New-York tribune., 1901-03-10
NATURAL GAS AND Oil.
THE SUPPLY OF THE FORMER IS STILL
ENORMOUS, ALTHOUGH 1T HAS DE-
CLfNED IN THE LAST TEN YEARS

ite,ostad in the oil business but by those who
had read OF the great falling off in the supply
Of natural gas in the United States Gas Is
only found where there are carbonaceous de-
Iosts such as coal petroleum. and more OH
usually means more gas. When the coal and
petroleLm have been taken from the earth ana
the supply of these has been exhausted the gas
e,,nnl,. also yanishes The gas reservoirs or
Gas bearing rocks are in the paleoZoic strata
from the upper coal measures down to the Tren-
ton limestone, and every richly productive gas
well is an inverted trough of coarse grained
limestone or sand covered with deposit Of
shaIe or similar forma ion These gas furnlSh-
inc reservoirs vary in area from a few square
miles to the great arch over five thousand square
miles in area which covers the ohio and INDIANA
gas belts These gas reservoirs are not great
cayrrns in which thc gas has been stored by
nature To he tapped and ripel Icy man but sim
lly porous rock formations impreenated with
gas The more porous the rock the quicker is
thu consumption after the drill has once made
a passage for the gas to tho surface
Eternal fires on the shores Of the Caspian
sea fires from the earth in the province of
Sze-Chuen. in China. holy fires" that have
buried for centuries in many parts Of the
Orient and gas wells that have burned in Rus
sla for generations show that these reservoirs
exist in all parts of the known Garth. but the
United States is recognized as having the great
est gas fields in the world Since natural gas
was discovered and utilized at Frrd0nia. Chau-
tauqua County. y. y, in 1S21, this sub
stance has played an important part IN the
United States The little town Of Fredonia Was
Illuminated with the natural product in lN2i
when Lafayette visited the place. and the well
which was drilled in 1870 L. a depth II - feet
supplied tn village with natural gas until lN.'N-
since then PENNSYLVANIA. Indiana Ohio West
how. > .trf.a e .ff ? .t- e.
supply. and IT last accounts there wer. upward
OF thirteen thousand lui;.s of pipes in th" Taited
STATES used exclusively for conluc'iu@ natural
eas from tie wells 10 factories and haus OF
this pipe system Pennsylvania has 1;ri miles.
I..iana 4@p9. onio l1:'". Wcsr Virginia. 50.
aud N@w-York Al. It would require Sill
ro1c0o worth of coal to PRODUCE th" h.,r and
l.eh; given 10y the gas which passes through
th,s. pipes .n one year. Tn cash value "f th'
Esta~al gas supply fo1 1884 was estimated I'll
>l-.15i.%7o
VAII-E oF TIE Gas USED
TIN. value If natural gas in IA. United states
in 1895 was .st iu:.t-t hy stttis'ioiAns at about
>l-,aoo.Do This aas exclusive ~ The Cauai an
:-as which III that time came IRE iar@- Pu1nN'@'S
{, G:uaalo and Detroit. In the SAM },ar lare"
and important natural gas discoveries "er"
mad. in ohio. West Virginia ana r".n~>l Vania
III. uses to which natural gas is pun W"r" ta''u-
lated recently. and from tn, records secured il
.ri,.trs that 571 99S domestic fires ar main
taineG Is this natural full. - iron mills. Ia
s.cr. works and Ia gloss works rive heat foi
manufacturing purposes from natural -..s. and
:;"lI cousum. are placed under tho general
head OF FOR other uses"
The United stats Geological Surveys recent
report Show thut the natural gas supply has
fallen off in tho United States in It's fu"i value
about one-third. In lN:3 the production "f
natural gas Was equal to the heating capacity
of j.4uGUUU tons of coal; ten years a"", WHOM
the industry ~ AIS n i@ht. til" equivalent
Of the heating output Of natural gas VAS about
l5UnoWnU tons of coal h government ~
pcrts, after making careful examination. de
clare that the great gas producing fields are
approaching extinction. The ohio division. th'
supply from which lad pressure of iH'
pounds the square inch has no" II" such
pressure and the original rock Drcssur" Of -.
pounds IN Indiana has been reduced to IL,
pounds. The consequence is that many indus
tries in Indiana Wh-re natural gas was use,
have been discontinued, or are working at {
DISADVANTAGE OF have substituted coal
The aggregate value of the gas produced il
1899 was S2uu2i SCI, a gain of 81 7:o,c51 over
1855 This was due to increased demand
and to an increase in the cost Of the pr duct
Despite hc that wells were allowed t. burr
for months simply to attract attention t" tn,
places where they we're found and to hell