Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1885-10-01
MUTUAL GAS USED AS FUEL.
1t Has Made Wonderful Strides in the
Oil RegiOns-Many Factories and
Whole villages Depend ON 1t En-.
as Fuel,

as EUeIs
A correspondent of the New York
York Sun in writing from Bradford,
Pa, regarding natural gas as fuel,
says: Until an ingenious oil producer
utilized natural gas as substitute for
coal and wood, IN making steam for
his engine, its commercial value as
cheap and desirable fuel was compar>
atively unknown. But since then
Bradford, Oil City, and other oil-re-
gion towns have profited by the oil
mans discovery, and gas has been in
troducd generally. Natural gas, fresh
from natures reservoir, now heats
our stores, hotels, dwellings, manu-
factories and churches; cooks our food,
lights our streets and runs mHltitudes
of engines in all purts of the region.
Families who use gas for heating
and lighting do not quarrel as to who
shall get up in the chilly morning
and build the fire. Generally in cold
weather the gas is nearly all turned
off when bedtime comes. In the
morning the husband Or wife hops
out of bed, gives the valve a turn or
two, and returns to bed. Instantly
the gas jumps into a blaze and the
room is warmed almost ia jiffy.
If the fire is allowed to go out at
night the process of starting it up in
the morning or at any hour is simple.
A piece Of blazing paper is thrust into
the stove. and the valve is turned, and
in fe W moments the fire is throwing
out glowing and cheerful warmth.
Ii the pressure is turned on full head.
and there are not too many consum-
ers on the line, the heat in the room
will soon be intolerable. When New
Workers visit Bradford they express
surprise at our wonderful and econom-
ical fuel. They cannot understand
how the gas is Gagged.
Passengers who ride around the
derrick studded hills and valleys
through which the broad and narrow
gauge railroads of oildom wind their
crooked and picturesque ways, will be
surprised, if the journey is made after
dusk, to see myriads of spectral and
banner like flames waving in the cool
night air, and casting weird and
shadowy pictures on the hillsides aud
valleys. Il the train passes close by
one Of the lights, the passengers will
observe that the country for some dis
lance around the huge wave Of fame
is almost as well lighted as it would
DE al midday. The gas comes from
the oil wells, and is so abundant that,
after using it all day to run his engine
the oil man turns it loose to tighten
up the gloom in the country around.
Ia the Bradford field alone there are
| hundreds of these banner-like lights.
The spectacle on dark night is beau
tiful.
For some years Bradford monopo-
LIED the natural gas supply. Now it
| is piped to distant towns and is used
for both lighting and heating. The
discovery of the large veins of gas
around Plttsburg has already revolu-
tionIzed the steel, iron, and glass in
dustries, many establishments depend
ing on it entirely as fuel. Bradford
is lighted and heated at less expense
| than any other city in the world. All
| that it costs the city Government for
gas for the streets and for the City
Hall, both for heating and lighting,
is two cents 8 month. The Bradford
Gaslight and Heating Company, to
shut out a pretentieus rival, offered
these unparalleled terms to the city.
The City fathers clinched the bargain
instantly.
Ever since it's utilization for fuel in
ventors have puzzled their brains in
trying to learn how to make forge
for welding iron, steel, and glass with
it. Until recently all attempts were
failures. It remained for an inven.
tor OF thus city to solve the problem.
After experimenting in secret for
| months he took out patent for a gas
oxygenizer. Recently he gave an ex-
hibitlon of his new process at Wilson
| & Blacks sucker rod factory in Tar
port.
The two most interested spectators
were E. f. Seamans of Parks Bros.
Black Diamond steel works at Pitts
| burg, and John Ell. Taylor, superIn
tenaent of Oliver Bros. 6 Phillips
iron works at Beaver Fall, both ex~
perts in TIE manufacture of iron and
steel. The experimental forge is bull
| of fire brick, and was about 80 inches
square at the base and about 80 inches
ia height. The fire pot is located at
the central point, and near the top of
the forge. It is oven shaped, with a
convex roof, and has half moon
shaped apertures at each end, 10x14
inches large. Inch air pipes coming
from its fan or blower are connected
with three quarter inch gas pipes just
outside, and on opposite side of the
forge. At the T the gas and air are
mixed, and then pass into the forge
through the same pipe. The two
pipes from opposite sides are in hori-
zontal plane with one another, and
have their open ends IN the forge
directly opposite, and sixteen inches
apart. When the match is applied
the flames strike against each other,
An air pipe rising in g. vertical posi-
ton from the bottom of the forge has
its open end about eighteen inches
below the horizontal line between the
pipes containing gas and air. The
proportion of air to gas is about Is to
1. The intense heat is obtained near
| the intersection point of the air cur