The first operation is to take up the roadway in front of the house, in order to connect the pipe which is to convey the gas to the meter with that which conducts it from the works to the different streets of the neighbourhood. For this purpose the _spade_ and _crowbar_ are necessary, while sometimes the pickaxe also has to be used; and the _rammer_ serves to beat the earth down more closely after the pipe is laid. [Illustration: Brick Bit. Brick Auger.] The pipe which is joined to the larger pipe, or _main_, is generally of iron, and is made with a screw and socket, that it may not be easily displaced by the pressure of the roadway or footpath, and this, passing into the basement of the house, supplies the gas to the _meter_. The meter is a mechanical contrivance, which is so constructed that the quantity of gas passing through it is registered by a plate something like a clock face, with a hand to point to the figures which represent the number of cubic feet consumed. There are different kinds of meters, and the construction of them varies very considerably, but they all answer this purpose: so that when the inspector visits the house once a quarter he may directly see what quantity is to be charged for. The pipe leading from the meter is fitted with a strong tap, by turning which, all the gas may be shut off from the tubes that convey it to the different burners in the house, and from this pipe the smaller pipes (made of a sort of solder or of lead) are taken to the various rooms. In order to carry the tubes through a wall, it is necessary to use the _brick bit_ and the _brick auger_ for boring a hole to receive it, while to support it against a wall or along the top of a ceiling the Gasfitter uses _wall hooks_, the _hammer_ and the _tongs_ for holding and bending the pipe to its proper direction. In kitchens and basement rooms the pipe is generally carried from the meter up the wall and along the ceiling to the place where the burner is to be fixed: but in upper rooms the pipe is taken up the house wall, and carried under the flooring of the room above to the centre of the middle joist, where a hole is bored quite through the ceiling of the room below. For this purpose the _twisted auger_ is generally used; and for the preliminary work of taking up the floor and cutting a groove in the joist to receive the pipe, that it may not be injured by the pressure of the boards above, the _saw_ and the _hammer_ are required. [Illustration: Wall Hooks. Nuts. Grease Pot. Hammer.] [Illustration: Twisted Auger. Saw. Blowpipe. Tongs.] [Illustration: Waxed Rushes. Rasp.]