Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1919-01-08
GAS TODAY MAIN NOW
 REPAIRED
Main Pipe Line Repaired, and Gas Promised to Be Flowing Today.

Gas.
 The break in the main pipe line in Sulphur River, near Fort Wynn Ark,
 which shut off the gas supply to Pine Bluff, Little Rock, and other Arkansas cities was repaired yesterday after { noon. It was stated last night by off, cials of the company that within f twelve hours after the break was re- paired, gas would again be flowing in- to this city. News was received last night about 10 o'clock that the break
 has been mended, and the gas should then reach here sometime this morn- ing
 While the officials of the company will not say that the gas will be on to- day. it is\ more than probable that such will be the case l'. H. Young, local manager of the company, said last night that unless something un-
 forseen happened, the gas would be here today. He stated that the pipes would have to be tested after the mend in the break, and if the repairs were satisfactory, today would see Pine Bluff relieved of the gas famine. Pine Bluff has now been almost two weeks without gas, and part of this
 time the coldest weather of the win-
 ter visited the city. The cause of the blowout i'll the pipe line was due, it is said, to the extreme cold, weather af- fecting the underground pipes, to- gether with too great a pressure of gas
 being forced through the mains. The
 break occurred while the Sulphur River was swollen on account of
 heavy rains, and it was practically impossible for workmen to get to the leak. To do this necesstated the con- struction of cofferdams which were
 in turn washed away by the turbulent waters of the river To relieve the
 famine, the gas company next con structed an auxiliary line which was
 too small to accommodate the great pressure, and as a consequence "blew out" shortly after the tie-in. With the receding waters, work on the main line was then resumed with the result that it was completed yesterday after nOOn
 Repair Difficult Feat. Should one picture the conditions which surrounded the mending of the break, it will be seen that the repair
 ing of the line was something of an engineering feat. The Sulphur River is little more than a great bottom" which when there are heavy rains is great expanse of water. It was in this wide stretch of water that the break occurred, and the workmen were forced to carry on the repairs by working in mud and water, with the temperature lowering around the zero mark.
 The pressure which will come through the pipes might at first x slightey than the normal pressure, but it will soon return to normal.
 Pine Bluff has now been almost two weeks without gas. A more com plete dissipation of the article could not have been effected if Herb Hoover himself had had charge of it. In fact, having been enured to substitutes, the people philosOphically accepted the situation, and began to fill the coal bin and wood box with fuel to last until the gas came back on.
 Photographic reports from Shreve- port conveyed the glad news that all was we'll, and the main line was in
 working condition and the gas had been turned in. It is estimated that it will require about seven hours for the fuel to reach here after being turned into the mains, and unless there is some unforeseen trouble, the people of Pine Bluff should be reading their Morning Graphic while comfortably seated in front of their gas heater. Assurance Comes From Headquarters.
 The following is the message that was flashed over the wires last night, on which the assurance is based that all would have the gas today:
 Shreveport, La, Jan. 7.-Arkansas is again burning natural gas from the Caddo Oil Fields.
 The break in the main pipe line in the Sulphur River near Fort Lynn, Ark, several days ago, which practi- cally shut of the supply of the fuel to Little Rock and other important cities, was repaired Tuesday after noon. It was stated Tuesday night by officials of the Arkansas Natural Gas Company here that within twelve, hours in the sister state would be abundant to all demands.
 When the cold wave struck Arkan- sas, demands for gas were greater than ever and the force with which the fuel was being pumped through the underwater lines and the extreme cold, is said to have been the cause for the blowout in the papes. In those homes and business houses supplies only with gas heating sys- tems there was much suffering from cold reported. However, the condition wore mitigated as quickly n poeaible by the laying of an additional Inc