The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-05-21

crude product. and in a sense, therefore
a raw material. Without realizing 1t
we have been giving to others the ben
| efits which we should have derived from
the manufacture of finished products III
| time is now ripe for another step forward
| Today the members of this association
| have been treated to a sight of new
source of cheap fuel; cheap. however, onl,
| in the sense of cost and not In quality
| and which will. in my opinion, hencefortf
| play a most important part in our de
velopment and which will produce thu
most tremendous results for our distrie'
| and state. | refer. of course, to the gas
wells. which YOU have just seen. and
you all have the testimony of your owr
senses, sight and hearing, to convince
you that an abundant supply of this un-
rivaled fuel will soon be available for us
OIL and Natural Gas
''It is hard for us here IN Alabama to
realize the Roadway that has been made
in other parts of our country in the Use
OF oil and natural gas. On our Pacific
coast there Is very little coal south OF
British Columbia, and our Pacific states
have been retarded in manufacturing on
account of the scarcity of coal. During
the last few years, however, there have
been great oil and gas discoveries in
0dlllOT0la. IlluS SiNlIlS a SHCdPSA lhtl ~
those states than had ever been hoped
for. 1t is stated that about 20 oil and
gas companies in California are now pay
ing dividends at the rate of a million dol
lars a month. and some of these corpora
tions have already paid as much as $4,000.
900 to stockholders. In other sections,
such as Pennsylvania. West Virginia,
Ohio and Indiana. natural gas has long
been standard fuel, so that throughout
TTpt+ maid DIR
ing 1909 between s60,000,0o0 and s70,0oo.0oO
for natural gas for fuel purposes. This
gas made ages ago in natures labora-
tory, Is an ideal form of fuel. Tt is not
destructive to boilers. it makes no smoke,
no dust no ashes. 1t is cheaper than
coal within a radius of hundreds of miles
from the source of supply, and possesses
greater heating power than coal itself.
THE average cost to consumers of our
best coal delivered in Birmingham for
manufacturing purposes is not less than
81 50 per ton, and So. per ton for do
nestle use. With gas at 10 cents per 1000
cubic feet for industrial purposes and
30 cents per 1000 for domestic use, as a
basis of comparison, 1t is so per cent
cheaper than coal: without considering he
advantages to be derived from having
a clean city.
This gas that you have seen is purer
than any artificial gas can possibly be
and has nearly twice the heating value
of the manufactured article.
Makes Best Rails
1.-THE best steel rails are mads--with
gas fuel. and in the plant of the Steel
corporation at Ensley artificials has to
be used in the manufacture OF basic steel
from which the rails are rolled.
THE supremacy of Pittsburg IS steel
producing center dates back from the
use of natural gas in its mills, and the
output of a plant using gas would bs 30
per cent greater than the same plant
could produce with coal.
Small industries which will spring up
in every direction stimulated by cheap
gas as a fuel will add enormously to our
manufacturing facilities. 1t was almost
impossible to make plate glass in the
United States until the advent of gas as
fuel Gas makes better brick. better
sewer pipe. better pottery, and the uses
to which an abundant supply of 1t could
be put in this district are too many and
varied for me to attempt to enumerate.
1--WE have all asked ourselves the dues-
ton as 10 how long this enormous sup
plv of gas that we have seen can be ex-
pected to last There are in Pennsyl-
vania and West Virginia wells still flowing
which have been yielding supply of gas
for over 40 years. The wells that you
have seen are about 400 feet deep, and
the Pennsylvania wells to which l refer
are from 100 to 1000 feet deep. It is gen.
orally accepted as a fact that these deep
wells will yield the maximum amount for
two years and that after that time the
pressure will become gradually less and
less, until finally, after 10 or 20 years, 1t is
pumped out by the use of compressors,
lust as YOU would pump water from a
we'll Many of you from south Alabama
are familiar with the artesian wells that
abound in that section. We all know
wells that have been overfowing for so
years or more, and some OF us can re-
member wells that once overfowed but
which now have to be pumped. 1t Is the
same way with gas. 1t is good practice
in a gas field to sink one well to every
ten acres of land. Gas pays no toll for
TRANSPORTATION to the railroads; 1t is not
subject to adverse weather conditions or
to labor troubles, and, unlike water, will
run uphill as well as down. on account OF
the initial pressure and its own expan-
siyeness.
PSYCHOLOGISTS tell US that gas is always
found at the top of the rocks in the
earth or at the top of an anticlinal. A
good illustration of an anticlinal Is the
CAPITAL letter. "A" and the letter "
is a good illustration of synclinal. OIL
also is found in anticlinals below the gas
formation. and many predict that when
these bOrings are EXTENDED IuilutI, THAI
oil wells will be found in the vicinity of
the gas wells that you have just seem
Must Lay Pipes
These wells of course, have no partic-
ular value unless their product is piped
into some great manufacturing center
such as Birmingham, but the 50 miles
that intervene are a mere bagatelle. and
the financial and engineering difficulties
to be surmounted are not comparable TO
those that are overcome in the building
of every railroad.
"Bapkers are naturally inclined to be-
lieve that exchange and interest are the
greatest inventions of all the ages, but in
my opinion the greatest discovery made
in Alabama since that of colxing coal is
the discovery of this natural gas field.
Real estate In Birmingham is very val
liable There was time within the rec
objection of many of you when it was
worth little. We have reached prices un-
dreamed of by older Ynhabitants, and we
have gone through periods of boom, of
depression and of wildcat speculation.
In the development of every new industry
these elements are unavoidable. but 1t Is
safe to say that no pipe line involving a
cost of nearly a million dollars will be
constructed until this field has been thor
oughly tested and proven by experts, so