. Industries of to-day. f it is found under theboiler of the pumping engine, in the bowl of aworkmans pipe, or in sparks struck from flintyrocks, the pillar of vapor instantly becomes acolumn of flame, throv/ing out an intense heat,devouring and withering everything in its vicin-ity, and at night lighting miles of the surroundingcountry with its angry glow. It may burn forweeks, months, or even for years, before its ter-rible strength is so exhausted that the torrent offlame can be extinguished and its energies sub-dued to the service of man. During the past forty years the quantity of gasthus
. Industries of to-day. f it is found under theboiler of the pumping engine, in the bowl of aworkmans pipe, or in sparks struck from flintyrocks, the pillar of vapor instantly becomes acolumn of flame, throv/ing out an intense heat,devouring and withering everything in its vicin-ity, and at night lighting miles of the surroundingcountry with its angry glow. It may burn forweeks, months, or even for years, before its ter-rible strength is so exhausted that the torrent offlame can be extinguished and its energies sub-dued to the service of man. During the past forty years the quantity of gasthus wasted has been enormous beyond belief orpower to compute. But this waste is now almostwholly checked. Devices have been perfectedand adopted for seizing and controlling the vaporupon its first appearance in the well, and before [94] The Use of Natural Gas it has drawn a single breath of air, without whichits ignition is impossible. Even the vast columns of flame that so longbafBed the efforts of the gas men can now be. Drilling a Gas Well extinguished, so that the gushers and roarers ofnew gas fields, with their pressure of four or fivehundred pounds to the square inch, are conductedthrough a network of pipe lines to the scenes oftheir future usefulness without loss of time ormoney. [95] Industries of To-Day A singular spectacle was afforded by a wellbored at Gambier, Ohio. The Vv^ell, not havingbeen tubed, repeatedly filled with water, whichwas ejected by the rush of gas at regular inter-vals of one minute. An intermittent fountain ofmingled gas and water one hundred and twentyfeet high was thus formed. In winter the derrickabove the well became so completely incased inice as to form a transparent chimney. By cuttinga hole at the base of this ice chimney, and ignit-ing the gas as it rushed upward, an effect wasproduced that at night was weird and beautifulbeyond description. Another fascinating picture is made by the min-iature aurora borealis that appears in the vicinityof
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