162 ORIGIN OF ROCK PRESSURE OF NATURAL GAS. 
THE DURATION OF GAS SUPPLY. 
Judging from the present indications, the Trenton limestone gas of 
Ohio is not likely to be long-lived. It seems entirely probable that the 
term of its further duration can be stated within the limits of numbers 
that are expressed by a single digit. In considerable sections of the 
field, the salt water is very aggressive. It requires a steadily increas- 
ing pressure on the wells to hold it back. In one district last year, one 
hundred and twenty-five pounds pressure would keep the gas dry, while 
now two hundred pounds are required for the same purpose. 
There is likely to be great disappointment in regard to what is called 
gas territory. The pressure and volume of large areas are found to fail 
together. Wells draw their supplies from long distances. A farm, or 
even a mile-square section, may be effectually drained of its gas with- 
out a well being drilled upon it. 
Natural gas is a very admirable product, but its highest office, after 
all, should be to prepare the way for something better than itself, viz., 
artificial gaseous fuel—better, for the reason that while it furnishes all 
the intrinsic advantages of natural gas, it will be free from the inevita- 
ble disadvantages of treasures secured in the way in which the stores 
of the great gas fields have been gained. 
