The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-09-07
PLENTY OF GAS



get in: Now, Landon declares, the
gas company is able to enter the new
fields and provide the needed supply
1t was Landon's first public discussion
of the details of the gas trouble.
Landon's Speech.
In his. speech Landon said:
Mr.. President. Fellow Rotarians and
Citizens of Topeka: 1 have been in
vited by the president of the rotary
club to talk to you about gas. You
are concerned about the supply you
are going to have this winter. You
want to know about it. you have a
right to know, and am glad to tell
you about it,
Supply Is Limited.
The supply of gas this winter is linn
tied to the physical property of the
gas company This property consists
of about SIS miles of sixteen inch and
eighteen inch line, reaching from St
Joseph, Mo-, to a point near Tulsa.
Okla.,s and. gas. engines OF compressors
aggregating about 10000 horse power,
and the amount of gas to be furnished
consumers depends upon the amount
of gas that can be forced or pusheo
thru the pipe lines by the compressors-
The pipes will not carry, and the en-
zines will not force, gas beyond the
| limit or strength they are maze 70
carry You may have fifteen POUNDS
pressure at Topeka. On the discharge
| side of the Hogshooter station, IN Ok
|
More than 800 pounds is dangerous 10
life and property, and if we had an
the gas in Oklahoma, we Wouio nol
dare to go beyond that 800 POUNDS
pressure Consequently, your pressure
| of fifteen pounds at Topeka could not
he Increased, and no gas company anu
| no individual could deliver gas 10 you
| at more than fifteen pounds pressure,
because the physical strengtn OF .ne
property would not permit more -lioi
onn mounds HO2ShOOIer.
| At one time there was a compressor
station located at Sciplo, KAN apoue
| twenty miles south of Ottawa inere
was also an extra line north OF
troIia station. This Scipio station ana
! this line were taken up and remover
| to Oklahoma before the state receiHeE-
| ship or the federal receivershlp. rms
was done by orders OF the oirecoo1s 81
| been removed, more gas could pc oe-
livered The physical property OF ene
Kansas Natural Gas company must De
added to, for you to get an aoequdiIss
supply of gas IN extremely eoiU
Millions for Sale.
/ AS to the supply of gas: l nave
drilled wells, made contracts and nave
| secured all the available and acces-
sible gas within reasonable oistanc s7
| of the lines of the Kansas Natural
/ Gas company. At no time mas the
| receiver refused to buy gas or pulio
| lines where he was justif1eh IN mar X
/ ing the expenditure. There are at TINS
| time millions of feet of gas In Okla
| bona. more gas today than ever be-
| fore in the history of its development
! hit it is so, 60, rs or 100 miles away
| from our lines. There are 1nlllons OF
feet of gas for sale. To get II, IL is
/ onlv necessary to buy pipe, dig bitches
and Law the lines, for the owners are
anxious and ready to sell. 1t is mostly
owned by oil operators, who are IN
! the oil business and are ready ana
| anxious to sell the gas Anyone VINO
! has money can buy pipe; any man
with money can buy compressors; any
man who can buy the pipe and COM
t5,ressors can buy the gas Now you
NAV want to know, with all this gas,
these millions of feet of gas tnat can
| be reached by laying long lines why
| II is that it has not been done; why
the gas company has not built lines,
bought more compressors, ana planned
and prepared to give you the gas you
| could burn in zero weather the same
as in mild weather. You may ask
what has been done with all the
| money that has passed thru the hands
of the receiver. Several millions of
| dollars have passed thru my hands,
| but there were creditors ana ophsa-
| lions that had to be taken care or.
| The creditors said: That is cur
| money; we want it, and it is ours and
we have a right to be paid. Ihe
! court, under the law, was compelled
to take the same view of it. and or
dered the debts paid, but only, after
| ne had compelled the creditors to
surrender all stocks and bonds not rep
| resenting actual investment II there
is a business man in this house who
in his business career has owed thou
sands of dollars, and the money was
| due his creditors, and his creditors
| knew he had the money, could he get
away without paying his deuts! 1t
is easy to accumulate money II you
don't pay your bills and obligations,
but you all know they have got to be
met; they have got to be paid; and
we have been paying off the debts.
At this time, the stockholders of the
company are reorganizins. New
! money and new blood are coming into
the company. They are going to pay
all the debts There will be no cred
itors hereafter, and they will have two
| millions of dollars to put into the
/ business.
Cost of Gas.
| Now something about the cost OF
| gas. You have got to pay more for
gas because it costs more money to
| get it. This is true of everything that
/ goes into a gas well or goes into a
! line. Gas wells drilled in Kansas, in
! Wilson, Neosho, Allen, Montgomery
/ and Labette counties, where the lines
were first laid, and from which the
| supply was taken for a number OF
wears, cost from $1,000 to $1,000. To-
| day that gas is nearly all gone. What
! is left is the seepage, a small amount
of gas that filters through the sand
| and comes into the wells each day. The
rock pressure on these wells averages
less than twenty pounds. This gas
has to be taken, compressed and
raised to a pressure of at least ESQ
| pounds before it reaches you.
The great volume of gas you re-
! ceive comes from a point near Tulsa
| Okla, almost 100 miles south of the
/ wells from which the first supply was
| taken, and some of it comes from
! Gushing, seventy miles still farther
away, and these Oklahoma wells cost
more money than the Kansas wells