PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS IN NEW YORK 433 



A well could have been drilled at public expense that would 

 have furnished an ample stock of gas for lighting the streets and 

 residences of the village for several years. So far as the streets 

 are concerned the light would be so far inferior to the electric 

 light in brilliancy that the change would not have been welcome 

 to the people, even though a great saving in expenditure could 

 be assured thereby. 



Furthermore the system of distribution by which gas can be 

 used for illuminating is already established in the village under 

 private ownership. There could be no true economy in dupli- 

 cating this system, and it would probably be impossible to secure 

 the existing plant for the actual amount used in its establish- 

 ment. If the coast were clear and electric light and gas com- 

 panies were not already in the field a profitable use of the gas 

 discovery could have been made by the village in the direction 

 named. 



For one use the way was open, namely, for domestic use, and 

 that was naturally the line of service adopted by the new com- 

 pany, and in which it has lost its investment. Could this loss 

 have been avoided? In the light of present knowledge the com- 

 pany can easily see how it might have followed a course that 

 would have led to financial success instead of failure. If but 

 one tenth the outlay in piping the town had been incurred and 

 only one or two streets had been opened for this purpose and 20 

 or at most 40 consumers had been supplied with fuel, instead 

 of 164 (the number on the line when the first well was finished) 

 and if the gas had been sold by meter instead of by mixer rates, 

 at a price commensurate with its value, the results might have 

 been altogether different. Under these circumstances the wells 

 would not have been overdrawn. Opportunities for resting them 

 would have been found, and Fulton would still be rejoicing in a 

 limited supply of the best fuel of the world. 



The villages of Oswego county are not the only villages of the 

 state to find natural gas within their precincts. Many discover- 

 ies of this kind are likely to be made in days to come. To learn 

 by one's own mistakes is always hard and costly, but it seems 

 possible so to record the facts in a case like that now under con- 

 sideration that they can serve the interests of other communities 

 that may find themselves in the same general situation. 



