Natural Gas Strike - 1893

“Much interest was aroused in the city yesterday by the report that gas had been found in the well at the rear of Copp’s Block, King street east, and the citizens, in general, after reading the account in the evening papers, made it a point to visit the scene of operations as soon as possible”

          Hamilton Herald.   November 16, 1893.

          There was a steady stream of citizens heading east down King street heading to a lot behind the buildings at King and Mary street where the Hamilton Natural Gas and Mining Company had been drilling for some time past.

          At first, there had been some difficulty drilling through the gravel near the surface. Once this obstacle had been passed, the drilling passed smoothly through 250 feet of red shale until blue sandy limestone was reached. Fifty feet into the limestone, a vein of natural gas was reached.

          When the drill struck the gas at 11 a.m., November 15, 1893, there was a sudden gush of gas which fired stones and water high above the drilling derrick:

          “The flow, once commenced and increased in volume, making a roar like a locomotive blowing off steam. A huge wooden plug with a hole about one and a half inches in diameter was inserted in the top of the pipe and the gas continued to whistle quite merrily. When a wooden pail was placed over it, the force of the gas three it up in the air and sent it rolling away.”¹

1     “It Was Only a Pocket : The Gas Burned All Night, But Went Out in the Morning”  Hamilton Herald. November 16, 1893

Immediately after the news of the strike had reached the office of the Hamilton Times, a reporter for that newspaper arrived at the well. The president of the Hamilton Natural Gas and Mining Company was on scene and, in the words of the reporter was “in a great state of excitement” :

“Needless to say, he was delighted and never tired of calling attention of bystanders to the seeming abundance of gas. ‘If it is only a pocket,’ said he, ‘it’s a big one. The gas is roaring there like a house on fire. We reached it just at the same depth that those Cayuga people got gas. Nothwithstanding the immense amount that is escaping, you can see that there is a big pressure there when we had to put a 200 pound weight on that pail to hold it over the hole. I’ll have the controller pipes from the old well in the east end brought up and put in here today, and then we can see how the stream is.’ ” ²

“They’ve Struck a Gusher : Natural Gas Company Directors Rejoicing Much Today”   Hamilton Times. November 16, 1893.

By 3 p.m., the gas company had capped the well and had put into place a 30 foot length of pipe to slowly draw off the escaping gas. A light was touched to the gas and a big flame immediately darted up from the pipe :

“The gas burned brightly until about midnight, the flame sometimes reaching a height of eight or ten feet when the wind was temporarily settled, and for the greater portion of te time, the flame was very steady and invariable. In the evening, Dr. Springer made a test to find out whether or not there was sulphureted hydrogen in the gas, which would indicate that it came from shale and was not the proper thing to bank on, but his test proved satisfactory, and he and his fellow directors were accordingly pleased.”¹

The gas burned steadily all night, but about 7:30 a.m. the following morning, the flame became gradually smaller and smaller until it went completely out:

     “The failure of the pocket, however, has not discouraged the projectors of the scheme to endow the city with cheap light and fuel. Far from it. On the other hand, they say if gas is met with such quantities 400 feet below the surface, what will it be at a greater depth? Practical men estimated yesterday that the flow of gas from the well amounted to 400,000 feet an hour.”³

2     “The Light That Failed : The Natural Gas Find Was Probably a Pocket”

Hamilton Times. November 16, 1893.