time at missionary 

 work. 



The finances, purchase of materials, etc., will be under 



