Evening journal., 1889-07-29
AMERICAS FUEL SUPPLY
Where It Will Come From in
the Future.
COAL WILL LAST FOR CENTURIES,

Ana the Present NencrnHon Necu MOI /
Worry About Keeping Warm In Winter.
Professor SrcGee's Interesting Talk
About Coal. OIL and Gas.
WASHINGTON, July 2o.-The recent dis |
covery OF rich coal oil deposits in the Rocky |
mountains, near the northern border Of the
United States, has revived the interesting
question OF the probable quantity Of fuel de
posts in this country. The Post publishes
an interview with Professor W. J. McGee,
Of the United States army, on this subject,
IN which lie says:
"The known deposits Of coal, coal oil and
natural gas the fuel Of the day, are not 90
great as many people suppose. There are
many localities In the United States which
are strange to the geological survey. What
wealth may be developed in them is very
largely unknown, but calculation Of the
amount Of anthracite coal of the country
and the probable consumption results in
very we'll demonstrated conclusion that such
deposits will be ex xsausted within a century
while bituminons coal will not last longer
than three or four centuries, IL there are nc
more new fndsn
When Gas and OH wiz he Exhausted.
"when viii the coal oil and natural gas
probably he exhaustedin
"That Is impossible to calculate We can
approximate the amount Of deposits OF the
coal beds very closely, but with oil and gas
il is different, as there is no way TO toll how
much a well will yield. We have only 70
wait, and We have no warning Of the ex-
haustion OF a supply in advance The pres
sure forcing out the gas or oil is exactly the
same throughout the time IL is being worked.
SIS the report Of the discovery OF oil in the
Rockies plausibleF'
at is not at all unlikely, as oil has already
been found In that Hgion at very Doar the
altitude OF 4, 500 feet which Is the figure
given In describing the location OF the new
find But il Is rather more likely 10 he met
in a rolling country. The formation Of these
deposits is very interesting. As you know the
rocky stratas Of the earth on plains run quite
level or only undulating, while in mountain
/ GUS regious they are often found very much
broken up, sometimes the rocks standing on
end or heaved up in broken mass Now,
the condition that best invites the gas and
oil deposits Is very readily understood.
Where the rocky strata IS undulating II
forms great domee, which act as reservoirs
for gas, which accumulates there as well a
oil The former, naturally the lighter il
first found, and then often when that is ox
hausted the OIL below spouts up, and below
that, heaviest OF the three articles. come
salt water So that when an oil well give
up briny fluid it is safe to say lis wealth ha
been practically exhausted though In soni
instances there is a second yield for a linn
tied period Of Oh.
Mother Earth Is Fun Of Fire Wood
"What will be done when these deposit
are exhaustedg~
"My opinion Is that that emergency VII
be met by extracting the bituminous matter
contained in rocks, and which is found al
over the country II would astonish thos,
who have not given the subject thought t
learn the incredible amount of this mattel
there is The earth would yield many hun
dred thousand barrels per square mile, and /
is not extravagant 70 say this amount woul,
sum up 10 million barrels per square mil
for the United States At present only
very small portion Of il can be extracte,
chemically, and / must confess that dom
see how IL can ever be extracted on a com
mercial basis But it could in some way b
done when the demand would warrant II
This, with gas and petroleum, will be th
great fuel of the future, and probably event
ually the former alone will be the artiel
of consumption"
Indiana the Great Gas Field.
"Where is the greatest gas region of th
United States now locatedf'
ut is included within 1000 square miles il
Indiana. There the rocky strata of the cart
forms great dome, which not only contain
gas, but also has an accumulation of oil
''Where win we get our-0il in the futurel
THAT is difficult to answer, but the mos
promising part Of the United States, / shouli
say, Is found on the western slope OF the Az
palaehian mountains, running from southern
Pennsylvania through West Virginia east
ern Kentucky, eastern Tennessee, into south
ern Alabama This is a very broad belt an
think in the future Il will yield enormou
quantities Of petroleum. There are 9th
or isolated areas west of the Missour
river in the Rocky mountains which promis
very well, though they are much smaller il
the territory covered