Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-11-10
Wells That Go More Than a Mile
Toward the Center
VARIATIONS In The TEMPERATURE
Interesting Results Of Recent Sci
entific Research.
THE FLOOR OF THE SEA
Copyright. 1900, by Theo. Waters.)

Written for The Evening Star by Theo. Waters.
Back in the days when people really
thought 1t possible to dig a hole through
the earth to China there used TO be much
speculation over what would become of a
man who happened TO fall into the hole;
would he stop falling down after while
and begin to fall up to the other side OF
the earth, or would gravity keep HIM oscil-
lating back and forth like pendulum
slowly coming to rest? Now nonsensical as
this may seem, we are actually approach
ing condition when a somewhat similar
question must be asked. Several holes have
been dug deep enough into the earth to en-
counter physical conditions very different
from those usually found on the surface
Some of these holes are in the form of
wells which are a mile deep in the older
rock Others extend even farther down
into salt beds and furnish this most widely
used commodity. Sill others are mines
which men work at a level as deep az that
of the wells. And in the ocean bed there
are holes so deep that il the highest noun
tains in the world We're to be dropped INTO
them there would still be plenty OF room
for ships to sail safely over their sum
mitS.
Near Pittsburg, Pa, well has been dug
1852 feet deep; that is, 292 feet more than
a mile. Near Wheeling, w. Va, they are
sinking II we'll which Is now within few
hundred feet of a mile deep. AT last re-
port they had reached the 4,92o-foot level.
AT Sperenberg, near BERN, Germany, they
are driving a hole in gypsum beds which
is already 4,5j9 feet deep and it Is getting
deeper every day At Schladabach, near
Leipzig, they are taking salt from a well
which is even deeper than the Pittsburg
well This hole is 6265 feet deep The
Red Jacket shaft of the Calumet and Hecla
mine in the Lake Superior copper district
is a mile deep and men work in the shaft
| Nearby, the Tamarack mine has shaft
nearly as deep as the Red Jacket. But at
| Paruschowitz, near Reibnik, in Eastern ST.
| lesia, there is a we'll which is now 500
| feet deep, or exactly one hundred feet more
| than mile and a quarter. They are sun
| boring and it is the intention to go down
$500 feet or one and two-third miles, when
some interesting scientific experiments will
be made Unquestionably this IS now the
deepest artificial hole in the world.
But in this race far into the earth core
| there are other competitors, other well
| holes which not quite as deep as these
| big ones, but which are pressing them hard
| They are mostly in Germany. At Lleth,
| near Altoona there is hole 4,3SS feet deep.
| At Lubtheen in Mecklenburg, they are still
| digging at 3949 feet At Sennewitz, near
Halle, 3,644 feet has been reached. AT
| InowraZ.aw, Posen, drills are working at
1924 feet, while at Friedrichsane, near AS
| chersleben, they have punched hole IN
the earth 3,543 feet deep. At St. Louis, Mo-,
we have well which will stand comparison
| with these German wells. 1t Is o,S43 Ieet
deep All of these wells are over half
mile deep and several Of them have passed
| the three-quarter mark.
Conditions in the Depths.
Many of these deep holes have been made
the subject of scientific Investigations and
as they are widely separated, individual
characteristics have been encountered In
each. Yet there Is very general co-reia'
ton in all which stands as evidence, not
only of the present internal condition oil
the earth but also of its age. These holes
| show in fact, that in some places the earth
| at a mile SO below the surface is as mol
as the boiling point of alcohol: at otheI
places men work mile under the surface
in q temperature of 10 degrees Fahren-
heit, a heat not greater than that of an
| average New York June day. When the
Savage mine in the Comstock lode was
connected at the half-mile level with the
| Gould & Curry mine, the temperature OF
the connecting gallery ranged from 131 de-
grees at one end to 145 degrees at the
other.
At the bottom of that five-mile pit in the
| ocean which yawns between the kerma-
decs and the Friendly Islands, the tempera-
| ture stays always near the freezing point
of water. There are many Of these deer
ocean holes in which the temperature Is
very low. And while the lack of heat is in
duced by the water and Its pressure, 1t ye'
bears a certain relation to the condition OF
deep holes in the continents when the gen
| eral effect on the edTlu crust - CoISiuSi
ed For when the theory of the earth's in
ternal heat is looked at specifically, Il
would seem that these deep sea pits shou4c
be very hot and full of boiling water, since
they are nearer to the center of the eartf
than any other point. But in this matter
of temperature there Is much to be sac
concerning the conducting properties OF the
rock in which the holes are sunk. Also, i
must be noted at what depth below sea
level each hole starts.
Possible Utility.
AS these wells all get hotter and hotter
as they are driven deeper and deeper the
outcome suggested is. that as soon as {
sufficient depth is reached. natural steam
will be encountered, or If the well be dry
water can be pumped In and returned II
the form of marketable vapor. There l:
nothing chimerical in this idea, since many
buildings in several parts of the world arr
heated with naturally warm wei water
The hospital at Grenelle and large fact or1e:
at Wurtemberg are notable examples. Also
the geyser shows how heat from the earth:
interior may manifest itself forcibly On th'
surface. Hence temperature measurement
are being made in all of the wells as the!
are drilled. In this country the heat IN
creases on the average about one degree
for every sixty feet of depth. 1t was so IL
the Pittsburg well. the temperature o
which was measured by Professor William
Hallock of Columbia College. This va
originally merely an ordinary Oil well Iu
| down by the Forest OIL Company. SeVefa
| thousand feet had been drilled before tn
oil sand began to yield sufficient CONNER
cial returns. and then they had gone so ia
and the tube showed such decided Use Il
temperature it was decided to dedicate tn
well to science. So the drilling was cen
| tinued and Professor Hallock was asked t
make a test Meanwhile. a member o
the United States geological survey. n
had been conducting some measurement
| in the well near Wheeling. He was thu
able to compare one with the other
The method of taking the temperatur
was simple. Self-registering thermometer
were placed in iron buckets three feet lonl
and three inches In diameter. A hucke
holding thermometers was hung on the EN-
of steel wire and let down into the hol
20 feet when another bucket was ted G.
and the lowering was continued. Measure
ments were thus made at various dep ms
| 1t was tedious work, and when the lowe
depths were reached it required nearly a.
hour to get the buckets back to the sur
face once the Measurement had been maui
On the way down in the Pittsburg we
natural gas was encountered, tapped an
used for a time to drive the machiner.
that worked the drills. In this instance tn
well furnished power to dig itself out
Comparative Temperatures.
Meantime Prof Hallock sent to German
, for the measurements which were be nj
J | +bo lad bac nd 10 Snaren