withstanding the fact that they are very earnest members of this Association, from attending at the sessions of the convention. cannot believe that that is so, and I ask you now to make up your minds, and to keep in your minds through the year, a fixed determination to attend every meeting, to go early and to remain throughout the meeting, when you come to New York, and then have your good time after the sessions of the convention.

MR. W. R. ADDICKS:-I want to say that the President Elect need not be worried. All he has to do is to look around and see how many people are here present-and this is Boston!

THE PRESIDENT:-These remarks are extremely pleasing. I am a great believer in having warmth, and in exerting warmth; and if there is anything that the Association needs it is more warmth, and the standing together closer than has been the habit. of this Association in years gone by. I agree with what one gentleman has said, that a few of these side remarks, although not pertinent to what is before the Association, are extremely interesting, and I believe that they do us good as individuals, and as an Association.

Is the Committee on the President's Address ready to report? MR. WM. H. WHITE:-Mr. President and gentlemen of the Association. Your Committee upon the President's Address begs to make the following report. The President's address, which is marked by a careful and intelligent treatment of the topics touching our industry, presents his views in a practical and conservative manner. The several valuable suggestions of the address, while apparently not calling for action by the Association at this time, are commended to the thoughtful consideration of the members; and your Committee suggests a careful reading of the views expressed by the President upon the subjects of: Street Lighting by Gas; High versus Low Candle Power; Gas Advertising; Taxation of Franchises, etc. Some of the topics may well be made the basis of valuable and interesting individual papers to be presented at future meetings of this Association. To all is commended the strong presentation of the care of gas works surroundings, with the beneficial effects. not only upon our employees, but upon our neighbors, and of the relation of employer to the workman; both may be mutually benefited by an earnest effort to bring them closer together upon the plane of manhood and mutual helpfulness. Your Committee sub

mits the whole highly practical and interesting address to your careful personal study without further comment.

Respectfully submitted by the Committee.

MR. J. P. HARBISON:-I move that the Report of the Committee be approved and recorded in the minutes.

The motion was put by Vice-President Beal and carried.

THE PRESIDENT:-We have hardly time to take up a regular paper, and I will call for a short topic-the "Bagging of Live Gas Mains," which will be read by Mr. Walton Forstall. It was written by Mr. P. H. Gibbons of Philadelphia.

MR. WALTON FORSTALL (Philadelphia):-One of our street foremen, Mr. Gibbons, has designed a little instrument which he calls a "bag fork" for use in putting bags into a main, and we thought it might be useful to the Association to bring it before them and put it on record. I will read what he has written about it :

BAGGING LIVE GAS MAINS.

By P. H. GIBBONS.

"A complete and successful shut-off depends more upon the proper placing of the bag than upon the lung power of the person who inflates it. Upon the rapidity of the operation quite frequently depends the operator's capacity for labor during the balance of the day. If he makes three or four unsuccessful efforts to bag a main against strong pressure his companinons either pull him out of the trench, or he staggers out himself, weak-kneed and sick, a violent throbbing headache is his portion for the balance of the day, which makes it physically impossible for the poor fellow to render you little more than fifty per cent. of his labor efficiency.

"It has ever been to me, and perhaps to all of you, a deplorable sight to see workmen overcome with gas on crowded thoroughfares, where a gaping throng is sure to quickly gather, and they are never slow in expressing their sentiments of adverse criticism touching the 'carelessness of the foreman, the neglect of the company, and the vileness of the stuff they are selling for gas.'

"I have given the subject of bagging live gas mains some thought, and while I have accomplished little in the right direction, that little will perhaps arrest the attention of brighter minds,

with the result that this portion of main laying will be made pleasanter and safer for the workmen, and less expensive for the company.

"The mains most difficult to completely shut off are those that are filled with dry scales of naphthalene and rust. A rubber bag that is soft and pliable makes the best stopper for a main of this character, and it should be so placed as to get an even pressure at all points of contact. Old mains are frequently found to be very rough on the inside and have little barnacles of dried-up tar; some of which are porous, which add to the difficulty of bagging off. A rubber bag makes the best stopper for a main of this character.

"The rubber bag does not make a safe nor a reliable stopper for a main that is imperfectly drained, especially if the liquid contains oily matter. The oil dissolves the rubber and bursts the bag. A stopper or a canvas bag works better in a main of this character.

"After the main is cut, and the deposit drained off, a rubber bag can then be safely placed in the same hole with the stopper or the canvas bag.

"We have an established rule here to place two bags in each open end, so that if an accident happens to one bag, the other will take care of the gas.

"To rapidly and accurately place bags in live mains so that when inflated the axis of the sphere and main coincide, I have designed the City District Bag Fork.' When the bag is thrust through the bag hole, the prongs of the fork can be readily slipped over the bag stem, close up to the pole of the bag, a distance a little greater than one-half the diameter of the pipe, or just enough to allow for the angle formed by the bag with the bag hole. The bag is then carried forward into position and a luting of clay placed over the bag hole prevents further escape of gas while the bag is being inflated.

"I have used the fork daily on intersection work since the 26th of August. During that time I had to deal with mains from 2′′ to 30" and have not had a man to complain of headache caused from escaping gas. I find that any of my laborers can readily place a bag accurately with the fork.

"The fork is made of wire which gives the prongs greater flexi

BAG FORK (Half Size).

bility than could be obtained from solid material. It is simple of construction and offers no square or sharp edges to injure the bag.

"The fork accompanying this paper is made to readily pass through a 1" brass "Bag Saving Device" and will handle 3", 4", 6", 8", 10" and 12" rubber bags. The stems of canvas bags being larger and more cumbersome than those on rubber bags, they require a fork with wider space between the prongs.'

"On intersection work, we frequently find it both convenient and economical to drill one bag hole in the centre of the cross and make one bag shut off all the gas coming from three directions, but if necessary to use more than one bag, the fork enables us to place a separate bag at each branch while we are cutting and removing the iron and lead from the other.

"I always use a rubber bag for this purpose, one size larger than the cross to be bagged off, and put it straight down, holding the pole of the bag well up against the bag hole while it is being inflated. In this way I invariably make a complete shut-off. There is extreme danger, however, of puncturing the bag while cutting the old spigot out of the bell unless the bag is protected in some way.

"To shield the bag and give added security against accidents, I have designed the City District Bag Shield,' which consists of a piece of steel spring wire, shaped to snugly fit the main, a piece of oiled canvas being drawn over the ring. The ends of the wire are bent outward, so that they can be grasped with the thumb and forefinger; when it is desired to put it in position the ends are pressed toward and overlapping each other, which reduces the size of the ring and permits it to enter the pipe. By putting a light luting of soap around the edge, the shield not only protects the bag but the workman as well, since it will prevent all escape of gas that might pass the bag.

* EXPLANATION BY MR. WALTON FORSTALL: If you will imagine this fork going through a hole in the main, or already in it then my finger will represent the tube of the bag. The tube of the bag comes out through the prongs of the fork. I push this fork over the tube until the tube has reached a point in the fork which is slightly greater than the half diameter of the main. In other words, if it is a four inch main that we are bagging this tube will be gripped by the fork about 21⁄2 inches from the end of the fork. The tube is gripped by the fork just enough to hold it firm, but not enough to keep the air from going through the tube. Then when the bag is blown up you are bound to have the axis of the bag coincident with the axis of the main, because you have fixed the position of the tube, and there. fore of the bag, by the grip of the fork. The length of the prongs of the fork must always be something more than half the diameter of the main in which you want to use it.