The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-02-27

few miles out Of Fairn1ont, ". Va. The
boring of this we'll continued until q
depth Of 1873 had been reached--the
deepest hole ever driven into the sur
face Of the earth, the nearest man HAD
! ever come to the heart Of the world.
The scientists and oil men were en-
thusiastic, their objective was only 42l
| feet away, the Clinton sands of West
\. Virginia seemed about to be touched.
But at the moment when victory
! seemed almost within then grasp, the
sides OF the we'll caved In, covering the
breaking the steel cable at a point
about $500 feet below the derrick floor,
thus effectually putting an end to the
drilling.
been lined with pipe there would have
| been little difficulty in carrying the
Lake well to an ultimate depth of 5000
or even 10000 feet
Oh men estimate that 1t costs any
| where from 81 to SIS foot to drill a
well. 1t was on similar figures that
| Parsons bases his estimate of $25, 000,-
both the Golf and Lake wells we're
| drilled for a much smaller sum.
In recent statement Mr.. Corrin es-
| timated that the Lake WELL the deepest
in the world, had cost less than SIS, $50,
while the Goff well had cost about $780,.
900. Depth, therefore, does not figure
particularly IN calculating the cost Of
the Ranger oil fields Of Texas cost
$4,000.
From the viewpoint OF the oilmen the
! Goff and Lake wells were failures, as
they failed to reach the coveted Clinton
sands, but to the scientist the wells
have been of incalculable interest and
value, enabling them to conduct expert
ments nearer the center OF the earth
than ever before. Probably the results
of the scientific investigations con-
Quoted In the wells will so far exceed
the value of the oil they might have
| produced that the drillers will feel am
| ply repaid for their venture.
Most valuable Of the experiments con.
Quoted so far have been those OF Or.
Van Orstrand. Of the United States geo
logical survey. According to his in
vestigations the temperature in both
wells at about 100 feet 10 IS degrees
Fahrenheit the heat gradually increas-
ing with the added depth until in the
Golf well at depth OF 1910 feet 1t
reaches 1898 degrees Fahrenheit. In
the Lake well, however, at $500 feet
the temperature was only 1856 degrees
Fahrenheit, while at 1887 feet in the
Czuchow well 1t reached 1921 degrees.
These results convince Or. Van Or
strand that the temperature at the same
depth in different localities varies,
though he believes the boiling poiAt in
each OF the American wells could be
reached at 10, 900 feet. In volcanic re-
gions, of course, the boiling point would
be much nearer the surface, as in Lar
darello and In Alaska, where tenn
perature Of 213 degrees can be found in
certain wells at q little more than 50
feet.
II Mr. Van Ostrand Is correct in his
belief that the boiling point lies only
900 feet below the surface, then ma
lures vast resource of energy lies just
at hand waiting TO be tapped for the
benefit of mankind. Through its use
the vast quantities of coal now burnt in
generating steam for motive power
would be saved and the coal fields Of
the world given q much longer lease on
life.
The source OF the enormous qusntity
Of heat stored in the center of the
earth is not known, some scientists
holding that 1t is due to the disintegra :
ton of radiun in the rocks, while 9th :
| ers believe the earth Is cooling globe.
radiatinE heat developed during con-
densation from the original nebula. Still
others contend that it Is due to other
causes, such a radioactivity, chemical
reactions. impacts from meteoritAs or
| condensation from nebulous material.
4 But whatever its source. the heat tre-
mains waiting to be tapped as an in.
exhsustible supply Of energy for the
world