The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1885-10-22
The Gas Age.

The steue age disappeared in pre-
historic times; the age of bronze
and then that Of iron, came anG
went. 1t looks as though in the
near future the age Of coal ano
the age Of steam viii have run Their
time, and then will come the age oi
steel, of liquid fluid, of electric
lighting and of gas made by man OF
brought from the vast laboratory oi
nature.
In the letter of A. 5. c., which
we published few days ago, was q
reference 30 the great change in the
appearance of Pittsburg. Instead
of a dense cloud OF black smoke
rising out OF the city is a beautiful
white cloud like smoke. The ma
tursl gas phenomenon is a mystery
on a grand scale. The question
which is now puzzling scientists is,
will the supply be renewed in IA
ture's vast laboratory, or is the
supply ineXlaustihle? The evi-
dence tends to show that the sup
ply is without limit and that from
some hidden source there is an ever
recurring supply. At many points
far apart in Virginia, Pennsylvania
and Kentucky natural outhows of
gas have been burning since white
men first knew the country, with no
perceptible diminution, like the
burning springs of Virginia, dis
covered by Washington in his sur
vey, and which, after a lapse of $50
years, has increased rather than
diminished. The jets of fame
along the Caspian have been giving
out light and heat since history
first made a record on the plains Of
Central Asia.
All this goes to show that in the
chemical warehouse of nature the
process of manufacture and renew
al is constantly going on, and that
the supply is as exhaustless as ma
ture herself. The rapid and almost
universal substitution of natural
gas as fuel in the place of coal, in
all the vast manufacturing regions,
of which Pitisburg is the center,
proves its value as fuel. The par
ties who have used it there say they
would use it at a reasonable price
in preference to coal if coal were
furnished free of cost. Those who
have had the most experience give
as reasons for thus preferring the
natural gas that it is pure and
clean; it makes no cinders which
are costly to remove; it requires far
less labor in handling; it is free
from impurities and of unvaIying
qualities, so that a far better quail
ty of product can he secured, and it
does not burn out or destroy the
furnaces in which it is used. The
leading mills and furnaces must
come to the region of the gas wells
or be forced out of the trade.
The Cincinnati workers are adj
mitting this, and are preparing to
pipe the gas from the hills of the
Tug Fork region on the Kentucky
and Virginia border, 130 miles, at a
cost of between three and four mil
lion dollars, to supply the works
along the river between Ironton
and Cincinnati. Two of the best
gas wells ever discovered have been
opened in this region. One of
them has been pouring out and
wasting for years a quantity equal
to the daily consumption OF 10000
bushels of coal. All the practical
difficulties of such line have been
solved at Pittsbur9 and its
completion will probably not be
lorg delayed. Nashville, with her
young and rapidly increasing man
of all kinds, is deeply in
terested ia these matters. 1t is
probable that the oil regions of