GAS-WORKS 621 



offered no precoptible resistance to the flow of gas and were free from the disad- 

 vantages of the vertical scrubbers in ordinary use. There were seven purifiers in a 

 line with each other; each purifier was 36 feet long, 18 feet wide, and 6 feet deep, 

 with water lutes 2 feet 3 inches deep. The covers were lifted at four points, two on 

 each side, by a travelling lift passing on rails through the entire length of the shed. 

 In consequence of the large surface of the covers, and the occasional heavy pressure to 

 which they were subjected, each cover was held down by four Lewis fastenings, instead 

 of by the usual bars and clips. As the purifiers were near high-water mark, they were 

 placed on pile foundations 3 feet above the surface of the ground, and when the pipes 

 and connections had been laid between the piles, the spaces under the purifiers were 

 filled up. Tramways were laid at each side of the line of purifiers, and the purifying 

 material was brought and removed from the oxide and lime sheds at either end in 

 wagons. The shed covering the purifiers was of light construction, and was closed on 

 the side next the sea and open on the other side. The revivifying sheds at either end 

 were each 100 feet long and 50 feet wide, and were fitted with framed moveable louvres. 

 The first three purifiers were for lime, the next three for oxide of iron, and the last 

 was also for oxide of iron, to be used as a check purifier. The collective internal 

 capacity of the purifiers amounted to 22,600 cubic feet. The station meter, one of 

 the largest yet made, was erected by Messrs. Parkinson and Son, to pass 100,000 

 cubic feet of gas per hour, and was placed next to the engine-house. The gas- 

 holders were all at Hove, and their tanks were about 34 feet above the level of the 

 works at Portslade. 



' The entire cost of the works was about 72,000. ; and when the proposed second 

 retort-house and coal store were erected upon the site allotted for them, the total 

 expenditure would amount to 100,000/. The works would then be capable of pro- 

 ducing 600 million cubic feet of gas per annum, at a cost of 1662. per million on the 

 capital so expended.' 



Gas-lighting by Electricity. The following account is from the pen of Mr. "W. L. 

 Wise, A.I.C.E. : 



' Some curiosity has recently been excited relative to experiments made first in 

 Germany and subsequently at Preston, in lighting gas by electricity, on the plan 

 invented by Professor Klinkerfues, director of the Royal Observatory at Gottingen. 



' Few persons will question that the art of lighting gas by electricity is as yet in 

 its infancy, and has a great future before it as applied not only to buildings, but also 

 to the lighting-up of large towns. The subtle agent, electricity, by which such 

 marvels as instantaneous communication between points thousands of miles apart 

 have been rendered possible, would seem to be peculiarly adapted as a medium for 

 enabling operations to be simultaneously performed at many distant points, from any 

 given place, and, on this account, has commended itself to many inventive minds as 

 the best means for rapidly lighting gas in towns and large buildings, with what 

 success remains to be seen. 



The advantages to be derived from a practical system of igniting gas, without the 

 use of an exposed flame for the purpose, will be fully appreciated by those acquainted 

 with the difficulties and dangers attending the ordinary methods of lighting gas, and 

 the frequent accidents arising from the careless use of matches and negligent ignitions, 

 not only in private houses, but also in warehouses, magazines, cotton-mills, and 

 workrooms, especially where the manufacture of inflammable materials is carried 

 on. There is, also, considerable inconvenience and waste in connection with the 

 lighting-up of turret clocks, and the ignition of gas in other places difficult of 

 access, where, in some cases, to save the great trouble of lighting and extinguishing, 

 the gas is kept constantly burning, instead of being extinguished during the day- 

 time. 



' Then, as to street lamps, several important points claim attention. The old- 

 fashioned system of carrying a ladder with a lighted fuse from lamp to lamp, though 

 still used in many towns, has, nevertheless, been somewhat improved upon by the 

 introduction of the lighting staff; notwithstanding the use of which, however, our 

 present mode of street lamp-lighting is a tedious, wasteful, and expensive process. 

 Not only does it involve the employment in every considerable town of a large staff 

 of lamp-lighters, but, in order that all the lamps may be lighted by dusk, the lighting 

 operation has to be commenced some time before any lights are really wanted, so that 

 gas is consumed to no purpose. 



' Many plans have been from time to time proposed for igniting gas by electricity. 



' Many years ago Admiral Sheringham made experiments in Portsmouth Harbour, 

 with a view to the illuminating of buoys and beacons, &c., by gas ignited by elec- 

 tricity. 



'Some years later Mr. Simon Petit proposed lighting several gas-jets simultaneously, 



