Jasper County Democrat, Volume 3, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 July 1900 — HEAT OF THE EARTH FOR FUEL. [ARTICLE]

HEAT OF THE EARTH FOR FUEL.

Forain Scheme in the Sixties for l'rocuring Unlimited Steam I’owcr. “A distinguished scientist has serisuggested the sinking of boilers deep enough to use the heat of tlie earth as fuel,” said a prominent engineer ol this city. “That sounds rather fantastic, in view of the fact that a depth of 12,000 feet would be necessary to boil water, but a scheme of the same sort was urged with great energy back in the 'oos by a Washington inventor named Forain. If my memory is correct,” says a writer in the New Orleans Tiiues-Democrat, “Forain was a man of considerable means and a mathematician of ability. The internal heat of the earth is supposed to equal about one degree to tire 100 feet of penetration, but he claimed to have discovered that tbe percentage was very much greater and increased in compound ratio after a certain depth was reached, lie figured out an elaborate table and proposed to sink a huge shaft, with accumulators at the bottom, from which unlimited steam would be supplied to the surface. All that wns needed was a few million dollars’ capital to pay for the digging-aud the plant, and he immediately set to work to raise the amount. It is a striking commentary upon the short memory of the reading public that this singular enterprise, which attracted so much attention nt the time and was the subject of almost unlimited newspaper notoriety, should now be practically forgotten. Forain succeeded iu interesting a number of people of wealth and formed a Joint stock company, but meanwhile his calculations were assailed by scientists, and It was shown pretty clearly that the figures were Incorrect. He replied with great bitterness, and the consequence was that the scheme went to pieces in the shook of controversy. What became of Forain I don’t know. If the problem Is ever actually solved, I suppose be will be fished out of the limbo of cranks and visionaries to take his proper place in history.”