Popular Science Monthly 



345 



escaped being killed. Thereafter, for 

 more than a week, the flow of gas con- 

 tinued unabated in quantity and pres- 

 sure. 



This gigantic "gasser" was capped 

 eventually with a long piece of steel tub- 

 ing, laro^er in diameter than that in the 



The gas blew off at a pressure of one hun- 

 dred feet per square inch three feet above 

 the outlet 



Avell, and having six valves on the sides 

 and another on top.- Of course these 

 valves were left open while the tubing 

 was being placed in position and made 

 secure to the casing in the well, to which 

 it was attached by threads. One at a 

 time, the valves were closed until a pipe 

 was fastened to each to carry off the gas 

 to a reservoir. As soon as the pipe was 

 attached to a valve that one was opened 

 again, so as to relieve the enormous gas 

 pressure. Thus the entire flow was 

 harnessed and taken away for consump- 

 tion in the neighboring locality and near- 

 by towns. 



After considerable difficulty and sev- 

 eral unsuccessful attempts, a venture- 

 some engineer finally succeeded in 

 measuring the flow of gas. When a 

 gage was applied a few days after the 

 well struck "pay sand" and the flow of 

 gas was at its height, it was found that 



there were one hundred pounds open 

 flow three feet above the outlet. And on 

 this measurement the estimate of 

 seventy-five million to one hundred mil- 

 lion cubic feet of gas per day was based. 

 The men on duty continuously suf- 

 fered severely from earaches because 

 of the terrific noise made by the out- 

 rushing gas. Fortunately, there was 

 no electric storm or the well might 

 have caught fire. Had this happened, 

 ihe blaze could not have been extin- 

 guished. While the gas was flowing 

 freely, the Spiegel' family, living in a 

 house within thirty yards of the "gasser," 

 had to forego cooking and all went to 

 bed at sunset because they dared not 

 have a light. 



The value of the lost gas was estimated 

 at the Pittsburgh rate of thirty cents per 

 one thousand. This means a daily loss 

 of not less than twenty-two thousand, 

 five hundred dollars. The actual value 

 may be more, since higher rates obtain in 

 other cities. Since the well ran for seven 

 days and twenty-one hours before it was 

 checked by capping, the minimum total 

 loss was one hundred and fifty-seven 

 thousand dollars. Others put it at close 

 to two hundred thousand dollars. 



Why Can a Fly Walk Upside Down? 



YOU have seen a boy use what he calls 

 a "sucker," a round, flat piece of 

 leather which is soaked in water and flat- 

 ened against a stone so that all the mois- 

 ture between the stone and the leather is 

 ]>ressed out. He picks up a brick with 

 a string attached to the leather. Since 

 there is no air between the leather and 

 the stone the atmosphere presses the 

 leather so firmly against the stone that 

 the stone can be picked up by the leather. 

 A fly has suckers on his feet which act 

 very much on the same principle. As 

 soon as he puts down a foot he automat- 

 ically squeezes the air out between it and 

 the surface upon which he is walking. 

 The atmosphere, therefore, presses him 

 against the ceiling or wall. 



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