The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1889-08-08
FUEL DEPOSITS.
Some IstsrsstInE Fsets Given by Prof.
Me0ee.

Some IstsrestIng Fsets Given by Pref
MeGee.
The reported discovery Of rich coal
oil deposits In the Rocky mountains,
near the northern border Of the
United States, has revived the inter-
esting question Of the probable guam
tIty Of fuel deposits In this country.
In an interview with Prof. J. W.
Mctiee, Of the United States survey,
on this subject, he says: 1.-THE
known deposits Of coal, coal oil and
natural gas, the fuel Of the day, are
not 20 great as many people suppose.
There are many localities Of the
United States which are strange 10
the geological survey. What wealth
may be developed In them 10 very
largely unknown, but O calcuatiOn
OF the amount Of anthracite coal Of
the country, and the probable con-
sumption, results In q very we'll
demonstrated conclusion that such
deposits will be exhausted within q
century, while bitumInous coal will
not last longer than three or four
centuries IL there are no more finds"
when will the coal oil and nstu-
raj gas probably be exhausted"
THAT IL impossible TO calculate,
We can approximate the amount of
the coal In beds very closely, but
with oil and gas Il 10 different, as
there n no way to tell how much a
we'll will yield. We have only 10
walt, aud we have no warning OF the
exhaustion Of a supply In advance.
The pressure forcing out the gas or
oil IL exactly the same throughout
the time IL IL being worked"
els the report Of the discovery Of
oil In the Rockies plausible"
at IL not at all unlikely, a. oil has
already been found In that region at
very near the altitude of 400 feet.
which Is the figure given In deacrib-
ing the location Of the new find, but
IL IL rather mUre 10 be met In a roll
ing country. The formation OF these
deposits II very interesting. As you
know, the rocky stratas of the earth
on the plains run quite level, or
only undulatinR, while In the mount
ainOus regions they are often found
very much broken up, sometimes
the rocks standing on end or heaved
up In broken mass. Now the con-
ditiOn that best Invites the gas and
oil deposits Is very readily under
stood: Where the rocky strata II
undulating IL forms great dOmes,
which Accumulates there rs we'll as
oil. The former, naturally the ligh-
ter, 10 first found, and then often
when that Is exhausted the oil be-
low sPOuts up and below that the
heaviest OF the three articles, salt
water comes, so that when an oil
well gives up briny fluid n In safe IN
ftG gragINh haa ha.s,
exhausted though In soIne instances
there IL q second yield for A limited
period OF OIL"
"WhAt will be done when these
deposits are exhausted?"
My opinion II that that emer-
gency Will be met by extracting the
bltumlnous matter contained In
rocks and which IL found all over
the country. IL would astonIsh
those who have not given the sub
jsct thought 10 learn the incredible
amount OF this matter there Ia. The
earth would yield many hundred
Thousand barrels per square mile,
and 10 II not eXtravagant TO saw this
amount would SUM up TO ,OOO. OOO
barrels per square mile for the
United States. Al present only a
very small portion Of u can lie ex-
tracted chemically, and I must con-
fess that ] don't see how u can ever
he extracted on q commercial basis.
but II could in some way be done
when the demand would warrant
1t. This with gas aud petroleum
Will be the great fuel Of the future.
aud probably eventually the former
alone VIII be the article Of consump-
ton"
"where IL the greatest gas region
Of the United STATES now located 90
1t IL included within 300 suuare
miles In Indiana. There the rocky
strata OF the earth forms a great
dome which not only contains gas,
but also has an accumulation of off. "
where will we get our oil In the
future?"
THAT IL difficult to answer, but
the most promising part Of the
United States, should say, IL found
on The western slopes Of the AppaIa-
chain mountains, running from
south Pennsylvania through West
Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, East
ern Tennessee into Southern Ala
bAma, This IL q very broad belt.
aud l think In the future n will
yield immense quantities Of petro-
Ieum. There are other isolated areas
west OF the Missouri river In the
Rocky mountains which promise
very well, though they are much
smaller in territory covered"