GAS FOR ESTATE PURPOSES. 453 



be formed from a statement of the estimated expense of one which it is 

 intended to erect for the use of a village on one of Major Stapyltou's 

 estates. The village contains a population of about two hundred and 

 thirty inhabitants, the houses are situated wide apart; and from this fact, 

 and also that it is intended to convey the gas to some farm-buildings 

 near to the village, a considerable length of main piping will be re- 

 quired. The following is a copy of the estimate referred to : 



Gas-apparatus for supplying 150 lights, delivered at nearest 



railway station to the village, 185 



Furnace, and brickwork for the same, 25 



Buildings namely, retort-house and coal-store, &c., . . 100 



Brick tank for receiver, 80 



Seven hundred yards of main piping, 105 



Services and meters, 25 



Contingencies, &c., 30 



6 



550 



This may seem a large expenditure for a small village, and the 

 question comes to be, Will it pay? The result of such an expendi- 

 ture may be stated thus : One light will burn three and a half cubic 

 feet of gas per hour; and taking this on an average at two hundred 

 nights in the year, and that each light burns four hours per night, this 

 gives a result of four hundred and twenty thousand cubic feet of gas 

 required per annum. The next question then is, At what expense can 

 this four hundred and twenty thousand cubic feet of gas be manu- 

 factured ? I shall endeavour to answer this by giving a statement of 

 the probable expense for a year : 



Fifty-five tons of coal will be required, say at 15s. per ton, . 41 5 



Materials for purifying the gas, 2 10 



Labour of one man for three mouths of the year, . . 30 



Repairs, 800 



Allowance for tear and wear, 4 10 



Contingencies, 10 



96 5 



I now come to consider the probable annual income, which may 

 be stated as follows : 



Sale of 420,000 cubic feet of gas, at 7s. 6d. per 1000, . . 157 



Sale of coke, say 500 



Sale of tar, say 500 



Rent of meters, . ; . . . . . . . 500 



172 10 

 This leaves a balance of income over expenditure of 76, 5s. 



