Rich Hill Gas Works Part 2

This is part 2 of Rich Hill Gas works Part 1 can be seen here at Rich Hill Gas part 1

From
History of Rich Hill, Missouri From: History of Bates County, Missouri
By: W. O. Atkeson
Historical Publishing Company
Topeka - Cleveland 1918

The development and utilization of natural gas had been made a success, temporarily, at least, at Ft. Scott, and Colonel Irish conceived the idea of prospecting for natural gas in the interest of Rich Hill as it was known to exist in many of the deeper wells in Howard and New Home townships and had been troublesome in the entries in the different mining shafts west of the city; and he set about to secure a franchise for furnishing Rich Hill with natural gas and ultimately secured a very liberal franchise, with the privilege of putting in an artificial gas plant; and failed to find, after prospecting, a sufficient amount and requisite pressure of the natural gas to be successfully utilized. He did the prospecting west of the city and penetrated the gas strata but the pressure was not sufficiently strong to be of use for the. purposes required. Thereupon he installed an artificial gas plant, costing thirty thousand dollars and operated the same for several years, purchasing in the meantime the electric light plant. A few years later when on a business trip to St. Louis he met the Garrisons and learned they desired to sell their water plant at Rich Hill and figuring out that the three plants could be operated together to advantage and with economy, he negotiated for the purchase of the water works plant at a cost of seventy five thousand dollars, and consolidated the three companies under the name of the Rich Hills Water, Light and Fuel Company and as president and general manager of the company, operated them successfully for three or four years when he had a vision of Rich Hill's decline and sold and transferred all but a few shares of the stock to a St. Louis syndicate of capitalists and resigned as president and general manager. Several years after this the city of Rich Hill acquired all the interests of the company.

                              This is from the American Gas Light Journal, Volume 53 July 14 1890