144 WALKS AND TALKS. 



is in a constant state of ebullition from the escape of gas. 

 "Kegularly every day/' says J. F. Henry, "between four 

 and five o'clock in the afternoon, it overflows ; a large quan- 

 tity of gas is liberated, and if a torch is applied, a flame re- 

 sults." At Fairview, Pennsylvania, a well drilled for oil, in 

 1870, to the depth of one thousand three hundred and thirty- 

 five feet, yielded an immense volume of gas through a six- 

 inch pipe, with so much noise as to be heard for a distance of 

 two miles. The pressure was eighty pounds to the square 

 inch. The gas was employed in establishments in Fairview, 

 Petrolia, Kerns City, and Argyle, besides furnishing fuel used 

 in drilling some forty other wells. In the same year, a well 

 bored near Titusville discharged four million cubic feet per 

 day. At East Sandy, in the same oil district, a gas well 

 struck in 1869 resisted all efforts to extinguish its burning. 

 "It roared like a cataract and could be heard for miles." 



Within a couple of years, large supplies of gas have been 

 obtained in northern Ohio, by boring down to the Trenton 

 Limestone at least, into the Cambrian ; for some doubt exists 

 as to the precise formation. It is announced (January, 1886,) 

 that Fremont, Ohio, has reached a supply of two million feet 

 daily. It is also reported that gas and oil have been obtained 

 at Lima, Ohio, at the depth of one thousand two hundred 

 and fifty-one feet. The gas produces a jet of flame thirty 

 feet high. 



The vicinity of Pittsburgh, however, surpasses all other 

 regions in abundance of gas-supply. The surrounding coun- 

 try seems to be underlaid by reservoirs of incredible capacity. 

 These, or some of these, have been tapped, and the product 

 has come into extensive use in furnace and other operations. 

 Mr. William Metcalf, writing in November, 1884, said : " An 

 observer standing on a hill-top in Allegheny township, West- 

 moreland county say about three miles southeast of the con- 

 fluence of the Allegheny and Kiskeminetas rivers can see, 

 on a dark night, on the northwestern horizon, the reflection of 

 the lights from the Butler county wells; to the north, the 

 lights from the wells in the direction of Kittan'ing; to the 



