





Different Kinds of Coal for the purpose of Illumination. 83 



^ la the different towns I have visited in England, where Eng- 

 lish cannel coal is used, the charge varies from 4s. 6d. to 5s. 6d. 

 Suppose we take the average at 5s., then the comparative charge 

 for it, and for English caking-coal gas, is as 13 to 1. But the 

 value of the gases, bulk for bulk, for the purposes of illumina- 

 tion, being as l-S5to 1, then the comparative price paid for the 

 same amount of light is only 75 to 100. 



The price charged for the Scottish parrot-coal gas varies con- 

 siderably in different towns, owing chiefly to the difference in the 

 expense of coal. I have found it to vary, in the larger towns, 

 from 5s. to 7s., but, making allowance for discount, it goes from 

 os. to 6s. 6d. Taking it as 5s., then the charge, compared with 

 the English caking-coal gas, is 1 to 1*3; taking the value of the 

 gases into account, the price paid, for equal amounts of light, is 

 as 25 to 100 ; accordingly, to light to the same extent with these 

 I gases, the expense for the English gas is four times as great as 



that for the other. At 6s. it would be 30 to 100, and at 6s. 6d. 

 it would be 33 to 100; and hence the price paid for equal 



— »»mi*i vjl iigm vaiico iiv.Mii kjli\ 



for the English caking-coal gas. 



paid 



I have given the comparative value of the English parrot-coal 

 gas, and of the Scottish, as 1 and 2-7, the average price for the 

 former being 5s., that for the latter 5s. 6d., and 6s. 6d. For the 

 first, the price paid being the same, the expense for equal lights 

 w iH be inversely as the value of the gases, 27 to 1 ; at 6s. 6d., 

 the highest charge, the comparative expense is about 2 to L 

 ■Accordingly, the expense paid for the same extent of Lighting by 

 these gases, varies from about 2 to 2$ fof the English, to the 

 Scottish as 1 ; that is, the expense for a given amount of 

 light, for a certain time, by Scottish gas being 1, that for the 

 same light, during the same time, with the English parrot- 



coal gas, is from 2 to 2f, and for the English caking-coal gas, 



from 3 to 4, according to the price paid for the Scottish gas. 



In making these remarks regarding the value of the gases in 

 different places, and the consequent prices paid for equal amounts 

 of light, 1 trust it will not be supposed, that I mean to insinuate 

 that the price paid by consumers of gas in England for their 

 light is too great, and that consequently, it ought to be reduced, 



f so as to bring it to a par, or nearly so, with that paid m Scotland. 



^ So far from that being the case, I belies . that, at present, some 



English gas companies are charging for their gas a price which 

 does not remunerate them ; and that, instead of it being lower- 



| ~ ed, it ought to be raised. It must be borne in mind, that the 



price of gas, like that of other manufactured goods, must be reg- 



happe 



an 



not so fortunate as we 



are in Scotland, where there is a coal, which, though much more 



