Show early gas lighting was regarded as ridiculous when gas lighting first appeared at about the e end nd of the eighteenth century it was considered by all persons with sound common sense to be taken seriously only ahen the practice appeared to be gaining ground did an out raged public arise against it it is one of the instances of the essential conservatism of the public mind to ward revolutionary inventions cited in a report on technological trends of the national resources commit tee there is a madman proposing to light the streets of london with smoke wrote sir walter scott lord byron thought the idea was very ludicrous such an eminent man of science as sir humphrey davy laughed at it and considered enose who proposed it as harmless lunatics une grande folie I 1 said the great napoleon when somebody proposed gas lighting for pans paris one outstanding objection was that gas tanks would not be picturesque london succumbed in 1810 pans paris held out until 1818 berlin only sub to a gas plant in 1826 after tremendous opposition some of the gas lamps exploded the day they were installed on unter den linden and all germans with sound common sense fet felt that their long fight had been vindicated |