Gas Supply in the United States

GAS SUPPLY IN THE UNITED STATES In the little more than 120 years since the first gas company was organized in the United States, the gas industry has developed into one of the key industries. It has not only expanded until to-day gas service is known in practically every town but it has also gone through a complete metamorphosis, and from a light producing industry has emerged as a heat-producing one, selling a service which is rapidly growing in popularity for every kind of domestic and industrial heating. This industry is represented by 429 manufactured gas companies and 805 natural gas companies. Eighty-one million people are served. Of the 1,234 plants, 1,174 are privately owned, and 6o are municipal plants owned and operated by cities. While municipal ownership in the gas industry has never been popular in the United States, it is becoming even less of a factor every year.

The First Gas Plants.

Following the discovery of how to make gas from coal and the unparalleled success of gas lighting in one or two European cities, it was in Baltimore that gas light ing got its start in the United States. Although there were a few isolated instances of gas being used by individuals in other cities previously, introduction of gas lights in Rembrandt Peale's mu seum in Baltimore in 1816 proved to be such a sensation and suc cess that the city council passed an ordinance on June 17, 1816, permitting Peale and others to manufacture gas, lay pipes in the streets and contract with the city for street lighting. The first recorded demonstration of gas in the United States was in Phila delphia in Aug. 1796. The gas was manufactured by M. Ambroise and Company, Italian fireworkers and artists. A few years later, in 1812, David Melville of Newport, R.I., lighted his home and the street in front with gas which he manufactured. He also lighted a factory at Pawtucket and induced the Government to use gas at Beaver Tail lighthouse.

Baltimore, however, was the first city to use gas commercially, and other cities followed her lead. Introduction of gas lighting was not rapid. Since it was a radical change from the common methods of lighting of those days, it was regarded with fear by many people. As many objections were made against it in the United States as had been made in London when introduced there.

Gas was used first for street lighting. Later public buildings were lighted in this way, and a few wealthy citizens also used gas to light their homes. It was not until between the years 1865 and 1875 that the use of gas for home lighting began to make any great progress.

Manufactured Gas.

The first authentic recorded use of gas for domestic purposes was about 5830 or 1832, when James Sharp, of Northampton, England, demonstrated the availability of gas for cooking in his own home. It was about the year 1859 when gas started to be used to any extent for cooking in the United States, and this was done chiefly on stoves imported from England.

Much interest was manifested at an exhibit of different types of gas stoves shown at the Centennial Exhibition, held in 1876, in Philadelphia.

Many of the exhibitors used gas stoves in connection with their exhibits.

The latter part of the 59th century saw the gas industry of the United States firmly entrenched as a utility furnishing light to homes and factories, with the domestic cooking business more or less in the nebulous stage. It was at this time, however, that the industry was given a severe blow, probably the worst that has ever been dealt to an industry in the history of American business enterprise. It was the advent of the electric light which caused consternation, and yet it was this same electric light which was responsible for placing the industry in its present place of importance.

In the face of the keen competition the electric light would offer, it was apparent that the gas companies would have to look for other fields to conquer. Today, some 6o years after the invention of the electric light, gas has established a record for itself as a fuel and both homes and industries use this smokeless fuel for thousands of purposes.

Just at the turn of the 20th century, the industry had the domestic-cooking business as a base load, and soon other fields of heat application were developed, until today there is hardly a heating process, in the home and in any industry, which cannot be and is not being done with gas.

The sales of gas for the year 1937 revealed an increase of about 9,000,000,00o cu.ft. over the total registered for 1936. The sales figure was 351,000,000,00o cu.ft., proportioned as fol lows: About 196,000,000,00o cu.ft. for household purposes, 107,400, 000,00o cu.ft. for industrial and commercial uses, 45,600,000,000 cu.ft. for house heating, and 2,100,000,000 cu.ft. for miscellaneous purposes.

The use of manufactured gas for commercial and industrial heating applications continues to show phenomenal growth, the amount consumed in 1937 representing 31% of the total sales of manufactured gas for all purposes, or an increase of 000,00o cubic feet.

Manufactured gas companies now serve 9949.000 customers. Miles of main total 92,295, invested capital and gross operating revenue $363,000,000.

Natural Gas.

This industry is a large and important business in the United States. The total amount of natural gas produced in 1937 amounted to 2,447,620,000,00o cubic feet. In 1937 there were 7,006,000 consumers of natural gas, who used a total of cu.ft. of natural gas. The estimated total rev enue from such uses was $442,000,000. The State of California has the largest number of consumers of natural gas, followed by Ohio and Pennsylvania.

It is estimated that in 1937 there were 16,005,00o gas ranges, 1,125,000 gas refrigerators, and 735,000 gas-fired central house heating installations in use in the United States. Although gas has been used for cooking to the largest extent, it is only one of the conveniences which are available to the modern American home through the use of gas. Automatic hot water supply is growing in use, and many of the most up-to-date homes have adopted the incinerator as an aid to cleanliness and sanitation. House heating by gas is a development which promises to do more than any other recent achievement to relieve the American home from back-breaking labour exerted merely to provide heat in the house.

Gas house heating is completely automatic—it requires no at tention. Cities having natural gas service have used this splendid fuel for house heating and auxiliary heating to the exclusion of all other fuels, but in the manufactured gas territory the premium over coal operation has prevented the general adoption of gas up to this time. This use is growing very rapidly. To eliminate noise, ensure freedom from interference with radio reception, and to provide an ideal method for refrigeration, there has been de veloped the gas operated automatic refrigerator.

This unit is also available as a combination device with the cabinet type of kitchen range mounted directly over the refriger ator, an appliance which has especial interest for homes with small kitchens.

The completely gas-equipped laundry with its washer, dryer, and ironer, reducing the work of washing and making the home independent of the weather, is also very popular.

In late years, the manufactured and natural gas industries have become, in many respects, substantially one large gas indus try, and many communities which were formerly supplied solely with manufactured gases are now being furnished with mixtures of manufactured and natural gases or with straight natural gas.

The combined manufactured and natural gas industry is estimated to represent a total capital investment of close to $5,000,000,000.

Use of Gas.

No true concept of the gas business can be se cured without referring to the growing use of this fuel in indus try, and the important part it is playing in the manufacturing world. A study of the stocks and bonds listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Curb Market fails to reveal any industry that cannot use gas profitably in some of its manufacturing processes. Yet such a list could be extended by thousands. gas having more than 21,00o uses in industry.

The chief advantages gas offers are as follows : Improvement in quality and economy in manufacture of the product, owing to perfect heat control; marked increased production; fuel storage space eliminated; elimination of capital tied up in fuel invest ment; elimination of smoke and end of the ash removal nuisance.

The Ford Motor Company plant at River Rouge alone uses ap proximately 5o.000,000 cu.ft. of gas a day. This is enough to supply a city of 5,000,000 population. A typical industrial gas installa tion will consume as much gas in one day as Soo average homes. Gas is being used extensively for baking bread in large bakeries, making candy, roasting coffee, smoking meat, pasteurizing milk, pressing clothes, singeing cloth and yarn, melting glass and many different kinds of metal, vulcanizing automobile tires, drying clothes and lumber, forging, heating rivets, galvanizing, welding, cutting metal, annealing, hardening and tempering alloy steel, tool dressing, bolt and rivet making, shrinking locomotive tires, heating structural steel for fabrication, bending pipe, plate heating, soft metal melting, aluminium melting, lead refining, silver refining, in treating various metals in ovens and for many other purposes.

While the use of gas for heating homes was started in America but a few years ago, there are today many scores of thousands of installations of central gas-fired units, exclusive of the millions of space heaters in use. It is estimated that Chicago has over 20,000, and other cities boast of more than I,000 homes that are heated entirely with gas, and in addition natural gas zones with all homes heated by natural gas. Supplying a heating service that is in most localities not so expensive as to be prohibitive, the gas companies are preparing themselves to take on installa tions at a rate two and three times in excess of what they have in the past. Using gas for house heating one obtains a service entirely automatic in character, free of labour, dirt, smoke, dust and ashes. Recent years have seen the use of gas heating developed in the so-called skyscraper. A large building in Boston, 13 storeys high, 2,175,00o cu.ft. in size, is heated by manufactured gas.

A most important step taken by the gas industry in behalf of its domestic customers was the establishment of a testing labora tory at Cleveland, 0., for testing gas appliances. In this manner the American Gas Association has met the obligation of the industry to the American people for the safest, most efficient and most economical utilization of its product. The laboratory is financed by a large number of gas companies and manufacturers of appliances, and into it has been built the hopes and aims of the industry to serve the public to the best of its ability. In this laboratory are being tested for the information of manufacturers, gas companies, dealers and the general public, all manner of appliances in which gas is burned for domestic uses.