The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-07-19
THE JUMBO OF GAS WELLS.
100000 Feet "a Day and no Way of
Checking 1t.
From the Pittsburg Dispatch.

100000 Feet "a Day and no Way of
Checking 1t.
From the Pittsburg Dispatch
The Big Moses gas well. on the Spencer
farm on Indian creek, Tyler county, w.
Va, struck by lightning Friday afternoon,
extinguished itself the same evening, after
consuming the derrick and all the combus-
tible matter within reach. The pressure
was so great that it simply blew itself out,
after furnishing the natives of that coun-
try with one of the grandest sights ever
witnessed. The flames at no time descend
ed nearer than 40 feet of the hole, and the
swaying to and fro of the great mysterious
invisibly supported fiambeau, hundreds of
feet high, to which was added a deafening
roar, made spectacle awe-inspiring and
terrible
Nothing had ever before been struck
that approached the Big Moses in magni-
tude, The pent-up pressure, when furnish
ed an avenue of escape through an 3d.
inch hole for three months defied every
effort to bring it under control. The earth
trembled within 900 feet of the we'll and
the roaring monster could be distinctly
heard for distance of II miles. No accu-
rate gauge of this Jumbo of all Jumbos
has ever been taken. AT one time a partial
test was made with an ordinary steam
gauge, and it showed a pressure of A
pounds from an SA-inch opening. At an
other time, from a S-inch opening, it
showed a pressure of COO pounds the first
Is seconds. Then attempts at a complete
test had to be abandoned.
When flowing through the casing its
daily capacity was estimated by experts
to be from 100000 to 120, 100000 cubic feet
a day. 1t was struck in November of
last year, and during six months of the
time since then the valuable fluid went to
waste. Taking the lowest estimate, So
100000 feet a day, and compute its value
at cents per 1,000 cubic feet, as charged
by the city gas companies. for a period
of six months, and the result presents an
array of figures too great for the compre-
hension of the human mind, when re-
duced to the "coin of the realm" 1t
may sound ridiculous, but the selling value
of this wasted gas, in Pittsburg, would
be $S,640,OO0 The Carnegie Gas Company's
expect visited the well, and estimated its
capacity TO be great enough to supply
fuel for their entire Homestead plant, If
it were accessible. Another expert ex.
pressed the opinion that its output would
be equal to the demands required to fur
nish the entire city of Pittsburg for DO
nestle purposes.
The owners expended 5000 in shutting
the well in, and three months after it
broke through and forced its way up
through the surface. A powerful pump
was then set up near the well, and for
five days they pumped water into The
monster, with the hope that the gas pres
sure could be crowded back and give them
a chance to put in a packer; but their
efforts proved futile, for the water was
again forced to the surface from assures
that it made and the result was dozens
of geysers squirting up into the air Some
of them even made their appearance al
most half a mile from the well.
Some idea of the noise that 1t makes
may be had when it is stated that two
persons standing side by side find it i'm
possible to converse understandingly with
in half mile of the well. The owners
will not abandon all hope of shutting
it in. They expect to begin work on it
again this week.