National Republican., 1888-03-11
OIL AND NATURAL GAS.
REMARKABLE RESULTS IN LATE YEARS
FROM THESE DISCOVERIES
Present Extent of Petroleum Wells and
Their Yield -Astonisbing Increase In
tn" supply of Illuminating Material
Immense waste for want of Use.

lllu~\lIIC, ia. IN I-bJ, jIOWVJVW barrels
Of petroleum have been extracted from
wells iu the l'uitcd states The prDluc-
tiou ha, risen from 300 barrel, i'm 1883
tu 3GupDuO barrel. in lss7 thrcc.iourth,
Of the entire outflow coming from western
Pennsylvania. and the number Of wells
increasing from - in lSGOto 5000 in
l,,S When the Nobcl well wa, opened
early In the oil period, it flowed jOOOoo
barrel, per anuum, which was considered
remarkable yield. There are now %
wells in Pennsylvania which greatly cN'
crcd this outflow while ut Baku, in Rus
,ia i'm lN~G q well was bored which flowed
over 75,uU barrels per hay equivalent up
27,UOOOUU barrels year Compared with
.cyrnty.cight wells in America at the be.
ginning OF lsGO there are now 5000
well, east of the Mississippi river, which
annually increase the wealth of the Coun-
try SoUUOOOUO Unfortunately for con
-umcrs, the oil industry has been monopo-
lied by trust companies forming a
gigantic corporation for the production of
uil al Il 81 a barrel and forcing the con
sumur tu pay u clear bonus of S5.Sl per
barrel, ~ per cent of which goes into the
cOt'cr- of the trust, thus enabling 1t tp de
clare annual dividends of 4lp per cent, more
stock and ~ per cent profit, upOn rap-
tai of nearly 81 OOOWu But far M
wonderful than oil A. ruoS
phenomena of nature, l. the cductiOuk
natural ga, burning without smoke.
dust or color, leaving mo- trace of any resi-
dunn ON the most delicate fabric; cscap-
Ing at prcsSurcS varying from 1000 To
$500 pounds to the >qtlr, foot, and con
tiuuug in many instances tO burn for
,,Iff ia
or force this new discovery in nature may
rank with any that have preceded it, In
the little village of frcduuia, Y. y ~
early a. lN9l gas was discovered and utll-
led hut il was not till after Drake : sue
COS, with oil wells that public interest was
directed to the pOssihiIltic, reserved for
natural gas lis origin and pcrma-
nrnrr excited widespread conjecture in
>riru,iHccirrlcs Prominent chemists and
biologists have agreed that oil and gas are
the result of >uhtcrrancau chemical ac-
tiun-thc decomposition of marine vrgc-
tatiuu at great depth, below the earth's
surface. the evolution ui purified icrment
arising from myriadN of sea animals AMI
plants cutruppcd in underlying strata OF
earth. ages ago. when volcanic uphcayals
currarhrd suddenly upon the sea OF
it, purmaucurr there is some dispute but
thr majority of Our gculugi>ts agree that
the supply of gas l. extremely limited,
and two able professors have expressed
the opinion that We have already passed
the meridian of production, and that
twenty or thirty years hence We shall Wit
ur~> the exhaustion of supply.
However correct these gentlemen may
be- in their conclusions, there l. abSu-
utrly no data which would permit more
than approximate calculation. II Is rca-
~onahly shown that 5,OuUOD cubic feet OF
ga~ escape from the wells of America
Il. irtl- tt Itg
amount j. wasted. The city of Pittsburg
use, 3lUODrUW feet every twcnty-iOur
hours. equal tu 9UDuur pounds of coal,
while luWUOUWO feet are daily wasted
within radius of thirty miles. III this
radius there are several remarkable Illus
,rniuu> of supply and waste. one will
suffice The pclumatcr gas well in Butler
. county Pa. wa, opened in lSSi. 1t is
, what "a, men call "gushcr' and
, 'roarcr combined Il yomits gas at the
=. rate of lurrln cubic feet per hour, and
the ascending velocity through a 5s-inCh
; pipe is l,725 feet lor nearly third of Is
! miol per second, The quantity of gas
, furnished daily Is estimated IN weight at
y. lU~ tons and the pressure Is over lUu
, pounds tu the square inch. Tn" principle
' escape vent j. ~ feet distant ,.rm the
o we'll, and although enormous quantities
f, .ui the gil> are utilized, the pressure Is So
great that from tube inches in dialnc-
VI terra column of fire 10 feet high shoots
- forth into the air, with roar that can be
u heard fifteen miles away, AT a distance
of uur.cighth of a mile the noise rcScm-
bl,, the discharge of cannon, and the
human voice is inaudblc. The heat from
1 this fierce pillar of flame has destroyed
- every vrStigc of plant and tree for dis.
- taucr of fifty feet, while in II circle of 2vt
20 yards wide embracing ten acres of land
the vegetation j. ~ luNuriant a. in the
70 tropics and continues fresh and green
: throughout the entire winter The waste
from this well is estimated at l2OOO,OoJ
70 cubic feet u day 4 prominent scientist
u ventures the opinion that more than two
T. Thousand billion feet of ~, have escaped
from IA and oil wells in North America
< since lNGO. Nineteen states and territories
now claim the production of natural gas
inpuying quantities, and Pennsylvania has
d 2uuuaturul gas companies supplying eight
e cen towns and several hundred great
r. rolling mills and steel works, besides
; great number of smaller manufacturers
The kurg well. at Fiudlay Ohio, produce
hy actual measurement over l2,WD,NO
II cubic feet of gas daily, and several well
e. near East Liverpool, Ohio, which bega
u Spuutiug twenty-five years ago, and hay
'' supplied the city with heat and light fc
nearly two decades are still in full bla'
~ and show NO signs of decrease. Many ,
the street lamps have not been cXtil
gli>hcd for years.
'N In upper cumberland, Ky gas aCCuml
ne late, with such force that huge bodies
Il earth and rock are hurled with cNplOSiN
~ violence high into the air producing tn
l effect of an earthquake on the SUI
rounding country. Al NintOu Ohiu
u there i an active gas wei
+ which, although drilled in 1867. still emit
y "a, at the rate of lOo.ouon cubic feet pc
e aunum, Ouc-tcnth OF which is wasted
II cut of nearly / l,SOOOoouOO feet of gu
Il which flow from the wells of Noul
Il America every year no less than 10000
:. coal-arc wasted. Effort, are now bcin
II mldc to secure legislative action in Penn
y >ylyuuu, by which owners of gas wells il
y that state will be compelled to shut il
" all gas not required for useful pur
poses This /, the result of
l. growing conviction that the en-,
of the gaS marvel /, not far distant. MI
t., mrrDu> opinions upon the subject of ga
II reservoirs, from which the present enor
nous supply j. supposed TO- COME have
: been advanced one of the arccpte,
e thruric, i, that certain vast >ubterraucaI
y rayrru~ contain tho gas Al high pressure
lr the other theory combines the two idea
e. of ruyrmuu~ cracks induced by Nulvanl
II' action and ut tpurouS rocks both huldiu
il I'm a high state of compression. Ih
u former >crm- tine most reasonable, MOI
" particularly when We consider That tN
y, prrcucc has fully demonstrated that th
deepest wells have produced the create
III quantities of high pressure gA>.
rv Assuming that natural gaS is u limite
entity, bound eventually Ia cease trol
vl simple exhaustion, | take the liberty
~ point out how the extraction of the
~ prut-up fluids may bc productive
~, seismic disturbance, The contraction
iu the carth'> crust, resulting from los
y r, original heat has contributed To cStablis
ld that high pressure which is witnessed
ry the opening of ga> and oil wells, Subte
", ruuruu reCvs~C~, varying i'm size from SCI
uwI hundred Ia many thousands
cubic, feet, have long resi- isted the col