The Washington herald., 1919-08-31
NATURAL GAS TO
CUT HIGH RATES
National Museum Urges
Conservation 10 Reduce
Fuel Expenses.

The features OF the present cost
Of living investigation which have
received the most publicity are food
and clothing. II will be we'll not 10
forget that back Of these and. in
fact. of all manufactured articles
and commodities, is the question of
fuel The part played by coal and
oil is familiar enough. but that of
natural gas is far less generally
known.
The United States National Mu-
scum at Washington has on exhibit
tion a large model showing the oc-
currence. transportation, and use of
natural gas in one Of the gas pro-
duCing regions. This model. to-
gether with a bulletin of the Mu-
scum entitled: Natural Gas: Its
Production, Service, and COnserva-
tion." are intended to visualize tie
situation and suggest methods to
prevent the enormous waste OF this
valuable resource.
The Worlds Deepest Well
Gas occurs in the earth where in
the process OF following its natural
tendency to rise. it has encountered
a cap Of imperviOUs rock. Here it
constitutes what is known as pool
and the porous rock containing il is
termed gas sand. The unknown un-
dergrOund supplies OF natural gas
are found by drilling.
The deepest gas well. and Incl
dentally the deepest hole m the
world. is one in West Virginia.
which is about 1000 feet deep, or a
little over a mile and a quarter.
Another hole even deeper than this
is now being drilled in the same
region in the hope of striking gas.
To protect the hole. an iron pipe
called a casing is driven down into
the rock formation always found
above the gas-bearIng rock. A
plugging device known as packer
is fastened in the casing or hole n
the rock, Immediately aOOve the gas
formation. and the gas by virtue OF
its inherent expansive tendency
then comes to the surface through
tubing. and forces itself into the
transmission lines.
rs the gas travels the pressIrs
must drop and this necessitates the
installation Of gas COmpressors.
When the gas reaches the distrib-
Uting plant it passes into the med
ium pressure lines in the city. and
the pressure is then reduced to the
lOw-press lines. where il travels
through the mains at probably five
ounce pressure to the square inch:
then through the service line, con-
sumer's meter. and ultimately IS
burned at the consumers fixtures.
Supplies 1O,OOO.OOO People.
Natural gas is found wherever oil
occurs. but IT can he used only in
those fields which are close enough
to popUIous centers to be available
FOR piping. OF all the occurrences
Of natural gas. the only one meet
.nC these requirements to any great
extent is the so-caIIed Appalachian
Field, including Ohio. Kentucky.
West Virginia. Eastern Indiana and
the western parts Of New York and
Pennsylvania. Here il caters to the
-ousehOld needs Of some 10000 900
7ooPle and largely supplies the fuel
.oT Industrial purposes. II is. how
ever. not confined TO IT, region. for
Is advantages are felt throughout
:FF country IN the form of cheaper
manufactured commodities. such as
steel and glassware As COM
nuntty eXhausts its supply Of natur-
At gas, it becomes necessary to sub
Ititute artificial gas. Artificial Gas
manufacture means burning coal
and another not inconsiderabIa de-
nand is put on the already over
5urdened coal supply Of the country.
the nigh price Of coal is due largely
to the difficulty Of mining and hauling
enough to supply the enormous de-
mand- As the demand exceeds the
supply. so the price jumps. and every
additional call on the supply tends TO
boost the price still higher. So il Is
so the interest OF the entire country
thkJthe natural gas communities con-
seTvs tneir supply and release coal
for use where there is no natural gas
This applies also TO the great manu-
featuring plants Of Western PennsyI-
vania and Ohio where natural gas IL
used to large extent as fuel. II I.
thetu plain duty to use this fuel in
the most economical and -ef4r1sr+t- man
ner possible in order to keep down
he coal demand. ---'..- -...
Most Abused Resourea .-
Thus it is significant that o,,r ra-
:ural gas sUpprv-rv~rapfdIv pIavi7g oTt
As shown BY tba fact that an average
u around fifteen towns are forced
o turn to artificial gas every year.
This early playing out Of the avail
able supply is due largely to wastefuI
2racuces-in fact. natural gas has
earned the unenviable record Of being
at once the least appreciated ana
most abused OF our natural resources
The National Museum exhibit shows
graphically these wasteful practices,
Ill Of which may he traced in the last
analysis to cheapness. They range
n amount all the way from 6-inch
vel holes, drilled for oil and left IN
isgust 70 blow OF enough gas daily
TO servs whole towns. to the house
holder Zho leaves Jets burning all
lay becAuse the gas is too cbesn r.