Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-05-20
NATURAL GAS.
THREE TERRITORIES WHICH SUPPLY
THE CITY OF PITTSBURG.
The Wonderful Westinghouse Gusher-
MurraysviIIe's Reservoir of Free Fuel
-Tarentum and Its Three Neigh
boring Villages Works.
New York Times 7

boring Villages NOrks-
New York Times
Three distinct territories supply Pitt burg
with natural gas- wool, the ari'to-
cratic district OF the city; Murraysville, six
teen miles 10 the east, AMI TareBtum,
twenty miles TO the northeast Home WOO
has a hi tory which reads like the Romance
| Of a mining camp or an oil town. No tinan-
cisl venture promised greater profits than
the cIty's gas field. and yet few have been
such complete diSappuintments.
When gas was struck on the beautiful
grounds Of George Westinghouse on May
! -, 1884 it waS Confidently as ertei by eI.
/ psrts In drilling that the whole East Liberty
valley Of the city was underlaid with q
| great and practically inexhau>tibls supply
| Of natural gas The Westinghouse gu,hsr
predicted all this and even mora. The force
/ Of the gas flowing from it was so strong a.
TO battle any attempt at measure ment The
sound of its roaring could be heard dis
tinctly four miles away. It, flame, tower
ing for 100 feet in the air, illuminated the
! surrounding country for many miles and
turned night into day. The well that Was
drilled TO supply the wants of Mr.. WeSting-
hou s's private re idence was large enough
! 10 furnish fuel for half dozen Of the
! largest rollIng-millS
THE GAS FEVER.
People came many mile, to see the won
/ derful phenom enon. A syndicate offered
| 500 900 for it in cash and were refused.
| Property Own rs Of the East End took the
gas fever. an | talkei Of putting down gas
wells among their flower beds Within a
week after the great Westinghouse gu,her
was struck preparations were being made To
put down a half dozen wells in the neigh
borhood. By August Westinghouse well
No. , had touched the gas. and only TO brin Z
sore disappointment Ths volume Of gas
sent out by il did not bear comparison with
the great gusher near it
Meanwhile the latter had continued light
ing the heavens with its fame and burning
q hole in the darkness but there began to
be a noticeable diminutlon of its volume.
Its owner thought the gas vein had
been impaired in some way, and had it
torpedoei with only a temporary i'm
provement By this time the beautiful res
ident places of the ea,t end were dotted
with derrickS, and many dancing drill, hur-
ried on TO the une1plorei regions Of the
earth in their search for the much desired
gas Seventeen wells in all were put down,
and the result was failure; $4,000 would
hardly cover the cost Of drilling each well
The piping expenses too were considerable
and were almost a complete loss
To-day but five wells produce gas that is
worth collecting The total amount pro-
duced by them is Insignificant In one day
they do not yield a. much gas as the great
Westinghouse gusher did during its first
month in ons ilf b Iur. 1t i now little
more than a year since the HomswDod ter
ritory was first discovered, yet during that
time il has virtually been exhausted, with Il
tutal loss TO spectators Of So, 900.
MURRAYSvILLE GAS BELT.
The great supply territory Of Pitt'burg is
MurraysvilIe. q quaint sleepy hamlet on
the old national pike. With its reservoir Of
fuel free as water, the staid old fas hiouei
village is as humble and unpretsntinus as a
grave Innumsrable derricks loom up
about the place. The drillsr shirtei red,
and the pipe layer, clothed in blue woolen,
bu tie about the village The native has
not yet accommodated him Self to the sud
den change in his fortune. The discovery
of natural gaS has, however, taught him to
know a good thing when he sees it Among
other things, he knows that gas territory
is scarce aud a triile hard to get
He also knows that when gas we'll Is
struck on his farm his fortune is made.
About nine years ago the Haymaker
brothers, fresh from the declining oil fields
Of north western Pennsylvania. walked into
MurraySville put up a derrick, and bega
drilling for oil. Six weeks later the great
Murraysville gas belt was punctured, the
drilling tools were blown out and the ne W
fuel shot into tower Of flame that was a
landmark for miles around. For three
years the well roared and blew its valuable
fuel into the air. Then a pipe was laid TO
PittSburg and the wealth OF the new dIs
covsry was appreciated for the first time
Then the man of Murrsysville began tigur-
ing on the value Of his property, and every
time be has figured since then he has added
a good round sum to the total value. Land
that before the discovery of gas was a drug
in the market at SIS an acre now commands
81 90 an acre.
TARESTUN GAS FIELDS.
Tarentum, northeast OF Pittsburg, is the
second in Importance Of the city's gas
fields Ii is thriving little town planted
in a magnificent valley, bounded by pict-
uresque hills, which extend for miles IN
either direction, following the course of the
beautiful Allegheny river. Through the
discovery OF natural gas the valley for a
distance of four miles has been dsnsely
populated In reality, it is so extensively
decorated with factorie, and d ~ellings that
the observer. unacQuainted with the facts,
would pronounce Tarentum and its three
neigh boring villages one municipality. The
Bull Creek valley, north of the town a short
di-tance, is studded with the dsrricks Of
natural gas wells From these well, the
largest plate glass factory and the largest
salt works in the United States receive
their supply OF fuel Each factory own a
we'll the product of which is more than is
required, AMI the other wells convey their
product through pipss to Pitt'burs The
plate glass works. now covering eight acres
will be double that sizs a year hence. as
new works are being constructed by the
krm.
Passengers who ride among the derrick
studded hills and valleys through which tue
railroads Of western Pennsylvania win
will lie surprised, il the journey be at night
TO see miriads Of spectral, banner like flame
waving in the cool night air and casting
wierd and shadowy pictures on the hilsides
and the valleys. 1t is fsiryland. Night
Is turned into day. On dark night Pitts
burg can trace its gas fields by the lurid
glare in the skies that overhangs the wav-
ing flames The many industrial towns OF
western Pennsylvania have this same rud iy
sky suspended over them. The oil towns
that were nearly abandoned when the sup
ply of petroleum failed have assumed new
life since the introduction OF natural gas
into their .Janguishng industries Capital
lists are fast centsring about these gas CEN
ter. There are Butler, Ttusville, Brad
ford, New Castle, Rochester, and score
more Of gas towns which are rapidly deyel-
oping into manufacturing csnters
Descendants of the Norsemeu.
Chicago Heran
From Greenland comes the story that lit