Friday, November 18, 2011

Natural gas

When white men first explored the Appalachian Mountains, their Indian guides had a strange sight to show them. In places there were fires that burned day and night on bare slopes where there seemed to be nothing to burn. No wonder the Indians thought the fires were mysterious! The fuel that was burning was one that no one can see. It was natural gas.
More than 150 years ago the people of a small city in western New York discovered natural gas coming out of cracks in the rock along the banks of a nearby creek. Some of the people piped the gas into their houses and burned it for light. The idea spread. A German scientist who saw gas lights in America called them the eighth wonder of the world.
Soon afterward, when people began to dig wells to get oil, natural gas came from many of the wells. It was a nuisance. Sometimes it caused explosions. Sometimes it caught on fire and set fire to the oil. To get rid of it, the oilmen piped it away and burned it.
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