The Osceola times., 1886-01-23
NATURAL GAS.
The Wonders 1t Is Performing In
and Around Pittsburgh.
work Of The rhiIad '!ph.a Ccmpany-Thlr-
" Miles oil Pipe In Operation-How
etle Gas Is "Struck"-Cook
ing by It-!gnorant
Geologlsts.

Not the widest fancies of sober, slow
gong people in the rest of the Union
can picture the excitement that the gas
wells have created in Pittsburgh.
fancy that San Francisco, in the bloom
ING days Of the Bonanza mine and the
Constock lode, when Senator Sharon
made twenty-five million dollars in q
year, was something to be compared
TO it.
The opening of these natural gas
wells and their utilization as fuel gen er-
atorS marks an era in the nineteenth
century. Even the tanning and binding
Of electricity is not more marvellous.
il was before seven o'clock in the
morning when our train reached the
outskirts OF the city. The great shops
had not yet started their hum and roar
tor he day. Wcpassed close to huge
black mill, with its cliimneys standing
ike masts of ship. There was one
small iron pipe that had a cloud of
lame rolling and tapping about it,
cnanging with ever, gust of wind. This
was my first sight OF natural gas. The
pipe was what was called "stand
pipr.' They are common enough in
Pittsburgh. The pressure from the wells
.s so heavy that the fluid can not be shut
of' and lei on at will. When not in use
t must be allowed to burn or escape in
somc way. The usual way is to con-
duct it off by an extra chimney and set
trc 10 II at the top, and let it burn all
pieh'. In Pit sburgh and vicinity guam
ir equal to seventy thousand bushels
oi coal thus goes to waste every day,
lhoy say.
The Philadelphia company is putting
in PIPE connections in factories and pri-
Vate residences ut the rate of forty a
DAY. They keep fifteen hundred men
constantly employed laying gas mains.
The fluid is already used as fuel in thir-
ty-four iron and steel works, sixty-six
glass factories three hundred other
manufacturing establishments and three
thousand private residences. At this
Time gas is used in such quantity that it
has taken the place of ten thousand tons
of coal a day that would be otherwise
consumed. When the work is complete
Pittsburgh will be as clean as New York.
And coal viii be so cheap that dealers
car hardly give il away
1t is probable that the fluid can be
struck almost anywhere in Western
Pennsylvania. But the largest bunch
of wells are those at Murrysville, twen-
ty-two miles from Pittsburgh. The
gas is conveyed by pipes from
here and elsewhere to the
city The greatest length of these pipes
is thirty miles. There is doubt, they
longer than that. The pressure is lost
by friction of the pipes at the rate of
seven pounds to the mile. Unless some
new methods of conducting il are dis
covered, therefore the dreams of line
of natural gas one hundred miles long
can hardly be realized. Mills must re-
main here. But why could it not be
pumpedp
One of the memorable experiences of
my life was my visit to the gas wells at
Murrysyile. IL was cold, muddy,
snowy, neck-risking ride, but-well, |
would do il again.
As we nearcd the place l heard q
strange, steady. murmur. 1t sounded
like the noise of the turf in a high sea.
II sounded like an engine as big as the
United States Capitol building at Wash
ington blowing Off steam.
''There she goes" said Stewart.
"Do you hear her. That's the old gas
well. She goes a bizzin just that way
all the time; biz, bizz. | wouldn't like
to live around there fora steady thing"
No more would /. OF calm day,
the roar can be heard nine miles away.
AT the wells themselves, when gas is
first struck. it is deafcning. The work
men putcotton in their ears to protect
their hearing
The force of the gas is tremendous.
II is such, that when first struck. it
hurls everything before it, this blind,
mad force rushing towards a venting
place. Tools weighing two or three
tons are thrown many feet into the air.
Thus far the stream has always been
struck in layer of sand Striking the
gas is called shooting n we'll" 1t is
more like well shooting, one would
think.
Gas is reached at depth of one thou
sand aud three hundred to two thousand
feet in Western Pennsylvania. 1t costs
three dollars foot to bore. AtTolono,
ILL.,. however. the fluid was struck at
depth of only seven hundred feet.
As we rounded hill and looked into
a valley in front we saw Murrysville
Huge wooden derricks, tapering slim
toward the top, filed the landscape.
To the right of the view was the great
well that made the "bizzing" The gas
shoots in straight line twenty to thirty
feet in the air. We saw where it issued
by the water that poured out along
with il. Water is always struck with
the gas. 1t is salt water. The min.
eral frequently incrusts the plating of a
well til, it chokes the orilice Then the
tubing must be cleaned. Wells have
seemed sometimes to diminish in sup
ply from this cause. When the incrus-
fation is removed the stream returns to
its full quantity.
Great care s taken to avoid explo-
sions or other dangers. At intervals
along the lines are stations, through
which the pipes srs passs4 ~ these