The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1889-07-31
GAS AND oil SUPPLY.
The Fuel Of the Future and where it WIN
Come From,

WAsHINGToN, July S0,-The reported
discoyery Of rich coal oil deposits in the
Rockv Mountains near tho nortberr
Ssn' v.' ~. 80, 20. g." | 49, .,'',',.,
poFuei OF lhe Un''eu sEales, uas revived
the interesting question ol the probable
quantity OF fuel deposits in this country,
In on ;r,orytew w;f, prof I W Mc.
~" ~ c.. ~ ~ ''4s
Gee OF tuS un'teu sEAkes survey on
this subject, he says; "The known de-
posits OF coal, coal oil and natural gas,
tbe nel ~ tbe 6ov oro not so great rs
'Ne 'N'' " "'O wy s'' NJ, NJ ~ s's"' ' y, =
many people suppose lheFe are many
localities Of the United States which are
strange to the geological survey, What
wealth movhs davaloped In tbam IL
"v''I" 'HH' W "p's'yte" ~ -, $50 % "
very largely unknown, put y caiCuia'ioh
OF the amount OF anthracite coal OF the
country, and the probable consumption,
results in q very well.demonstrated con-
clusion that such deposits will be ex.
hausted within century, while bitum-
inous coal will not last longerthan three
or four centuries II there are no more
finds"
"When will the coal oil and natural
gas probably be exhausted?"
"That Is impossible to calculate, We
can approximate the amount Of coal in
beds very closely, but with oil and gas
1t is different, us there is no way TO tell
how much q well will yield, We have
only to wait, and we have no warning OF
the exhaustion OF supply In advance,
The pressure forcing out the gas or oil Is
exactly the same throughout the time It
Is being worked"
"ls the report OF the discovery OF oil
in the Rockies plauslble|
ut Is not at all unlikely, as oil has al.
ready been found in that region at very
near the altitude Of 1900 feet, which Is
the figure given in describing the loca-
tion Of the new find, but II is rather more
to be met In rolling country, The
formation OF these deposits Is very inter-
esting. Asy you know, tue rock stratas
OF the earth on the plains run quite
level, or only undnla.ing, while In the
mountainous regions they are often
found very much broken up, sometimes
the rocks standing on end or heayed up
In broken mass. Now the condition
that best invites the gus and oil deposits
is very readily understood. Where the
rocky strata Is undulatinG 1t forms great
domes, which act as reservoirs ior gas,
which accumulates there as well rs oil,
The former, naturally the lighter, Is llrst
found, and then often Wien that Is ex.
hausted tho oil below spouts up, and
below that the hcaviestol the three arti'
cles, salt water comes, 80 that when an
oil well gives up btiny iiuid y Is safe to
say Its wealth has been practically eS'
hausted, though III some instances there
is a second yield for u limited period
OF oil"
What Will Oe done when these de-
posits are exllaustedr
my opinion is that that emergency
will be met by extracting the 6itnni'
nous matter contained in rock and which
Is found al over tho country. II would
astonish those who have not given the
subject thought to learn the incredible
amount OF this matter there is. INC
earth would yield many hundred th1ous-
ands OF barrels per square mile, anu II ls
not extravagant to say this amount
would sual up TO 100000 barrels per
square mile for the United States, Az
present only very small portion oil IL
eau be extracted chemically, ana must
confess that | don't ses nov y Gan ever
be extracted on Il coMmerelal pb.o,
ltut u coula IN some way be unile 1i Wnen