January 31, 1885





The   Record   and   Guide.





107





Onr Gas and Oil Wells.

Mj-v Andrew Carnegie has an exceedingly interesting article in tho Jan-
m^iry number of " MacMiUan's Magazine " on the oil and gas wells of Penn-
:s.vlvania. It reads more like a fairy story than anj'thing else. Twenty-two
5'cars ago, Mr. Carnegie says, a company with some friends, he visited the
then famous oil weU ot the Storey farm, upon Oil Creek. The oil was then
running from the well into the creek, where a few flat-bottt>incd scows lay
fillwl with it, ready to be floated down to the AUeglicny River. With the
true Scotch-American eye to business, they bought the farm for $40,000, and
made a jioud capable of holdmg 100,000 barrels, thinking that the well
ti ould exhaust itself in this pond and they would hold the oil, which they
p timated would be worth $10 a barrel, or $100,001.1. But though the pond
Ir.iked. the weU did not give out, aud our enterprising friends came out
.1 1 right. The value of the farm rose to $5,0<K),00O, the inves-tment ot
*10,00\1 pn,j'ing one year a dividend ot $1,000,000. The mysterious in
viateria medica is curiously illustrated by Mr. Carnegie, in the fact that
before tlie discovery of this oU in large quantities, it was sold as a cure
for otoiost every disorder as Seneca OU, the "gi-eat Indian remedy," at
$2 a 'oottle, but since its value has been decreased to $1 a bai-rel it lost
aH its medical jiotency. Starting at nothing two decades ago, the oU
A)gii>u now supplies 70,000 bai-rels ot oil per day, and trom Carnegie's
leaky iKiiid ot 100,000 barrels the supply on hand sometimes reaches
4O,0O;l,O0l) barrels. Up to January 1, 1.S.S4," this region has yielded 250,000,
'0 JO barrels ot oil, and it .still flows on in mcreasing quantities. Fortunes
h ive been lost ou the idea that the supply would give out, but, like the
b;-ook, it may go ou forever. Notwithstanding the rich coal fields and
iion mines, and the coke industry, the most extensive in the world,
aid this wonderful supply ot oU, another subterranean trcasm-e is
niw forcing itself into public notice and usefulness, namely, the natural
g is wells which are rapidly sm-rounding Pittsburg. It had its beginning
in much the same way as the oil did. At fii-st no one could be found
willing to invest a tew thousand doUai-s for pipes to convey it to factories
aid miUs, where it could be utUized. The Press has recently published
s ime interesting accounts ot the rapid increase in the use ot natural gas
as fuel, e-siwciaUy for manufacturing puqioses. We shall, therefore, pass
over many ot the tacts brought out by Mr. Carnegie, which comprise per-
"h-ips the most interesting feature of the article to his English readers. The
largest weU kiioivn is estimated to j'ield about 30,0(X),000 cubic teet ot gas
in twenty-four hours, but half ot this may be considered as the i)ro<luct of
a good well. The pressure of the gas as it issues from the mouth of the
wail is nearly or quite 200 pounds per square inch. In the manufacture
•of glass and ot iron and steel the quality ot the product is much improved
oy the use of this pure new fuel.    Says Mr. Carnegie:

In our steel rail mills we have not used a pound of coal for more than a year,
n-ir m ouriron mills for nearly the same period. The change is a startling one.
Where we formerly had ninety firemen at work in one boiler house, and were
imng 400 tons ot coal per day, a Tisitornow walks along the long row of boilers
,UKl sees hut one man in attendance. The house hcinK whitewashed, not a sign of
the dirty fuel ot former days is to be seen, nor do the slacks emit smoke. In the
I nion Iron Mills our putldlers have whitewashed the coal bunkers belonging to
their furnaces. Most of the principal iron and glass estalili.shments in the city
either are to-day using this gas as fuel, or are making preparations to do so. The
cost of coal is not only saved, but the great cost of firing aud handling it; while the
repairs to boilers and grate bars are much loss.

Whence conies this mysterious fluid and how it is generated below are
•fjiie.sf ions not vet satisfactorUy solved by scientists. Prof. Dewar, ot Cam¬
bridge, Ent,'laiKl. gl^-.■s a reasonable explanation. He holds that the gas is
boipc coiist.Tiitly distillcil from the oil or trom immense borLs ot matter
vvhJch are slowly bemg changed to oil. It this be true the gns may last long
dfter the oil gives out, and both may last tor centuries. It is a'subject of
•great importance and ot consideriihlo s]ioinilatiuii just now t<i Western
Pennsj'lvaniaus. The question ot whether tliis iiiikiK.wn power and strength
:shall be carefully harvested, or whetlier it shall lie wasteil by sjieeulators, is
now before our courts, and a natural gas mania iii likely to break out among
our people not interior to the natural oil mania ot fifteen or twenty years
fif^o.—Philadelphia Press.

Can Natural Gas be Sent to Seaboard ?

Natural gas developments in the Pittsburg district are still being carried
forward actis'ely and upon a scale commensurate with the importance of the
discoveries. It is estimated, according to a correspondent of the Philadel¬
phia Press, that trom 1.5,ai0,000 to 20,000,000 c-ubic feet of gas are burned
each day m Pittsburg as fuel. Already ten iron and steel mills in that city,
and sax m other parts of Western Pennsylvania, are using it in their pud-
lUing furnaces and under their boilers. Within three months a dozen more
miUs wUl have it m use, and every other manufacturing firm is eagerly
awaitmg the completion of the various pipe lines. Six glass factories in the
1 ity and seven in near towns are using it Every brewery in the city uses it
1 Lstead ot coal. There has not j'et been enough gas to spare for tlomestic
I'urposes, and only a tew dweUings, comparatively spealctng, have been able
t) get It tor their .stoves and grates. Two ot the largest hotels use it entu-ely
1 1 their kitehens. Safety inventions have been made and much of its dan-
; erous possibUities averted. Withiu an area of fifty miles about Pittsburg,
1 t least a dozen small towns have discarded coal ent irely. Among these places
.•re Butler, Fi-eeport, Clarion, Tarentum, Kitanning,"OU City, Wellsburg,
ApoUo an,l MurraysviUe. There are no ashes to remove, no sooty fire-places
1 ) kindle in the morning. A thumb valve regulates the flame, brickbats iu
I lie grat<i distriiiuto it aud retain the heat, and it may be kept burning low
(I II night, to have the house warm in the morning. Just now the several natural
gas compames ot Western Pennsylvania are about to consolidate their inter¬
ests, and, assisted by Eastern capitaUsts. will organize the Seaboard Natural
Uas tympany. It is proposed to transport natural gas to Philadelphia, New
York and other Ea.stern cities. Worlt will be commenced not later than
...lay 1st A Greensburg telegram ot recput date states that in tho last tew
<lay9 a grea t amount ot gaa territory has been bought up. At present at least
three-tourths of .■>,000,000 ormoreacros of ga.s-producing territory in Western
Tn w^ '"^""^ '•'' '"^ "P '° ^^^^^ beld by enterprising companies. Leases for
10,000 acres are weekly being placed in the oflice of the Register and Record¬
er ot Westmoreland coimty. Charters are being secured in the different
tstates in which the new company's luies wUl enter.—^jre of Steel.





The tumble in Central Pacific stock, and in fact in all the Pacific road
.shares, recalls the interview with WUUam M. Lent pubhshed in The
Record .\nd Guide two years ago. That gentleman precUcted that the Cen¬
tral Pacific road would probably be abandoned to the government. Hunt¬
ington, Stanford and the other owners ot Central Pacific sold out their inter¬
ests long ago. They never, according to Mr. Lent, meant to keep the
Central Pacific property, for they never spent any money on it. The
depot and stations are all wretehed affairs, and even at Ogden where it does
so large a busiiies.s there are no permanent depots. The syndicate owns the
only profitable portion ot the line, that between Sacramento and San Fran¬
cisco, as private property, and then- money and hopes are in the Southern
Pacific and the counectmg hues east and south. If the government should
be forced to take the ownership of the Central Pacific tor its debt it woiUd
have a white elephant on its hands, for there is nd practicable road west ot
Sacramento, and the paying feeders to the Central Pacific are in private
hands. The Union Pacffic no longer depends upon the Central Pacific since
it has opened its short Une to.Oregon.





Real Estate Department.

There is a promise of better business from this time forth. The auctioneers
are beginning to put out their first aimoucemeuts for the spring trade of
1S,S5. As yet there are no mdications of a strong market sueli as we had
last spring, but later on a better tone may be manifested. Some more
building wUl be done this year than %vas expected, but by a uew class. Tte
professionals who construct houses for a market are uot doing much, but we
find that many private investors who own or have bought property iu the
Seventh, Tenth and Thirteenth Wards particularly, propose to tear do\vii old
frame houses with a view ot erecting tenements in which there wUl be
suites ot rooms tor fair ilies who can pay .*40 a month or less. Hence the
persons who are fihng plans, are new in the business, generally shrewd
trades people who realize th it material is cheap aud money easy. The
flat busine-ss in the upper end of the island has beeu overdone, but there is
an actual demand for better accommodations in the older sections ot the
city. InteUigent agents say that there will be many iinprovements in the
near future ou the avenues tranversed by the "L" roads. Tiaftic has
increased so largely that ownei-s are tempted to rebuild old structures with
a view to supplying more commodious aud attractive stores.

OONVETANCBS.

IfWf.                                1885.
Jan. 25 to 31, inc.           Jan. 23 to 29, inc.

Number........................................              IRn                                     155

Amount involved.............................   $2,549,597                               $1,639772

Number nominal..............................               (il                               "     '.5.3

Number 23^1 aud 24th Wards...................               is                                      19

Amount involved..............................       $16,657                              $16,1.39

Number nominal...........................                  5                                       g

MORTGAGES.

Number.......................................             187                                     143

Amount involved..............................   $1,829,790                          $1,106,299

Number at 5 per cent........................              82                                      5ft

Amount involved...........................     $903,8.18                             $502,128

Number at less than 5 per cent.................                5                                        7

Amount involved..............................     $16.5,000                             $126 965

Number to Banks, Trust and Ins. Cos.........              28                                      ai

Amount involved...........................     $346,600                             $310,500

BVILDINGS PROJECTED.

m'M.                                1S85.

,^  „,.                                                     Jan. 26 to Feb. 1.            Jan. 2t to .30.

No. of buildings..................................          40                                       38

Estimated cost..................................$590,465                               $668,050

18«                                 1886.

Jan. 19 to 23.                 Jan 17 to 2:1.

No. of buildings...............................             28                                      h5

EstimatBd cost............................... $1S2.:JOO                             $826,575

Richard V. Harnett & Co. will sell peremptorUy for the estate of the late
George Lovett on Thursday, February 5, one of tho most valuable and desir¬
able parcels that have been offered at auction within the p,i.st ten years.
It comprises Nos. 21 and 2:^ Union Square, on the west side ot Broadway
about 52 feet north ot Fifteenth street The size ot the plot is 57x110.10
and on it is a good tour-story double brick buUding covering one half the
lot with one and two-story extensions on the remaining portion. Property
such as this is rarely in the market and the present opportunity should not
be overlooked by mvestors. Union Square West, as is well known, is
unequalled hi this city as a shopping centre, and as each year passes the
value of property in the comparatively short thorouglitare ot thi-ee blocks
increases largely. Around it centre the greatest ot our retail stores and
not even lower Broatlway can claim a larger pedestrian traffic than this
favorite quarter. Where such establishments as Tiflfany's on the comer of
FUteenth street and numerous others of hardly le-sser note are located
property is bound to enhance iu value and seldom changes ownership.
This sale should attract an audience such as the salesroom has not seeu
outnumbered during the present season.

On Tuesday next Richard V. Harnett & Co. wUI sell tho three-story stone
frout dweUing on the southeast corner ot Park avenue and Seventy-fourth
street. The sale wUl be without reserve; the terms are liberal and a
chance is offered to obtain a well located dwelling.

The same firm will also offer on that day the tour-story brick tenements,
Nos. 337 to 34.'^ East One Hundred and Fourth s-treet, 25x50x100.11 each.

Charles S. Brown will sell in partition on Tuesday, Feb. 10, some very
valuable business and residence property situated on Broad, WilUam
Bleecker, Greene, West Fom-tliaud West Thirty-eighth streets, and Waverly
and Washington places. This will be one of the most important sales thus
fai- held this season, and comprises some desirable investment property.
See a<lvertisemeiit.

Gossip of the Week.

Leonard J. Carpenter has sold for the Henry Scliiff Estate, two houses
and lots on East Twenty-seventh street, Nos. 35 and 37. Tho plot is .50x100
the purchasers being the Stevenson Car Co.

George R. Read has sold tho three-story brick dweUing No. 146 East
Eighty-fourth steeet, 25.6x00x102.2, to MUe. Marie Duval tor $14,500.

Park & Tilford have lease<i trom the Cutting estate for a term of years
the property on the southeast corner ot Fifth avenue aud Twenty-tu-st street
immediately in the rear of and adjoining their Broadway store.

Alden & Sterne have leased for the AVetmore estate, the three-story brick
buUdine- on the northwest corner of Sixth avenue and Fourteenth street,
21.11x1)0, for ten years, to Geo. Hillen, at a rentil ot .*12,000 per annum.
This property sold some four or five years ago for Ji.55,000. The.stimeagents
have leased tor WUUam Astor, one of his new stores on the southwest corner
of the Bowery and Houston street, 37.6x80, to Schreyer & Son, hatters, at a
rat© of about $6,000 per annum.

Louis Seckeudorf has purchased the four-story stoue front dwelling No,
.50 East Sixty-seventh street, lot 20x100.5.

V. K. Stevenson & Co., have sokl tor the Astor Hospital, one lot on the
south side of Ninety-sixth street, commencing 300 feet west of Eighth Ave=
nue for $5,250.

John A. Hardy has sold four lots on the northwest corner of Eighth ave¬
nue and One Hundrefl and Thirty-fourth street, for unprovement, for $37,000
with a buUding loau.

Eroil Haenschen has sold the flve-story brick, flat, No.; 114 East One