But acetylene is for the inhabitant of a country
village or the occupier of an isolated country house; and he has usually
plenty of space behind his residence which he can readily spare. In the
second place, the extra size of the non-automatic apparatus makes it more
expensive to construct and more costly to instal. It is more cosily to
construct and purchase because of its holder, which must be well built on
a firm foundation and accurately balanced; it is more costly to instal
because a situation must be found for the erection of the holder, and the
apparatus-house may have to be made large enough to contain the holder as
well as the generator itself. As regards the last point, it may be said
at once that there is no necessity to place the holder under cover: it
may stand out of doors, as coal-gas holders do in England, for the seal
of the tank can easily be rendered frost-proof, and the gas itself is not
affected by changes of atmospheric temperature beyond altering somewhat
in volume. In respect of the other objections, it must be remembered that
the extra expense is one of capital outlay alone, and therefore only
increases the cost of the light by an inappreciable amount, representing
interest and depreciation charges on the additional capital expenditure.
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