It is
supplied, for domestic purposes, at twenty cents per thousand cubic
feet, which is not cheaper than coal in Pittsburg, but it is a thousand
per cent cleaner, and in that respect it promises to prove a great
blessing, not only to those who can afford to use it, but to the
community at large, in the hope held out that the smoke and soot
nuisance may be abated in part, if not wholly subdued, and that gleams
of sunshine there may become less phenomenal in the future than they are
at the present time. Twenty cents per thousand feet is too high a price
to bring gas into general use for domestic purposes in a city where
coal is cheap. Ten cents would be too much, and no doubt five cents per
thousand would pay a profit. The fact is, the dealers in natural gas
appear to be somewhat doubtful of the continuity of supply, and
anxious to get back the cost of wells and pipes in one year, which, if
successful, would be an enormous return on the investment.
There are objections to the use of natural gas by mill operators--that
it costs too much, and that the continuity of the supply is uncertain;
by heads of families, that it is odorless, and, in case of leakage from
the pipes, may fill a room and be ready to explode without giving the
fragrant warning offered by common gas.
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