The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-02-10
The Gas HEARING
1t Was Resumed Today After
Recess of a Week.
Engineer Wits Report I'm
pOrtant Bearing on Case.

Scores of attorneys representing the
cities of Kansas using natural gas,
the companies distributing gas to the
consumers and the Kansas Natural
Gas company are in Topeka today for
the rate hearing before the state public
utilities board. From the outlook this
morning 1t appears that the experts
proving their theories on the gas sup
ply will decide the rates that will have
to be paid by the consumers hereafter.
The cities are supported by the re-
port of a committee which spent the
last ten days in the fields of the Kan
sas Natural company This commit
tee appears before the hearing today
with a tale of wonderful and enormous
fields of gas that could be opened up
to the mains throughout northeastern
Kansas. The experts employed by the
Kansas Natural company are here with
figures to prove that the gas supply
is low, that it decreasing every day
and that it is only question of short
time until the pressure will cease.
The opinions expressed by these ex-
perts and the state investigating COM
mittee will decide the future rates this
afternoon. The utilities commission
has been given power through the
federal court to fix the rates to be
charged both by the Kansas Natural
company and the distributing com
panieS.
1t is predicted around the 1obbies of
the state house this morning that the
tale to be told by the committee that
went through the gas fields will have
a world of weight with the decision on
the future rates. If it is found that
there is plenty of gas in the fields and
that the Kansas Natural company has
no excuse for pleading weak pressure
and decreasing supply, the utilities
commission will think long and hard
before an advance, prohibitive to the.
users, will be recommended.
Engineer Wits Report.
Carl c. Witt, engineer for the COM
mission in a report to the commission
today asserted that only half the Ok
lahoma gas supply had been exhaust
ed, that millions of cubic feet of gas
the Kansas Natural Gas company was
not operating it's property economi-
cally.
Mr.. Witt urges that the commission
adopt some rule or order by which
all manufacturing gas could be shut
off and the entire supply used for
domestic purpose exclusively, even
heating with gas being prohibited.
ing wells and the great loss of gas,
Mr.. Witt asserts that there is no
commodity which needs government
supervision as badly as does the Ok
lahoma and Kansas gas supply.
eff the Kansas Natural Gas COM
pany had three or four times as many
wells as they have at the present time
and a much larger compressor capa-
city so they could operate their field
economically, and have a reserve ca
pacity for extreme weather conditions,
they could continue to meet the de-
mands of their $50, 600 customers for
some time,'' said Mr.. Witt in his re-
port. But not operating under these
conditions and there being consider
able doubt as to the possibility of OBJ
tanning them, the only obvious reme-
dy is to reduce the consumption in
proportion to meet the present well
and compressor capacity either by
cutting off some of the towns or cut
ting out all gas for manufacturing or
domestic heating, thereby, putting
the physical plant on a reasonable
operating baSis.'
Mr.. Witt and two engineers of the
commission spent the last ten days in
the gas field. They found many wells
with immense capacity being drowned
out by water after only small part
of the gas had been used. They found
many wells where the supply had been
partially exhausted and then the well
disconnected In the Gushing field
they found many wells where the gas
was being allowed to escape into the
air simply to get rid of the gas in the
hope that oil would flow.
The engineer believes that if all of
the low pressure gas wells were con-
nected up with compressors that the
gas would last for a considerable time
and all of it obtained instead of much
going to waste through connecting
high pressure wells with those of low
pressure.
The engineer asserts that the Hog
shooter field, one of tn finest yer
found. has been absolutely killed. He
has a record of one well of the Kansas
Natural Gas company which had an
open flow of 100000 feet for one
month and then was drowned out,
with millions of feet of gas unobtain-
able There are wells in the Kansas
field that have been throttled to a linn
tied flow and have been constantly
fiowin~ for twenty years and are still
producing enough gas to pay for their
operation These wells were never al
lowed to elbow off, and were handled
carefully to prevent drowning
1.-THE Gushing field is blowing into
the air billions of feet of gas that
ought to be warming the homes and
cooking the meals of some city," said
Mr.. Witt. "Some of these wells are
already turning into oil. There rs no
field where government control to the
end of conserving the natural re
sources for the benefit of the masses
has been more needed. Not all of the
sI1npIy that could have been obtained
from the wells has been secured. on
account of loss of wells through
drowning by water and not by utiliz-
ing the last pound of pressure. This
natural product should have been re-
served for domestic use and not have
been used to burn brick and cement
and to smelt ore"
Weather Forecast for Kansas.