Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1899-05-07
A Famous Indiana Gas Well That
Has Petered Out.

greatest and most remarkable gas
well of them all was packed this week,
and from thing OF splendor, attract
ing sightseers from almost every
state in the Union-drawlng the Amerl-
can Association of scientists all the
way from Boston in a special train--it
has sunk to the level of common, ev-
cry day deep water well It was an
expensive thing of beauty. Figuring
on basis Of coal at ordinary market
prices It is estimated that $780, 0G0
worth of natural gas was wasted every
year that old Vesuvlus might rule as
one of the greatest gas wells of history
The famous Karg well, opened at Find
lay, in 1884, was the only rival If old
Chinese traditions are correct there
may have been one or two wells in
western China several years ago which
were equally as great. Pennsylvania,
too, has produced two or three very
wonderful wells, but old Vesuvius is
still well worthy of being classed
among the wonders of the world.
The Indiana natural gas fields were
opened in 1886, and Vesuvius was
brought into activity in the following
year. The discovery of the Indiana
deposit was due to the grandeur of the
Karg well, at Flndlay, o., which up
to THE time of the discovery of Vesuv-
ius, was the greatest of them all. SO
wonderful were the ilIuminations from
the old Karg well that excursions were
run to that point from every section of
the central states, while many went
even a greater distance to see the dis
play. 1t was this, in fact, that started
the great natural gas fever which
spread all over the country between
1884 and 1888. q
Among the eXcursionists from Indi-
ana were a dozen or more from ham
let called Eaton. Eaton, then as now,
was only a speck on the map, while
many maps did not even give 1t recog-
milton. Twenty years previous to this
a party of Fort Wayne capitalists had
drilled at Eaton in search for coal AT
ter getting down 600 feet they were
compelled to abandon the drilling be-
cause of opening a deposit of most
malodorous vapor." They gave up
their search for the coal vein, and in
order to shut off the stink" they
drove long wooden plug into the op-
ening. Then the well was forgotten.
The eXcursionists from Eaton who
went to Flndlay to witnes the great
Karg well display noticed the peculiar
odor of the escaping gas. 1t struck
them that there was similarity between
that peculiar smell and the smell
which they had found around the old
well 20 years before. They returned
home cut down the brambles around
the old hole, pulled out the plug and
found that the smell was the same.
They applied match, and from that
three foot blaze which leaped from the
old stand-pipe came Indiana's greatest
wealth.
1t was in the following spring that
old Vesuvius came into being.
The drill was sent down under the
city of Anderson and the roar an
nouncing the opening of well that
took all before it awoke the city early
one morning. The pressure from this
new we'll was astonishing. The roar
of the escaping gas could be heard for
several miles and when put on full
force and lighted the pressure was so
great that it would blow the flame out.
For this reason and because of the
deafening roar it became necessary to
pipe 1t to White river running the pipe
to the center and the deepest portion
of the stream, so the gas might be dis
seminated and tne pressure broken.
When the gas was turned the water
would begin 20 boil and as the pressure
was increased it leaped into the air, a
"hilSJ SSclnlnB lOdIlJ SuTSlnS ana
plunging until a geyser was formed
reaching to a height of 25 feet. Then
when a burning newspaper was foated
down the current and came within 20
feet of the place there was flash and
the great fountain of seething foam
became fire, leaping far above the sur
rounding trees and spreading out un-
til 1t was 80 feet across. Like great
candle 1t lighted the surrounding
country An eighth of a mile distant
1t was possible to read newspaper on
a dark night, while the roar of the
water and flames sounded like that
from Niagara. 1t was sight to justi-
fly the pilgrimage which many thous-
ands of people made from distant
States. The American Association of
Scientists, which came all the way
from the east, almost to member de-
cided that it was the greatest of the
countrys sights.-Derrick.
Bad blood and indigestion are dead