Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1920-02-12

any oil.
When the Cot well had been
completed. and the Czuchow record
broken, the Hope Natural Gas COM
pany might have been excused from
any further attempt to reach the
Clinton sands, but after Mr.. Pew
had resigned. his successor deter
mined to try for new record, be-
lieying his efforts would be amply
repaid if the longed for Clinton
sands could be reached.
The newest president of the COM
pany was John B. Corrin, an oil
man of many years experience,
who knew the business thoroughly.
He selected as the field of-his VEN
ture the Lake farm, few miles out
of Fairmont, W. Va The boring of
this well continued until a depth
of 1879 feet had been reached
the deepest hole ever driven into
the surface of the earth. the near
est man had ever come to the heart
of the world.
The scientists and oil men were
enthusiastic, their objective was
only 421 feet away, the Clinton
sands of West Virginia seemed
about to be touched. But at the mo-
ment when victory seemed almost
within their grasp, the sides of the
well caved in. covering the tools at
the bottom of the shaft, and break
ing the steel cable at point about
|thirty-five hundred feet below the
derrick floor. thus effectually put
ting an end to the drilling.
Mr.. Corrin believes that had the
walls been lined with pipe, there
would have been little difficulty in
carrying the Lake we'll to an ulti-
mate depth of 5000 or even 10000
feet.
Oil men estimate that 1t cost any
where from 81 to SIS foot to drill
a well. 1t was on similar figures
that Parsons bases his estimate of
$25, 100000 for his proposed Il
mile shaft, but both the Golf and
Lake wells were drilled for much
smaller sum.
In a recent statement, Mr.. Corrin
estimated that the Lake well, the
deepest in the world, had cost less
thane s2s,95O, while the Golf well
had cost about $4,000. Depth,
therefore, does not figure particu-
,, larly in calculating the cost OF
drilling well, as a $500 foot
we'll in the Ranger fields Of Texas
cost $4,000.
From the view point of the oil
men the Golf and Lake wells were
failures, as they failed to reach
the coveted Clinton sands, but tC
the scientist the wells have been OF
incalculable. interest and value, en-
abling them to conduct expert
ments nearer the center of the
earth than ever before. Probably
the results of the scientific investi-
cations conducted in the wells will
so far exceed the value of the oil
they might have produced that the
drillers will feel amply repaid fol-
their venture.
Most valuable of the experiments
conducted so far have been those
OF DR.. Van Ostrand of the United
States geological survey. Accord
ing to his Investigations the TEN.
perature in both wells at about a
hundred feet is 55 degrees Fahren.
heit, the heat gradually increasing
with the added depth until in the
Golf well at a depth of 1910 feel
it reaches 1893 degrees Fahrenheit
In the Lake well, however, at 7,50(
feet the temperature was only
1886 degrees Fahrenheit, while al
1887 feet in the Czuchow we'll il
reached 1921 degrees:
These results convince DR.. Var
Ostrand that the temperature al
the same depth in different locali
ties varies. though he believes the
boiling point in each of the meri
can wells could be reached at 10,
900 feet. In volcanic regions, o.
course, the boiling point would b.
much nearer the surface as in Lar
darello and in Alaska. where a tenn
perature of 212 degrees can b.
found in certain wells at little
more than 80 feet.
If Mr.. Van Ostrand is correct il
his belief that the boiling point liei
only 10000 feet below the surface
then natures vast resource of en-
ergy lies just at hand, waiting tt
be tapped for the benefit of man
kind. Through its use the vas
quantities of coal now burnt il
generating steam for motive powe
would be saved. and the coal field
of the world given a much longe
lease on life.
The source of the enormous guam
tity of heat stored in the center o
the earth is not known, some sci
entists holding that it is due to tn
disintegration of radium in tn
rocks while others believe tn
earth is cooling globe. radiatinj
heat developed during condensation
from the original nebula. Still 9th
ers contend that it is due to othe
causes, such as radio-activity
chemical reactions, impacts from
meteorites or condensation from
nebulous material. But whateve
its source. the heat remains, wait
ing to be tapped as an inexhausti
BILE supply Of energy for the worlt