Show I 1 I 1 fi A r t alf EL hs 9 I 1 n n U I 1 fi 11 0 R N I 1 I 1 r V W I 1 W P AS I 1 I 1 I 1 hR ROARING OARING FLAME FIFTY FEET HIGH NEAR GRAY BULL I 1 I 1 well of remarkable volume feet 1 deep pressure pounds to the square inch I 1 A steady roaring flame over fifty feet high has for the last nine months marked the site of a gas well near gray bull big horn county wyoming the report that tho the initial ingual height of the flame was nas seventy feet cannot be ve verified rifled but that the well is one of remarkable volume Is certain in diameter it is isa 5 58 5 8 inches in depth feet it to is cased down for feet and it was drilled for the hill oil development company by henry Sher sherard ardd and philip minor of basin My wyoming oming no instrumental measurements ot of tho the pressure have been made but some idea of it may be obtained from the fact that the escaping gas has the power to lift a large log chain composed of one halt half inch iron A rough calculation made in september 1907 three months after the well was drilled and based on the size of stones ejected eje ctet by the gas indicated that the pressure at that time was more than POO pounds to the square inch whether or not it is diminishing cannot be determined lor according to the most reliable information obtainable no change has been detected up to the present time in view of the wide distribution of the strata that contains the gas and of the signs of gas at other places suggesting the further extent of the gas producing region an investigation of tire held field was made during the summer of 1907 by mr chester W washburne one of the geologists of the united states geological survey in connection with a study of the coal deposits and general ral geology of the field made under the direction of mr C A fisher max A and homer P little acted as field assistants si A report on the gas fields investigation has just been published jy by the survey in an advance chapter from bulletin no which forms part one of contributions to economic geology 1907 the report gives a brief outline of the geology of the region and points out other favorable localities as well as other I 1 possible horizons tor for the occurrence of oil and gas copies of it anay may be obtained by addressing the director of tho the survey at washington D C the only previous mention of ailor gas within the field studied by mr washburne Wash burno is in a report by mr C A fisher on the geology and water resources of the big horn basin in this report professional paper no 63 53 of the united states geological survey mr fisher mentions the escape of gas from alluvial sands near byron wyoming and from a dug well three miles alles east cast of basin wyoming ry oming the Bonanza oil field close to the southeast corner of the area studied basir washburne has however been described by several geologists so bo far no use has been made OL of WO the gas escaping from the gray bull I 1 gas well except in the city of basin which in 1907 had about 1000 inhabitants there will be little demand foe gas tor for lighting purposes until tho the population of tho the district increases considerably an important use might I 1 I 1 be found in connection with sugar factories which are greatly needed to I 1 care lor or the sugar beets grown on the tha irrigated lands in this region at present the nearest sugar factory Is at billings figs to which the beets are shipped by rail miles at a cost of 5 cents per hundred weight As coal is abundant and would be cheap if mined on a large scale gas could not compete with it except very close to the wells fortunately the productive well near gray graybull bull Is less than 2000 feet from the chicago calca 0 burlington and I 1 quincy railroad near which there Is i a most excellent location for a sugar factory or other industrial plant mr washburne states that the conditions on the east side of the bighorn basin are very favorable for the prospector and he indicates the localities where gas gag may possibly be found these locations are shown on the map with which the paper is illustrated rock exposures are good and abundant the structure Is simple the surface Is one of gentle relief and thero there la Is no timber except on tho the river bottoms the chicago burlington and quiric dumcy y railroad traverses the field for its entire length and in the summer heavy machinery can be hauled from the railroad tl to almost any point in the t basin over wagon roads on the plains drilling Is not very expensive it is reported that the cost of drilling the gas wells near basin and gray bull Is loss less than 1 a foot for a well feet deep and to this should be added I 1 i about 1 a foot for casing the soft nesa ness of the colorado shale near the base of which the gas la Is found makes drilling cheap but unfortunately it necessitates casing the greater part of the well as aa caving is very common the well at gray bull the first to obtain gas in commercial quantities Is an important object lesson to well adril lers owing to the lack of proper casing it has been impossible to close the well and unless some means are found to stop the flow of gas very soon an appreciable diminution of pres pressure suro and the ultimate exhaustion of the well may be expected |