Ligonier Valley Rail Road Newspaper Articles
We have compiled over 1,400 newspaper articles that mention the Ligonier Valley Railroad, or related subjects. The articles were originally published starting in 1873 and our collection runs through 1995. Enjoy!
Ligonier Echo
Wednesday, March 10, 1920
The Deep Gas Well Near McCance
Struck A Deep Sand Last Week And A Flow Of Gas
The Flow About 400,000 Cu. Feet
The gas test well that was being put down near McCance in Ligonier by the Peoples' Natural Gas Co. after going down nearly 7,000 feet struck a deep sand Monday of last week and a flow of gas with further developments of the well on Wednesday. The gas came on very nicely gradually increasing until a pressure of from 400,000 to 500,000 cubic feet was attained. The well was then plugged to await necessary preparations of the company to take care of the flow of gas. Further drilling will likely be made as only a short distance has been penetrated into the sand. The officers of the gas company visited the well last Thursday to make an inspection of its conditions and its possible future
development. It is likely that the officials of the company are busy with plans for the future development of the well. Everything about the well has been very quiet since Thursday of last week, but additional work will likely start in a very short time.
Mr. H. Henning, general superintendent of the Peoples' Natural Gas Co. stated that the company spent about $25,000 on the well. This likely does not include equipments, such as derrick, cable, casing, etc. It is reported that fully 90 tons of casing was used in the drilling of the well.
All sorts of wild stories were in circulation after the striking of the gas. Among them it was published in the Pittsburgh papers to the effect that the government geologist had drilled the well, that the tools had been blown out of the well and the derrick destroyed and that the roar of gas could be heard for three miles. Some people of Ligonier, however, claim that they heard the roar of the escaping gas.
Mr. Henning had published in the Pittsburgh papers of last Friday the following statement: "It was not with the intention of experimenting that we started to drill in the valley. We
decided that the lie of the land offered prospects, and we took a chance. We drilled until we struck gas, which required us to go to a depth of nearly 7,000 feet before we did strike any.
"The reports concerning the flow of our well are erroneous. The production at present does not exceed 200,000 cubic feet, but as to what may develop, no one can say. It is also untrue that the flow of the well could be heard within a radius of three miles."