Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-10-17
DECLINE OF NATURAL GAS.
Pittsburg Is Again the Smoky City of
Fifteen Years Ago.

The first rolling mill that used nat
ural gas exclusively was the Etna
iron works of Spang. Chalfont K Co..
i'll Allegheny county, a few miles
above PittSburg: and this establish
ment has been one of the last to
abandon this fuel in the Pittsburg
district. After twenty years of de-
pendence upon natural gas the pro-
prietors Of this plant have removed
the pipes and are now returning to
the use of coal, long after most Of
the other mills had surrendered to the
cheap bituminOuS fuel which has al
ways been the chief foundation of
PittSburg'S great industrial prosper
ity. Tie diminished supply and the
consequent increase in cost have ne
ceSsitated the abandonment of nat
ural gas by most Of the large manu-
featuring establishments in the Pitts
burg district and its use is being
more and more restricted to domestic
purposes. Pittsburg has again become
the smoky city of fifteen years ago,
alleviated in some measure by the use
Of fuel oil and manufactured gas,
which have assumed importance with
the decline of natural gas in the last
four or five years.
Natural gas was not factor of very
great Importance in Pittsburg district
until early in the sos, and the point
of greatest consumption was reached
in 1888, after which the decline began.
1t has never been feasible to ascer-
tain with accuracy the quantity of
natural gas consumed each year, but
Mr. Joseph d. Weeks, of PittSburg
has prepared for the United States
geological survey an estimate Of the
value Of the coal displaced by natural
gas, which has been accepted Us the
most practical measure of the con-
sumption of gas. In the period of its
largest use the natural gas consumed
in Pennsylvania, measured on this
basis, was valued as follows: 1885,
S450O,0 900; 1886, 100000; 1887, $13,-
749, 500: 1888, $40, ,375; 1889. SILL
593,9S9; 1890, S9,551 ,O25; 1891, ST.
S34, O16; 1892, $7,376,2S1 1893, $6,4S6,.
900.
In Ohio the supply or natural gas
has failed even more rapidly than in
Pennsylvania. The largest consump-
ton in Ohio was in 1889, when it
amounted in value to S5,215,0O0; but
in 1893 it had fallen to S1,510,OO0.
The suddenness Of the failure of the
supply has caused much inconven-
fence and loss to manufacturing es-
adjustments, which in many in
stances were deprived Of fuel almost
without warning. While the supply
Of natural gas in Pennsylvania and
Ohio has been diminishing, a new
productive region has come into
prominence in Indiana, and interest
in natural gas is now centered in that
state In 1886 the value of the gas
consumed in Indiana was estimated
at only 100000; in 1888 it was fig
ured at S1,32O,OOO and in 1898 the
value was placed at S5,71S,0O0. The
opening of this new field has stimu-
lated the development of iron and
steel and glass enterprises in In
diana in a marked degree Notwith-
standing the abundance of the pres
ent supply in Indiana, there is no as
surance of its continuance for a
longer period than in other states,
and a return to fuels more stable, if
less convenient, is merely a question
of time In fact, it is claimed by
biologists and gas experts that the
point of greatest supply has been
reached. While it lasts there is no
fuel that possesses so many advan-
tages as natural gas. The uncertainty
of it's duration is its only disadvan-
age.-Philadelphi Record.