Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1883-08-02
MORE THAN EVER
Do the Gas Trustees Believe Ia
Natural Gas
After Their Visit to and Test Of the Gas
at welIsburg-Supt. 0illOn's Analysis
Of and Experiments With
Natural Gas.

GULLY ddV5o - N1S
that Supt Dillon and the Gas Trustees, to
add to their stock Of information by some
practical tests, would &C to Wellsburg and
experiment with the natural gas there.
This visit was made, yesterday, and last
night, hnding these officials grouped to-
gether after their return, a REGISTER re-
porter asked for the result Of the expert
ments. All Of the gentlemen were pleased
and surprised and are now more than ever
confident they can make a big thing here,
on. Of natural gas, if they can strike it.
The visit" said supt. Dillon, was emf
ntntly satisfactory in every way. The gas
We found to be clean and good. There Is
too much hydrogen in it for perfect illumi-
mating purposes, but the addition Of a little
carbon worked wonders. First Of all, We
inspected the natural gas, as it worked I'M
der q range in the Granite House. The
heat is good and sufficient and did its work
in the most satisfactory way, showing its
adaptability for heating purposes
How is it as an illuminator??'
The candle power is below ours, very
much. They say up there it is about nine
candle power-ours is about II. But the
addition of a little carbon soon remedied
that | took up with me a little machine
of my own that made q thorough test
We went into q dark cellar and used q
branch of pipe that had two jets. On one,
we burned the natural gas and the other |
connected with my machine and enriched
il with carbon. The result was wonderful
and the light shot up to three times as
bright as before. Yes, it is a good clean gas
and has a wonderful flow. They say il got
a little salt, from the salt water, but that
could be taken out. By casing down below
the salt, il could be entirely shut of. How
ever, if We struck salt water, it could eaily
be removed before the gas went into the
works
Does the salt affect the light
Not particularly, bat il aud other for.
eign Ingredients might affect our metres,Iif
passed through them. That is a minor
consideration, however. At Brilliant they
got no salt water, and we might not, though
they get il at the Central glass works WE'LL
MIR. Dillon, after YOU visit TO Wells
burg, are you encouraged to proceed 10
drill here, or the reverse
Very much encouraged. Investigation
and additional information only increase
the value of the experiment.
Suppose, now, that you struck a How OF
gas equal in quantity and quality TO that
at NflloDAAE X NhoN VA ~
What could we not do, would be bet
ter he replied, and as Mr.. Dillon is a con.
serya.ive man, this meant "A good deal.
We could supply a splendid gas at a very
low figure. For instance, We could take
half OF that flow and use it with other,
making a saving OF one-halt. We might
get shale from the kanawha Valley, which
gives 81 candle power, and use more than ha
Of the natural gas. See how that wou! d
cheaper b cost of making gas
what would you do with the other
half?'
Use it in place of coke. We use now
5000 worth OF coke annually and that
would be saved. Then We would run a
pipe to the water works and supply them
with gas. Why, sir, if natural gas were to
be used for city purposes alone, see what a
saving it would MAKE. | understood they
use 5000 worth OF coal a month at the
water works. All that would be saved, be-
sides $1,000 at the gas works, making a
saving of $4,000 to the city, without run.
ming a foot OF it into the general service
How about the gas for general pur-
poseS?'
The practical use Of natura. gas about
the city will depend upon many cirCum
stances connected with the gas itself. Let
us get il first and see what il i, and then
decide what use it may be put to. Rest as.
sured Of one thing, however, n that is
that il will be a big thing at the very
worst. We can certainly make a use of it
that will pay ten times over. think, to
use it for both heating and Illuminating
purposes, in private houses, the service
pipe must be enlarged. The pipes for
kitchens are generally little =, pipe, for
one or maybe two burners, and most of it
is old. New and larger pipe must come.
But that is a matter for the future
The Trustees and Superintendent are NOT
only pleased but elated over their visit to
WellSburg, and speak most hopefully Of
Wheeling's future as connected with nat
nral gas.