The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-01-12
Pumping Station No. 4, of the Con-
umers' Gas Trust Company,
Is Inspected.
FORCING FUEL TO THIS CITY
INSPECTOR LEACH SAYS COMPANY
USES ALL ITS RESOURCES.
The Committee VIII Spend Two Days
Next Wee i'm the Field-What
Was Learned.

The City Council investigating committee
| yesterday made a tour of inspection TO
pumping station No. / owned by the Con-
sumers' Gss Trust Company, which is To-
Gated about eight miles northeast of No.
blesville, and the members learned more
about the pumping of natural gas into In
dianapolis and the magnitude of such a
plant than they had ever dreamed of. The
| trip was made at the invitation Of the gas
cmpany in order to allow the committee
and other councilmen to inspect the plant
in order to help in arriving at a report on
the resolution providing for an investiga-
ton of the company for the purpose of
ascertaining if it is supplying all the gas
/ to its patrons in Indianapolis at its COM
mand.
The party left Indianapolis yesterday at
| noon. and when noses were counted 1T was
| found that there were just thirteen in the
| PARTY, but there were no gas explosions
/ or other accidents TO carry out the super
stition regarding that lumber. The only
mishap was the wet feet secured by a few
who inspected a gas well near the pump
ing station. OF the investigating committee
those who made the trip were Keller. Bill
Kingsley, Munro and Moriarity, Perrott be-
ing the only absent member Councilmen
Bernauer, Negley, Spiegel and Daller were
also in the party. State Gas Inspector
Leach, Secretary Lyman and Superintend-
ent Shackleton, of the gas company, and
two newspaper representatives completed
the crowd.
A TRIP IN CARRIAGES.
After arriving at Noblesville carriages
were secured and the drive of eight miles
to the pumping station was made over
heavy roads and in a snowstorm, but the
members of the committee seemed to enjoy
the unpleasant part of the trip, for they
said to each other: 1--WE will know more
about gas than most people, This was
enough consolation to cause the council
men to display a brave front and there
were no signs of weatherbeaten counte-
nances when they got back to Indianapolis
later in the evening.
The first department inspected at the
pumping station was the immense boiler
room. When the councilmen were ushered
into the large room they heard the roar
OF gas and saw large fires beneath the i'm
mense boilers through little holes in the
brick walls In front CT the furnaces. Coun-
Gilman Moriarity gleefully exclaimed:
IF i had that much gas at my house
We could fry eggs in the morning" Others
said that if they had that much gas at
their homes there would be no need of an
investigation by the Council. The pressure
under the boilers was about three ounces.
The battery consisted of sixteen immense
boilers. which are probably the largest
used by any of the large stations in In
diana, according to Mr.. Leach. In wealth
er like that of yesterday, four of the boilers
are kept in reserve, but twelve of them are
constantly supplying steam for the big
COMPRISING engines in another department
of the pumping station. During the ex-
IRENE cold weather the reserve boilers are
also used.
The heads of the boilers and also other
appliances in the boiler room bear the
Atlas engine works stamp. One of the
party exclaimed:
THAT is the first evidence have vet
noticed of any graft on the part of any
of the officers of the Consumers Company.
H. III. Hanna, one of the directors, seems to
have secured q bit out of it,"
THE LOWEST BIDDER.
Mr.. Lyman ~retorted by saying that the
Atlas company was the lowest bidder on
the work and that was the reason the boil
ers were purchased from that company.
While the members of the party admired
the immense boilers Superintendent
Shackleton explained that the cost of run
ming the pumping station, including the
gas used under the boilers, investment and
help. amounted to $500 a day. Four per cent.
of the gas received at the pumping station
is burned under the boilers. The other
pumping station owned by the same COM
pany at Gilman, in Madison county, is
nearly twice as large as the No. / pump
ing station. The No. / station was erected
four years ago, n since that time new
boilers and new COMPRISING engines have
been added, until at the present time the
representatives of the company claim the
engines now installed in the station can
collect and force to Indianapolis all the gas
which the territory supplies.
From the boiler room the party was es-
corted to the COMPRISING department,
where the six large COMPRISING engines,
with a combined capacity of 900 horse
power, were throbbing regularly in the
work of forcing the gas into Indianapolis.
The gauges were Immediately inspected
and the gas coming into the station regis
tered fifty pounds pressure, while the gauge
showing the pressure as 1t left the COM
pressers registered IA pounds pressure.
The gauges vary a few pounds during each
hour of the day, according TO the flow OF
gas from the wells. The six COMPRISING
engines are forcing at the rate of 11.00O.0 600
feet of gas into indianapolis each Day. Mr..
ShackIeton said that from midnight until 3
o'clock in the morning two OF the COM
pressers are not used, except in extremely
cold weather.
NUMBER OF WELLS.
The No. l station is supplied with gas
from $50 wells in a radius of fifteen miles.
mostly nOTtHtSdl Oi III tdtioH aAu dlSO
acts as a relay station in forcing with re-
newed pressure the gas pumped into the
mains from the Gilman station. Mr.. Ly-
man said that when the station was first
erected but three COMPRISING engines were
used while six are now in almost constant
use. The report of the pressure taken ON
the gas pumped to indianapolis for the day
varied from 10 pounds at 6 o'clock In the
morning TO 2O5 in the afternoon. When the
reached the COMPRISING depart
ment the engines were making fifty-two
revolutions a minute. The inlet tempera-
ture of the gas was forty-five de-
grees. and the outlet temperature,
after leaving the compressers, was 200
degrees. The temperature of the at
mosphere was thirty-six degrees. The in
let pressure was fifty pounds and the outlet
pressure 2l0. The revolutions of the en-
gines were increased TO 100 which increased
the outlet pressure to go pounds but re-
duced the inlet pressure to thirty-fve
pounds. The outlet temperature was in
creased 10 2i2 degrees. Mr.. Shackleton ex-
planned that the increase of the outlet pres
sure did not increase the flow of gas I'm
Indianapolis. as the pumps handled at all
times during that time of the day all the
gas that could be secured. BY increasing
the outlet pressure the inlet pressure was
perceptibly reduced and the wells with a
low pressure would not flow gas into the
the increased high pressure used in the
COMPRISING engines. The gas In the pipes
would flow back into the wells with low
pressure under such circumstances, he ex-
planned. After leaving the COMPRISING en-
glnes the gas Is forced through big pipes