Smyrna times., 1897-05-19
THE DEEPEST WELL.
One Being Dug Near Pittsburg in the In
terest of Science.

soon be completed near Pittsburg, Pa.
It 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, says the
Washington Star. 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 we'll was a success
long ago At comparatively few feet
below the surface both gas and oil
were struck in paying quantities, but
the company owning the plant deter
mined to dedicate it to science and in
vited Professor William Hallock, of |
Columbia College, to carry on a series |
of temperature Investigations as the |
hole is carried deeper and deeper into
the earth. The results of these investi-
cations are very interesting, and it is |
the opinion of several well-knOwn
scientists that the ultimate result of |
the boring will prove to be of wide
spread economic as well as of scien-
tifc value. Most significant of all the
facts so far ascertained is that the well
grows steadily hotter as its depth in
creases.
1t is the intention of the well COM
pany to continue the boring process
until something entirely new and ori
ginal is developed. This may seem to
be crude way of putting the state
ment, but it has long been a theory
among well men that if it is possible to
go deep enough some new geologic con
dition or economic feature would be
found to exist. At the very least they
claim natural steam would be encoun-
| tered, or the we'll walls would finally
become so hot that water could be
pumped down cold and pumped up in
the form of steam, and thus the natural
power of the future be obtained. At
any rate, there is material for much
speculation, and the interest becomes
greater in increased ratio as the drill
descends, and startling event is ex-
pected 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 engines
which do the drilling. Thus the nat
ural power already issuing from the
we'll is utilized for the purpose of deep
ening it.
Taking the temperature of a deep
well is delicate operation. 1t is a 70.
hour task, although most of that time
is put in in anxious waiting. The
thermometers used are known to scien-
lists as maximum thermometers. They
will record up to the hottest medium
in which they are placed, but the mer-
curry cannot fall below this maximum
point until it is reduced by mechanical
means. They are made on the same
, principle as a clinical thermometer.
The hole through which this mercury
: rises has g little twist in it just
above the bulb. The heat will drive
D the mercury up the tube until maxi
mum point is reached. If the ther-
: mometer is brought into a colder eli
Q mate the mercury will attempt to droT
back into the bulb, but cannot of its
s own weight pass the twisted record OF
: the highest temperature it has en-
t countered in its passage down the we'll
a After being brought to the surface the
e mercury can be shaken back to the
!, bulb. Two thermometers are operated
side by side in the well, so as to account
Q for any individual variation in the in
!, struments. They are lowered to dist
ances of fifty feet apart, all the way
d down the we'll. A complete descent o
o the we'll occupies twenty minutes, and
It of course, the same amount of time il
n required for the ascent. The ther
e mometers are lowered and raised on
|: thin steel tape working on a windlass
and for the sake of greater accuracy il
O the record they are left in the wei
"a over night
is It is found that the temperature O
K the earth rises in increased ratio as tn
ia center is approached. Within tn
i, wells which have as yet been bored tn
n rise has averaged about one degre
r Fahrenheit for every fifty feet, with
very small, but yet perceptible increas
I as the bottom is approached.