Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1884-09-27
NATURAL GAS WELLS.
Their Wonderful beings at Pittsburs-
a City 80 be- Heated by e.as-Usc of
the Gas ian Dwellings and lianuiac-
tories.


the near future The natural gas lately dis
covered in this region in large quantities has
already taken the place of coal in many of the
rolling mills and blast furnaces and as soon as
pipes and appliance, are laid the whole city will
be supplied with the new sclt-propelling fuel
and can then vie in cleanliness and comeliness
with New York
The Gas issues from well generally OF 200
to 800 feet in depth. Being under pressure of
from 80 to 300 pounds to the square inch. it
comes Out with peculiar Kissing SQUAD. When
lighted a. il ISSUES from the We'll the Gas baZes
up in a vast column, burns with papitatinr
flame and gives forth Tumb!ing sound. The
cause of the papitatiOn is the irregular rush
Of air TO supply the combustion The same
thin" occurs when water is poured from an in
vcrtcd bottle. TO prevent this palpitation of
The gas flame. q serious inconvenience when
used as fuel. valves are placed III the pipes at
intervals and BREAK the fiuctuat!nr movement
The first Gas We'll Of any note in this re.rion
was discovered at Mugraysyle village about
twelve miles southwest Of Pittshurg. A com
rany of oil-sechers Were hnrin" for oil hut when
they had reached depth of 80 feet they struck
q VEN oil natural GAS So stfOnE that further one
rations were stopped The well was abandoned
The Ga> that came ont instead Of oil was re-
carried by the oil-ScekcTS as Il bad omen being
in reality the mUch-tireatled coal damp OF the
coal mines. In a short time the gas bean to Ill
1"ct the air, and being in its natural state
heavier than atmospheric air. brOoded like MAS
ma over all the country round. and the GOOD
people Of the neightOrhOOd were cr"dul1us
enough to believe that the end of the wCrld was
near at hand. But before their appfehenSions
We're realized company was formed in Pitts
burg for making carbOn-!amp fthe gas Soon
the derrick over the well. nov rickcty and
weather-heaten. became black and 4r.my But
before much CarbOH-lamp. or lamp-black hal
been made. the derrick and buildings We're
burned to tie ground Seeing that nothing
could be done with the gaS in that way it was
lighted ~ Keep II from c>caIia. to the annoy
ance aud possible injury ot the people
OF the rei4lH0rhCGd. In the meantime how
ever. successful experiments had been made in
using the natural gas fuel at smaller wells
aad company was formed tor the purpose OF
conveying the raS from MuIra! syille in pipes TO
the manufacturing establishments in Pitteburn
dispute arose between tn" company and those
who had Temporary possession of the well and
about one year ago q riot took place at Muir
raysvili1 IN which one man. Haymakcr, was
Killed hY q bayouct. Those who held possession
were armed viii. rick handles and Their antar-
O1i~ts with grJ.uS The SLAYER OF IiayMaker was
tired for lis crime and found guilty Of murder |
III tine second degree at the August term Of the |
Allegheny county court. SO great was the pop !
u!ar indignation in Westnoreand county the |
scene of the tragedy. that to insure justice |
change of venue had to be obtained
Meanwhile the company went on LAYING pines |
and was already supplying ruel to several large |
mills when another company and then another |
the new fuel fabuoUsly cheap. but the comnct- |
ing companies saw what the issue would be and !
united Large coal consumers in the CITY then |
saw that their only way of obtaining Cheaper |
fuel was TO bore wells of their own. 4 number |
of wells were begun, but the first LARGE we'll |
was struck by George Westinghouse. inventor |
of the aT-brake at Homework inside the city |
limits. Soon after several other good wells |
were struck near by. but not so large as the /
WESTINGHOUSE well. This well nav be taken as /
a
hal's. as the MuTraysyile well. To visitors en- |
ternG PlttShur@ at night from the north or (
south, the flames of blast furnaces the glare OF I
molten iron in the roIling-miIls the hurrvinm !
about OF brawny armed and sparely clad men in |
the lurid light. the clinking OF hammers, the |
signing OF furnaces. the rumble of MA !
chin"ry. the shouting OF workmen all |
eonspire to suggest most wildly real |
Eatioa OF Dantes III Inferno But in a
few Years this pillar of cloud by Gav and fire bv !
night will be dissolved. A similar spectacle. |
can now be seen as one enters PiitSburr from I
the east 1t is the glare of the gas-well, \ red
glow can be seen reflected on the skies for miles /
and miles. The Westinghouse well lights M all I,
the Hei@hbOrhOOd. and the shady halInts If
Homewood. so long the fayorite resort of mid !
sumlher-night strollers, have been deserted this !
summer for the first time. The gas is conduct !
eH from the mouth of the we'll up into the air |
about eighty feet. where it is lighted and the |
flame leaps up into the air from seventy to stv-
enty-1iye feet The rumble Of the gas escaping |
can be heard for a considerable distance and /
might easily be mistaken for the roar of a wa
teraH or the roll OF heavy freight train. MANY |
OF those living near the well could not sleep at .
night on account of the noise. A noticeable rise |
1.-THE temperature was observed due to the heat |
from the well Plant life suffered and after a |
few weeks the lighting of the well at night was
discontinued.
The best proposals of the natural-gas COM
panies so far have been to furnish gas as fuel |
for the same price that tie coal cost heretofore |
No definite rate has been determined upon |
however and the only saving then will be in !
the cost OF handling the coal. ashes and cnders |
But the convenience. cleanliness and adapta-
billty of the gas to certain kinds of manufacture
notably glass manufacture. will be the chief !
gain. Imagine q rolling mill wnitewashed in
side and outside. Such a thing actually exists |
IN PittSburE. One great advantage of the gas
IN manufacturing is the regularity with which |
the heat can be supplied BY simply turning a
valve. like the throttle-valve of q locomotive
the degree of heat can be regulated One dan
ger beSets the use of gas as fuel-its explosive
ness The high pressure of $50 pounds to the
square inch makes it impossible to confine the
gas in any ordinary gas pipe. The gas must
necessarily escape at the crevices and joints.
Being OdOrless its presence cannot be de-
tectea. and when mixed with atmospheric
air in certain proportions it eXplodes very
easily. To prevent this however. an apparatus
has been devised to relieve the pressure, which
has proved in every way successful The
IN the dwelling houses. Cooking. once an
onerous task, becomes pleasant pastime By
turning valve the gas enters an apparatus sim
liar TO the gaS-StOyeS used in oyster saloons
and IN few minutes a meal can be cooked No |
dirt no smoke, no rutled temper no kinGlino
OF fires in the morning. A burglar whistle has
also been made TO operate by means of natural |
gas. the shrek OF which is even more terrible
than that of the sCeam-whistle For heating
dwellings the gas has been found better than
either heated air or steam. The tcmpcrature
can be kept eGuable and is naturally dry In
some OF the houses at PttsbErg flowers bloom
and plants grow in the gas-hcatcd atmosphere
all winter long. The ivy especially does well.
A stranger to this mode OF heating on entering
the house would see what seemed to be an old
fashioned fire blazing on the earth. But a closer
inspection would discover that the apparent
logs were nothing but pottery limitations
and the blazing fire the burning of ma
turaI gas. Many curious designs for CRATES have
been cOntrived since theintroduction OF this new
fuel- Sometimes the CRATE is filled with bean
OF Dricks or stones. loosely thrown together.
Inc only danger that threatens the new in
dustry Is the likelihood that too MANY wells
Will be drilled and so much Gas allo, ed to po
10 waste that the supply will be in a short time
exhausted. but the cost of putting down a we'll
Is aoout 5000. and the gas can be supplied
much cheaper by companies. In Fredonia n.
L., East Liverpool, Ohio, and other places
where natural gas las been used tor wears
there is no indication that the supply ia likely
to fail soon There is no doubt that PlttsburS