There was one in Claremont, one on Sheep-Davis Road, one in White River Junction. Whenever there was welding to be done on the homestead in Santa Clara, we would get our gas tanks from Merriam Graves. When I was a midwife, I would ford the Merrimack River on my pony to get my oxygen tanks from Merriam Graves. Well, today at work the delivery lady was wearing a new uniform. Did it say the names of her company's founders? Did it seem to have any connection to place or history? No. The uniform she wore was printed with the bristly and awkward non-word "AirGas". Air-Gas?
"What happened to Merriam Graves?" I asked. "We were bought out," she replied. "Is "AirGas" a big company?" "Yes. Its Youge. They're all over the country, nationwide, you know. In fact, I don't even know where they are from...its...regional. They have all kinds of regional offices."