The network workers that worked on the street were technicians who were responsible for the maintenance and good operation of the distribution network. The coal gas was particularly malodorous due to the hydrogen sulfide it contained. This bad smell helped the technicians trace any possible leak and restore it. Up until 1920, the distribution network occupied the lamplighters: these were workers (sometimes students or pupils) who lit the street lamps every night with a burning wad of cloth that was tied on a stick. The lamplighters were also known as gasmen.