The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1885-10-17
oTf Jbitooaux 5rntincl
EkEf @tNt - .
OCT. Ii, 1885,
THE A AGE.

a8r "-. Nr rEMALl Lh
The stone age disappeared in prc-his
toric times (; the age IF bronze. and
then that of iron. came and went. 1t
looks rs though iu the near future the
age of coal and the age of steam will
have run their time, and then viii
come the age Of steel, Of liquid fuel. o
electric tightening and of gas made by
man or brought from the vast laboratu
ry of nature. 't3J
In the letter of A. IS. c., which we
published a few days ago, was a refer
eDce to the great change in the appear
ance of Pittsbnrg. Instead ola dense
cloud OF black smoke rising out OF the
city is 4 beautiful white cloud like
smoke. The natural gas phenomenon
10 MYSTERY on u grand scale, The
question which is now puzzling scien
fists is, will the supply be renewed in
natures vast laboratory, or is the SUI
ply inexhaustible ? The evidence tends
to show that the supply is without lin
it. and that from some hidden source
there is al ever-lecurring supply. AT
many points far apart in Virginia.
Pennsylvania andkentucky natural out
flows of gas have been burning since
white men iii st knew the country, with
no p%erceptible diminutiou, like the bur
ming springs OF Virginia, discovered by
Washington in. his survey. and which,
after a lapse of $50 years, has increased
rather than di minished. The jets of
fame along the the Caspian have been
giving out light aud heat since history
first made a record on the plains of
Central Asia.
chemical warehouse of nature the pro
cess of manufacture and renewal is con
stantIy going on, and that the supply
is as exhaustless as nature herself. The
rapid and almost universal substitu-
ton of natural gas as fuel in the place
of coal.in all the vast manufacturing re
gious, Of which Pittsbnrg is the center,
proses its value as a fuel. The par
ties who have used it there say they
would use i: at a reasOnble price in
preference to coal if coal were furnish
ed free of cost. Those who have had
the most experience give as reasons
for tlos preferripg the natural gas that
is lie pure and. clean it makes no cin-
ders which are costly to repove ; it re
quires far less labor in handling it is
free from impurities and of unvaryiug
qualities, 80 that a far better quality
Of product a be secured, and it does
burn out or destroy the furnaces
in which it is used. The Pittsbu,g
manufacturers claim that all the lead
ing mills and furnaces must come to
the region of the gas wells or be forced
out of the trade.
The Cincinnati workers are admit.
ting this, and are preparing to pipe the
gas from the hills of the TUG
Fork region on the Kentucky and
Virginia border, $50 miles. at aacost of
between three and four million dollars.
to supply the works along the river be
tween lronton and Cincinnati. Two
OF the best gas wells aver discovered
have been opened in this region. One
OF them has been pouring Out ana vast
ing for years q quantity equal to the
daily consumption Of 10000 bushels of
coal. All the practical difficulties
of such a line have been already solved
at Pittsbnrg, and its completion will
probably be long delayed. Nashville
with her young and rapidly increasing
manufactures of all kinds, is deeply in
terested in these matters. 1t is proba
BILE that the oil regions Of Overton,
Putnam, Fentress and other counties
along the upper Cumberland will find
veins of natural gas to supply Nash
willie with the fuel of the future, and
the one that will be necessary to pro-
duce a great manufacturing center
Nashville Union.