New-York tribune., 1901-03-10

| of the old wells has declined. The city OF Chi-
| cago is supplied with about 2ooooooo cuoic
feet of natural gas from the Indiana region
daily 1t comes through three malns-ohe
1O-inch and two S-inch The average pres
sure throughout the State of Indiana is said to
be about 1S1 pounds to the square lnch "A
note of alarm came from the State geologist
who said that when the pressure drops to 100
pounds to the square inch the wells will become
useless Nearly all the Indiana wells draw their
supply from a depth of not less than l,ooo rect
Detroit has beea supplied with natural gas
| for several years from the Canadian heidS at
| kingsville. Last winter the flow diminished
! perceptbIy. but with the return OF warm
weather the supply appeared to be as abundant
| as ever. This winter, however, the pressure mas
| fallen until it is so low that the use of the gas
| in factories and even for domestic heating pur-
poses has had to he given up. AT present there
/ is practically no supply at all New wells will
be sunk At Kingsville in the hope that new
source of gas at a greater depth may be
struck
There are moro wells in Pennsylvania than in
Indiana and they supply light and power to
more cities towns and factories than those Of
any other part of the country. The product OF
gas in that State was valued at $2p.0oo,0oo in
1SsS. But the supply has been decreasing ard
tn. demand increasing. The product Of 1891
was valued at a little over $G0OOUO0 OF the
! three thousand gas wells in Pennsylvania at
least thousand have been abandoned In
some places the pressure has fallen 50 low that
gas pumps must be used to keep up the supply.
With the falling off in the supply came meas
ures OF economy. Meters were introduced. and
one cubic foot of gas now accompIishes all that
three feet did in the days when the stock was
looked upon ineXhaustiblc.
The decline in tn gas product Of some parts OF
f has ID q
years. Stnl. an increase has been noted in other
parts If the Stat" \ region Of supply in
Fairfield County has attracted much attention
from the fact that There is "A pressure Of II"
pounds the square inch in gas coming from
depth of over 1000 feet. The gas is carried in
pipes to many cities in the vicinity, and the
surIIy s,-ns T. te ~dli.icnt for all purposes.
TIA, discoveries Of now rAs wells in West Vir-
eiui4 ~h-r, j, is obtain q a depth of from
2up 20 2Uit feet with good pressure.
iviut.d to iy the people Who believe that ther"
IS no aar2,r of 81 natural gas famine within IN.
next halr century TINS gas is sent hy lis own
pre.eu1.. through about thirty-ivt miles Of -
ir,n i.I,. and then into smaller liI.s t. Pitts
burg. where il is used not only for open hearth
aai rrIcin., melting aud in tho improved fur
uae,~ bat for h";tiuI homes and FOR cooking.
IItt. burg WAS formerly supplied with raturaI
gas II. a point on!y twenty-five miles away.
but is using more NOW. although thu source is
much further away. In the year ending March
~. 1909 th, Philadelphia Company delivered
from West Virginia t. PttshurE iGG1L2:'I.o .ooo
.cular feet 81 gas This WAS obtained f., terri
tory covering l@u So acres Of land. with tt6
producing a,us and e:a: miles OF PIN. line.
EEGuLATING THE rNEssCtE-
\ stud ut Of Tho subject wrote recently:
The decrease in TIN, eas supply during The
past d.,.5,l, has U.cu So prone uI...I that az
the Trcs.ut rat, OF consumption TIN Hm.t VIII
10 limit tl.r use uf uuturL s.,s I.;ht manu-
f1cturiug purposes, and this WptIi postpone
tho exhaustion of tn, fields for 81 ,susilvr4nl' 70
period
Where great quantities # gas are delivered
Tho rresSul. is now regulated 10y "tGya.u1 on"
or turning or sources Of supply. t:y this
means is possible husband tho 81 ok and
tn" pressure. Irecaution which is made pos
$. air with the use Of improved machinery.
For Illuminating purposes natural sas has
Httl Nalur. The light from an ordinary gas
burner is small only about ten candle power
and in ord". to pet good results tn, flame must
be $" arae that Tho heat would make the
. illuminated space uucomfurtahle
The eas properties Of the new oil fields have
Yet hrc tested, but tie oil lis ovn~ic> have
, had some effect the price "f oil Tex;ts.
tho crude article has fallen from - cents
to - cents a barrel of forty-tAo gallons.
The Texas oil" said rclinar is almost