The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-06-21
TALKING Gas AGAIN
Renewed Interest in the Cheap
Fuel Problem.
RICH FIND AT TORONTO
Proposition Advanced to Have
1t Piped to Wichita.

Gradually the dawn of a manufacturing
era is coming towards Wichita Every
body admits that all the Peerless Prin-
cess needs is cheaper fuel to make it one
of the big cities of the West. Confidence
that it will be such a city in the not far
distant future is increasing. a state that
can produce 100000 bushels of wheat,
300, 00o, 900 bpshels of corn, $4,000. 900 worth
of hogs, s6OOOO,0OO worth of cattle and
500 100000 worth of other farm products,
ought to have within its borders a big
city and a great manufacturing center.
Adding Oklahoma, with its wonderful re-
sources, to Kansas it would seem that no
place is more likely to become the big
manufacturing center than Wichita. 1t
is already the commercial center.
The discovery of an ineXhaustible sup
ply of gas at Toronto, within eighty
miles of Wichita, is encouraging. 1t
brings the solution of the problem of
cheap fuel forty miles nearer than it has
ever been before. That. at least, is en-
couraging. A gas discovery may be made
it at the very suburbs of the city. At any
rate it is within eighty miles of Wichita
now and it is not impossible to pipe it
that distance. There is no typographical
obstacles that any one knows of. The
people are discussing the feasibility of
such an enterprise and when the western
people begin the study of a problem they
solve It sooner or later.
There are people in this city who still
believe that there is gas under Wichita
Notwithstanding that the experiment Of
the famous gas well in the north end of
town failed TO prove it. That much
'cussed' and discussed well has been a
popular theme since the experiment made
at Toronto proved successful The people
of Wichita were never satisfied with the
report that came from their 1900 foot
well and it is doubtful whether there are
ten citizens in Wichita today who know
really anything about it except that it
cost $780,
A reporter of the Eagle called at the
site of the well yesterday. All signs Of
it have vanished. There is not a land
mark left but stubby pole that once
held the guy rods of the drill tower
grass has grown on the sixteen hundred
feet of dirt that had been taken out of it.
Mayor Ross got on street car uD near
the well and after he had made his nickel
contribution to the octopus his opinion
was sought on the subject of natural gas
He protested that he wasn't member of
the "hot air club" and didn't know much
about the subject. He also said that he
hadn't read the report Of the Philadel-
phia convention.
What would it cost" he was asked,
ito pipe gas from Toronto to Wichita?"
The mayor smiled a little like Poet
Laureate Jennings does when he is about
to crack a joke, and said: 81 really don't
know the present cost of 'pipe dreams"
He was asked why 1t wouldn't be legiti-
mate to apply the unused remnant of the
gas we'll fund towards investigating the
feasibility of piping gas from Toronto to
Wichita and his answer was that there
IS none Of the gas well fund left. The
legislature of 1899 passed an acting en-
abling the city treasurer to transfer it
to the general fund, and that has been
done. The iron casing has been with
drawn from the we'll and sold and for all
practical purposes the mole Is absolutely
useless. 1t has caved in long ago.
The well proved only one thing positive
ly and that is that salt can be made in
Wichita. Water taken from the we'll was
strongly inpregnated with 1t. but under
present conditions it would he next to
impossible to make a salt industry profit
able in Wichita. Several such salt wells
at Hutchinson have been abandoned since
the organization of. the salt trust and
everybody knows the fate Of the resource
full salt mines of Kingman and Anthony.
There Is great deal of renewed in
terest in the subject Of gas, however,
ad although it has not reached a serious
stage of agitation, a great many suhstan-
tia citizens are expressing a desire to
further the examination. Some are for
boring another hole much deeper than the
old one, but most of those who are dis
cussing the subject favor a movement
to ascertain the practicability of piping
gas from Toronto or from any other
nearer point that il can be discovered at.
It is probable that the city council may
take the subject up at the next meeting
and instruct the city engineers depart
ment to make a thorough investigation
of the matter and report.