The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1888-01-01
BORING A GAS WILL.
A Vivid Descriptions of an Interest
ing operation. ~.

| SCdpe tOWaru Tue ueIIiCh VI 1ho SOS
well; you alight, and in grassy fsld
you come upon a shining black boiler
whose gauges and OTHER apPurtenances
have glittering completeness, writes
Mary Dean, in the Indianapolis Jour
nal. 1T stands on loose stones and logs
OF wood, appa, emily tossed down al
random. A tall. swarthy nny7,ghose
has has lost its brim. / loa' * Rprs
0 casiOnally te opens door ~ : t's'
boiler, ssand you see a gio"."e ~:
bile be lightly, with strong, tree es
| ture, losses IN great. spIinters of coal
from pile dumped on the grass near
by. A long, slack belt runs from this
boiler into carelessly built shed of new
boards. and therein stands the engine
that runs the gas well drill that you
have come to see; you perceive its
Ehuge projecting beam rising and fall
ing as it lifts and drops the well drill.
The engine is small, sturdy, compact,
and designed for the express purp ose
| of drilling gas wells.
Near the engine stands the tall. open
structure of the derrick, and In its
center hangs the gas-well drill. which
| is simply an enormous chisel continu-
ally rising and falling to the bottom of
the we'll by means of the engine. The
derrick stands On light platform,
across one side of which is a
seat occupied of evenings by a
row ofe young girls neatly dressed
and wrapped, and having their
hair prettily arranged. Beyond
the row of girls, outside OF the derrick,
is crowd of boys frantic to get in
mol says the drill-master, Them
boys has got to keep off that bench, !
That bench is or the ladiesp' Other
young fellows, in despair of getting in,
are laughing, smoking and talking in
groups outside. On the other side of
the platform of the derrick, opposite
| the ladies' seat, is forge in full blast,
where the drill is sharpened when need.
full. and before this stands group of
local dign,taries, stockholders in the
| well, wo kingmen and others, comfort
ably hobnobbing while they watch the
work of drilling, and behind them are
more hopeless boys raving crazy to get
peep at the drill, but unable to do so.
a. Nothing is more wonderful than the
machinery of a easwell drill. 1t is
impromptu, it is crude, it is transitory,
and it is simple, yet it is amazingly
effective solid wrought steel and brass
would not equal it. A peg nailed to a
beam, as if just picked up and fastened
there, is exactly the right thing, IS you
see, when the drlll-master losses the
end of a rope over it and stops a
whirling reel by its means. An iron
hook projecting through a hole in q
board regulates the throttle of the en-
CINE, dangling rope reverses the en-
CINE, which. is at little distance, vari-
GUS poker handles, sticks, rings and
trings do the work of dozen
men. for they are close to the
hand of the drill - master, and
ne has no one to help him.
He is "boss and all hands" He keeps
down the boys, is polite to the lucky
ones whom he admits to his derrick
platform, regulates the engine and
works the drill, which he constantly
whirls with his hands. that it may
drill the hole clrcularly, and he can feel
if it is going right.
Once in two hours the drill is stopped
and is lifted from the well by its
suspending rope. which swiftly winds
itself on vast roogh windlass, with
q pungent friction smoke from
hemp and wood; the monstrous
drill with jerk hangs itself high up in
the derrick, at the will of the master
and now the drill-man proceeds to
measure the we'll. which is a hole four.
inches across, in the middle of the
platform. He uses steel tape, an ele-
CANT implement made for the purpose,
marked only once in fifty feet, and
wound on reel. He fastens plum
met to clamp on the end of the tape.
and down it drops 1000 feet to the
wells bottom. He winds it up again
by hand, carefully wiping the sulphur
Gus dampness away with clean cloth,
and then oiling it with another cloth,
lest it be corroded. He announces the
depth of the well, and next brings up
the wells bottom.
The well is dry, being lined with pipe
to keep the water out. Te clean
out its debris he must throw into
it q few pals of water, and then,
slap dab, down at the end of q
rope he drops a tall, slim bucket,
swiftly running from another viii dlass
in the derrick. The bucket has a
valve. in its base through which the
water rushes; the weight of. he water
shuts and holds down the valve
while the water is being hoisted.
.Look out, nowi Don't get wound
up yourself. This isn't q dry goods
store Hands off, and out of the way
everybody"
Some handle, hook or crook reverses
the bucket{ windlass, and, bang. up
comes the bucket as quickly as it fell,
and, whangl it Is dumped into hole
in the floor with thud that knocks the
valve off and let's the water, with its
debris OF stone chips run, away out of
sight Then the bucket flies up to its
place on hook high In the derrick. I
Everything is. done with g jerking |
velocity, everything is balanced by q
rough log. or othe- seeming careless
appliance, so thatit floats of at a touch |
everything shows Anne rican economy |
and adaptation. The driller himself is |
an athlete and capable person.
When gas is struck, If the well belongs |
to :thes standard Oil Company, it is
capped; not an ounce is wasted, and if |
to be marketed the gas is piped in the |
costly and magnificent wrought iron |
pipes of this great COMPANY whose T |
Joints require two men to lift them. If |
the well belongs to small amateur
company, it is lighted and wastes itself |
with an odd, bowling scream. that |
affects the mind strangely. The scream |
of burning gas well is new sound on |
L ft,s yopry ffr,, a