Of course I've no clue why that well blew, but I do know that where I
grew up in west central IN there were a few of what we used to call
'grasshopper' wells. We didn't have one on our place, but several times
my grandmother was encouraged to allow some company or another to put
one in. The big attraction, it seems, was the gas in our water, which
came from a drilled well about 450' deep.
Obviously there was sulfur in the water, could smell it clear out in the
driveway even before you got in the house. When we drew water from the
spigot, if you drank it right away (we were impervious to sulfur at that
point), it would spit right up in your face the same as a freshly poured
soda pop will.
In the basement we had a several hundred gallon tank which stood upright
and had 3 spigots on it, lined up vertically with the highest one right
at the top of the tank. Every Saturday my uncle would tap the tank to
find the water level and open the spigot just above that, and light it
with a match. It was my job to tell him when water came out the spigot
and turn off the spigot. Then he'd come down and light the next-up
spigot, and the whole process was repeated. I loved the 'job' because I
was allowed to read between lightings. I remember several discussions
about using said gas for heating/cooking as several of our neighbors
did, but I think my grandmother was afraid of it.
I presume if that gas were contained/accumulated within the wellpipe
itself and any spark reached it, it might not have been a very pretty
picture.
SJ
Re: [Homestead] Political Qualifications?
, (continued)