Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1886-11-17
NATURAL GAS.
It's Discovery in MurrysviIle, Pa, In
the Year 1879.
How ii Symaker, Its DIseOvePer. Was Mar
dered While Defending Ills Prop
srty-An Old Detvick which
Always Looks New.
rcor. ctnnInnn,I Ennnirrrt


Few persons have correct leas In regard
tn the natural gas7 interests OF Western
Pennsylvania. Most of them have no
doubt read more OK less ON the subject, bat
as . rule strangers have greatly exagger~
ated ideas, or know nothing at all about
n. and are greatly surprised when they
see the amount OF work done with 1t. All
Of the mills use il, al it Is considered far
better than coal, besides being cheaper;
and within i've years (if it should hold
out) IL will b. almost impossible to find a
residence in the vicinity of iris city that
uses coal. AS an illun;nant il is greatly
inferior to the artificial gas, giving a very
unsteady light. They hope to overcome
this difficulty. however. and, believe,
have partially succeeded. by some process
not yet made public. Naturally, when Q
person hears AMI sees so much oftLiS won
derful fuel they have desire TO see who're
IL comes from, the manner o: procuring u,
etc, EN- to those who have time nothing
can be more In, eresting than a trip &c MUIR
rysville, where the principal field Is To-
Gated. There are several cSs fields moro
easily reached than the Murrysvil field,
u IL is by far the most impor' ant, and
IN v well lie termed the home Of the "na-
turGl PAS"
M1rTysviiio is a very cd town, situated
On h stage r al running between Pitts.
lnreh and Phila leIphia, about eighteen
miles from Pit sbur b, the nearest railroad
staff n (StewarO Jeinr six miles distant,
IN the main line of the Pennsyivania rail-
road. Frior 10 the dis overy OF the Gas it
was a very quiet, sleepy place, which TO
all appearances, had seen no Improvement
TOR m~re than twenty years bnck, and
some Of tho houses w're almost ready TO
fall down. Now, however, all il differ
ent, the fire which rocurrel last winter
having burned down the worst portion OF
the town. aud tho other houses have all
been repaired, and, with the new ones that
have gone uc, have a look that tells Of bet
ter times. The hotels, Of which there are
now three. are ell crowded, and you can
not look In any direction that you do not
see evidences OF what "gas" has done for
the town. As you approach the
town from a distance the souni Of
e@cSping "gas" seems first 10 pro-
Ceed from some cataract or rushing
torrent, and, growing louder as you draw
nearer to the escape pipes, or "blow -offs,
as they are called, until IL sounds like .
at once, and you hnd yourself almost
| deafened by the noise. The gas was hrst
discovered In M rysville, while boring
for oil, some time in 1857 or rs, but at that
time Il was not practicable 10 pipe Il to
Pittsburgh and the surrounding towns, so
the only use that was made Of il for some
years was the running OF a small clamp
black" factory. which was burned down
and never rebuilt, as It was too far from
The railroad to be profitable venture. II
was first brought prominently before the
public in tho fall Of 1888. when Haymaker,
the discoverer, was killed while defending
the property against the forces Of . man
named Weston. who claimed to be the
owner. He at one time having bought the
| property, hut afterwsrd refusing to settfs
for 1t, IL was recovered through the courts
of Pennsylvania by its former owners,
tho Haymnkers- II was just before this
that It was discovered that the gas could
be piped to Pittsburgh and used for fuel,
and Weston, being beaten in the courts,
tried 10 get posse sion Of the ground by
| force, and Haymakcr was shot down and
stabbed several times, while trying to pre-
vent Weston's men from tearing down
and appropriatinx q b1ard-pile which
| belonged TO one OF the wells. One curious
| incident connected with this murder ID
| worthy Of note. While In Murrysville,
a short time since, 1 was strolling around
! the numerous gas we l., when my guide
| Ia native) said, pointing 10 a derrick al
some distance, which had the appearance
| of being newly ected: "Do you see that
d rriokg Well, that belongs to the last
we'll that Hay maker pu. down before his
| death, and it was In it that Weston's men
| took refuge after the murder, and you see,
althOu IN 1t Is built Of the same wood as
the others around Va, it has not changed
color as they have, AMI stands there as q
| monument to remind Us or the murdered
man"
Little can be sail OF the nses that the
gas Is put to that has not already been
said by both local and foreign newspapers
All branches of industry use it in one way
or another, aud pipes are being laid al
fast as possible on all Of the residentia
stree of the city and suburbs. with a view
Of supplying the houses with fuel, and
have no doubt eventually with light
mi ht 20 on to speak OF the adv antage.
and Disadvantages Of the gas, but, Il
woul.l require too much space, 10 / viii
only say In conclusion that IL Il holds ou
Pittsburgh is destined to become tn,
greatest Misunderstanding city in the wCrld