Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1885-11-13
on sUMDAYS
PENNSYLVANIA GAS WELLS.
Some Interesting Information About
Their Workings.
~


81 am swart with the soot of my chin
news" wrote Mr.. Richard Reah in 1867, IN
his Hymn of Pittsburg" But the reyolu'
ton wrought since that time by natural gas
affects everything, from poetry to SCOT,
and the more definitely the facts Of this
revolution are made plain, the more roman
nc does the story Of the utilization OF this
extraordinary new economic agent become
Already men who are not Missionaries are
making plans to supply sll the large East
ern cities either with an illuminant made
OF natural gas or with water gas, which
thew think, By reason OF its ehespness, but
ike ise Of other qualities that are not
less desirable in fuel, natural gas seems
likely to make western Pennsylvania
the home Of such extensive manu-
factories, and 60 many Of them, that its
present prodigious industries vii! BY com,
parison appear Insignificant. 1t las even
put bigger dreams in mems minds than
the discovery OF oil did. Already the
Philadelphia company has 100000 IN
vested in gas wells and pipe lines. There
are other companies Of no uncomfortable
Importance, and new ones are organizing.
Six hundred miles of pipe have been laid,
preparations are making to supply 10000
more dwellings than nov use II, and the
daily consumption is already equal to TO-
600 tons ofeoal. Yet 80 cheap is it, it is
not measured in Pittsburg with any effort
TO be exact, manufacturers paying for it,
not BY any measure OF the quantity used, but
by the amount of their manufactured pro-
duct, and honsekespsrs, not BY meter, but
per house, Yet within piping distance
Of Pittsburg it is estimated that 10000, 900
cubic feet. which as fuel is equal to 10000
bushels Of coal, goes to waste every day.
A gas well is bored in the same way as
An oil well. At q depth of about l 800
feet the "deDosiI" of gas is struck, and as
soon as it inds relief it shoots up with
sueh force as to project the drill into the
air and TO throw up great cloud OF sand.
Then cones the gas itself, with o roaring
sound which, if the pressure be great, can
be heard for miles. The mains attached
70 the outlet convey it to Pittsburg and
Allegheny City. The friction Of the gas
sous fluids such IS to have required mum.
Der OF ingenious devices to regulate its con-
yeyance. There are stations" on the pipe
lines where waste pipes are inserted, and
the how is kept under control. AT places
of consumption, too, there are waste pipes
where the surplus gas burns day and night
and does incidental service as an "illumin
ator." The mains are Of wrought iron
and are from ten to sixteen inches
in diameter. The present consumption Ii
he product Of about fifty wells. The price
Maid H. It in Allegheny City 10 ten cents
per | coo feet. II costs about 500 ytsl
70 heat q dwelling of ten rooms and 1t ID
estimated that every housekeeper saves
500 a wear BY its use, which was formerly
spent in the more frequent cleansing and
PAINTING that the use of coal made nsoes
sarv, n this calculation be correct, gas
hiss made heat free in every eleanly house
hold. The price in the town OF CLARION
for domestic use is for g cook stove PEI
annum S26 &C; for Q cook stove and
heating stove, $40; and for cook stove
and Eve heating stoves, 1866. lhe saw
inc IN the cost of fuel for manufacturing
purpossa is reckoned at from thirty to hfEJ
per cent.
The pressure "a reduced in transmission
At the rate of about seven pounds per mile,
40 that pressure Of eco pounds at g well
ceases to exert itself at distance OF thirty
miles, and it takes twenty, i've cubic tact OF
natural gas to weigh pound. These fscts
have an important bearing, OF ccurSe, on
the possibility of conveying this fuel q
greater distance than thirty or forty mixes.
This seems 10 make all plans to carry 1t TO
the Atlantic coast cities imprsctcable.
Bat ice conveyance IS well as its utilization
is vet in the experimental stage, and ex
oeriments are continually mGde BY persons
Who hope to illuminate philadelphia and
New York from these gas wells. kT. West
ing house has habit Of entertaining ni'
/ friends with experiments in regulating the
pressure OF hiS well, known a. odd Mum
Der One" He shuta Of the gas tor bEis
period and then releases it. when It 8 oot'
up in volcanic fame, and WITH NOISE
! that arouses ell his neigbborR
The fear that the supply may be ek
hsuatad has suggested to the companies
that own the pipe lines the practlcsbihty o
manufacturing 6 gas fuel IN case the nov
Of the wells should oesse. The refuse cos
at the mines could be manufactured into
fuel gas ct g cost Of not mora thSn tel
cents per 1000 feet. Crude petroleum Cal
be converted into gas for fuel st On eVel
Iszs cost than this; and the owners OF tn
wells have made or purchased invention
for substituting an artificial product TO
this natural feel in case the wells shoal'
tail. Their exseHiHents, and the study o
tAs subject that their experiments have ie'
/ to, have suggested the several deyisss TO
making Of natural gas a satisfactory inu
mInant. and also for making water gas.
tie sabterrsnean supply should be ez
hsasted the Western PennsylvSnis2s hsy
20 fear thstthSy viii be obliged to return &
their sOoty and smoky estate OF forme
yeS<s, and nature may give them hin
which will save half the present cost Q
fuel in much wider territory. When I
economy in fuel is added q benefit of n
less importance, namely, The making
better iron and steel sni glass and oths
Manufactured articles than can be mad
with coal, and that new advantages COZ
ti8us to be discovered, it becomes plai
hos this new nstursl agent has power ais
20 Shaulste the insg;nAiioa-
And it has suggested the possibility Of
tragedy that Vo1ii pat the destruction {
POmpsii 10 shame, What, it Is asked,