The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1889-07-26

W the rlcutbl lelu ~ TUE WQtlus YET uuEllk knlh
new fields brought In
1.-THE great Philadelphia Company, Of Pitts.
are now making contract for limited pc
THE BcllaIre Natural Gas Company, in de-
q suit TO enforce specific supply, teatl'
lied that In spite OF the fact that they had put
down eleven new wells they could no longer
EeepuP the supply; whero, one year ago they
had OF q exceed d. And subsequent IniormS.
tIOu shows they have given out entirely.
"0ne OF the indianapolis gus comprehensive
Broad RippeE-had i've out Of twelve wells fall
within q levy months, aud they had 10 90 Into
"The beaver Falls Tribune says that all the
companies piping from the Sheffield fields can
no longer depend upon II for a supply"
And thus the speaker General HiCk'
.enlooper) went on, quoting instance
after instance, to show the widespread
concurrence Of experts as to the fact
that the days Of natural gas as a fuel are
limited,
After this showing he proceeded to
cite numerous instances Of factories and
mills that had gone back to coal as fuel
because OF the failing supply and In
cressing cost OF gas, He named nail
mills and glassworks at Wheeling, Dix
mont Hospital, Pittsburgh, Sharon Iron
works, Oliver Bros, & Phillips, Alleghe'
ny mills, Vesuyius Iron mills at sharps'
burg, Brilliant Glass works, Hartman
Steel works, Riverside lion works,
PhWnix Glass works, Haller, Bick &c.,
Allegheny Electric Light company,
Aban Water,works, Knowles, Taylor x
Knowles, at East Liverpool, Sewer Pipe
and Terra Gotta works, and numerous
smaller consumers.
This was followed by q showing that
the natural gas companies were increas'
ing prices.
In q case recently tried before Judges
White and Magee, at Pittsburgh, in
which 1t was sought to restrain an In,
crease In price, the o~ticersot the Natural
Gas Company testified that the specula'
tive character OF the investment, and the
risk OF failure in supply, neceSsltated an
increase OF rates; thateyen atsuGh prices
they could make no meaey and had paid
no dividends.
Judge Magee said 1.-THE company pro-
posed IN an accepted ordinance by which
they agreed to supply gas at twenty per
cent less than the price OF coal. That for
the first two years they Coniormed to the
provisions OF the ordinance, and were
willing to make five years contracts on
this basis. Yet now, in less than one
year thereafter, the company. gives no.
lice OF an increase Of from AitY 70 one
hundred per cent. It Is evident, by thG
admission OF both parties, that this IN
crease will'raise the price Of gas to con-
siderably above the cost Of coal"
Industries says that tho cost OF nat
ural gas at Pittsburgh Is twenty per cent
greater than the cost OF coal,
The Engineering and Mining Journal
says that Notwithstanding that gas fol
the past year has been twenty per cent
greater than the cost OF coal, natural gas
companies now propose an increase o.
thirty-thTee per cent"
He submitted kilograms showing the
same action ut ConnellsVille, West New
ton, East Liverpool and other points.
THE MoNRYEp VALUE OF NATURAL GAS.
He then submitted the results Of ex'
periments made at the Edgar Thomson
steel works, in which it was shown that
It required thirty.six thousand cubic feel
OF gas to do the work oil one ton OF Goa
under steam boilers, and that ! 900 cubic
feet Of gas could therefore have q tHeI
value OF but one twentysixth OF the cost
OF a ton OF coal, and rs our manufacture
ers obtain their coal at a cost OF only
about 81 so per ton, such gas would be
worth TO them less than five cents pei
thousand.
That Emerson McAfillen's calculations
showed that 1t required 1000 cubic feel
10 do the work Of II bushels, which Is
confirmation Of the results at the Edgal
Thomson steel works.
Professor Leslie, however, estimates
that under favorable conditions 30,00(
cubic feet Of gas will do the work Of
ton OF coal.
The experiments made at the works o.
the Westinghouse Air Brake Company
which owns several valuable wells al
Pittsburgh, showed that as compared
with coal at 81 80 per ton, 1t has a lueI
value OF a fraction over six cents pei
thousand.
He then said, that applying these ex'
periments 10 our local conditions 1t Il
clearly shown that the price which these
gentlemen propose charging would, IL
applied to manufacturing purposes,
prove Just three times as expensive al
solid fuel. That while because Of inter
mittent use and collateral advantages II
might prove a desirable fuel for domes'
tic purposes, II had no value, mol even a
matter Of the sllHhtest interest to the
manufacturers, as had been 80 eloquent
ly dwelt upon by II Of the leading
journals.
lie then followed this up by a very
complete analysis OF the financial results
Of such an undertaking, and an attempt
To procure a "franchise' for competing
gas company, which they will eventually
have to buy and add to their capital,
thus increasing their own burdens and
postponing the date OF another reduction
In price OF gas 10 CONSUMERS.