CURIOSITIES OF NATURAL GAS. 82 



stringent laws. He, too, thinks there is a possibility of an exi^lo- 

 sion, though from another cause. For, did not the same craze 

 possess China two centuries ago ? Were not wells bored in great 

 numbers, and was not the escaping gas ignited ? So much so, 

 indeed, that finally one huge well sucked down the fiery volume 

 of a smaller one into its own aperture, and a violent explosion 

 ensued Avhich destroyed thousands of peoj^le. A similar catas- 

 trophe he considers imminent in Ohio and Indiana. Should such 

 a disaster occur, " the country along the gas-belt from Toledo 

 through Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky will be ripped up to the 

 depth of twelve or fifteen hundred feet, and flopped over like a 

 pancake, leaving a chasm through which the waters of Lake Erie 

 will come howling down, filling the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys, 

 and blotting them out forever " ! Promj)t action should be taken. 

 The Governor should call a special session of the Legislature, 

 and the President a special session of Congress, to enact laws to 

 protect the nation against " destruction from natural gas." 



Another, called an experienced miner, gone wild over his 

 ignorance in regard to the Trenton limestone — words in every- 

 body's mouth — says that probably the " so-called Trenton lime- 

 stone is nothing but an incident found about already successful 

 gas-wells. It probably came out of the rift the same as other 

 materials. It is found in the Colorado mines, and is called by the 

 miners bastard quartz " ! Such geological knowledge requires no 

 comment. 



Still another theorist has investigated the gas-wells with tele- 

 phones and delicate thermometers, and he announces startling 

 discoveries. He distinguished sounds like the boiling of rocks, 

 and estimated that a mile and a half or so beneath Findlay the 

 temperature of the earth is 3,500°. This scientist says an immense 

 cavity exists under Findlay, and that here the gas is stored ; that 

 a mile below the bottom of the cavity is a mass of roaring, seeth- 

 ing flame, which is gradually eating into the rocky floor of the 

 cavern and thinning it. Eventually the flames will reach the 

 gas, a terrific explosion will ensue, and Findlay and its neighbor- 

 hood will be blown skyward in an instant. Such are some of the 

 theories gravely propounded in respect to this new fuel. The 

 effects of the use of the fuel are almost as wonderful as the theo- 

 ries of its origin. 



In the year 1884 the town of Findlay, Ohio, had a population 

 of about 4,500. In the spring of that year Dr. Charles Oesterlin, 

 who had for years been a firm believer in the existence of quanti- 

 ties of natural gas in and about the town, induced some friends to 

 join him in forming a stock-company to bore for gas. Work was 

 not begun until near the end of October, but in the course of time 

 a well was sunk to a depth of 1,093 feet. At this depth a reser- 



