Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-08-28
FUEL GAS In GALORE,
Refutation of the Arguments Of Pes
simists Who Claim That the
NATURAL GAS SUPPLY is FAILING.
Bountiful Nature Will Still be Generous
to Pittsburg.
A BIOLOGISTS VIEW OF THE MATTER

|
This, anyway. was the feeling yesterda,
where the matter was mentioned. 1t wa
generally held that the few pessimists WHIT
desired to create an impression abroad By
| an implied attack on the fuel to which
Pittsburg owes much of its present, and viii
owe-it is believed-very much more of it
future prosperity that the district was nj
longer desirable locality for manufactur
ing sites, had not succeeded in making ou
their case of the prospective supremacy O.
coal over the n atural fuel.
It is held that with reasonable manage.
ment and care in the consumption thai
the sources of supply will not diminish fol
long time to come, and that these compa.
mics which are paying attention to this i'm
portant consideration are guided by reason
| in their methods.
EVIDENCES OF ABUNDANCE.
Mr.. James Patterson, of the Monongahela
Gas Company, said yesterday that more
than enough had been said on this question
of a gas shortage. If any evidence was
wanted Of a belief in q continuous supply,
one had but to look at the operations Of the
Philadelphia Company in the Bellevernon
field. This company would not have made
the large investments it has there il they
were not satisfied as to the future outlook.
This agitation of the matter was all nom
sense, and nobody really believed that there
was probability of the supply failing for
a long time to come. Manufacturers who
had not good supply of gas had themselves
to blame, and not the com panies, who were
willing to accommodate them.
Ex-Postmaster Larkin, who had every
opportunity to study the natural gas sup
ply while member of the Gas Commission,
said yesterday: "It is absolutely criminal
to boldly state that the natural gas supply
of Pittsburg is rapidly diminishing, and
that many mills are going back to coal.
Nature is bountiful, and her vast fuel gen.
upon heavily and recklessly, but the accu-
mutation will 60 on in the old fields while
new ones can be tapped at our doors. Peo-
pie who talk about a gas shortage every
time pressure decreases for few hours in
our big mills and few of the houses where
it is used, forget that
PITTsBURG Is GROWING
at a rate which eclipses all other cities.
New manufactures and houses are spring
ing up on all sides, and all are piped for
our natural fuel. This drain is unceasing,
and larger pipeage facilities and connec-
tions with new wells cannot be secured fast
enough to meet the demands of the new
users.
''If the artificial gas folk had depended
on their original gasometers to supply their
increased trade, what would be the result?
Why shortage and no pressure. It's the
same with our gas fuel. The natural gas
ometers now utilized cannot stand the in
creased drain and new ones must be opened.
In the meantime Nature will keep on gener-
atlng the fuel, and there will be enough for
all purposes. As said, Nature is bounti-
full, but she must not be overwrought. The
farmer plants his corn and potatoes
in the same ground every year in
rows SO far apart, and, all
other things equal, is sure of
a crop. But if he planted corn and potatoes
like he sows wheat Nature would rebel, and
he would have tops but no produce for his
labor. If they expect to supply gas to every
new concern and house from the same old
mains and wells, why of course the pipes
and the pressure will not stand it But iron
mills and gas companies are developing new
fields. Only the other day was informed
that one concern was bringing in eight new
wells. l am glad to see THE DISPATCH
properly investigating the rumors, and feel
certain that its canvass will show that our
people still have Unlimited faith in our fuel
resources if the liquid is properly handled
and the demand gauged with an eye to the
supply in sight at the time"
A sANGUINE GEoLoG1sr.
Mr.. Henry c. Freeman, the geologist, in
conversation with a DISPATCH reporter on
this subject. said: II do not regard the
action of the Philadelphia Company in
raising the price of gas this year as indi-
eating that the supply is growing less. The
Philadelphia Company takes a commercial
view of the situation, and having a market
able commodity, is disposed to sell it to the
best advantage. There is scarcely doubt
that gas, on its discovery, was sold much
under its value, and when it is now sold at
prices which make it still cheaper than
coal complaint on that head cannot stand.
l consider the company is acting judiciously
in checking the draft, for if excessive drafts
on the source or supply are continued, a
sudden check cutting off the supply might
ensue.
''It is impossible to tell the duration of
the supply in the Pittsburg district. The
history of most of the wells shows that they
started with a high pressure, which was d.
minished for the first few weeks until nor
NAL flow was reached, when the supply was
continued for a long time with very little
variation. The action Of the Philadelphia
Company is right In line with this view.
PRoLoNGING THE SUPPLY.
''They propose to limit the draft on a por-
tion of their source of supply by cutting off
large consumers. This action, far from in
dicating weakness or less confidence in
the supply, is simply the adoption of con-
servative policy. This means a prolonga-
tion instead of a diminution of the supply"
The President of large gas corporation
who prefers his name unmentioned said that
the scare which some people were inclined
to raise about possible failure in the gas
supply reminded him of the time-20 years
back when oil first loomed up on the COM
mercial horizon. There were croakers
then, too, as there are now, who prophesied
Q speedy end to the supply. They affirmed
that the oil would only be found in spots, and
only little of it; and, in short that men
who invested money in wells were sinking
it out OF sight.
SIN the opinion of men who have made
study of the conditions attached to the
source of a supply OF gas" he continued,
eve are only now tapping the upper layers,
which, where opened up, are supplied, by
the very nature of the fluid, from vast dis
tances whose area is not easily calculated.
AS the gas is used fresh supply may be
expected to gravitate to the surface from tine
lower strata, which as yet have not been
touched excepting where the fluid may have
found natural vent to the surface"