The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1891-05-19
nh EYES OF THE WORLD.
=, tbD experiments now in Pro
- ress at the Well of
up WHEELING DEVELOPMENT co.
Government GcoIogist---Thc Inn
., . =" Attached to it by the Sci
.,,@,. world...some Peculiar Phe-
nomcna Noted.

rb. work of making observations at
, ~, wellof the Wheeling Develop
p.g , w. company, up Boggs run, for the
myG, states Geological Survey, is still
e", nrocress, DR.. William Hallock, the
n III OF the survey sent here for the
op' .no.n being now alone in the work,
p1i o..i.tant, Mr. Newell, having re-
Nv, ,,s5fo Washington day or two ago.
~, ,nmbcr Of observations Of the tenn
,r,,nre at various depths have been
tatco. and it is the desire to have, when
,tc work is complete, record OF the
, ",r at every $50 feet all the way
down. ..,.,,, ,oor Soma inter.
'i"g' observations as TO the magnetic
e,, t,srrc of the earth. Some time ago
Mr. ,i,,' j {. Brady, Of the company, meas
n n,,. The depth Of the well with cop;
uls' ,, f,, fastened TO the end OF steel
p., y, line, heavy plumb bob
Iing an the end OF the line. When
9 ,,I,, ,bIpt eight pounds weight OF the
G: was ,, in The hole Mr.. Brady found it
~" IN ,GmcuIt to raisc. the line, and when
,Scbottom Of the wen was reached, SO
,,rng was the magnetic attraction OF
H., r5rh for the line, that no two men
IN the derrick could pull it out.
6r lIallock talked entertainingly to
I,7,prrrGEyCEE reporter last evening
\" tle work in which he is engaged,
AMI ;,s importance in the view of sCien-
IL, ,;fr men everywhere. The geological
conditions at that point are, he says,
yory favorable, the strata lying about as
orisinaIIy imposed by nature. There
have been no great upheavals OF the
earth, which always allow more or less
Goat TO escape from the interior. The
comnIetion Of the well TO a depth Of a
nile as contemplated, will give science
@geb valuable information, not the
icast important being the knowledge at
what depth the corniferous limestone
lies there. and consequently at about
what relative depth other strata will be
iorRd, This stone has been found in
wells at Akron, Ohio, and at points east
ii here. but at much less depth than
Ibis well has already gone. There is
much curiosity to know how far down
the stratum dips here.
Its mainly, however, the gradients,
or changes with the descent, OF the
temperature that it is desired to obtain
here. Or. Halloek says the dry hole to
this depth is absolutely unique. In
Gcrnany there are places where deep
earth observations can be made, but they
arc in water, which makes it troublesome
'toobscrve and not reliable. The British
Society for the Advancement Of Science
has a standing committee on the sub
iect Of the temperature OF the interior OF
tIe earth, which never loses an oppor-
innitv to obtain Just such information
as is now being collected here, and it
would not be surprising il that commit
tee should send man here to take OBJ
servations for themselves, If the well
should reach the depth of mile with
out striking water or other interference.
Dr. Hallock had desired to return to
Washington the last OF the week, but he
Yesterday received letter from Chief
biologist G.. X. Gilbert, of the Geologi-
cal Survey, asking him not to do so, but
foreman in personal charge until the
observations are finished. Mr.. Gilbert
speaks enthusiastically OF the results to
science of such an achievement, The
well, ii completed, would draw to
Wheeling many distinguished men Of
science, and be a standing advertisement
Of the enterprise and progressive spirit
d her peopIe.