A Burning Oil WeH.

Manawatu Standard, Volume 3, Issue 37, 9 January 1883, Page 3

A Burning Oil Well.

-..The burning oil well m Washington m county, pa., says an American paper, is a grand sight. : It was bored by the Niagara Oil Company, and at a depth of 2,500 feet from the surface a vast reservoir of gas was struck and compelled a suspension of work by blowing the tools clear out of the shaft. The escape of gas was so immense that it poisoned the atmosphere, and as stock and vegetation suffered, a pipe was laid from the well up the hillside, and then a light was applied. Ever since February the gas has continued to burn with unabated violence, and the supply seems inex- : haustible. At night the spectacle is indeed grand. The column ot fire is . about fifty feet high, and from five to ten feet thick, while the roaring that accompanies it can be compared to a fleet of steamboats all blowing off steam at once. The noise is heard at a mile distant, and the light can be seen at Stenbenville, twenty miles away. Were it not for the expectation that the supply of gas will m time be exhausted, Pittsburgh could be lighted with it by a pipe twenty-five miles m length. The yicin~ ■ ity of the well has become a great resort, and the people for miles aronnd flock thither to enjoy a dance and have a frolic. ■