Wellesley,

The towns of Middleborough, Wakefield and Westfield and the city of Holyoke operate gas plants, the first named since Oct. 31, 1893, the second since Aug. 7, 1894, the third since June 1, 1899, and the last since Dec. 15, 1902.

The plant at Middleborough makes water gas, that at Westfield coal gas and those at Holyoke and Wakefield coal and water gas.

During the year 1914 four examinations were made by the State inspector for candle power and purity in Middleborough, thirteen in Wakefield, eleven in Westfield, thirteen in Holyoke. Impurities prohibited by statute were found once in Middleborough, four times in Wakefield and three times in Westfield. The candle power was found below the legal standard three times in Wakefield.

The average price received in Holyoke for gas sold in the year ending June 30, 1914, was $0.996 per thousand; in Middleborough, $1.59; in Wakefield, $1.27; and in Westfield, $1. The maximum net prices in the cities and towns named on June 30, 1914, were Holyoke, $1; Middleborough, $1.50; Wakefield, $1.20, and Westfield, $1 per thousand cubic feet. The cost of gas during the same period, computed by the method applied to the cost of electric lighting in the table on page 260 was, in Holyoke, $107.8; in Middleborough, $1.99; in Wakefield, $116.9; in Westfield, $0.81.

INSPECTION OF GAS AND GAS METERS.

Gas Inspection.

Following the statutory requirement that the gas shall be tested with a burner best adapted to it, which is at the same time suitable for domestic use, the Board has continued the use of the following burners in candle-power determinations: the Sugg's Argand burner, sizes D, old style, and D and F, new style, with six or seven inch chimney, for coal gas, low candle-power water gas and mixed coal and water gases; the Bray "slit-union" jet, open burner, for the higher candlepower water gases; a small, one-foot size, iron tip, open burner for oil gases, and the von Schwarz "Perfection," three-quarters and one-foot sizes, for acetylene gas.

Of the 594 inspections made during the year ending Dec. 31, 1914, including those of gas supplied by municipal plants, 251 were made by the chief inspector.

The following tables contain the data obtained by these examinations. For convenience of comparison the oil-gas and acetylene-gas companies are shown in separate tables. In the ammonia column, 1. means that the gas did not contain as much as one grain of ammonia per hundred cubic feet.

Excess of Sulphur in Grains per 100 Cubic Feet.

Excess of Ammonia in Grains per 100 Cubic Feet.