Delaware County, Indiana - Chapter 15: Natural Gas, 1908

In the spring of 1886 the farmers of Delaware county prepared their fields and sowed them with grain, as had been done for many years. Under the sun and rain of summer the soil grew and matured the crops, and with the coming of fall the ripened harvests were stored away in anticipation of a similar year to follow. Sturdy industry, average contentment, and material well-being were blessings possessed by the majority of homes throughout Delaware county, and the continuance of such prosperity was the most that was hoped for by nine persons out of ten.

And yet, before the year was out, all was changed. An awful force had struck the land, almost in a single night, and with the knowledge of a fluid wealth beneath their feet, men forgot the fruitful soil which for years had returned its regular reward to human toil. Beneficent Ceres was scorned, and men, in panic, worshiped Gas. Where had been the waving fields of green and gold, the earth was scarred by the burrowing drills, and skeleton derricks were strung in ghostly procession across the landscape. Quiet bucolic scenes became a roaring workshop of Vulcan and his devotees. An active gas field produces an awesome if not terrifying effect when first seen, and it is not surprising that many of the eastern visitors, on making their first visit to the gas fields and witnessing the tremendous power of a roaring gas well, fled in terror from the scene. The inert earth, which men have so long regarded as their surest stronghold against the tempests of the sky and the rage of the sea, all at once seems filled with the breath of life, and heaves with its exhalations as though preparing to revolt and overthrow the puny works of mankind. The pursuits and ambition of man changed in keeping with the new forces of the earth, and with the discovery of natural gas was ushered in a new era for Delaware county.

Old settlers used to speak of the "Indiana coon belt," a geographical description that referred to the area of big timber and flat and often swampy land in eastern Indiana. One of the best known products of this region was the coon, though the phrase "coon belt" received several additional meanings which were thought of when the term was used. It is a noteworthy coincidence, told the writer by an old resident, that the natural gas belt corresponds in area quite nearly with the "coon belt." Whether there

Natural gas having played such an important part in the development of this county, it seems that a brief statement concerning the nature and origin of this fluid wealth will not be out of keeping in a history of Delaware county. A few years after the discovery of gas and while the development of the fields was at its height, a large party of scientists visited this section of the state for the purpose of observing and studying the gas field. As a result of his observations, one of the party, H. C. Hovey, contributed to the Scientific American an article in which he describes in untechnical language the origin of this gas.

"Knowing that marsh gas and natural gas," to quote the substance of his article, "are nearly identical, the fair inference is that they share a similar origin. Stir the sediment at the bottom of a marsh, and inflammable bubbles arise. The gas they contain comes from decayed vegetable matter. So it is with the larger accumulations in beds of lakes and seas. The Spanish navigators found an area equal to continental Europe filled with an enormous mass of seaweed, single specimens being hundreds of feet long and their stems huge vegetable cables a foot in diameter. Imagine some ancient Sargasso sea to have had its mass of algse caught in a bed of calcareous mud where it underwent slow decomposition. What a measureless quantity of gas would have been manufactured and afterward imprisoned in the surrounding limestone formed from the mud. The time would plainly come when, the work of decomposition being finished, no more gas could be made;- but what had been created would stay there until in some way released. . . . The fact is at first hard to comprehend that natural gas, instead of being collected in a cavernous reservoir, is stured up in what appears to be solid limestone of the Trenton period. But this is true in the Ohio and Indiana gas fields. In the latter the Niagara limestone is always surface rock, being about 400 feet thick. Next below come nearly 600 feet of Hudson River and Utica bituminous shales, that appear to roof over and confine the true gas bed. The Trenton limestone is next to the shale and yields gas almost as soon as struck. Microscopic examination proves all gas rock to be porous, no matter how solid it mav seem to be. . . . The elevation of the Trenton rock is another important indication. At Muncie and Anderson it lies entirely above sea level, and therefore there is no danger from salt water. Where it lies from 200 to 700 feet below sea level, no gas is to be had. This partly explains the fact that although the Trenton rock underlies perhaps fifty counties in the state, the productive gas region, as thus far developed, is limited to six or eight of them: Delaware, Blackford, Madison, Grant, Hamilton, Howard, Tipton and Shelby."

In March, 1890, there died at Eaton George W. Carter, the discoverer of the Indiana gas field. His name deserves lasting remembrance in Delaware county for this pioneer work. The discovery, or rather the reopening, of the first gas well in Indiana, was described in the state geologist's report published about January, 1887. Dr. A. J. Phinncy, of Muncie, furnished the information about the well, the substance of which is here given.

In 1876, at Eaton, a well was sunk to the depth of 600 feet, the hole being two inches in diameter. As the company was exploring for coal, no attention was paid to the flow of "an ill-smelling gas" which was obtained, at that depth, in sufficient quantity to produce a flame two feet in height. Gas was not thought at that time to possess any economic value. With the discovery and development of natural gas fields in Ohio, those formerly interested in the Eaton well became convinced that gas would be found in paying quantities there. Among those most sanguine of success were George W. Carter, of Eaton ; W. W. Worthington and Hon. Robert Bell of Fort Wayne. These gentlemen, with some enterprising citizens of the town, oragnized a company, and gave A. H. Crancll the contract for sinking the well. The hole had a diameter of eight inches the first 250 feet, and five and one-half inches for the remaining distance; height of the derrick was 72 feet. The bore was sunk 890 feet to Trenton rock, and after penetrating that 32 feet a satisfactory flow of gas was obtained.

Shortly after the successful completion of .the Eaton well, and before the close of the year, gas well No. 1 had been bored one mile east of Muncie, and at a depth of 898 feet gas was obtained with a pressure of 325 pounds to the square inch. In January, 1887, pipes were laid on Walnut street from the gas well and gas began to be used for heating the boilers in the electric light plant and in stores lor light. The Kuhn and Highlands well near the gas works in south Muncie was opened January 14th, and the natural gas was used for the manufacture of coal gas. A few weeks later it was claimed that the Muncie Gas Co. was furnishing natural gas instead of coal gas to its customers. This was of course in violation of their contract, which had been made before natural gas was thought of, and in February the city council resolved to obtain an injunction restraining the company from any such substitution.

The gas field was developed with amazing rapidity. The sinking of wells suddenly became a profitable business of itself, and the demand for boring tools and experienced men to handle them was much greater than the supply. The farmers who had sufficient capital were eager to put down wells on their farms, or to lease their land to one of the many development companies that were formed about that time. Gas companies opened wells in all the smaller towns and supplied the fuel for lighting, heating and manufacturing purposes. On September 18, 1887, a well was opened at Jjclma, and in a short time pipes were laid throughout the village for lighting. In November, 1887, the Muncie Natural Gas Co. reported nine producing wells, from which it supplied 1004 customers, through nineteen and a half miles of mains and pipes, the entire cost of their plant being §78,- 148.88. By July, 18S8, it was claimed that Delaware county had 35 producing wells. In January, 1889, a total of 39- wells was reported in the county, distributed as follows: Muncie, 25; New Corner, 1; Nixon's, 1; £aton, 2; and one each at Albany, Shideler, Boyceton, Selma, Daleville, Vorktown, Cowan, Oakville, Anthony, DeSoto. At the same time Madison county had 28 wells; Grant county, 27; Randolph county, 9; Jay county, 17. It soon became the boast that Muncie had no coal or wood yards, that twelve dollars a year paid for all the gas needed for fuel and light. Gas supply is unlimited, there is enough to last a thousand years, a well may be placed on every forty acres or even less and will continue to produce gas for all time. Such was the optimism developed at a time when nearly every day marked the increase of the gas output by millions of cubic feet. For several years the people indulged in riotous extravagance with nature's gift. it has been said that Americans are the most wasteful people on earth, and that they can afford to be because their natural resources are as yet beyond the limit of development. Certainly that was true of the natural gas belt twenty years ago. It was a glorious period, buoyant and enthusiastic, and the ambitions of men were as irrepressible as the roaring gushers themselves. Even now when men who were at the center of affairs during those days talk of the gas boom, they admit that they pursued a reckless policy but they speak with less regret than with pleasant recollection of a time when men were stirred to the utmost of endeavor and the very air was vibrant with a new-born enthusiasm.

The gas was allowed to burn night and day. At noontide as at midnight, the roaring fiamebcaux that stood by the roadside and at the crossroads in the country consumed gas by thousands of feet, but never once was there a thought of checking it. The horizon was aglow with the flames from thousands of gas lights, and some farmyards were so brightly lighted that the chickens never knew the proper time to roost. One morning at two o'clock, while driving in from the country, Dr. Kemper observed a hen with her brood picking up insects within the circle of light shed by a roadside gas torch.

There was almost no limit to the methods devised for consuming gas without adequate returns or practical use. When a party of visitors from outside the gas belt came to town, it was a part of their entertainment to open one of the strongest gushers in the neighborhood and allow its roaring flame to leap heavenward until, in the words of the local chronicler, "it singed the beard of Jove." Only those who have witnessed one of those burning wells can have an adequate conception of what a magnificent spectacle it is. As a manifestation of nature's power it rivals heaven's thunderbolts and all the forces of the air, and approaches the terrific effects of the volcano. Occasionally, when the gas was ignited before the removal of the derrick, the heat was so great that the derrick and every part of the surrounding structures were consumed so quickly that they seemed to have been blown away by the flames. Yet another diversion for the entertainment of visitors may be mentioned. Gas pipes were laid under the water in White river, and the gas allowed to escape through the water. Being ignited at the surface, the flames spread out over the water, giving the appearance that the river was on fire. In fact, the water became so hot, after such a unique spectacle, that the fish perished and the vegetation along the banks was cooked.

Such were the principal facts connected with the discovery and exploitation of natural gas in Delaware county. As already stated, it heralded a new era in the country. In many portions of America it is an easy and familiar custom to divide time and events into two general divisions - "before the war" and "after the war." But in addition to this history-marker, the people of Delaware county, as also in other parts of the gas belt, are very sure to designate the occurrence of events as either before or after the discovery of gas, so that, for purposes of local history, it would be an easy and apt means of placing events in their proper connection by adding the words "before gas," or "after gas." The history of Muncie and other centers of the county after the discovery of gas will be taken up in succeeding pages, where the story of natural gas is closely involved with the material prosperity of these communities.