Sunbury American and Shamokin journal. [volume] (Sunbury, Northumberland Co., Pa.) 1840-1848, 1845-06-07
Natural Gas.

publican for the following interesting notice Of
the wonderful natural gas fountains which a
bound in that valley. and are now turned so ad.
vantageously to account in the manufacture of
salt:
"Three years ago, William Tbompkins, Esq,
first obtained a steady and permanent stream
of gas, of sufficient power, not only to force the
water up from the depth Of thousand feet into
the gum, but to carry it into the reservoir ele.
vated many feet above the bank nf the river.
This saved the expense of the pump, which is
operated by steam engine. In short time
the though, occurred to his practical mind ,ha,
this gas, which as yet, after having brought up
the water ready for use, was only wasting its
fragrance on the desert air. or by its brilliant
light of Illuminating the works and the neigh.
borhood by night, attracting the gaze and won.
der of the traveller, could be turned to a still
more useful purpose. He erec,s over the re.
servolr or cistern gasometer which is sim.
ply hogshead upright, into the lower end of
which Is inserted the pipe which conveys the
water and the gas from the well, the water run.
ming out through hce in the lower end, and
IN the top is inserted pipe that conveys the
gas to the mouth of the furnace. Then it is
ignit d, and makes dense and intensely heat.
ed fame along the whole furnace under the
row Of kettles 100 feet long by 6 deep and A
wide. This saved the expense of digging and
huu ing coal.
subsequently, Mes,rs. War,h and English
whose works are on the opposite side of the ri.
yer from the one above spoken of obtained
similar stream of gas, which has been us-d suc.
| cessiuIly in the same way; and more recently
MIR Dryden Donnally, Mr.. Charles Reynolds,
and some Few others, had a partial supply of gas
10 operate their furnaces in the same way
But the most remarkable phenomenon in the
way Of natural gas here. aud we hive no duub
IN the whole world. is that at the works of
Ncssrs Dickinson and Shrewsbury, which has
been exhibited for nearly two months past. In
This well the gas was reached Rt the depth ot
1000 feet. What the upward pressure of The
gas to the square inch is, through the aperture,
which is three inches in diameter, We are una
bic to tell, and perhaps it would be impossible
TO ascertain. 1t has never had tree and un.
distracted vent. There is now at the bottom
o. the well an iron sinker, long piece of
round iron nearly filing The aperture: on this
are GOO pounds of iron, and about 300 feet of
nugnr pole. used in boring, in pieces of ten and
twenty feet in length, with heavy iron ierues
on the end, screwed into each other.
( Notwithstanding all this obstruction, a stream
of water and gas issues up through copper
tube 3 inches in diameter inserted into the
well to the depth of 500 feet. with the noise
and force of steam generated by the boilers OF
the largest class of STEAMBOATS,. It is computed
that a sufficient quantity of gas comes from this
well to fl in five minutes reservoir large c.
nough to light the city of New York twelve
hours. When we reflect that this stream OF
gas has, undated. flowed up for nearly two
months what must be thought of the quantity
and facility ofmanuiaclurng it below In the
springs hard by, and in the other wells, (wi,l
perhaps the exception of that OF one or two o.
'hers) there appears to be no diminuion in the
quantity at any place where it has heretofore
been known TO exist"