12/19/2023 0 Comments Gaslight liquor![]() ![]() One company imported natural gas from Indiana.Īutomatic ignition was introduced. New ways of making gas from coal, such as water gas, were developed. ![]() The improbably named Romance of the Gas Industry explained the technical developments that continued throughout the gaslight era. One of the companies was Ogden Gas owned almost entirely by members of the notoriously corrupt 1895 City Council. Peoples Gas took over 12 other companies starting in 1897. Indeed, the major problem it faced was completion. The gas company had no problem finding investors and developing and rapidly expanding the necessary network of gas plants, meters, tanks and pipes. Coke, nearly pure carbon and used in making steel, was left behind as a valuable byproduct. Coal was distilled in large ovens, producing gas. Thus the technology was well-developed by 1850 when it arrived in Chicago. Gaslights had arrived in Baltimore in 1816, a few years after they began in London. Richard Lindberg revisited the era with his Chicago by Gaslight: A History of Chicago's Netherworld, 1880-1920. The Vice Commission and Chicago by Gaslight raged against the moral dangers of nighttime activities. ![]() In an unexpected threat to morality, children and adults played late at night.Įlectric lights were common by 1909, but gaslights were still a symbol of everything wrong with modern society. No need to replace candles or refill oil lanterns.įootpads and burglars could no longer ply their trade in the dark, but gaslit theaters, retail stores, saloons and gambling dens took in far more money. Streets, businesses and homes now had bright, cheap and reliable light. However, passengers arriving from the dark countryside on Chicago's equally novel railroad knew they were not in Kansas anymore. The lanterns not having been affixed to the posts, the bright gaseous flame eddied and flickered in the wind, sometimes apparently disappearing, but anon shooting up as brightly as ever."īy today's standards, the lights were distinctly yellow and not very bright. the gas pipes were filled and brilliant torches flamed on both sides of Lake Street as far as the eye could see, and wherever the posts were set. 75 Years of Gas Service in Chicago quotes the Tribune: Source: Souvenir of the Liquor InterestĪ long forgotten social revolution began on Septemwith the lighting of Chicago's first hundred-odd gaslights. ![]()
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