The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1905-01-31
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II. |. S GAS J \!
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STARTLING RlLlTlEs OF
4. 4; Nc MOVE OF CHI RLEsToNl POL
giTiclANs, III. b: M.
.PITTsBuRa VITAL INTEREST.
ED IN PROPOSED LAW FOR
HI WEsT$VlRGlNlA. 3 I: 4. \ \ "
go. $50 \
5(pittsb,ulir,ge. Disp,a,tch.). u

Farmers Of West Virginia viii lie
deprived Of over; 100000 annual
rentals and the gas supply, OF Pitts.
burg will be temporarily placed in
jeopardy Il the political efforts at
Charleston to conflne the distribution
of natural gas to the State are sue.
3cessful. Plttsburg operators do not
believe that the Maxwell bill will
pass, but they believe that II 1t does
they can prove to the United States
courts that the measure Is unconsti.
tutlonal. They say that a law passed
in Indiana In 1881, from which 4 the
West Virginia measure is patterned,
was rendered void BY United States
decision. q
Natural gus and oil operators Of
Pittsburg have been considerably lex.
ercised over the attempt to pass the
Maxwell measure. They declare that
the bill Is merely n disguised move,
ment to confine the sale Of natural
gas to West Virginia but they say
that this cannot be done, as natural
gas Is personal property as much as
coal and timber, and can be removed
from the State2at will by the owner.
They also insist that tho attempt to
prevent pumping Of natural gas Is
limpracticable and that the only re.
;straint which the State can legally
place upon the companies Is that Of
police regulation. They contend that
they cannot stop the pumping Of tho
supply. 4 2Qi
Pittsburs vitality Interested.
Inasmuch as Pittsburg receives
fully three.fourths Of It's natural gas
at present from West Virginia the
importance to It Of the actions Of the
politicians at; Charleston Is great 1t
is beyond question that in the future
Pittsburg will receive all Of its gas
from the Mountain State, and that 1t
will do so for many years. us the op.
orators say that the supply Is great.
err at present than 1t has ever been.
For many years oil operators have
been saving the gas in every possible
way, and all agree 10 the wisdom of
plugging the wells to prevent useless
waste. They say, however that not
particle Of natural gas reaches
Pittsburg without the aid Of pumps.
The;'valuel Of natural gas produced
in West Virginia in 1903, the lastest
figures obtalnable, was $G,SS2;359, an
increase OF s1,492,17S. or nearly 2S
per cent. over51902. The value Of The
natural gas sold within the State in
1903 was 5s3125,oG1, which shows that
only 455 per cent. Of the total pro.
duction was consumed within the
State and that 54.5 per cent. was
exported. The total number OF wells
drilled in the State in 1908 was
2s5, Of which 43 were dry holes anil
242 productive wells. At the close
of 1903 there were 1899 productive
wells and Of this number ten were
shut in or not in use. There were
S,451 miles Of natural gas pipe in
use, varying in size from two inches
up to 20 inches in diameter. In
1888 the value of the gas production
was only $4,000. ,};s2l
:: Some Interesting Figures.
In 1908 the value Of fuel dis.
placed in West Virginia by the gas
was s4,375,0Oo compared WHISTLE,
4C2 in 1900, and 36,179 consumers are
being supplied in 1909 compared with
29,357 in 1902. Strange to- say, a
small amount Of gas consumed lin
West Virginia In 1903 was produced
In PENNSYLVANIA and Kentucky, but
Pennsylvania was a large purchaser
OF the West Virginia product, as was