The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-05-26
TIE DEEPEST WE'LL.
One Being Dug Near Pittsburg In the
Interest of Science.
From the Washington Star

From the Washington Star.
The deepest oil well in the world will
soon be completed near Pittsburg. Pa.
1t is now more than one mile deep, and
when finished it may reach down two
miles into the earth. 1t is being bored
IN the interest of science The object of
penetrating so deeply is to determine just
what the interior of the human footstool
is like. From a commercial point of view,
the well was a success long ago At COM
parauVely few feet below the surface both
gas and oil were struck in paying guam
titles. but the company owning the plant
determined to dedicate Il to science, and
invited Prof. William Hallock of Column
bia College TO carry on a series OF temper
allure Investigations as the hole is carried
deeper and deeper into the earth. The re-
suits of these Investigations are very in
teresting, and IT is the opinion of several
well-known scientists that the Ultimate
result of the boring will prove to be of
widespread economic, as well as of scien-
titc, value. Most significant of all the
facts so far ascertained is that the well
grows steadily hotter as it's depth in
creases.
1t is the intention of the well company
to continue the boring process until some
thing entirely new and original is devel-
oped. This may seem to be crude way
of putting the statement, but Il has long
is possible to go deep enough some new
geologic condition or economic feature
would be found to exist. At the very least
they claim natural steam would be en-
countered. or the we'll walls would finally
become so hot that water could be pump
ed down cold and pumped up IN the form
OF steam, and thus the natural power of
the future be obtained. Al any rate, there
is material for much speculation, and the
interest becomes greater in increased ra-
ito as the drill ascends, and startling
event is expected to happen almost any
day one remarkable feature of the we'll
is that the gas found near the surface
is now used to operate the powerful enS
gines which do the drilling. Thus the nat
ural power already issuing from the well
Is utilized for the purpose of deepening II.
Taking the temperature of a deep well is
| delicate question. 1t is a twelvehour
| task. although most of that time is put
in in anxious waiting. The thermometers
| used are known TO scientists as maximum
| thermometers. They will record up to the
| limit of the hottest medium in which they
| are placed, but the mercury cannot fall
below this maximum point until il Is re-
| duced by mechanical means. They are
made on the same principle as a clinical
| thermometer. The hole through which
this mercury rises has a little twist In It
| just above the bulb. The heat will drive
| the mercury up the tube until a maximum
point is reached. If the thermometer is
| brought into a colder climate the mercury
| viii attempt to drop back into the bulb,
| but cannot of its own weight pass the
twisted point. 1t, therefore, forms a reli-
| able record of the highest temperature II
| has encountered in its passage down the
we'll After being brought to the surface
| the mercury can be shaken back to the
| bulb Two thermometers are operated side
| by side in the well, so as to account for
any individual variation In the instru-
ments. They are lowered to distances of
fifty feet apart, all the way down the well
A complete descent Of the we'll occupies
twenty minutes, and, of course, the same
amount of time Is required for the ascent
The thermometers are lowered and raised
on a thin steel tape working on a wind
| lass, and, for the sake of greater accu-
racy in the record, they are left in the
well over night.
| It is found that the temperature OF the
earth rises in increased ratio as the CEN
| ter is approached Within the wells
| which have as yet been bored the rise
has averaged about ! degree Fahrenheit
for every fifty feet, with a very small.
| but very perceptble, increase as the bot
| tom is approached