656 



PIPE LINES. 



PORTUGAL. 



sylvania and West Virginia, while in the State 

 of New York they have not that right. The 

 building of the lo'nger lines was begun in 1880 

 by the United Pipe-Line Company, under a 

 charter granted by Pennsylvania in 1875. The 

 chief lines now built are these : Olean, N. Y., to 

 Saddle river, N. J., 300 miles; Milway to Bal- 

 timore, 70 miles ; Hilliards, Pa., to Cleveland, 

 100 miles; Carbon Centre, Pa., to Pittsburg, 

 60 miles; Four Mile, N. Y.. to Buffalo, 70 miles; 

 and Colegrove, Pa., to Philadelphia, 300 miles. 

 The first of these, known as the Seaboard, has a 

 branch line extending under the Hudson and 

 East rivers and across Central Park to Newtown 

 creek and Hunter's Point on Long Island. The 

 termini of all these lines are at refineries, where 

 the crude product is made ready for the market. 

 The pipes are buried under about 2 feet of earth, 

 to escape the variations of temperature. They 

 are laid as nearly in a straight line as possible, 

 and no regard is paid to the topography of the 

 country otherwise. Their diameter is usually 6 

 inches, and their material, wrought or cast iron, 

 capable of withstanding a pressure of 2,000 

 pounds to the square inch. Pumping stations 

 are, on an average, about 30 miles apart ; but 

 where the pipes are level the oil can be forced with 

 powerful pumps as far as 100 miles. The pumps 

 have a double action that of forcing and suck- 

 ing so that a barrel moves along in about five 

 seconds, an accurate account being kept at each 

 station of all the oil passing through. The 

 pumping goes on by night as well as by day, 

 and the whole length of the line is carefully 

 watched for leaks. Obstructions are removed 

 by automatic scrapers, inserted at one station 

 and removed at the next, which move three or 

 four miles an hour. The tanks of every pro- 

 ducer are measured, and an account is kept of 

 the oil he lets into the pipe. He is given a re- 

 ceipt for this amount, which is negotiable paper. 

 The unit of value is a barrel of 43 gallons. In 

 1865 the range was from $4.62^ to $8.25 a bar- 

 rel, monthly average ; while on the same basis 

 the even dollar a barrel was reached for the first 

 time in 1873 ; and in November, 1874, the 

 monthly average price fell to 55 cents. In 1891 

 there was an average monthly production of 

 over 93,000 barrels the highest since 1882. In 

 1889. 5,489 new mills were completed : in 1890, 

 6,358 ; and in 1891, 3,300. 



Oil has not been produced in West Virginia 

 to as great an extent as the supply would war- 

 rant. Kentucky and Tennessee will yet produce 

 considerable oil, because the oil-bearing lands 

 underlie portions of those States. Thus far the 

 trials in Texas and Louisiana have not been 

 productive of good results. But, as in salt, 

 whenever the Northern fields give out there will 

 be a chance for the Southern fields to supply the 

 deficiency. The annual exports are decreasing, 

 owing to the increase in home consumption. 



Pipe-lines for conveying pulverized coal are 

 said to be feasible, and experiments to that end 

 are now making. 



The piping of natural gas is a more simple 

 matter than the piping of oil, less forcing being 

 required, on account of the buoyancy of the ar- 

 ticle to be transported. The history of natural 

 gas in the United States dates from 1821, when 

 a well was opened at Fredonia, Chautauqua 



County, N. Y., and the supply was applied in a 

 small way to illuminating and heating. More 

 than fifty-five years elapsed before its practical 

 utilization for both light and fuel, when in 1878 

 a large gas well was opened at Murraysville, 

 Pa. The well was on fire for five years, after 

 which the gas was captured and led through 

 pipes to Pittsburg. Since that time new fields 

 of natural gas have been opened in Pennsyl- 

 vania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and Illi- 

 nois; and pipe-lines extend to Buffalo, Cleve- 

 land, Chicago, Indianapolis, and many smaller 

 places along the lines. The piping was over 

 4,600 miles in 1888, and in 1892 it was estimated 

 at nearly 10,000 miles. The annual displace- 

 ment of coal has averaged about 13,000,000 tons 

 since 1888, with the exception of 1892, when the 

 supply of natural gas showed signs of exhaus- 

 tion. As the wells become weak, new wells are 

 drawn on, while the old wells have a chance to 

 recuperate. The gas is produced, along with 

 petroleum, in the Devonian slates ; but exhaust- 

 ed wells may be drilled deeper into the Trenton 

 limestone, where gas in larger quantities has 

 been found. 



PORTUGAL, a monarchy in southern Europe. 

 The Government rests on the Constitutional 

 Charter, which was granted by King Pedro IV, 

 April 29, 1826, and amended on July 5, 1852, 

 Nov. 23, 1859, and July 24, 1884. There are four 

 powers recognized in the state by the Constitu- 

 tion the legislative, the executive, the judicial, 

 and the moderating authority, which latter is 

 vested in the sovereign. The legislative power is 

 vested in two Chambers, the House of Peers and 

 the House of Deputies. The House of Peers 

 consists at present of 254 members, of whom 52 

 were hereditary peers, 13 continental bishops, 

 139 life peers appointed by the King, and 50 

 elected members. By the law of 1885 hereditary 

 peerages were abolished and the number of life 

 peers reduced to 100, which, however, is to be 

 accomplished gradually, and until the number is 

 reduced to 100 the King can only appoint 1 peer 

 for every 3 vacancies that take place. The 

 hereditary peers and their immediate successors 

 who were living at the time of the passage of 

 the law will continue to enjoy their privileges. 

 The House of Deputies is composed of 180 mem- 

 bers, of whom 168 are from the Continent, Ma- 

 deira, and the Azores, and 12 from the colonies. 

 They are elected by direct suffrage. All persons 

 twenty-one years of age who can read and write, 

 and who have a clear annual income of 100 mil- 

 reis. or are heads of families, are qualified to vote. 



The reigning King is Carlos I, born Sept. 28, 

 1863, son of Luis I and Pia, daughter of King 

 Vittorio Emmanuele of Italy. He married 

 Marie Amalie, daughter of Philippe. Due d'Or- 

 leans, the Comte de Paris, on May 22, 1886, and 

 succeeded to the throne at the death of his 

 father, Oct. 19, 1889. The executive authority 

 vests, under the sovereign, in a responsible Cab- 

 inet, which was composed at the beginning of 

 1892 of the following members : Prime Minister 

 and Minister of War. J. C. d'Abreu e Sousa ; 

 Minister of the Interior, La Vaz de Sampaio e 

 Mello ; Minister of Finance, M. C. de Carvalho; 

 Minister of Justice, A. A. de Moraes Carvalho ; 

 Minister of Marine and the Colonies. J. Marques 

 de Vilhena ; Minister of Fore'ign Affairs, Count 





