This section is from the book "Mechanics Of The Household", by E. S. Keene. Also available from Amazon: Mechanics Of The Household.
Gasoline lamps for outside illumination may be constructed to operate with any of the systems described, but the hollow-wire and the generator systems are most conveniently used, because each post may be arranged as an independent plant. For illuminating private grounds or public thoroughfares, lamps such as are illustrated in Figs. 200 and 201 are very generally used.
The lamp shown in Fig. 200 is of the central generator type in which the storage tank and generator mechanism are located in the base of the post. These lamps are also sometimes constructed with a time attachment in the base of the post, arranged with a clock mechanism so that the light may be automatically extinguished at any desired time.
In Fig. 201 the lamp is of the hollow-wire type and as in the case of the other, the supply tank is in the base of the post. With this system it would be possible to supply several lamps from a common supply tank, provided the hollow wire was protected against damage. The lamps arranged to work on either system, require the same amount of attention and are subject to the same derangements as those for inside service.

Fig. 200. - Boulevard lamp with generator in the base of the lamp post.

Fig. 201. - Boulevard lamp operated by the hollow-wire method of lighting.
Burners for gasoline stoves are made in a great variety of forms, each having some special points of excellence that are used to recommend the sale of the stove. The most essential feature of a gasoline stove is the burner, since on its successful performance will depend the satisfaction given by the stove. Many self-generating burners have been devised which have met with a great deal of favor, but the type of burner most widely used and the first to be devised for the purpose is the generating burner similar in principle to the generating gasoline lamp. The burner is first heated from an outside source, in order to generate sufficient gas to start the flame, after which the heat from the burner will develop the gas supply. With gasoline stoves of this kind, the supply tank is elevated, in order that the force of gravity may give sufficient pressure to send the gasoline into the generator while the flame is burning. In the hollow-wire system the same type of burner is used, but the gasoline is forced into the burner by the pressure in the tank.
In Fig. 202 is shown a sectional view of the burner as it appears in the stove. The supply tank, or hollow wire from the pressure tank, sends the gasoline into the tube A at the bottom of the stove, to which several burners may be attached. The tube B, through which the gasoline percolates on its way to the generator, is filled with moderately coarse sand, or other material that is intended to prevent the gasoline from being forced out of the pipe by the pressure that is developed in the generator. The pieces C-C are perforated metal plugs that prevent the escape of the particles of which B is composed.

Fig. 202. - Sectional view of the generator and burner of a gasoline stove.
The generator is a brass casting D-D which is firmly screwed to the top of the tube B. A needle-valve E governs the discharge of the gasoline vapor at G, where the vapor enters the tube H, as indicated at K-K. The gasoline vapor enters the open Bunsen tube H, and with it is carried the air necessary to produce the required gas for complete combustion. The piece N is the generating cup in which is burned the generating fluid - either gasoline or alcohol. The gasoline from the pipe A percolates through the material in B and flows into the generator. The needle-valve being closed, the space D-D fills with gasoline.
To light the burner, the hand-wheel J is turned, opening the needle-valve a sufficient length of time to allow the gasoline to fill the cup N with fuel for generating the initial volume of vapor. A still better way is to fill the cup with alcohol, because the burning alcohol does not fill the air with smoke and odors, as in the case of gasoline, when used for generating purposes. The generating material having been ignited and burned out, the generator is hot and filled with vapor. The heated generator vaporizes a portion of the contained gasoline and forms sufficient pressure to force the remaining gasoline back through B into the supply tank. The material of the tube B permits only a slow movement of the gasoline and prevents the possibility of surging in the generator.
The initial supply of vapor being generated, the needle-valve may be opened and the gas lighted above the burner I-I, where it should burn in little jets at each opening with the characteristic Bunsen flame. It sometimes happens that the generator is not heated sufficiently, by the generating flame, to vaporize the necessary gasoline for starting the burner; in this case liquid gasoline will be forced from the opening G, and the burner will flare up intermittently in a red smoky flame. When this occurs the burners must be regenerated.
 
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