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cial  circles,  Henry  Troth  was  well  known  as  a  manager  of  the 
Schuylkill  Navigation  Company  from  1825,  and  he  was  also  one  of 
the  Directors  of  the  United  States  Bank.  From  1827  to  1836, 
he  was  a  member  of  Common  Council  of  the  City  of  Philadelphia, 
and  for  four  years  was  president  of  that  body. 
During  the  time  of  his  connection  with  public  affairs  he  became 
much  interested  in  the  use  of  illuminating  gas  for  lighting  the  city. 
This  project  met  with  violent  opposition  from  many  prominent  citi- 
zens of  Philadelphia.  It  was  gravely  contended  by  engineers  and 
experts  that  the  city  would  be  in  danger  of  being  blown  up,  for  the 
explosive  properties  of  a  mixture  of  this  gas  and  air  was  then  well 
known,  and  another  objection  which  was  freely  urged,  was  that  the  water 
which  was  conducted  by  underground  pipes  through  the  city,  would 
be  contaminated  by  the  pipes  conveying  the  gas  in  their  immediate 
vicinity.  Henry  Troth  contended  strongly  against  these  objectors, 
and  his  views  were  soon  sustained,  for  a  company,  chartered  for  the 
purpose  of  making  illuminating  gas,  erected  works,  laid  pipes, 
proved  that  the  grounds  of  opposition  were  absurd,  and  finally  sold 
the  works  to  the  city  at  an  advance  of  25  per  cent. 
Henry  Troth's  progressive  spirit  was  shown  in  1 8 19  in  his  efforts 
to  burn  anthracite  coal,  he  being  one  of  the  first  to  attempt  it  in  the 
city  of  Philadelphia.  The  hardness  of  the  "  stone  coal,"  as  it  was 
called  in  those  early  days,  seemed  to  be  an  insuperable  obstacle; 
this  hardness,  as  is  well  known,  is  now  recognized  as  one  of  its 
greatest  advantages.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  he  overcame 
the  difficulty  of  burning  anthracite,  and  we  can  well  imagine  his 
satisfaction  and  enjoyment,  in  after  years,  in  seeing  this  important 
product  become  one  of  the  great  sources  of  wealth  of  the  Common- 
wealth. 
The  life  of  Henry  Troth,  viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  the  num- 
ber of  years  that  he  lived,  was  not  a  long  one,  for  he  died  May  22, 
1842,  in  his  48th  year;  but  his  ceaseless  activity,  wonderful  fore- 
sight and  correct  judgment,  caused  his  labors  to  be  appreciated  long 
after  he  was  laid  to  rest.  In  this  connection,  the  words  of  a  con- 
temporary and  distinguished  professor  of  the  College,  written  imme- 
diately after  his  death,  in  an  address  delivered  to  the  graduates  of 
the  College,  may  appropriately  close  this  brief  sketch : 
"An  individual,  once  a  member  of  our  body,  prominent  with 
others,  was  among  the  first  in  his  endeavors  to  promote  its  success- 
