" Among the pioneers
was Le Bon in France, Becher in Munich, and Winzler or Winsor, a German
who was attracted to the possibilities of gas-lighting by an exhibition
which Le Bon gave in Paris in 1802. Winsor learned that Le Bon had been
granted a patent in Paris in 1799 for making an illuminating gas from
wood and tried to obtain the rights for Germany. Being unsuccessful in
this, he set about to learn the secrets of Le Bon's process, which he
did, perhaps largely owing to an accumulation of information directly
from the inventor during the negotiations. Winsor then turned to England
as a fertile field for the exploitation of gas-lighting and after
conducting experiments in London for some time he made plans to organize
the National Heat and Light Co.

Winsor was primarily a promoter, with little or no technical knowledge;
for in his claims and advertisements he disregarded facts with a
facility possessed only by the ignorant. He boasted of his inventions
and discoveries in the most hyperbolical language, which was bound to
provoke a controversy. Nevertheless, he was clever and in 1803 he
publicly exhibited his plan of lighting by means of coal-gas at the
Lyceum Theatre in London. He gave lectures accompanied by interesting
and instructive experiments and in this manner attracted the public to
his exhibition. All this time he was promoting his company, but his
promoting instinct caused his representations to be extravagant and
deceptive, which exposed him to the ridicule and suspicion of learned
men. His attempt to obtain certain exclusive rights by Act of Parliament
failed because of opposition of scientific men toward his claims and of
the stand which Murdock justly made in self-protection. These years of
controversy yield entertaining literature for those who choose to read
it, but unfortunately space does not permit dwelling upon it. The
investigations by committees of Parliament also afford amusing
side-lights. Throughout all this Murdock appeared modest and
conservative and had the support of reputable scientific men, but Winsor
maintained extravagant claims.

During one of these investigations Sir Humphrey Davy was examined by a
committee from the House of Commons in 1809. He refuted Winsor's claims
for a superior coke as a by-product and stated that the production of
gas by the distillation of coal had been well known for thirty or forty
years and the production of tar as long. He stated that it was the
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