The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-10-16

own pipes, and 80 the gas companies lost their
biggest customers.
DANGER IN ITS USE.
Natural gas will explode when II is mixed
with ordinary air in the ratio OF one part OI
gas TO from nine to fifteen parts " air. UNLIKE
most other gases. II IL almost impossible 70
s smeii, nor @r Is nr i Sisitie ' to th1es eye. oXiieak IN a E.!pe
is rarely discovered EXCEPT by accident. me
S Sent accidents Ts' and eHt yet they must sa0 admit that
Pittsburgh stands on the crater OF n volcano
SO long as natural gus Is In the pipe; Under = ni tbs lbs
city depends upon the watchiulness ofthe men
employed for that purpose. by the gas compa-
mics; MI Ih sn systems adopted by them nnt seem iS sp ad,
Of all the wisdom OF the best railroad men.
horrible railroad accidents, viii occur, one
terrible calamity in the smoky city. The
pressure OF the gas NJ the wells varies
VWs itnin , iron "lt ,Yitfni IS ra ID Ses sng iwS pdn% %"aHiii IN
long as the machines for Keeping back the
b%ursting pipes. Track walkers inspect the
pipes throughout their entire length ut IRE,
a ansni Iea iI,er x, ,n and ac nss e * sasS ,S rf%Grs
hourly ronorts ara received by telephone asto
the condition Of the pipes. the. PRESSURE OF the
cautions accidents happen at intervals.
Last Christmas u wel!.to-do merchant GOT
out Of bed md tnrnea on his gas repaIatot
mosphere in the room. ,weWa favorable. and an
explosion resulted. There were nine persons
blown into the street. Hardly n stone, In the
walls Of the house was left undisturbed., mn
The directions issued to each OF. the 10000
oil the fears entertained by the companies.
Consumers are directed. In starting Q fire. TO
tHrp trs near sas G 3Re slES %rSe after IL z tSs ior nss Of pt tss
gas blows out the flame. they arc cautioned to
turn of the gas and wait a few minutes for the
Ing another iiame.' iThe' doors. or dSmpors OF
tho stoves and furnaces should be left OMEN
when the gas is turned of, SO that any Easthat
blown up the chimneys. Consumers are nd
yised to call IN good plumbers as soon as they
ton, Prompt action is advised when any
trouble arises. and consumers arc warned
aa,bbout going IN search Of leaks with iighths s
original company:
IN CASE OF ACCIDENT.
The smartIng from burns Is immediately; relieyed eS
stations are required to Keep a supply Of oil and cotton
The surgeons Of the company viii. take charge Of any
ease; a OF injury from m burning Or exrlG'' .mn,i for h, ~n ,.n,
t tms i So cass of mayy ss r to- p.mnIas.s ssa or sa U,hsr. 20 r he
addresses nnd districts are given below.
Here follows a list Of physicians who are
regularly employed by the company to attend
to victims OF the gas.
WHAT IT'S CONSUMER SAY.
The poor people OF Pittsburgh. Allegheny.
aad the suburbs don't know much about tho
gas from ,an R Ss ion ,b. eSpeFion . cr} because fSnse It tbs is
can afT9rd to pay for extra comfort who use It
1t is, TO be found in nearly all tho houses OF the
started. regulated. or ~e1tinguished commends
It especially to persons who like to be com
Portable without bother. One Of the wealthy
II don't know what we shall do without, the
gas, 1t will bother us a good deal to get along
t E!i IT, f u; rG ali we ou ns sesv All so VIII az aSc on stpiSs
il We ask them to build coal fires again. Peo-
pie who don't use natural gas find 1t almost
impossible to get n servant now"
Many Others spoke in the same strain. A
manufacturer said concerning the prospective
ending wf IF the hs b G"S s io1 Ply oitv wb,,e natur,,
gas vas plenty many factories used It. The
result was that the dirty coal smoke was
been harder to get. many of the factories have
returned to the use Of coal. and the smoke
IN THE GAS WELL DISTRICT.
II Don 9aiSote we're alive; and could wander
OF the, Allegheny Valley Railroad. he might
consider the tall skeleton-like derricks. that
as interesting foes to combat "a his famous
wind mills. These derrirks. which are over sew
entyfeet high. alike mark the wells in use and
worthless, The derricks are not worth the
moving. because they have t. be 50
Faks them nui APART ina: They ar RS only ni"s an ite no
in tho list Of heavy expenditures for materials.
the value of which. ends with their use. Most
tops or sides of lofty hills. and water had to
be pumped TO the engines from brooks or wells
dug is merely a long arm Of steel with. a dull;
fiat end. II is attached to n mass OF metal
which gives it weight and force. The drill is
in the derrick. and, thumps away relentlessly
mt the spot selected for the we'll. With its at
tachment the drill weighs between 1900 and
ao Wells wy , in nd aepE sn; M No. of Of them 1s n extend x
d %sH'n ' THe n .Sa s su5'f is 3 mas insh q i aeross,
and below that tn" diameter is q inches. Cast
iron castings. snnGiy lifting tho hole at the Diff
These are put in to prevent water from getting
ito the well and the sides from caying in.
fre1nentIy munh trouble is caused by water
water is found a peculiar pump is put down to
remove i. This pump is worked the same as
down. and closes automatically when filed.
i frequently shoots the arill' out With great
water and stones, sometimes to u height
q 100 feet; and sending the workmen
will makea crooked hole. which is straight
encG with much difficulty. SO that the castings
can be put in. Sometimes the castings are not
4 break occurs when all is nearly finished.
and the tools are lost at n great depth. The
saw one well where 4 force OF men
had been working fur two weeks to recover
tools and had not hecn able to get them.
It tasesu year to get out lost tools,
In the mean time tho we'll is useless. although
tho f~Grrlrr draws his rent Just the same.
wells have 10 he abandoned ultogether
because Of such an accident.
A times tho force OF the gas flow from a we'll
is 50 great that i, knocks off some Of the pipes
tho surface. Then 1t blows of" TINT Is.
tie gas nsnnnes through the break. The noise
ot a we'll blowing on can he heard for ten
miles. tloso ut hand it is dcatening. The re.
porter saw ono. IL was covered BY n large
cnse. Although large quantities OF
wcr" escaping into tn" mir, It could not he
seen. rs it Is colorlrss. When n Rus
well gets on fire th"re is only one way TO
put over the Hont at the surface. A cannon
over suddenly. smot,ering the lame. The re-
porter saw many, abandoned wells. Tho OFF,
cial who showed him nroun,! was dubious
about tho yalu, "ithe new ones.
Two OF them that cost the company
$1,000 he said became valueless at thu
end of six weeks. Ny candid opinion is that
natural gus won't be available many years
The only thing that remains Is for
somebody TO Invent II way Of making similar
gas chcai!y. Iho man who does that has an
enormous fortune In sight"
M'.-ourians In Clover.
From he Kon@p, c,y Time.
81 wng ovnr I'm (nnnb, en,...,