Evening journal., 1888-08-06
NATURAL GAS SUPPLY.
FACTS ABOUT THE NEW SOURCE
or COMFORT AND WEALTH.

Gas Yielding Territory of the United
states-George Washington as am In
vestor-A Catastrophe in China-An In
cident--OmciaI Reports.
Where in the United States are the chief
sources Of supply for natural gasl This is "A
question that countless people have been try
ing 20 answer. and IL is said that the people
of every state in the Union except the New
England states and the four most southerly
Atlantic seaboard states have quite lost their
equilibrium IN attempting to show that the
chief supply is right under the crust Of real
estate which they themselves happen to oc-
cupy. East Of the Appalachian range Of
mountains, measuring the Green mountains
of Vermont as their most northern extern
sion. or spur, the natives have not bored for
natural gas except, perhaps, furtively, and
in the dark. A similar want of enterprise
has manifested itself in North and South
Carolina Georgia and Florida, the people Of
those states possibly thinking themselves too
near the earthquake center to take any
chances at penetrating the crust of this i'm
perfectly baked globe. But everywhere else
between the Hudson river and the Pacific
coast the drills have been working inces-
sanity, lighted at night, it is TO be pre-
sumed, not infrequently, by the electric
light.
Such a spectacle would be somewhat ludi-
crous wereit not that the electric illuminant
in the present status Of scientific knowledge
is obliged TO confess that dull gas is one Of
the elementary forces TO which it owes its
own being. But the search has been gener-
ally futile. Except in Kansas gas has been
found In paying quantities only in that por~
ton Of the Mississippi valley which lies east
Of tho great river and along the borders of
the mysterious geological formation known
as the drift. The main sources Of supply are
found in the western part of the state of
Pennsylvania. extending northward into
southwestern New York, and southwark into
West Virginia; in northwestern Ohio and the
contiguous eastern part of central Indiana,
and in one part of Michigan
The considerable supply found in Kansas
Is so far west of the main source that it sug-
gests escaping gas caused by some fssure or
fault in the drift formations Yet the search
goes forward, though possibly with relaxing
interest It is felt that the cavernous west
and south may furnish still other natural
pipe Lines to convey gas for general dish,ibu-
ton over half the continent
Natural gas has been long known. The viii
age of Fredonia, in this state, near the lower
end of Lake Erie, has been lighted by it
nearly, il not quite, fifty years, and the
Father Of his Country is found to have been
the first Spectator in natural gas He came
in possession a very long time ago Of what
were then known as the burning springs in
tho Kanawha valley, Virginia These so
called springs were only the result of a
natural gas freak. though to the people Of
| vention Of a process for making coal gas,
they must have furnished a mysterious Pie
nornenon.
The idea Of Washington, however, in OBJ
tanning possession of the property was not a
speculation in light or fuel, but a speculation
! in salt, as moro properly became the savior
of his country. In China, too a country to
which We must always 60 when we think
ourselves exclusively entitled to the credit Of
some new discovery, the people have known
all about natural gas many hundred years.
1t is even reported that great catastrophe
once happened in China rs a consequence OF
the reckless use Of this illuminont, the catas-
trophe having been nothing less than the
explosion OF an immense subterranean gas
ometer which underran a country large
enough for several kingdoms. The precise
number of people who persisted at the time is
not recorded, but, considering the population
of the country it must have been large Sc
natural gas, it win be seen, has played q very
tragic part in the worlds history, if an in.
animated substance can be said to play
tragedy
This Chinese story lacks but one element
to give it q horrible interest, and that is thC
element Of possibility. No air can go'wher,
gas holds possession; and You could bot have
combustion and a consequent explosion with
J out air. Some information in relation {,
the natural gas wells Of ChiRa has been giveI
recently 10 the state department by Mr.
, Charles DENLY, tho American minister t,
Z that country Mr.. DENLY describes terri
tory about nine miles in diameter, wher
> brine, suitable for the production OF salt, /
8 found at a depth Of 700 to LOCO feet beloy
the surface Below these salt reservoir
2 again, at depth Of 800 or 9 O00 feet from th
surface, gas is found. Il is reached by means o
. rude iron drills fastened to a rope and opeI
:; ated in bamboo pipes, which are gradual
y forced into the ground as the earth below
= displaced by the action Of the sharp iro
! point Il is bamboo everywhere. After tn
Z gas is reached and brought to the surface
is led or 10 the evaporating pans by NOR
bamboo pipes, and made to do duty in turr
ing the brine into salt crystals But, for il
bearing on this question OF danger 70 CON
c from the practice Of tapping natural "a
0 reservoirs, here is the chief point of interei
in Mr.. Denby's report
During the TAPPING rebellion, years az
the rebels held possession of the countr
where these gas wells are situated, and the
took of the cap that held tho gas in coniin
ment from one Of the VOLS and set the CO
umn aname 1t has been burning ever sine
and there is not talent enough among Il
Chinese engineers to extinguish the fire. b
= it is TO be presumed that even the bamb,
piping in the well remains uninjurcd, or Il
IS orifice must long since have been closed.
We need not go all the way to China, ho'
ever, for examples We have seen oil and z
wells enough aAame in the United States
have blown of the ends of bosh New Yo
. and Pennsylvania had it been possible I
IS the flame to penetrate below the surfaC
Tho Chinese incident, however is not wit
d ont interest from another point of vie
= There has been q theory that the gas we
must be soon exhausted; but here is a W
: q that has been running with such force tn
the flame is inextmguishable during ma
4 years, and there is no evidence Of decrease
2 4 pressure.
Official reports on the natural gas p
q ducts of the United States are not very
~ cent, the latest report, in its main featur
coming down only TO the close Of the "
1886 Il covers a period Of less than L
m years, the discovery that natural gas COZ
Stl be'found in sufficient quantities to make "
,o- | DRIVING uroftable HAVING been made in is