Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-10-07
MONDAY. OCTOBER 7. 1859.

ONCE of Publication, 123-125 West oecono
street, Los Angeles. Telephone NO. LOO
MONDAY, OCTOBER Z, 1859.
Is Natural Gas Giving out?
One of the wonders accompanying the
petroleum development of the country |
was the discovery of natural gas and its
application to the purposes OF the manu-
facturer. Through its use as a SUBJ
stitute for coal Fittsburg was revolution
lied, and its old nickname OF the
ssSmoky City" became misnomer. For
years after it's discovery, and indeed un-
ill the present day. heavy clouds of sooty |
carbon no longer impended over the city,
descending in fakes which tinged the
houses with somber hue, and making |
clean linen thing impossible. But it
looks as if the relief from this old style
Of thing is to be only temporary. and as |
if the tremendous coal deposits which
seam the earth on every side between
Pittsburg and YOUNGSTOWN will he again
brought into play. The gas wells seem
to be giving out. This fact first made
itself apparent in the Ohio valley, where,
indeed, natural gas was first applied to
the uses OF man. It was at East Liver
pool, Just over the Pennsylvania line,
in Ohio, that natural gas was first
utilized Tor purposes OF illumination
and fuel, and naturally enough it is
in Ohio that the first signs of exhaustion
made themselves apparent. A recent
issue of the Pittsburg Chronicle has this
to say on the subject:
The iron and glass industry of the
country will continue to center AROUND
Pittsburg.
The natural gas in the Ohio valley lie
majority of the largest manufacturers
are gradually resuming the use Of coal.
President Mcbride, of the National
Miners Protective Union passed through
this city, and he stated that mining in
the Ohio valley is getting very brisk
again. Most of the glass factories at
Bellaire are operated by coal at present.
Two steel plants at Benwood have aban
doned the use of natural gas and re-
sumed coal. They have, 30 far, been
unable to get sufficient amount of coal
to supply their demands. The Crescent
Mills have gone back to the use of black
diamond as their fuel. The Belmont
Mill uses the same, and SO does the Ben
wood Mill. The Riverside Iron Works.
near Wheeling, had been using coal
until their machinery broke down few
days ago.
"A gentleman who is prominently con-
nkcted with one Of the oldest iron works
in the Ohio valley stated this morning
"The days of the mushroom factories
are about over. Thare ia not factory
in Findlay, Bellaire or Wheeling using
gas, which does not have to close for sew
eral days during each week on account
of scarcity of gas. This fact has made
il patent to all manufacturers that gas is
rapidly going the downward path. The
natural consequence will be that most oil
them will have to e. back to coal alto.
pether. The inevitable result will be
that the corporations which started ia
the glass and iron business simply be-
cause they were offered free fuel must
eventually drop out of the market alto
gether. Why? Because as soon as they
have to pay a good price for coal they
cannot undersell the Pittsburg market
any longer if they intend to make any
profit at all. This, of course, will cause
them to drop out of the field of competi.
ton. So far they have only been able tc
do business at all because they were
able to offer glass or iron lower thar
Pittsburg, but soon as they raise theil
scale their customers will 60 back again
to their old producers.
Gall the mines in the Ohio valley are
resuming work on this account, and al
the firms are granting the scale price de-
manded by the miners"
But the exhaustion of the gas measure
is by no means confined to Ohio. The
same paper notes the lessened yield O
the wells which supply Pittsburg. VIZ
quote:
It appears that the scarcity of gas il
the local manufacturing plants hat
made itself felt very strongly this morn
ing. Several of the mills along Penn
avenue are only working on night turn
because they cannot get sufficient
pressure of gas in their works, while
others had to shut down altogether.
A part of jones' & Laughlin's Ameri
can Iron Works was closed this morning
because there was not enough gas to run
them all. All the pudding departments
employing 400 men, we're shut down.
At the Republic Iron Works 800 men il
the plate mill ceased work because the
pressure was too low to run the works.
The Pittsburg and Western car-build
ing shops, in Allegheny, the Beymer
Bauman & Go. Lead Works and several
other manufacturing places in Allegheny
suffered shutdown on the Same &C
count.
This looks like the beginning of the
end. Fortunately for Pittsburg and hel
future, she is the center Of the largest
and most reliable single bituminous coal
beds in the country, and all she will
have to do will be to remodel her fur.
naces. The demonstrated fact that these
deposits Of natural gas have been proven
not to be insxhaustible ought by nc
means to prevent the exploitation Of our
own natural gas measures, which are
probably quite as extensive as were
those OF Pittsburg and the Ohio
valley. Both the petroleum and
the natural gas of Pennsylvania
and Ohio have been wasted in
the most wanton manner. One of the
most peculiar and picturesque sights in
the world has been seen for years along
the lines of the Pennsylvania Central
nd