Volume 1

Practical grocer : a manual and guide for the grocer, the provision merchant and allied trades / by W.H. Simmonds ; with contributions by specialists, trade experts and members of the trades ; illustrated by a series of separately-printed plates.

  • Simmonds, W. H.
Date:
1909
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: Practical grocer : a manual and guide for the grocer, the provision merchant and allied trades / by W.H. Simmonds ; with contributions by specialists, trade experts and members of the trades ; illustrated by a series of separately-printed plates. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    124/330 (page 92)
    The cost of original installation, as well as of subsequent main- tenance, is but a fraction of that of electric light. Automatic action ol system, requiring no attention, except for recharging, which can be done by a labourer or servant in a few minutes. No accumulators constantly going out of order and requiring renewing. No machinery to require repairs. Advantages over Coal- or Oil-gases:—An infinitely purer and better light. There is none of the yellow colour of coal- or oil-gas. No vitiation of atmosphere, as with other gases. No tarnishing of picture-frames or silver-plate, as with the products of combustion of coal-gas. Much less heat, and no flickering. Advantages over Paraffin Lamps and Candles:—No smell in burning. Cannot be upset and spilt. No grease and mess. Much less work to servants. No danger. Cost of the Light:—At an average price of carbide of 17^. per cwt., acetylene costs about \d. per 20 c.p. per hour, which is equivalent, light for light, to—Paraffin at >jd. per gallon; coal-gas at 25. 6d. per 1000 cubic feet; electricity at 2]/2d. per B.T.U. This mode of lighting is being extensively adopted in Germany, France, and Great Britain. In this country it was shown and approved at the Glasgow Exhibition, and has chiefly been used so far in large isolated mansions, hydropathics, and so on; but in Germany, in 1902, there were thirty-three central installations in towns and villages, and in France twenty-nine, companies and local authorities being the owners. As long ago as 1900 a valuable Foreign Office report on the subject stated that there were probably eight thousand acetylene installations, in Germany, if, besides the works for lighting the towns above referred to, one counted the small, medium, and large installations in factories, public and private buildings, hospitals, barracks, castles, villas, mills, churches, &c. Unfortunately the apparent simplicity of the generation of acetylene from carbide, by the simple chemical action of water, caused in the early days “a perfect mania ” of inventions for generators, lamps, &c.; and many being inefficient, accidents occurred, and prejudiced the public. With regard to the use of acetylene in shops, a specimen . , of testimony was given by a Scottish grocer in a letter Acetylene J & J o for the to The Grocer:—“ I may say my shop is situated at a coast watering-place. The gas is 4s. *jd. per 1000 cubic feet, and of poor quality at that. Some three years ago I