The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1889-04-12
NATURAl-cAS SUPPLY.
sCicnt - discusses = Area, Origin ana
NaluS to the tountrS.

NNltht - liisc'lsses Area origin ana
NalUs to the Sountry.
Tho officers OF the Indiana Goologi-
ca Survey have recently brought to-
cethcr the facts concerning the distrib-
ution OF natural gas ia that STATE. Ii
appears that the area IN which profit
able amount Of gas may bc looked foe
is l6j miles long 10y 65 miles wide. At
present il contains SSl profitable wells
From these wells 100000, 900 cubic feet
~ gas how each day, or an average OF
l,5OO.Ou feet per well.
The present state OF our knowledge
concerning gas wells makes 1t seem
certain that the area OF country they
occupy is many times as great rs that
from which any considerable quanu-
tie, cf petroleum can bc obtained, At
present the districts known To contain
natural gas in sufficient quantities 10
have amy economic vullc within the
United States probably exceed 50,OO'
square miles, aud il il likely that
further inquiry viii develop numerous
fields a. yet unknown. \ great many
OF the well, bored for petroleum in the
wild search for that earth product
which went on twenty or thirty years
ago. developed large quantities of nat.
ural gas. The value OF the substance.
was at that time not appreciated.
These wells gradually became closed
by various accidents, or wasted their
contents in the atmosphere. The value
of natural gas in the economics Of this
country is now but little, II any. below
that Of petroleum, and the probability
Is that within n few years il may ex-
coed that substance i'm value. II Is
matter of great interest 20 determine
not only the areas occupied 10y this
valuable resource, but the circumstance
u lis formation. There can be little
loubt that il represents tho dccompo-
,itiou OF organic matter. the fossils ~
pld rocks, and that il II generally gen
Grated al the same time as petroleum,
being only Il lighter form Of the same
varied series of hydrocarbons. II
facts appear 10 indicate that under ccr-
tain circumstances gas may bo pro-
ducod in large quantities with little or
no oil, while at other times the oils
may abound and the gas be- small In
quantity
IL Is curious TO note that The prc.crv-
alton Of these gascs. "a well as Of The
associated petroleum products In the
Mississippi valley is due 90 the fact
tluf 81
but little affected by mountnin-buildiug
disturbances. II the strata now con
tanning these hydrocarbons had
been folded aud riycn, a. il the
case in mountain-buit countries,
the gas would have escaped aud
driven before IL 10 the surface the oil
as well, and SO these resources would
have disappeared from under earth
and become dcrlmpo-cd In the atmos-
phcrc. In this and many othcr ways
We perceive the close connection which
exists between the structure Of the
earth and lis uscs for men. II So, us
not improbable that the resources Of
natural gas will in few years ri 'c
American manufacturers AN upportuht-
~ 20 cXlcua the markets FOR their prod
uc,s through parts of the world 10
which they could not have gained nc
cess but for the economic advantage
which this subtorraucan resource nf-
fords them. OF old, mans dependence
was rather upon the surface OF the
earth than upon the neither realm. Row
the mineral stores begin 10 affect the
dcstiuics Of peoples even more than
the geographic features or the chnrnc-
ter OF the -oil.-prof. y. 5. Shaler, In
Pittsburgh Dispatch.