Scientific American/Series 1/Volume 1/Issue 1/Burning Well

Burning Well.—A correspondent of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, gives an account of a burning well that may be seen at Southington Centre, in Trumbull county, Ohio. The well is 91 feet deep, all but 24 feet through sand-stone, quick sand and hard rock, which the augur used for boring could not penetrate. When it was withdrawn, a peculiar odor accompanied by a rushing sound, was perceived. Suspecting the presence of inflammable gas, Mr. Wannemaker, the owner of the well, lowered a lamp into it. A violent explosion, that did some injury to the by-standers, was the consequence, and the gas still continues to burn. It is doubtless carburetted hydrogen.