■ lieps. I ^ Df:PARTMENT OF Sb 1 P CHAMPAICxN, ILLINOIS. Books are not to be taken from the Library Room. ) Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates https://archive.org/details/specialreportonpwrig pC*' .■• ■ iqv< ^ . •■■' 0 'C ^ . \ ■•'’jf ''' ''■'‘,;'-.‘.?^'”W?w^i, SECOND GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OE PENNSYLVANIA: 1874 . SPECIAL REPORT ON THE PETROLEUM OE PENNSYLVANIA, ITS PRODUCTION, TRANSPORTATION, MANUFACTURE AND STATISTICS. By henry E. WRIGLEY. WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. TO WHICH AKE ADDED A MAP AND PROFILE OF A LINE OF LEVELS THROUGH BUTLER, ARMSTRONG AND CLARION COUNTIES. By D. JONES LUCAS. AND ALSO A MAP AND PROFILE OF A LINE OF LEVELS ALONG' S;^IPPERY ^ ROCK CREEK. S« By J. P. LESLEY. HARRISBURG : Published by the Board of Commissioners FOR TIIK SECOND GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 1815 . » w Entered, for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in the year 1875, according to acts of Congress, By JOHN B. PEARSE, Secretary of the Board of Commissioners of Geological Survey. In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at WASHINGTON, D. 0. Electrotyped by Printed by OOLLINS & M’CLEESTER, B. F. MEYERS, State Printer^ rillLADELFUIA. UABRI8BURO, FA, BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS. His Excellency, JOHN F. HARTRANFT, Governor, and ex-officio President of the Board, Harrisburg. Ario Pardee, - - - - - Hazleton. William A. Ingham, - Philadelphia. Henry S. Eckert, - - Heading. Henry M’Cormick, - - Harrisburg. James Macfarlane, - - Towanda. John B. Pearse, - Philadelphia. Eobert B. Wilson, M. D., - Clearfield. Hon. Daniel J. Morrell, - Johnstown. Henry W. Oliver, - - - • Pittsburg. Samuel Q. Brown, - - Pleasantville. SECRETARY OF THE BOARD John B. Pearse, Philadelphia. STATE GEOLOGIST Peter Lesley, Philadelphia. ?/■ ' ; \ .4'. <- r M - -10 r:' ' ■.v«y /rfei.j rtfA n:\.r . .• >., . / ■ ■> - M ;; ...^v .r-! -i %v., M- ■'''•■ '•■ ■' !' ■ V" - ,n '>s ■1 ti f V. . ' '■ ^ iJ’ 1 .'-iti--, •<» 5 ■'0- -i jto '■ S ' ■- ■' - ^.V -TV f > ■, ■ -f • ■ -i y ■' ;fA{: 'i, : ..'•'X/LJ'-KJ :rr-'V' :' 2 ,, vy , -■ .: ... ■' V ',v r, ,(r -i «t *;V''' ' Titusville, Pa., December 31, 1874. Professor J. P. Lesley, State Geologist : Dear Sir: — In obedience to the instructions received from you, I respectfully present the following report upon the Oil Regions of Pennsylvania. ' Trusting that the nature of the work at this stage of the sur- vey, will obtain consideration for whatever incompleteness it may possess. I remain, Very truly yours, HENRY E. WRIGLEY, C. E. CONTENTS. Pagb. CHAPTER I. — Historical, - - * - - - - 1 Section 1. — The rise and progress of American Oil Mining, 1 Theories of its source, belt lines, improvident method of working, 6 Section 2. — Foreign oil fields and competitors, India, Aus- tria, the shale oils of Great Britain, - - 10 CHAPTER II. — Geographical, 15 Section 1. — General description of the entire oil producing range east of the Mississippi, as defined on Map A, including Canada, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, and Kentucky, and Tennessee, 15 Section 2. — Description of the Pennsylvania Oil Region proper, the lines between the Oil and Gas wells, and the description of the known oil areas, as defined on Map B, - - - 19 Section 3. — Description of the outlying points that have been tested, numbered on Map B from 1 to 65, ------- 34 CHAPTER III. — Geological, 41 The prominent points concerning the relative situation of the horizon of the oil bearing sand-rock, illustrated by a section from Lake Erie to the Ohio, - - - - 41 CHAPTER IV.^Economical, 47 Section 1. — Statistics of production, cost and proceeds of the product from the beginning to date ; the net earnings of the entire region, - - 47 Section 2. — Method of drilling and pumping, illustrated by Plate A, 50 Vlll CONTENTS. Page. Section 3. — Pipe lines, tlieir construction and capabilities; comparative value of this method of trans- portation, - - - - - - - 56 Section 4. — Refining ; composition and properties of oil ; regulation of its manufacture to secure safety ; fire-test and sale of oil by weight, 64 Section 5. — Uses of Petroleum ; crude, as a preservative ; refined oil, as an illuminator ; the use of re- siduum in lubricating oils ; naphtha for paint- ing; aniline colors; hydrocarbons as fuel,' 71 DESCRIPTION OF THE MAPS. Map a. — Showing the entire oil producing regions of the eastern United States, together with the relative position and areas of the four main oil regions, Canada, Pennsyl- vania, Ohio and Kentucky. Showing also the water shed of the country, the sum- mit line near the Lake, and the relative situation of Pennsylvania. Map B. — The Pennsylvania oil regions proper, with all adjoining developments in Ohio, New York and West Virginia. The present oil centres outlined and defined, under their separate and special names, and the outlying developments numbered and described. A section giving an outline of the relative situation of the oil bearing sands from Lake Erie to the Ohio river. (Printed separately.) Plate A. — Plan of a well rig and tools for artesian drilling, (with details,) as in use at present in the Pennsylvania region. A map and profile of a line of levels through Butler, Armstrong and Clarion counties. A map and profile of a line of levels along Slippery Rock creek. CHAPTEK I. THE HISTORY OF PETROLEUM IN PENNSYLVANIA. .Section 1 . — The Rise and Progress of American Oil Mining — Theories of its Source — Improvident Manner of Working. The history of Petroleum is so much a matter of tradition and so familiar to all; that in presenting even an outline of such facts as it might seem important to record as reliable, the double diffi- culty is encountered, not only of rehearsing well worn state- ments, but also that of displacing and brushing away many errors, fancies and misconceptions that from the peculiar circum- stances attending the excitement of its rapid and astonishing de- velopment, have grown from constant repetition to be considered as positive truth. Regardless of either of these probable objections, it would seem eminently proper to place upon record here all such details as are known to be without question, and as fully as the limits of this paper will permit, for the purpose of forming a correct general estimate of what has been done in the past, what is the present situation, and what the promise of the future. The earliest mention of Petroleum in the State of Penn- sylvania seems to have occurred in the report of the Commander of Fort Duquesne to General Montcalm, in the year 1750, he having witnessed a ceremony of the Seneca Indians on Oil Creek, a prominent feature of which was a fire made from the oil which had oozed to the surface of the ground. Subsequently along the entire range, from New York to Tennessee, in which Petroleum has since been found, the earliest settlers, as well as the Indians, have not only found oil springs, or surface exuda- tions of oil, but seem to have developed them in a crude way on account of the medicinal properties of the oil. We find along Oil Creek, particularly between Titusville and Oil City, the circular, square and oval walled pits, from fifteen to twenty feet deep, cribbed with timber, which are so often re- ferred to as being the work of a race of people who occupied HISTORICAL SKETCH OP J. 2. the country prior to the advent of the Indian tribes. From the^ number of these pits and their systematic arrangement, Petro- leum was doubtless obtained in considerable quantities. Trees of a growth of centuries have been found starting from within these pits, and 'their age correspondingly estimated ; neverthe- less, however we may be disinclined to disturb a story so in- teresting, it is perhaps equally possible that the pits spoken of being shallow, were walled around the tree, as the roots of a tree are often found to form a conduit for any fluid that is reach- ing the surface of the ground. For many years the entire supply of Naphtha,” as it was commonly called, was obtained from the surface of these oil springs; sometimes by the use of a blanket or woolen cloth, which, when spread upon the surface, absorbed the surface oil, which was readily wrung out, and sometimes by the use of a few rude trenches, which conveyed the water and oil into a com- mon basin, from which they were pumped into broad, shallow troughs, shelving off to the ground ; where the water passed from each trough into the next a small skimmer was adjusted just under the surface of the water, so as to collect the oil and throw it off to one side. As late as the year 1859 all the oil known as Seneca oil or naphtha was obtained in this way ; small quantities were kept by ■ chemists, and as a drug it was considered valuable for rheum- atism, flesh-wounds and similar ailments. Before leaving the earlier history of Petroleum, it may not be amiss to refer to the nation or people who held sway over these lands before the advent of the white man. They have left truly but few monuments or records, but to those who have- passed much of their lives in the woods there is undisputed evi- dence that, as a race, they are to-day much under-valued. We think of them as Indians only, and our uppermost idea of an Indian is the low brute that has been retreating for two cen- turies from the Atlantic coast, before the advancing line of civil- ization. But these were Indians, pure and uncorruptcd ; before many a log fire at night old settlers have recited how clear, distinct and immutable were their laws and customs ; that Avhen fully understood, a white man could transact the most important busi- rENNSYJ.VANIAN n^TROLKUM, J. 3. nesa with as much safety as he can to-day in any commercial centre. One example may be valuable : We pride ourselves upon our railroads and telegraph as means of rapid communication, and yet while it was well known to the early settlers tliat news and liglit freiglit would travel Avith incomprehensible speed from tribe to tribe, people of the present day fail to understand tlie complete system by which this Avas done. While running an old boundary line a few years ago the Avriter struck some blazes on the line trees Avhich led off suddenly to the left. As they were in a totally different direction from that expected, the tree Avas blocked, and cutting out the mark, split the block down in the usual Avay to find the date of the blaze by counting the rings. The blaze was near the heart of the tree ; a fortunate blow of the axe laid bare the dull, curled chip Avhich Avas made by the stone hatchet of the Indian many years ago, and he kncAv then that he Avas on the old Indian trail from Fort Venango to Conewango Creek. These trails Avere “bee lines’^ over hill and dale, from point to point; here and there were open spots on the summits, Avhere runners signaled their coming by fires AA^hen on urgent business, and Avere promptly met at stated places by fresh men. In many places through the western counties, you Avill find traces of pits, that old residents will tell you were dug by AAdiite men hunting for silver, Avhich, as well as copper, was common among the Indians and was supposed by first comers to be found in the vicinity; but as experience soon proved, the copper came perhaps, from Lake Superior by this Indian express, and the sil- ver just as possibly from the far Avest. Our railroads Avind along-^ the valleys almost regardless of length or circuit, if a gradual rise can only be attained. To travellers on wheels, straight dis- tances between points are much less formidable than is generally supposed. We find traces of the example of the Indian in the first Avhite men; the first settlers above Titusville, on Oil Creek in 1809, took their bags of grain on their backs, Avalked to Erie, fifty- three miles to mill, and brought home their flour in the same aaw ; the lumbermen at Warren and on the BrokenstraAv, as related in the address of Judge Johnson to the old settlers of Warren county, rafted their lumber to New Orleans, and walked home. J. 4. HISTORICAL SKETCH OP This digression is made because it seems important to a com- prehension of the earlier history of this product, to recognize fully the intelligence of the Indian, and also that if found on Oil Creek or in Virginia, there was no bar to its transportation throughout the entire range of connected tribes in all parts of the country. The precursor of the discovery of Petroleum was that of salt; the woodsman found that the deer frequented certain springs, and that they were salt springs or deer-licks, so that he built his blinds and coverts in the trees overhead and in the brush around, with loop-holes for his gun, and shot his game at leisure. Gradually from increased demand, the salt became valuable and the deer extinct. Pits were dug, and finally artesian wells were bored, many years before such wells were drilled for oil. Tarentum, above Pittsburg, where the first salt wells were lo- cated, and probably the first place in which salt Was produced for market in Western Pennsylvania, has since been a leading point in the manufacture of that article. Here, with the brine, was found a brown thick naphtha, which outside of its use as fuel in the evaporation, had always been a source of annoyance, and wliere found in considerable quantities, as was often the case in wells drilled for salt on the Upper Allegheny, occasioned the abandonment of the well. The success of Mr. James Young, of Scotland, in the manufac- ture of illuminating oils from the destructive distillation of bitu- minous shale, stimulated the application of a similar process to the crude oil, and in 1850, Mr. Samuel Kier, of Pittsburg, erected a small refinery and commenced its distillation; his success was limited only to the small (piantity which he was then enabled to obtain, and as the natural result of sucli a fact penetrating fhe minds of business men, the effort to remedy this was not long wanting. The best known and the most prolific of the Oil Springs being (ni Oil Creek, Venango County, Pennsylvania, it was natural that the search for oil should first bo there directed, and in 1858, Messrs. J. G. Pveloth and George H. Bissell, of New York City, having leased from Messrs. Brewer, Watson Co., of dhtusville, one hundred acres of land on the northern border of Venango County, just below the village, on which was an oil spring of 1 ’ ENNS Y 1 ; Y A N 1 A N P ET P ( ) L EU M . J. 5. considerable size, which liad for years been tlie source ol‘ some small profit, they determined to sink upon it an artesian well, similar to those that were bored lor salt at 'J'arenturn and else- where. For this purpose they engaged Mr. E. L. Drake, of New Haven, Connecticut, who seems to have had, as a sole recommendation, that quiet patience and perseverance which doggedly pursues its object unmoved by present difficulties, or the prospective results of future success or failure. His mission on earth, however, seems to have been accomplished by the sinking of this first well for oil, so much so, that he appears to have dropped out of sight soon afterward, as far as oil was concerned. It was not, how- ever, for want of either ability or courage that he should do so, but perhaps awed by the flood of industry and commerce that, swelling with each successive year, has poured a stream of wealth from our State — by his first small rift in the rock — he felt that his work was complete ; and the careful observer will, no doubt, fully concur in the belief that the testimonial of the State of Pennsylvania, in recognition of his services, was an act of sim- ple justice, well deserved, to a man whose fame was well earned. On Saturday afternoon, August 28,1859, the drill of the Drake well dropped into the first crevice, at a depth of 71 feet; when the pump was adjusted, the well produced about twenty-five barrels per day, and the question of supply being virtually set- tled, a great industry was born. From that time forward, at every surface indication' on the ' bottom lands of the creeks, and along the Allegheny river, wells were rapidly put down. A second sand-rock was found under- neath the first sand-rock of the Drake well, at a depth of about two hundred feet, which gave a greater yield, and in February, 1861, Mr. Funk found, upon the M’Elheny farm on Oil Creek, a third sand-rock, and the first flowing well, at a depth of 400 feet. Soon afterwards the Phillips well, on the Tarr larm. Oil Creek, at the same depth, flowed three thousand barrels per day ; and soon after that the Empire well, in the vicinity of Mr. Funk’s first well, also three thousand barrels per day. The consumption of oil at this time, as an illuminator, was, of course, not equal to this enormous supply, which was sold, for J. 6. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF the time, at ten cents per barrel, and often given away, or let run to waste. Production was paralyzed, and all small wells abandoned, and did not recuperate until 1864, when the total amount produced had declined to less than 4,000 barrels per day, and the demand, from the steadily increasing consumption, had made the highest market price yet known for Crude, of fourteen dollars per bar- rel maximum, and an average of over nine dollars for the year. This increased demand was met by the developments at Pit- hole, and the discovery that the oil sand-rock was not indicated by, nor confined to the route of the water courses, but extended horizontally under the hills, and could be reached by the drill at a depth as much greater as the height of the hill required. Bennehoff, Pioneer and Stevenson hills were thus developed in 1866; Tidioute and Triumph hills in 1867, and Pleasantville and Shamburg in 1868. Production and demand ran almost side by side for the next two years. Search, however, was being made with untiring dili- gence for new oil producing spots. There was little scientific record upon which to base calcula- tion. Scientists, generally, were averse to giving opinions, with- out such a thorough investigation as would require not only money, but time, which the impatience of the/operator could not spare, he therefore plunged into his work, trusting to give liim a fair average of success, or perhaps to deluge him with favor — circumstances which, all combined, made the life of the producer, in the earlier times, one of the most intense excitement. Theories, however, were not wanting; publications without number grappled with the subject and settled it to their own sat- isfaction for the time; among other suppositions of the origin of Petroleum was gravely stated, that it was the ^Mirino of whales’^ from the North Pole, conveyed by siibteiTanean cliannel. Tlie term “Oil Belt,’^ naturally fiiscinating, came early into use; ma})s were made sliowing the supposed course of the basin or under- ground I’iver, containing of course, the grain of truth to the pound of error. The most valuable of all tliese propositions was that made by Mr. C. 1). Angell, of Franklin, Pa., who, observing in 1871, that a number of the oil producing spots when noted u])on a map, would bo intersected by a straiglit line, whose bearing 1 ’ IC N NS Y L V A N I A N 1 ’ I'7r UO L E U M . J. 7. •was about north sixteen degrees east, proceeded to define this lino carefully u})on the ground, and while he discovered at inter- vals upon it some new producing spots, yet failed to establisli tlie theory advanced of continuous oil-belts. As subsequent investigation lias proved, the truth of his sug- gestion lay in the fact, that the general course of the grand cur- rent which deposited the sand-rock was in the direction named; the error of his statement, in the fact that nature never works with absolutely straight lines, and that the beds of sand-rock are deposited at intervals only, as may be seen to a greater or less extent in the bottom of any running stream. The course of the great belt of the Butler and Clarion region, generally north twen- .ty-two degrees east, lies considerably east of AngelPs first belt, and is crossed by a bed of sand-rock known as the Fourth Sand,” which was probably deposited by a previous cross-cur- rent in an entirely different direction. The section of the oil country known as the Lower Oil Eegion, and comprising the territory south of Franklin, came first into notice in the year 1868, when the discovery of the position of the sand-rock equally under hill and valley, resulted in some good wells at Lawrenceburg, on the hill just above Parker’s Landing. Acting upon the discovery previously made of the general north- east and south-west direction of the sand-rock, its precise loca- tion was gradually defined by actual test, until the strip of oil producing territory had reached a length of over twenty miles, as shoAvn on map B, and the published map, and extended from a point near the liead- waters of Beaver Creek, in Clarion County, through Petersburg and Parker’s Landing, to a point six miles south-west of Millerstown, in Butler County. The direction of the strip, is however, by no means a straight line as is popularly ..supposed, there being a bend at Parker’s Landing, as shown, of from five to ten degrees. It would be unnatural for any formation which was the result of a deposit from moving water, to be found in a perfectly straight line ; in fact, if the centre of the development is carefully noted, it will be found to assume the form of a very slight wave or re- versed curve. For the past two years, 1873 and 1874, the production of oil .has increased so rapidly that even the steady growing consump- HISTORICAL SKETCH OF J. 8. tion, which has from its decrease in cost attained unexpected proportions, failed to maintain the balance essential to a healthful condition of the trade. The result has been, that the production was necessarily con- fined to the largest wells, or rather that such new territory only was developed, as was expected to produce great results ; de- velopment in the upper region, where the wells were of a mod- erate size, was gradually abandoned, and small wells shut down entirely, as the price received Avould not repay the cost of pump- ing. Notwithstanding this, the surplus of oil steadily accumulated ; the tankage of the oil region and the east was increased, until the amount now on hand, in the former place, amounts to over 3,100,000 barrels. In 1873, when the enormous production first showed the signs of waning, an operator at Karns City, sinking an abandoned well deeper, struck a fourth sand-rock lying apparently seventy feet below the third, and obtained a well of 400 barrels. Tracing out this rock, by development in the usual way, it was defined as a strip (shown on the published map, and map B) lying diagonally across the main belt, and extending for about eight miles from the head of Armstrong Ilun to Greece City, and is more fully described in the description of the section on map B. The terminus of this cross-belt was found, for the present at. least, at this latter point, a crescent of wells having been drilled to the south and Avest of it Avithout result. At the present time Ave are on the eve of another lull in the production, Avhicli may tend to improve the prospects of all in- terested. A continuation of the upper belt, hoAvever, Avhen once discovered, Avill undoubtedly be folloAved up as unremittingly as before, and Avith ecjual disregard of the future. Without considering the question of blame, or possibility of a remedy, it seems to be a fact that merits serious attention, that Ave have reaped this fine harvest of mineral Avealth in a most reckless and wasteful manner. When Ave carefully consider the sliort life of the best territory that has been found, liow comparatively small is the relative pro- portion of the actual producing area to tlie entire region, it be- PENNSYLVANIAN PETROLEUM. J. 9. comes a serious question, even in the face of tlio enormous pro- duction of to-day, whether we shall, in this Commonwealth, con- tinue to supply petroleum to the next generation. The prime difficulty encountered in operating the country in Kentucky and Tennessee, seems to have been only the distance from a market and want of proper facilities, all of which would be overcome by an increase in the price of the crude product. Whether any protection to our general interests in this mat- ter as a State is possible or advisable, is a question that present abundance has caused to be put out of sight. Should American and even foreign Petroleum cease to be ob- tained, the world would be amply supplied with Shale oil. It should however be remembered, that to take the lead in this matter, we should not only be able to produce oil, but to produce it the cheapest. Oil from twenty-five cents a barrel in 1861, rose to fourteen dollars a barrel in 1864. Should such a demand occur again, it is doubtful if operators would be content to glean the present fields, if fresh territory were to be found elsewhere. One of the immediate causes of the rapid decline of oil terri- tory is the water logging^’ of the lower sand-rock. With the present system of casing a well and working through the casing^ this evil has been remedied to a considerable degree. The surface water of the upper sand-rocks seems in all cases to have been impenetrably sealed by the underlying slate from the oil bearing rocks below; in all territory, however, after the ^‘head of gas” is taken off and the well ceases to flow from having expended its motive force, more or less surface water reaches the oil rock. We are accustomed to consider water as a fluid of lighter gravity than any other with which we are practically acquainted, but in this case water is heavier than oil, and will fill the in- terstices of the rock to the exclusion of the oil. As this rock or sponge is simply the only reservoir from which we obtain oil, when it is water-logged our well is efiectually ^^corked.” Were it possible to exclude from the sand-rocks every particle of water, we know from instances in isolated places, where the wells were fully controlled, that the production has not only con- J. 10. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF tinned for a number of years, but might seemingly with care have been prolonged many more. It is also a question worthy of examination whether the pro- duction of the hill districts was not caused, or at least greatly in- creased, by the circumstances of the oil being driven back from the sands of the creek by this surface water. Still another subject worthy of notice claims our attention and gives rise to the inquiry whether we are reaping, as a State and nation, any moderate share of the value of this product. Refined oil retails in Great Britain at 45 cents per gallon ; in Germany at 30 cents; in Austria about 40 cents; in Sweden and Norway at 66 cents per gallon, and at Melbourne, Australia, and other remote places at a still higher rate, so that refined oil costs the foreign consumer from fifteen to thirty dollars per barrel. Furthermore, from the custom in vogue in Europe, of making mercantile contracts for a long term of years, the prices to the consumer do not at once follow the variations in the cost of raw material, but change more gradually. As the foreign demand constitutes nearly three-fourths of the consumption, and as the cost of refining does not exceed two dol- lars per barrel, and the freight to Liverpool, five shillings or $1 25 per liarrel, the question arises to what extent it is a matter of moment to the small dealer or the consumer abroad, whether oil at tlie w^ells can be purchased at fifty cents or five dollars per barrel, and consequently whether the income to the State and the oil community is fifteen thousand or one hundred thousand dol- lars per day. As the case stands now, we are producing in reckless haste, at a positive loss to the community at large, regardless of the consequences to the territory itself or anything else, save the present bountiful supply. Wlietlier a remedy exists, has become an open (question ; the chance and uncertainty attending the ope- rations in the region, have rendered it impossible so far to estab- lish any measures for mutual benefit. Section 2 . — Forelcjn Oil Fields. It is only in the United Htates that artesian boring is resorted to lor the purpose of obtaining oil in (]uaiitities. Hut at a num- ber of j)oints on the earth’s surface there are surface indications FOliKKiN OIL FIFLDS. J. 11. of rotroleiiiii wliiclijin sonic instances^ yield with the rudest ma- chinery a considerable return. The predominance of the American oil is due partly to its superior quality and partly to the abundance of its supply. Had labor and enterprise in other lands been as untrammeled as with us, wo should not have enjoyed the present monopoly. As it is, the supply is not only considerable, but, stimulated by our success, is slowly increasing, as the knowledge of our method becomes more widespread, and sooner or later will at- tain proportions that will interest us. The prominent foreign oil fields existing to-day (not including, of course, the Canada region) may be stated as follows: India . — The Rangoon district of the Burman Empire, on the Irawaddy river, which has produced oil for an unknoAvn period, yielding from surface wells alone, by the latest and best authori- ties, nearly one million barrels per annum. These wells are from fifty to two hundred and twenty feet in depth, of no greater sectional area than will permit a man to stand and work, and are cribbed or walled up with timber. (It is worthy of remark here that with all our modern appliances, we have been unable in this country to sink a shaft to that depth on account cf the gas, which cannot fail to be present also in the Rangoon wells.) The oil and water being drawn to the surface by means of a bucket and windlass, and the oil being drawn oft* the top, is transported to market on ox-carts in earthen jars. This oil, which, from all accounts, must be very similar to our ^‘heavy oil,” and does not command at the wells over fourteen cents per cwt., or about forty cents per barrel — a sum less than our own oil brings even in the present depression. The British government, with an earnest desire to discover so valuable an article within the limits of its empire, has caused an examination to be made, by an American geologist, of the pro- vince of the Punjab, in British India, in the hope that a similar oil field might be obtained, but the result of the investigation was discouraging. The difficulties attending any workdn this climate on account of the excessive heat, allows but a few months of the year for active labor. The distance of the Punjab from the commercial J. 12. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF centres of India, and the great expense of white labor em- ployed there, will delay any great competition in this quarter. An oil field is suspected to exist in the Province of Assam ; but no investigation has yet been made, on account of the un- wholesome and dangerous character of the region. The following extract from the report of Mr. B. S. Lyman, the Geologist referred to, will give a synopsis of the Punjab dis- trict In every case the oil seems to come from a deposit of very small horizontal extent, sometimes only a few feet, seldom as much as a few hundred yards. The oil comes from a thickness of about one hundred feet, and the natural springs yield, at one place, as much as three quarts per day^ at all the other places the oil comes from a much smaller thickness of rock, from forty feet at Alugged, and twenty at Gunda and Punnoba, downward. The oil is dark green in color, and so heavy as to mark 25° of Beaume’s scale or even less. The Gunda oil has been burned a little by the natives, with a simple wick resting on the side of an open dish, but the Punnoba oil is more inflammable, and needs a special tube for the wick.’’ An analysis of the Rangoon Naphtha specific gravity, 870; lOO ^ parts gave tar 80 parts, burning oil 20 parts. China . — There is a singular anomaly in the fact that American Petroleum is exported to China, in the face of the existence of the article and its production to some extent in some of the Pro- vinces; to cap tlie climax, of what to an American would appear an absurdity, tlie Chinese have drilled artesian wells for the last century, attaining a depth of 2,000 feet. China, however, being such a chronic exception to all average human experience, wo need not make any serious estimate of its future oil production. Japan., likewise, lias some prospects of oil which were being investigated by English capital, but as yet is only in the primary stages of development. New Zealand . — Certain surface indications in the vicinity ol Saranaki seem to indicate the jiromiso of a future yield, which has not yet been realized to any great extent, although tools and proper irnjilements were sent out from America, and a boring attained the depth of 375 feet. J. 13. FOIIKK.’N OIL FIELDS. Iliissia . — The Petroleum of tlie Caucasus/^ on the sliore of the Caspian 8ea, obtained from tlie skimming of surface wells, has been known almost beyond the memory of man ; the oil appears to vary in gravity from 28° to 38° Peaume, and until recently, had not been produced to any greater extent than one hundred thousand barrels per annum. American skill and machinery has nevertheless been empWed the past two years, and with great success, oil having been found in great abundance at depths of less than two hundred feet. Alsace and Hanover, in Europe ; Peru and Ecuador, in South America, and Nova Scotia, in North America, have all produced a small amount of oil, and have all been operated by American enterprise, or by the aid of the knowledge gleaned from the work in Pennsylvania. As an instance of the work that is being done in the outside oil fields, and with the object of throwing some light upon the idea that we are the sole and permanent possessors of this min- eral wealth, the following extract from the letter of a friend re- siding in the oil regions of Gallacia, Austria, will give an inside view : Librantowa, April 28, 1874. * A Chief Engineer of the Austrian government left me bu1;an hour ago, who was sent to make an investigation of the Gallacian Oil Region, concerning the quantity and quality of oil produced ; also to gather such information as could be ob- tained from the records of wells, with a view of locating a num- ber of wells for the government to test the geological formation, and report the same to the Austrian Congress, (Reichrath,) now in session, to act upon, so as to enable the government to issue a geological map of the oil country. I may say that the geological formation here differs vastly from that of America, nothing but the tertiary alluvial formation has been found as yet, and the oil belts are, one and all, of anti- clinal nature. * * But, nevertheless, oil has been produced in wonderful quan- tities, and in the most absurd and primitive way. If an Ameri- can operator were to ‘ look upon one of these oil districts, he would, perhaps, form the idea that ground-hogs of immense size J. 14. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF had been at work there, and yet when one looks at it closer and studies it deeper, it proves all the more the richness of the ter- ritory. Many of these holes have given a beggarly owner a princely return, some to the amount of $60,000 to $80,000 each — a large sum in this country — and if taken into consideration with the means with which the work was conducted, it certainly proves a rich remuneration. Within the last year the production has more than tripled from that of previous times, not exactly from more working, but from a better knowledge of local spots ; whereas formerly there was more “ wild catting.’’ On the whole Ave have here noAv, at present, what you have had in America for some time past, and that is lots of oil and feAv buyers. The refineries here are, with a few exceptions, owned by JeAvs. Crude oil has ahvays brought a price of from 6 to 7 florins per CAvt., Avhen refined oil Avas noted at 11 @ 12 florins per cwt., but noAv the price is but 4 @ 4| per cwt.,Avith oil at 12 florins at Vienna.” The figures given above Avould make crude, at the Avells,” in Austria, 14 cents per gallon ; in Pennsylvania, Avith the increased value of labor, the price is IJ cents. THE PETIiOLEUM FIELDS. J. 15. CnAPTER 11. THE GEOGRAPHY OF PETROLEUM. Section 1 . — General Description of the entire Oil Producing Range east of the Mississijpji, as defined on Map A, including Canadaj Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee . — {See Map A.) The present watershed of the country through which passes the eastern range of oil production from New York to Tennessee^ is that defined by the Ohio and Allegheny rivers, and the shores of Lake Erie. The summit between the Allegheny river and the Lake lies much nearer to the Lake than is general!}^ supposed, and is indi- cated by the contour line on Map A. It will be seen that this summit approaches the Lake nearest at Chautauqua Lake, New York, where the divide’’ between the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Erie is less than five miles from its shore. Upon Map A is defined the relative position of all the terri- tory east of the Mississippi, from which oil is now or has been furnished, including Canada, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. While of late years these other oil districts have for the time been overshadowed, as it were, and paralyzed by the enormous, production of our own State, it is still advisable not to forget their existence, nor the probability that any cessation of supply on our part, would cause such a direction of enterprise and capi- tal to their heretofore poorly worked fields, as might result in very serious competition. Furthermore, it is convenient for geographical reference, to note that all the oil found in the eastern United States, is con- tained in a belt or range parallel with, and considerably west of, the Allegheny Mountains. The four separate oil regions differ from each other so ma- terially in almost every particular, that an accurate conception J. 16. GEOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF of the relative value of our own section would not be obtained by the general observer, without noting the special characteris- tics of the other three. The Canada Oil Begions. The Canada Oil Regions are situated in the western part of the Dominion, in the counties of Lambton, Bothwell and Kent, Province of Ontario. They extend from near Lake Erie to Lake Huron, and from the St. Clair river eastward about seventy miles. The prominent oil producing points are Petrolia, Lambton county. Oil Springs, Bothwell county, and Bothwell, Kent county. Petrolia is sixteen miles south-east of the outlet of Lake Hu- ron ; Oil Springs seven miles south of it, and Bothwell thirty-five miles from Oil Springs. Western Canada has no coal, the land descends gently to the south-west, and the general dip of the rock is westerly. The oil of Canada is found in a flint-bearing limestone, varying from close to open in its construction, and largely composed of marine shells, and other fossils peculiar to that geological hori- zon, the Corniferous Limestone.^’ The gravity of the oil is from 33° to 43° Beaume. The following record of the wells near Petrolia, indicates the special difference of the underlying rock : Yellow clay, 5 to 15 feet. Compact blue clay, 50 to 100 feet, resting on a thin shell of limestone resembling stalactite. A gravel bed, 2 to 8 feet. Slate, (Hamilton) 15 feet. Corniferous Limestone, 40 feet, surface wells found here. Slate, 30 feet. Limestone, 40 feet. Slate, 3C feet. Corniferous Limestone, 250 feet; all the oil found in this horizon. Hard blue sandstone, 4 feet ; underneath this a vein of salt water, apparently inexhaustible. At this point commences the Onondago Salt Group,’^ (a for- mation of unknown tliickness here,) in which is found the salt of THE PETROLEUM FIELDS. J. 17. Syracuse, and also of Goderich, on Lake Huron. It has been penetrated at Petrolia, in several places, to the depth of live hun- dred feet without producing a barrel of oil. Tlie entire production of the Canada Oil Region, at present, does not exceed 2,500 barrels per day. The Pennsylvania Oil Pegion. Two lines drawn through the extreme eastern and western limits of all known developments to this date, are shown on Map B, and marked as the eastern and western dividing lines between the oil and the gas wells. These lines are taken solely for the object of giving some shape and definite locality to what is gen- erally known as the Oil Region,’’ and include everything that has at present a claim to such a title. They embrace a narrow strip of territory extending into Cattar- augus county. New York, and a broad area reaching over slightly into Ohio, the southern edge of which is not yet fully defined. The Oil Regions of Ohio and West Virginia.. These Oil Regions are confined to two plainly marked belts of geological disturbance, (anticlinal,) shown on Maps A and B ; one extending from Newport, Ohio, north through Washington and Morgan counties, and southward, in West Yirginia, about forty miles through Ritchie, Wood and Wirt counties, and embra- cing the producing localities of Horse-neck, Sand-Hill, Volcano, (the principal point,) White Oak and Burning Springs, and a smaller belt a few miles to the west of it. The minimum width of the belt is about two and a half miles, and the point of greatest upheaval is at White Oaks, at which place the strata, forming the western border of the break, are inclined at an angle of 60° ; at Oil Rock and Burning Springs, the inclination is about 20°. The special peculiarities of this region may be stated as fol- lows : Oil is found in crevices at a certain fluid level, without the slightest regard to the character of the rock in which the crev- ice may exist. Where a natural crevice has not been reached by the drill, the use of the torpedo seldom fails to open connec- tion with one. J.— 2. J. 18. GEOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF surface water is found in the wells, and often no salt water. At Volcano, especially, the oil is pumped clear, with a very slow motion of the walking heam not exceeding twenty strokes per minute. The oil ranges between 28° and 40° Baume, and wells of all gravities of oil are found indiscriminately side hy side. "While the character of the underlying rocks of West Vir- ginia and Ohio is a matter of no value, so far as the indication of oil is concerned, the following record of the wells at Volca- co. West Virginia, which is the greatest producing point, may he of some interest : Conductor, or pi]^)e to rock, 5 feet. Yellow sand, 45 “ Shale, -20‘‘ Hard fine sand, 14 ‘‘ White shale, - -23‘" Dark sand, - - 28 Shale, - - 60“ Gray and soft sand, 66“ Shale, - - 47 “ Sand, - - - - 14“ White sand, (Surface water lost here,) - - - 66 “ Soft shelly sand, (show of oil,) - - - - 22 “ Gray sand, - 21“ Dark coarse sand, 31 “ White sand and jiehhle, -19“ Sand-rock, 4“ Total, - - 485 “ The total production of the entire region, at present, does not exceed five hundred barrels per day. Kentiichj and Tennessee. Had it been ordered that the Ohio river should flow eastward, instead of AVest and South, it is probable that Kentucky and Tennessee would, to-day, share with rennsylvania in the supply of petroleum to commerce. All that we know at ])resent, reliably, about this section, is, that it has produced, from surface wells, enormous quantities of* oil. THE PETROLEUM FIELDS. J. 19. A well on Crocus creek, in Cumberland county, Kentucky, at a depth of 191 feet produced, for a time, 300 barrels per day. The wells on Boyd’s creek. Barren county, near Glasgow ; the oil springs beginning on the Cumberland river, and stretching through north-west Kentucky, and the wells in Overton county, Tennessee, seem to indicate the probability of a large produc- tion, if thoroughly developed. The fact, however, of the presence of sulphur in the oil, the distance of the territory from the great eastern centres, the ex- pense of transportation over a difficult route, and the ample resources of Pennsylvania, have completely held back operations on a scale of any magnitude. THE PENNSYLVANIA OIL REGION. Section 2 . — Description of the Pennsylvania Oil Region proper^ as contained within the lines drawn between the Oil and the Gas ivellSy with reference to the known oil areas and oil centres as defined on Map B and the published Map. In the following description of the separate localities in which oil has been found in Pennsylvania, those places which are well known are referred to under their particular names ; the out- lying and intermediate points, surrounding and connecting the great oil producing areas, are numbered on Map B, from 1 to 65„ and mentioned in numerical order in the next section. Tidiouie. The extreme north-western terminus of the Pennsylvania Oi?! Kegion is the district of Tidioute and vicinity, on the Alle- gheny river, in Deerfield township, Warren county ; it com- prises the Kew York and Allegheny, the Tidioute and Warren, the Wallace, Boyne, Cleland, Triumph, Grove, Ilallen and Den- nis Pun tracts. On the opposite side of the river the Economy society have a tract of twelve thousand acres, upon wliich is lo- cated an oil area of considerable extent. The first wells of Tidioute, (among the earliest in the region,) were located upon the banks and- islands of the river, and found J. 20. LOCAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE no small quantities of oil at cleptlis of one liundred and one hun- dred and fifty feet. Subsequent operations showed the existence of this sand-rock under the hills on either side, from which the best wells were obtained. Triumph City is located on the hill west of Tidioute, at a height of 592 feet above the river, and was the centre of the most successful operations in 1869 and 1870. The first well in Warren county was located on Gorman run, one mile from the river ; it was two and a half inches in diame- ter and sixty-three feet deep. Owing to the fact that the oil sand-rock was found so near the surface on the river, a shaft of seven by nine feet in section was commenced on the river bank in 1865, by the ISTew York Enterprise Mining Company, and sunk to a depth of 160 feet, entering the third sand-rock as much as thirty feet. A large amount of the rock was removed and Ijrought to the surface, and was found to be an open porous conglomerate of small pebbles and a cementing matter of alumina and silica ; it was rather friable when long exposed to the air, and capable of holding a large amount of oil. A fatal accident, caused by an explosion of the accumulated gas, terminated all work on the undertaking. A well on the island at Tidioute, drilled to the depth of 1,000 feet, failed to find any sand below 125 feet from the sur- face. The l)est wells at Tidioute and Triumph Hill have reached 400 barrels per day, and the thickness of the sand is not fully known, as operators were careful not to pierce it, but went only 50 or 60 feet in the rock. The wells on the hill-land of the Economy tract opposite Ti- dioute, are worthy of a special examination ; the oil found in these wells came from a horizon above the river level, a totally exceptional case in all the annals of the oil region, and one which is so well established as not to i)ermit of any doubt. West ILkkori). VV^est Hickory is an oil area directly south of Tidioute, com- prising the Eagundas, Tuttle, Beatty, Scott and other farms. PENNSYLVANIA OIL ])ISTR1CTS. 21 . A small amount of heavy oil of 27°, not exceeding 12 or 15 barrels per well, was produced on West Hickory creek, a short distance above its mouth, on the White farm, at a dcjdh of 400 feet. After this development had ceased, the inevitaldc search in the north-west direction, resulted in the Venture well on the Fagundas farm, which at a depth of 750 feet, found a third sand of 55 feet in thickness. The territory of West Hickory was defined from this well, and in consideration of its size, has produced an unprecedented amount of oil, from a well of 400 barrels maximum. Pipe lines from West Hickory lead to Ti- tusville, and to Garland on the Philadelphia and Erie railroad. New London, ITew London is the connecting link between Tidioute and Colorado, and lies just west of Tidioute. It comprises the land of the !Mew London Petroleum Company and the adjacent farms, and while none of the wells are very large, the produc- tion has been steady and uniform. The thickness of the sand- rock is from 40 to 55 feet, at a depth of about 650 feet. Colorado. Colorado, lying between, Enterprise and ISTew London, in Warren county, comprises the lands of Benson, Hopins & Co., Jay and others. The wells have been as large as one hundred and fifty barrels per day, and the sand-rock is found on the flat of a thickness of about forty feet, and at an average depth of 525 feet. From Enterprise to Tidioute, may be found through Colorado and Hew London, a complete line of wells centering however, at the points named. This range of oil-rock is doubtless far from being fully deter- mined, the overwhelming supply of the lower oil fields having put a stop to active developments for a time. Enterprise, Enterprise, a village four miles east of Titusville, on Pine creek, Warren county, has a few scattered wells, which have produced a small amount of oil for a long time, from a sand- rock 17 to 38 feet thick, found at a depth of about 450 feet. J. 22. LOCAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE As small wells have almost always been the ‘‘ avant couri- ers” of larger ones, it would not he surprising if a larger area of good sand-rock were eventually found in this vicinity. Titusville. The prominence which the striking of the first well gave to Titusville, added to the advantages of its site, has been so far fully maintained by the enterprise and public spirit of its citi- zens. With pavements, sewers, gas, a splendid system of water works, and ample and elegant schools, all acquired at a mode- rate cost, together with churches of all prominent denomina- tions, it is unquestionably a desirable place of residence. The Oil Districts around Titusville, are — llie Watson Flats., and the Guild and Parker Flats., at the junction of Oil and Pine creeks, which produced, together with the adjoining lands of Kingsland Oil Company and Original Petroleum Company, a great part of the oil from 1859 to 1864. The Drake Well was located on Oil creek, on the land now owned by the Watson Petroleum Company, ^^ew York, a nar- row strip extending across Oil creek, about a mile and a half below the tomi. The oil of the Drake well was found not in a sand-rock, hut in a crevice ; the well was subsequently drilled deeper and a first sand found at 150 feet, 10 feet thick ; a sec- ond at 370 feet, 55 feet thick, and no third sand found at 480, or in other wells adjoining drilled to 550 feet. Within the city limits hut little oil has been found, and none whatever of any moment on Oil creek north of it. A well was drilled by !Mr. Jonathan Watson, in the city, at the foot of the hills on the north side, to the depth of 2,114 feet, for the purpose of ascertaining the existence of any oil pro- ducing sand below that found on the creek. This work will undou]>tedly prove of great value in further investigation of the strata, and is shown in the section on Map B. Ckurcli llun is a separate oil area, north of Titusville, com- prising the Cadwallader, Weed, Kerr, M’Guire, Atlantic and Great Western, Barnsdall and otlier farms; the sand-rock here docs not seem to occupy (piite the same geological horizon as that 1‘ound on the fiats below the city, a circumstance wliich subsequent examination may disprove or explain. PENNSYLVANIA OIL DISTRICTS. J. 28 . Tlic wells on Church Eiin, while never exceeding 300 barrels, jiave produced a great deal of oil, and are very lasting; the sand-rock being from 60 to 75 feet in thickness, and found on the run at a depth of 480 feet. The Octave District^ comprising the Hyde, Curry and other farms, is a continuation of the sand-rock of Oil Creek below Titusville, in the usual course to the south-west. The wells are small but durable, and the general depression in oil matters has prevented the extent of this area from being fully defined. The sand-rock is from fifty to seventy feet in thickness, and is found at a depth of about 875 feet. Miller Fann is a shipping station of some importance, six •miles south of Titusville, on Oil Creek, and is the location of a considerable amount of iron tankage. Some oil was obtained in 1864, from shallow wells in the first sands, (possibly from a surface drainage from the wells north of it,) but the quantity was inconsiderable. Pleasantville^diVL aptly named town in Venango county, lies at the head of the great stretch of sand-rock that terminates at Cherry-tree E-un. The land, in this vicinity, is too much sub-divided for general mention, the original owners being Brown Bros., Mitchell, Bene- dict, Dunham and others. The highest point of land in Venango county, 1,762 feet above ocean level, lies just east of the town. National Wells^ on West Pit-hole creek, is the nucleus of a district lying within the great stretch just mentioned, and was a pioneer of operations in this section, having been struck in 1866 ; the third sand is found about fifteen feet thick, at a depth of 745 feet on the run. The wells do not exceed thirty barrels, but from the extent of the rock, and the care exercised in pumping and drilling, the amount produced has been considerable. West Fit-hole . — A small area of sand-rock under the Paxton, Keech, Ilydrick and Turner farms, in Allegheny township, Ve- 'nango county. Wells on Paxton farm find the sand at 730 feet — fourteen feet thick. J. 24. LOCAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE Shamhurg. Shamburg, Oil Creek townsbip, Venango county, a noted oil centre, now nearly exhausted, was first brought into notice by a well on" Cherry” run, on the land of the Pittsburg and Cherry Pun Petroleum Company. The prominent farms of Shamhurg are the Atkinson, Tail- man, Clark, Fleming, King, Dearborn, Bennehofl’, Goss and Stowell. The sand-rock, on the run, is found at a depth of 775 feet,, and is from 60 to 75 feet thick. While the largest wells of this section did not reach 500 bar- rels, there probably was no locality found which has contained so many good wells. The price of oil also, during the time of its development, was such as to bring a large return. The following record of well Ko. 12, on the land of the Pitts- burg company, is so minute and accurate as to possess an espe- cial value. 38 feet of driving pipe. ^ At 38 feet, a soft slate rock. At 70 feet, first sand-rock. At 71 feet, water crevice. At 91 to 112 feet, crevices. At 130 feet, bottom of fine white sand-rock 60 feet thick. At 132 feet, gray sand-rock bluish cast. At 152 feet, bottom of same, 20 feet thick. At 153 feet, slate rock, good drilling to 245 feet. At 245 to 256 feet, hard dark slate and sand to 278 feet. At 278 feet, hard pebble sand shell 18 inches thick. At 280 to 289 feet, hard gray sand and slate. At 289 feet, second sand-rock hard pebble, 11 feet thick. At 300 feet, sand bluish cast, white pebbles, 5 J feet thick. At 305 J feet, gray and white shells for 29 J feet. At 338 to 440 feet, blue sandy rock, mixed with slate. At 420 to 480 feet, blue and red rock alternate. ( At 505 feet, hard blue rock shell 15 feet thick. At 520 feet, third sand very hard, white and yellow pebbles,, 10 feet thick. At 530 feet, mud vein. PENNSYLVANTA OIL DISTRICT. J. 25. At 545 feet, tlirougli third sand 25 feet thick, two crevices and gas very strong. At 545 to 575 feet, blue sand and slate to 605 feet. At 608 feet, hard shell 2 feet thick. At 610 to 636 feet, blue slate. At 636 feet, hard white sand, mixed with pebble, hard shell,, 4 to 5 feet thick. At 640 feet, top of fourth sand. At 648 to 654 feet, hard pebble. At 654 feet, large gas vein and show of oil. At 655 feet, bad mud vein. At 668 feet, through fourth sand 28 feet 6 inches thick. At 745 feet, slate, hard shell, 6 inches thick. At 745 to 748, hard slate. At 748 feet, hard shell, yellow pebble and good gas vein. , At 750 feet, slate rock. At 768 feet, slate and hard shells. At 776 feet, top of fifth sand. At 776 to 778 feet, pebble rock, open and porous. At 778 feet, crevice, gas vein and good show of oil. At 781 feet, rock becomes darker. At 783 feet, dark rock, gassy. At 784 feet, porous rock. At 792 feet, white and yellow pebble, crevice, oil and gas.,. At 794 feet, white rock, coarse and porous. At 806 feet, mud vein. At 828 to 830 feet, white and yellow pebble. At 830 feet, hard close white sand. At 834 feet, slate and sand mixed. At 835 feet, bottom of the well. A marked peculiarity of the great stretch -of oil-rock, of which Shamburg forms a part, and one which deserves future examination, is the existence of black and green oil, so called, side by side in the same territory, so that the surface line be- tween the two classes of wells can be sharply defined. Red Hot^ a suburb of Shamburg, on the land of Independent Oil Company and vicinity, lies between Shamburg and the E’a- tional wells. A stranger visiting the locality and traveling through the unbroken line of derricks from Shamburg to Pleas- J. 26 . LOCAL GEOGRAPHY OP THE antville, would hardly be able to identify these separate places. The sand rock is simply an extension of that underlying Sham- burg. Fit-hole. Pit-hole, Allegheu}^ township, Yenango county, comprises the territory on Pit-hole creek, included in the Ilolmden, Morey, Blackmer, Porker, Ilyner, Copeland, M’Kinney, Ball, Dawson, Blank and other farms. The area of this sand-rock, although unusually prolific, was small in comparison with the beds lately discovered. The Fra- zier and Grant wells on the Ilolmden farm, fiowing at the rate of 700 and 450 barrels per day, gave a great impetus to the de- velopment, and the price of oil at the time, furnished the means for so much extravagant expenditure, that it may be safely stated that no oil in the region was ever obtained at an equal cost. A city of ten thousand inhabitants, with all the concomi- tants of vice, luxury and piety, started into life in a few months and hiding with the decline of the territory within a year, was so nearly obliterated by fire and bodily removal, that scarcely a vestige remains to-day. An example so striking and so extreme cannot probably be found elsewhere. The sand-rock on the fiats of Pit-hole creek, is here found at a depth of over 600 feet, and but from 14 to 20 feet thick. Cash Up.) a small sand-rock on the Iluidekoper farm and the edges of adjoining tracts, about two miles north-east of Ifit-hole. Although of not very great extent, it nevertheless was remarka- ble for its production ; the first well, which was drilled to an upper sand-rock with a small production, being subsequently purchased by some old operators, who, on drilling deeper, ob- tained a well flowing 1,100 barrels per day. Bean Farm.) including the Golden farm and several smaller tracts, lies east of Ifieasantville and north of Ifit-liole, in Alle- gheny township, Venango county. The wells were small and proportionately lasting. Bull Run and Cow Run., Oil Creek township, Venango county. The mouth of Bull run, which is a deep gorge from ofi Oil creek between two hills, is covered l)y the fifty acres ot the Farel farm, upon which, at the mouth of the run, the famous Koble well flowed to the extent of 2,500 barrels per day ; the Patter- PENNSYLVANIA OIL DISTIilCT. J. 27. son farm and land of the Caldwell Oil Company span the bal- ance of the run, and the land of the Clinton Oil Company like- wise encloses Cow run adjacent to the north, nearly all of which is underlaid with a good producing sand-rock. The sand-rock is a continuation of the sand-rock of Oil creek. Petroleuw. Centre. The first success of any magnitude at this well known place, was upon the Hyde and Egbert farm, a triangular flat at the base of the M’Cray hill, which a few years afterwards was also successfully developed. The Maple Shade and the Coquette wells are so familiar as to need no further mention than that their production was from 400 to 500 barrels per day. The town itself is situated on the land of the Central Petro- leum Company, a great part of which has been found produc- tive. The Woods, Pearson, Claremont and other farms, extend- ing over the hill to Cherrytree run, have all been found to over- lie at 950 feet, a fine bed of oil sand-rock 45 feet thick, which, however, stops precipitately at the run. Benneholf run and hill. Pioneer run, the Upper and Lower M’Elheny farms and M’Cray hill, are all suburbs of the Centre, and have in their time been great producing localities. The sand-rock at the Centre, is found on the flats at a depth of 475 feet and is about 40 feet thick. On the adjacent hills, the depth is correspondingly increased. Columbia Oil Company., (Story Farm.) The Story Farm deserves special mention, not only for the success accorded to its development, but from the excellence of its management. On 500 acres of land there have been drilled over 180 wells, producing nearly one millions barrels of oil, and paying divi- dends to the stockholders of the company to the amount of nearly three millions of dollars, over all expenses, within a pe- riod of less than ten years. The territory is now exhausted, but the record of the work remains as a permanent example of what the careful manage- ment of oil territory can accomplish. The sand-rock here is J. 28. LOCAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE found at 480 feet, and of the same thickness as at Petroleum Centre. Bloody Rynd and Tarr farms, on Oil creek, between Petroleum Centre and Rouseville, are well known as land marks in the early stages of the oil excitement. The famous Blood well of 1,000 barrels per day, and the Phil- lips well on the Tarr farm, which flowed by actual measure- ment, in twenty-four hours, 3,940 barrels, and produced over 500,000 barrels of oil, together with the Woodford and other wells indicated the richness of the underlying rock. The sand- rock is from 38 to 58 feet in thickness at the usual depth of Oil creek rock. Rouseville. Rouseville, an oil town formerly of over 3,500 inhabitants, is situated on Oil creek, at the mouth of Cherry run. The bed of sand-rock, which is almost continuous from Petroleum Centre to Oil City, extends up Cherry run for about two miles. The four Reed wells on the Criswell tract, located on a single acre, produced upwards of 100,000 barrels of oil ; the most prominent of the farms on Cherry run above Rouseville are the Union Pe- troleum Company, the Mingo Oil Company, the Brevoort and the Smith farm. The third sand is from 27 to 42 feet in thick- ness, and is found at a depth of 550 feet, somewhat greater than Oil creek, on account of the rise of the run. The M Clintock., Steele., Buchanan and Clapp farms lie between Rouseville and Oil City, and have all been good producing farms, but are substantially described by those which have just preceded. With a few lingering exceptions, the valley of Oil Creek, as an oil producing district, is rapidly becoming a thing of the past ; its demise was, no doubt, accelerated by the transfer of capital and energy to the more ]:)rolific flelds of Butler county. With many the l^elief is strong that 1‘uturc enterprise will clear out its water-logged sand-rocks, and And a fresh su])i)ly of the product, l)ut at present many of its mushroom towns are to- tally obliterated ; such ])uildings as were not destroyed by Are, have been carted bodily away. Waving grain and gardens oc- cupy the richer flat land that teemed with the wild excitement of 1865, and cover the rusty nozzles of the driving pipes. l’I']NNSYLVANIA OIL DLSTRICT. J. 29. And yet when wo roinciiiber that Oil creek, within this lengtli of twenty miles, has produced over one hundred and, ten million dollars worth of oil from an actual area of less than three s([uare miles, mined with a most appalling waste, it is doubtful if any portion of the earth’s surface has ever given to man an equal return for his labor. Oil City. Oil City^ while possessing an admirable location which, in the future, as in the case of Pittsburg, may be the means of over- coming all present obstacles, still labors under natural disadvan- tages, so far as the expansion of the city is concerned. These have been met by her citizens with unusual courage, persever- ance and liberality. The city long since surmounted the steep hills which enclose it, and crowned them with good streets and pleasant homes, and it has also included the town of Yenango, upon the opposite side of the Allegheny river, consolidating the connection by means of two substantial bridges. There seems to be two stages in the life of all minino: towns ; the first, when buildings of rough lumber are hastily thrown together on the surface of the ground, merely to accommodate present urgent need, and when the country depends, to use a forcible but homely expression, entirely ‘‘ on greenbacks and ten-penny nails.” The second is, when the ravages of fire, a sure visitor of such places, are replaced with substantial buildings of stone, brick and iron. A town which survives the first stage, and passes into the second, possesses some certain elements of durability. The substantial improvements of Oil City are all the more remarkable from the unusual natural difficulties with which it was necessary to contend. Along the creek, and tlie river fiats on both sides, in the vicinity of Oil City, good fair producing wells have been found ; the third sand having an average depth of about 475 feet, and being from 20 to 55 feet in thickness. Stand Off City^ or Shaw farm, lies between Oil City and Cherry Pun, on the summit of the hill ; the sand-rock being a continuation of that from the creek, andfrom 20 to 57 feet thick. Charley Run and Shaffer Run are small streams entering the Allegheny, and the creek, within the limits of Oil City ; from J. 30. LOCAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE these two runs a stretch of sand-rock is found, extending over to E^eno on the river. JReno. The town of Eeno was a hold attempt on the part of Mr. C. V. Culver, to divert the trade of the upper Oil Eegion to a point on the Allegheny river possessing greater natural advantages than Oil City. ♦ For this purpose a railroad was constructed, at an enormous expense, from Pit-hole to Eeno over the hills ; the town of Eeno lying upon a beautiful slope on the north hank of the river, was built as its terminus, and furnished at once with a hand- some station, hotel and all the improvements and facilities of a long established place. That the enterprise miscarried is due, doubtless, more to the financial crash of 1865, than to any other cause. The continuation of the sand-rock of Charley run, on the Eeno lands, in 1867, has given some prosperity to the place. The- sand-rock is found, on the river, at a depth of about 500 feet, and the territory being unusually well managed, has been pro- portionately lasting. Walnut Bend^ on the Allegheny river above Oil City, over- lies a bed of sand-rock which was operated to some extent in 1865. Sage Run^ which empties into the Allegheny river opposite Oil City, is the commencement of a stretch of sand-rock which begins at a point on the run, one and a half miles from the river, and extends westward beyond the head of the run, over the hills of Cranberry township, V enango county, including the Sands^ Schwartz and other farms, and terminating in an oil town of short life known as Predinshurg, a few miles south-west of Oil City. The wells have produced as much as 300 barrels each per day, and the sand-rock is found from 900 to 1,100 leet from the surface, and from 18 to 20 feet in thickness. The railway of the Cranberry Coal Company, whose exten- sive lands lie to the south-east of Oil City, and their coal on the summit of tlie hills, follows the general course of tlie run. Franklin. The wells of Franklin and Sugar creek, which, with the wells of Smith’s ferry, Ohio, and Sli])pcry Eock creek, Lawrence county,. PENNSYLVANIA OIL DISTIUCT. J. 31. Pennsylvania, mark tlie extreme north-western boundary of tlic actual producing district, find their oil in the u])i)crmost oil- producing sand-rock on the great slope from the north-west. Future investigation will perhaps connect this with the fact, that all three of these places produce heavy oil. The sand-rock is found at a depth of 260 feet, beneath the flat, is geologically higher than that of Oil City, and is from 50 to 80 feet in thick- ness. The gravity of the oil ranges from 30° to 32°, and the largest producing well has attained 150 barrels per day. The territory extends over to Two Mile run, and includes the lands of George P. Smith, M’Calmont, Fee and others. Franklin, the county seat of Venango county, (the site of old Foil; Venango,) a substantial city of 7,000 inhabitants, is so in- terwoven with the earliest history of our State, that it needs iie repetition here. Foster^ on the Allegheny river below Franklin, overlies a small detached bed of sand-rock, situated in the general sweep of the oil bearing areas north-east and south-west from PenO' and Petroleum Centre. It comprises the Foster, Miller alid Bonsall tracts, lying on both sides the river. The third sand is found at 610 feet, and is from 12 to 14 feet thick. Bully Hill . — This territory was one of the discoveries atten- dant on the belt line of Mr. C. D. Angell, heretofore mentioned it lies upon the hill between Franklin and Foster, and com- prises the Stroman and other farms. Scrub Grass., on the Allegheny river, opposite the mouth of Scrub Grass creek, is also an isolated territory over a small bed of sand-rock. The development here was the result of large purchases of land by the Philadelphia and Boston Petroleum Company. The producing area includes Belle island, the M’- Millen and other farms. The depth of the sand-rock on the river is 615 feet, and its thickness from 18 to 20 feet. East Sandy. East Sandy lies upon the extreme south-eastern edge of the- present oil development, and is the only connecting link, at present, between the upper and lower oil fields. It comprises the land of East Sandy Lloyd Oil Company, Montgomery Oil J. 32. LOCAL GEOGRAPHY OP THE Company, and others, and is situated on East Sandy creek, in Eockland township, Yenango county. Gas City is the name of the settlement which forms the cen- tre of operations, and takes its name from the great gas veins which occur in all the wells here. The sand-rock has a thick- ness of sixty feet, and is found at a depth of 850 feet. The Burning w^ell of East Sandy was situated in Pine Grove township, between main Sandy creek and the branches of the same, it was drilled in 1866 850 feet to the third sand, when a mud vein was ' found, and the tools stuck. The out-pouring of gas was so great, that from carelessness it soon took fire and burned a long time. The Lower Oil Fields. We come now to the great Lower Oil Belt, a term in this case not misapplied, beginning at Triangle City, on Beaver creek. Clarion county, and terminating for the present, at St. Joe, in Butler county, in length twenty-one miles. It would seem desirable that any statement concerning this remarkable producing area, the greatest found so far, and in all probability the greatest that ever will be, that it should be made only after the fullest and most thorough collation of every detail of facts which can possibly bear upon it. But there will be no attemi^ made in this report, to go beyond the citation of such facts as are too well known to be questioned and are essential to explain the connection of the salient features of this region with the Upper Oil region, concerning which we have fuller in- formation. A sand-rock found at Brady’s Bend in 1866, at the depth of 1,100 feet, with some oil, gave rise to a further investigation of the river above, and resulted in the discovery of a sand-rock of 57 feet, at a depth of 960 feet on the river at I’arker’s Landing in 1868. It was not until 1870 that the search for the limits of this sand-rock on the north-east and south-Avest line, extended it to the hills at Lawreiicel)urg, back of Parker’s, and to the mouth of the Clarion river. Tlie Ijend in the belt as now defined, and which Avill be ob- served on the maps, caused no small amount of “ wild catting,” and some fortunate delay ; the belt when once found however, I’i'IN'NSYL VANIA OIL DISTRICT. J. 33. soon worked back to the starting i^oiiit ; owing to the height of the hills, a number of wells which were supposed to be failures, were afterwards drilled to the pro])cr depth with great results. On the north-cast, 1/etersburg, Antwerp, Turkey City and Beaver Creek, were successively embraced within the limits of the belt, and on the south-west, Petrolia, Karns City and Millerstowii. After leaving Karns City, the belt seems to divide into two well deiined and separate beds, known as the East and West belts, one of which has been prolonged to St. Joe. The entire width of this great stretch of rock does not exceed three miles, and to the fact of so vastly productive an area being found continuous, instead of in detached spots as in the Upper Kegion, the rapid development is due. The sand-rock dips so rapidly after leaving Scrub Grass, that many of the wells of this section are as much as 1,600 feet in depth ; if these are drilled without loss at the present prices of oil, we may safely set it down as a fact which will have no small bearing on the future, that the maximum depth at which a sand-rock can be profitably found, is yet an unknown quantity. That part of the great belt lying east of the river, yielding the greater part of its production from wells of moderate size, has shared to some extent in the lull which the great spouters of Butler county brought upon the balance of the region. Should the price of oil appreciate or the production of the south end fall oft*, we may look for further operations in this direction. Some idea of the relative position of the sand-rock along the belt from the upper end southward, may be obtained from the following data : At Turkey City, sand on flat at 1,150, 20 feet thick. Ocean Level of Pump Station, Turkey City, 1,179 feet. St. Petersburg, Fountain well, 1,241 feet, 26 feet of sand. . Blanchard & Siggins’ well, D. Pitt’s farm, 1,063 feet, 26 feet of sand. Eddinger farm, St. Petersburg, 1,150 feet, sand 24 feet. Peter King farm, Kitchey run, 1,000 feet, 23 feet of sand. Casino well, Parker’s Landing, 1,065, 36 feet of sand. Murray well, J. Marshall farm, Parker’s, 1,027, 30 feet of sand. J.— 3. J. 34. GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF Bear creek, above the mouth, 1,170 feet, 33 feet of sand. Karns City, Ocean Level, 1,230 feet. Third sand found at 1,440 ; fourth sand at 1,535. Third sand, about 26 feet thick. Modoc wells, 1,450, sand 12 to 15 feet thick. William Moore farm, two miles south of Karns City, sand at 1,560 feet. Armstrong run, near Brady’s Bend, at 1,263 feet, 7J feet in third sand. Wells at Millerstown, average depth, 1,550 to sand. On James M’Cready farm, three and a half miles south-west of Millerstown, 1,530 feet to sand. Section 3. — The Description of the Outlying Points that have been Tested, numbered on Map B from 1 to 65. Between the main beds of sand rock which are the great cen- tres of development, and to the north-west and south-east of the range of productive oil areas, there are isolated localities which have been explored to a greater or less extent and which-are par- ticularly valuable for completing our conception of the general situation of the oil bearing strata. The most prominent of these are given below, simply with the expectation that they will serve as guides to point the way to further and closer investigation. Tliey are numbered on Map B from 1 to 65, the description given containing only such portions of tlie information as could be obtained at present and deemed perfectly reliable. No. 1. Heavy oil at a depth of 150 feet, near Lowell, Mahoning county, Ohio. Well afterwards sunk to a depth of 900 feet, and gas obtained, but no oil. No. 2. Slippery Bock Creek, above Wurtemburg, Lawrence count}^, Pennsylvania ; a number of good producing wells, some as large as fifty barrels, but not lasting, the oil was of heavy gravity. No. 3. Oil Spring Reservation, Oil Creek, Allegheny county, New York ; tliis locality has been long known for its surface oil. No. 4. A well at Limestone, Cattaraugus county, New York, in March, 1872, produced for a short time some oil ol 15° grav- OUTLYING OIL DISTRICTS. J. 35. ity ; this well was 1,050 feet deep, had much gas, and yielded at first about live barrels per day. No. 5. Wells on Cow run, near Marietta, Ohio. These wells are on the main belt of anticlinal in the Ohio oil region, and are about 450 feet in depth. No. G. Wells on Duck creek, Washington county, Ohio; a part of the same belt just mentioned. No. 7. Well at Utica, French creek, Venango county; seven barrels per day of heavy^oil. No. 8. Gras well at Leechburg, on the Kiskeminitis river, seven miles above its mouth ; this well is 1,200 feet deep, produces no oil, but an enormous amount of gas which is used as fuel by manufactories. The oil springs on the Kiskeminitis were known to the oldest inhabitants. There is also a gas well at Crooked creek, near South Bend, Armstrong county, not indicated on the map. No. 9. Tarentum, on the Allegheny river, above Pittsburg; the salt wells at this point, which descend to a depth of 450 feet, have always found more or less Petroleum within 350 feet of the surface. Some of these wells have been drilled exclusively for oil and have produced from eight to ten barrels per day. The oil separates by the subsidence of the brine and does not impart any flavor to it. No. 10. Wells on Hosmer run, on lands of the Atlas oil com- pany and others, near Garland, in AVarren county ; found an amount of oil at a depth of 500 feet, which would indicate the ex- istence of a larger bed of sand-rock in the vicinity ; for some reasons all operation has ceased for several years. No. 11. Edinburg, Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, on the Ma- honing river. A 10 barrel well 260 feet deep. No sand-rock is found until a depth of 100 feet is reached. In 1861, the Straw- bridge well on the Mahoning river, produced 15 barrels a day for some time. Heavy oil. No. 12. No. 13. Gas well at Meadville, Crawford county, Pennsylvania. Six feet of sand found at 350 feet. No other sand, more than a, few inches in thickness, had been found at 1,000 feet. J, 36. GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF N(5. 14. Well on Stewart’s Run, Venango county. Gas, of 150 lbs. pressure, struck at 150 feet in the second sand. Third sand not found at 825 feet. No. 15. Coal on Cherry Run, one and a-half miles above Plu- mer, Venango county, on the Eagle farm, 75 feet above the bed of the creek. No. 16. The Gas Wells of Erie, Pa., vary in depth from 450 to 1,200 feet. That of Mr. Doming, at the planing mill between Peach and State streets, found it at 453 feet. The average depth is generally about 600 feet. The depths at which gas is sup- posed to be found in a body, is often subject to a great deal of uncertainty and question. Anything so penetrating and of so light a density as gas from hydrocarbons will not, of course, be confined to fixed horizons ; the gas of a very shallow well may rise through a natural crevice from a much lower point. Well of Fortuna Oil Company, French street, 585 feet, small amount of heavy oil 28°., Jareki and Company, 2 wells, one 1,200, one 700 feet deep. Breviliier’s well, 625 feet, has been running five years. Conrad’s brewery 600 feet. There are, in all, about 27 wells drilled for gas in Erie. No. 17. Middlesex, Mercer county. Pa. A small well of heavy oil at the saw mill between Middlesex and Pulaski, on Erie and Pittsburg railroad. No. 18. Well on Little Scrub Grass creek, Butler county, near Anderson’s mills, at a depth of 1,000 feet found a third sand, and penetrated to the depth of 30 feet. No. 19. Newell’s Run, Washington county, Ohio. Well on the land of Robert Routand, below the mouth of the run, 5 barrels, 525 feet deep. Well on land of J. B. Kiggins, 10 barrels, 236 feet deep. These wells are on the main Ohio anticlinal belt be- fore mentioned. No. 20. Coal bed at Kinzua creek, near its mouth, twelve miles up the Allegheny river from Warren, Pa. The bed lies between 600 and 700 638”) feet above the river, and is described as 1‘ollows: — Cannel coal 4 feet; fire-clay below it 7 feet; bitumin- ous coal below this 4 feet. No. 21. Coal in Cherry Grove township, Warren county. No. 22. Bradford, M’Kean county. Pa. 4’ho conglomerate here is found on the hill-tops, with some fine exposures, and a small OUTLYING OIL DISTRICTS. J. 37. amount of oil and gas is found in a few wells in the valley, whose record, if preserved, would be interesting. No. 23. Heavy oil at Mecca, Trumbull county, Ohio. Shallow wells and quantity limited. No. 24. Bully Hill District, south of Franklin, Pa. The sand- rock here is 25 feet in thickness. Painter Well, Pope farm, 100 barrels, the other farms are the Ryle, Stroman, Wise, Miller, Gra- ham and Holstein. No. 25. Coal at Millerstown, found near the tops of the hills at an elevation of about 240 feet above the river. No. 26. Well on Thorn creek, two miles west of Saxonburg, Butler county, claimed to have produced for a short time, a con- siderable quantity of oil. No. 27. Well of Brown & Co., Jennings Ralston farm. Sugar creek, Venango county, above Cooperstown, 660 feet deep, 8 bar- rels of oil per day. No. 28. No. 29. Gas well at Corry, Pa., 950 feet deep. No. 30. No. 31. No. 32. Heavy oil in a well at Wilcox, Elk county. Pa., at a depth of 1,691 feet. No. 33. Conglomerate outcrop, North Rocks, near Warren, Pa., between Ackley and Hatch Run Glade township ; conglomerate 40 to 50 feet thick, fine exposure, rests on slate, is covered with disintegrated sand-rock. No. 34. Well at Glean, Allegheny county. New York; depth of well 785 feet; first sand at 300 feet ; second sand at 450 feet ; third sand at 780 feet; third sand-rock being very thin, some oil, much gas. No. 35. Designates the situation of the heavy oil district of West Hickory; small wells, about 20 barrels found in an upper sand, and before referred to. No. 36. Smith’s Ferry, Ohio, is just over the State line, and some of the production is within the State of Pennsylvania ; the oil produced is heavy oil, 27° to 33° gravity. The wells lie mostly on the road between Smith’s Ferry, Ohio, and Ohioville, Pa., and the average production of each well, is from 25 to 90 J. 38. GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF barrels per week. The production of the entire distridt in Feb- ruary, 1869, was 250 barrels per day. No. 37. Well on Winter^s farm, Troy township, Crawford county > Pa , on Big Sugar creek, one and a half miles from the Diamond^ ten miles west of Titusville. A good sand was found at 600 feet 56 feet thick, drilled to 1,670, but found no oil ; torpedoed at 600? feet, small amount of oil obtained. No. 38. Gas well, three miles north-east of East Sandy Oil dis- trict ; a good sand-rock of 42 feet, much gas, no oil ; one-half mile east of this, another similar well. No. 39. Gas well, half way between Gas City and Lineville. No. 40. Trace of oil in a well on Hiram Heath farm. Hickory township, Forest county. No. 41. The Neioton Gas well, on the A. H. Nelson farm, five miles north of Titusville, is 786 feet deep to a third sand, and im- mediately upon its completion, it began to discharge an immense volume of gas; the three-inch pipe from the well was divided into seven two-inch jets, one of which was sufficient to run the engine with an indicated pressure of 75 pounds to the square inch, the other six being left open ; a measurement of the entire production gave the amount of four millions of cubic feet per day. Lines of pipe were laid from this well to Titusville, and have sup- plied light and fuel to a great number of dwellings and manufac- tories. The greatest objections to the use of natural gas, are its impurities and the pulsations of the pressure, rendering it diffi- cult to regulate its use. It would seem, however, that the latter could be easily remedied. No. 42. Octave district, Hyde farm and vicinity, near Titus- ville, sand-rock 50 feet ; Abbott and OTIare tract, wells 890 feet. No. 43. The Drake Well, four and a half indies in diameter, the first in the oil region, was found in a surface sand at a depth of 71 feet ; the well was subsequently drilled to the depth of 480 feet, but never afterwards produced much oil. No. 44. Walbridge Farm, Sugar creek, Venango county; sand- rock, 25 feet. Smith Well, Ware farm. Lake branch of Sugar creek, five barrels per day of 42^^ oil, at 750 feet. No. 45. Johnson Farm, Raymilton, Venango county; Ray- mond Well, 930 feet deep, eight barrels per day. OUTLYlNCj OIL DISTRICTS. J. 39. No. 40. Cowansliannock Well, on Portage creek, above Em- porium, Cameron county. Pa.; no oil, groat quantity of gas. No. 47. The gas well at Fredonia, Chautauqua county. New York ; the record of this well is given in the remarks upon the section on Map B. No. 48. Gas wells of Neff and Ward at Niles, Ohio. No. 49. Gas well of J. H. Casement, at Painesville, Ohio. Record as follows: Drift clay and gravel, 40 feet; Erie shales and soapstone, 648 feet ; Huron shale, very black and bituminous, with strong smell of oil, 12 feet; total depth, 720 feet. Gas found in the Erie shales. No. 50. Rock City, Allegheny county. New York ; a fine expo- sure of conglomerate well known. No. 51. Small show of oil on Bly son’s Run, in Little Toby, Elarion county. Pa. No. 52. Greene county. Pa.; Yance well on Little Whitely creek. Maple farm, near Dunkard creek ; 150 feet deep. No. 53. An exposure of conglomerate at Panama, New York, on both sides of Little Broken Straw creek ; also known as ^‘Rock City.” No. 54. Gas well at Howeville, Tionesta township. Forest county. No. 55. White Oak, West Virginia. Oil from 26^^ to 28'^; gravity found from 80 to 380 feet; Sand-hill is two and one-half miles north-west of White Oak ; at a surface distance of 300 feet; the same gravity of oil is found in one well at 300 feet and an- other at 600 feet ; in one well a lubricating oil of a yellow color is found at 300 feet. No. 56. A salt spring at the head of Sugar creek, Crawford county, which has yielded a considerable quantity of salt. The water not being very strongly impregnated with saline matter, a well was sunk to the depth of 300 feet, but instead of yielding strong brine, oil was obtained in small quantities, and mixing with the salt water rendered it valueless. No. 57. Groce Farm, Clarion county, between Clarion and Shippenville ; small well 700 feet deep. No. 58. No. 59. J. 40. GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF OUTLYING OIL DISTRICTS. No. 60. Sage Ruiij near Oil City. Hill wells from 800 to 1,100 feet ; sand-rock GO feet thick. No. 61. Wells on Dunkard’s creek, Greene county, Pa. No. 62. Well at Panama, Chautauqua county, New York, 550 feet deep ; six feet in the second sand. A surface sand found at - ^14 feet, 75 feet thick. A first sand found at 461 feet, 30 feet thick. No. 63. Jamison farm, Allegheny river, above Tionesta. Well 240 feet deep, sand 13 feet thick, small production of 48° oil. The well drilled 550 feet, but no more sand found. No. 64. No. 65. Five or six wells on Kinzua creek, Warren county,, near the Allegheny river. THE CEOLOCHCAL I’LACE OF I'ENNSYLVANl A J’ETROLEIJM. .i . 4 L CTTAPTER III. GEOLOGY OF PETROLEUM. The prominent fads concerning the relative situation of the horizon of the oil hearing sand-rock^ illustrated hy a section accompany- ing Map Lake Erie to the Ohio river. Tlie knowledge of the strata underlying Western Pennsylvania may he obtained in two ways : First. By observing the long and continuous outcrops exposed on the hill slopes above water level. These are seen to be not perfectly horizontal, but to sink steadily and slowly as we go southward and westward ; (a formation which crops out in the State of New York, will be found at a great depth in Pennsyl- vania.) Second. From the records of artesian borings, when duly con- nected with accurate levels of the surface. The outcrops visible along the shore of Lake Erie will, of course, underlie any outcrops found south of that point, and the records of the wells drilled on the shore of the Lake, will fur- nish us with the character of the yet lower formation. While the precise location of the horizon, at which our Penn- sylvania oil is found, can only be determined by an examination of its entire area, a few deductions from such prominent facts as are not likely to be seriously affected by future work, will be of value in obtaining some idea of the nature of the search re- quired. It is particularly desirable to convey to the mind of the reader, an accurate impression of the relative size and location upon the surface, of such areas as outline the oil bearing rocks below, and these are defined on Map B. It will be observed that these spots are isolated and disconnected, and, with the exception of the stretch of the great lower oil fields, do not comprise any continu- ous belt. To present this more clearly, it may be stated that out of 3,115 square miles of land in Pennsylvania, embracing everything which, by general acceptance, can be denominated as the oil re- gion, only 39 J square miles have actually produced oil ; that is J. 42. THE GEOLOGICAL PLACE OF to say, all the territory that now is, or has been producing,could be contained in an area of 25,000 acres. Whether the component materials or the great body of this oil exist in the* sand-rock where it is found, or at a depth beyond the present reach of the drill, is a question of scientific interest, but not of direct importance. What we are searching for to- day, is the location of the vent holes by which this oil reaches within drilling distance of the surface of the earth, whether such vent hole consists of an open sand-rock or sponge as in Pennsyl- vania, or of an anticlinal or system of broken rocks as in West Virginia. From the fact, that coal and similar minerals are mined in con- tinuous beds, stretching often over counties and States, it would be natural to suppose that the sand-rocks of the separate oil dis- tricts are connected in the same way. The extent of the beds of the upper sand-rocks, near the sur- face of the earth, is so much greater than that of the oil bearing rock, that the proposition is substantially true so far as they are concerned, with the exception that they are not found at a posi- tively uniform horizon, but overlap and underlie each other at the edges. A well drilled anywhere in the region, will find a first sand, and sometimes a second and invariably some mountain sands, as they are called, are found even above these, but no productive sand-rock has been found on tlie horizon of the third or oil pro- ducing sand, except where indicated on the map. Oil has been found in small quantities in tlie first and second sand-rocks, in detaclied spots, and from the earliest wells, but the ])ulk of the product has been detained from the third sand. From the means within reach at present for defining the position of this Tock, tliere is every reason to believe that it is situated approxi- mately throughout the region under consideration on the same geological horizon. A producing spot in the Pennsylvania region, (as defined on Map B,) is an area overlying, from 500 to 1,500 feet, a bed of porous conglomerate from three to seventy-five feet in tliickness, the thickest part of the rock giving the best well, and this thick- est part being generally found in the centre of the area, the rock .tapering off at the edges. PENNSYL V A NI A PETROLEUM. J. 43. When a 'svcll is drilled in an untried locality, and the tliird sand- rock found of any thickness, whether witli much or little oil, this well is followed by others situated in dilfercnt directions from it, until the thickest part of the sand-rock is discovered and a good well is the rcsvdt and it is not long before the edge, wliere the rock thins outj can be mapped on the surface of the ground above it. There is, therefore, within reach of the drill, no continuous bed of oil bearing sand-rock, but a series of scattered disc-shaped de- posits Avhose outline and situation so far as discovered are indi- cated on Map B. These separate and detached beds of third sand-rock are lens-shaped, being thin at the edges as before stated. The use of the term oil belt, has led to some misconception ; lines Avhich Avere run across the surface of the country for many miles in courses varying from north 14° east to north 22° east, have been found to intersect the surface directly over these pro- ducing beds of third sand, but in sep rate places and Avidely apart. The value of this discovery is doubtless confined to the extent of the conformity of these lines Avith the general course of the cur- rent which transported the material to form the deposit. The Section on Map B, For the purpose of locating the relative horizons of the oil- bearing sands, from our present knoAvledge, a profile section has been made extending through the length of the oil region from Lake Erie to the Ohio river. In presenting this outline of the underlying strata of the oil country, it is essential that such a section can only state such general points as may be deduced broadly but still A\dthout ques- tion, in the present state of our knoAvledge from an extended \heAV of the Avhole area involved. Except so far as they present the main features, it is not de- sired that they should be considered final and ccnclusive. In the profile given from the Ohio riA^er to Lake Erie Ave liaA^e simply the line of the oil bearing sand-rock located at tAventy- five different places, from a careful a\^erage of a number of Avells at each place, and the heiglit of eacli place aboA^e tideAvater also, three horizons of the coal measures, Avith termini at Avell- knoAvn places. J. 44. THE GEOLOGICAL PLACE OF The alignment begins at Marietta, on the Ohio river, follow- ing np the Ohio to Pittsburg, thence up the Allegheny to the mouth of Oil creek, up Oil creek to Titusville, and thence by levels of Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley and Pittsburg railroad, over the ridge to Dunkirk, on Lake Erie. The points given in the section would seem to prove that all the oil sand-rocks of the region, even if they be disconnected and scattered through the strata at irregular distances, lie at about the same general geological horizon. In the gas wells shown upon the section the position of the sands found has been omitted, not only to distinguish and sepa- rate them readily from the oil producing wells, but because the sands found in them so far as known were light and inconsider- able. In the record of the Fredonia gas well, near Lake Erie, at the beginning of the section, we notice an entire absence of sand- rock. The outcrop of the lowest oil conglomerate mustbe sought for on the surface before reaching tlie shore of Lake Erie. The record of the well is as follows : 50 Black shale, 50 feet. 80 Gray shales, 30 feet. Black shale, with some gas and no water, ) . r , 200 Alternate black and gray sliales, [ 500 Soapstone, with occasional hard shales, 300 feet. Gas ob- tained here. 800 Black and gray shales, alternate, 300 feet. 1,050 Gray shale, 250 feet. 1,250 Limestone, 200 feet, and drill not through it. • The lowest sand-rock, therefore, as yet reported by any oil driller, is in the deep well of iMr. Jonathan Watson, which was drilled on the flat, in the City of Titusville, at a point 1,195 feet above sea-level, and in which a sand twenty feet tliick and con- taining some green oil, was said to have been passed through at a depth of 1,970 feet. This sand was described as a white pebble conglomerate similar in every respect to the ordinary third sand. The next highest sand-rock found, is the reported third sand of Watson’s deep well, at a depth of 1,507 feet from the surface, which probably corresponds in horizon with that in the gas well ;it Corry, and tho wells on the Tunaunguant creek, near Limestone PKNNS YL V A NI A 1M<:TR( ) LICUM. J.45. village, N. Y. The well at Liiiiestoiio being situated to tlie east, and that of Cony to the west of our alignineiit, would make the horizons at those places respectively higher and lower as the section shows. In the absence of further detail at present, concerning the operations in the extreme northern part of the oil field, the few fixcts which could be relied upon, are chietfy valuable, as links to connect other more important data. We come now to the lowest third sand of the oil region pro- per, which is found at Tidioute, at a depth of 140 feet below the first bench on the river, but not at a corresponding depth under the hills on either side. The sand-rock there if it be the same, it considerably higher, but when penetrated, in the hopes of find- ing the river sand, only knocked the bottom out of the well.” No small amount of oil has been produced from a first sand at Tidioute, which is found on the river at a depth of less than 100 feet. On the river bank of the Economy tract, a well Avas struck in a crevice at 99J feet in 18G1, which produced oil steadily for a period of eight years. Four other producing Avells in the au- cinity were not over 150 feet in depth. From Enterprise and Titusville to Oil City, the third sand, Avhich is found in the tAYo placed mentioned at an average depth of 450 feet, follows nearly the fall of the Avater-shed, being found at Oil City at a depth of 475 feet and along Oil Creek almost uni- formly between these points. At Petroleum Centre there appears to be a similar deviation, and also at Church Pun, near Titus\ulle, Avhich a closer investi- gation may explain. Surface oil has, likeAvise, been found in the first and second sand-rocks on Oil Creek. The Brake Avell, the first drilled for oil, found the sand at 71 feet, and produced, for some time, 25 barrels per day. Some Avells at Miller farm also found oil, for a short time, at 225 feet, in Avhat Avas probably a split first sand. Both of these points are shoAvn on the section. The fall of the sand-rock progresses uniformly through inter- vening sections, until Ave reach Scrub Grass, on the Allegheny river. Here the alignment of our section, to preserA^e its accu- J. 46. THE GEOLOGICAL PLACE OF PENNSYI.VANIA PETROLEUM. racy, must be transferred bodily eastward, until we strike tbe line of the great lower oil belt. We find here, that while the oil-bearing sands on Beaver creek are also apparently uniform in general horizon with the dip or fall we have had north of them, yet from this point southward along the belt the dip is much more rapid, so much so, that with- out the fortunate coincidence of the lowest line of water-shed with the direction of the development, the wells would, before this, have attained a very undesirable depth. The explanation of the phenomenon of a fourth sand, as it is called, which is found on the cross belt from Armstrong Bun to Greece City, and its precise geological location, would neces- sarily require the closest research. Whether it is a separate sand-rock deposited by a cross-current on a lower horizon, or whether it is only a divided third sand is yet a matter of ques- tion. We find the formation immediately above it, almost identical with that above the third sand of the grand belt. A thin hard shell which caps it, is found in a similar position at Millerstown. The levels taken so far, seem to indicate that it occupies the same position as the third sand. The fourth sand, at Karns City, is twenty-five feet tliick, of a red and yellow color, and lies about seventy feet below that known as the third sand. PRODUCTION OF THE PENNSYLVANIA OIL WELLS. J. 47. CHAPTER IV. THE ECONOMICS OF PETROLEUAI. Section 1. — Statistics of production ^ cost and proceeds of the product f rom the beginning to date — the net earnings of the entire region. During the fifteen years which have' passed since the striking of the Drake well, the Pennsylvania Oil Region has produced up to January 1, 1875, sixty-seven millions seven hundred thousand barrels of oil, which brought at the wells, the sum of two hundred and thirty-five millions five hundred thousand dollars. Of this amount, 3,200,000 barrels are stored to-day in the tanks of the Oil Region. The following table of production, price and export, will show more fully the progress of the business from year to year : YEAR. Production in barrels. Average 1 price for the year. Amount. Barrels ex- por’d crude, equivalent. Crude, value of export at the M^ells. 1859. . . . 3,200 31 cts. gal. $41,664 00 1860 650, 000 16 “ 4,368,000 00 1861. . . . 2, 113, 600 $2 73 bbl. 5,770,128 00 27, 812 $75,926 76: 1862. . . . 3, 056, 606 1 68 “ 5, 135, 098 08 272, 192 457,282 5(1 1863. . . . 2,611,359 3 99 10,419,322 41 706, 268 2,818,009 32, 1864.... 2, 116, 182 9 66 “ 20,442,318 12 796, 824 7,697,319 84 1865. . . . 3, 497, 712 6 57 “ 22,979,967 84 745, 138 4, 895, 556 6d 1866. . . . 3, 597, 527 3 73 “ 13,418,775 71 1,685,761 6, 287, 888 53 1867. . . . 3, 347, 306 3 18 “ i 10,644,433 08 1,676, 300 5,330,634 00 1868. . . . 3,715,741 4 15 “ 15.420,325 15 2, 429, 498 10,082,416 70 1869. . . . 4,215,000 5 85 “ 24,657,750 00 2,568,713 1.5,026,971 05 1870. . . . 5, 659, 000 3 80 “ 21,-504,200 00 3, 5.30, 068 13,414,2.58 70 1871. . . . 5, 795, 000 4 35 “ 25, 208, 250 00 3, 890, 326 16,922,918 10 1872. . . . 6, 539, 103 3 75 “ 24,521,6.36 25 4, 276, 660 16,037,475 00 1873. . . . 9, 879, 455 1 84 “ 18, 178, 197 20 4,981,441 9, 165,851 44 1871. . . . 10, 910, 303 1 17 “ 12,765,054 51 4,903, 970 1 .5,737,644 98 1 67, 707, 094 3 48 bbl. i 235, 475, 120 35 1 32,490,971 113,9.50,153 2(> Total production, 67,707,094 barrels; average price, $3 48 ; total value of yield at wells, $235,475,120 35 ; total amount exported, 32,490,971 barrels ; total value at wells of crude oil exported, $113,950,153 26. The refining of this oil at a cost of two dollars per barrel, on seventy-five per cent, of the total amount, makes an additional value of over one hundred millions. There has been exported a crude equivalent of thirty-two and a half millions of barrels, the value of which, at the wells, with- J. 48. PEODUCTION OF THE out refining, freight or handling, was one hundred and fourteen millions of dollars. The freight on forty millions of barrels to the seaboard, at an average of $2 50 per barrel, would amount to one hundred mil- lions. So that the value received from abroad for the export, would exceed at a minimum estimate, the sum of two hundred and sixty millions of dollars. The total number of wells drilled in the region from the start to January 1, 1869, on or near actual producing territory, was 5,560; the amount of oil produced up to January 1, 1869, was something less than 25,700,000 barrels, giving the entire average IDroduction of each well at nearly 4,600 barrels. The amount realized for oil up to January 1, 1869, gave an average of $4 06 per barrel, or $18,700 for each well. From that time forward until the present, the outline of the underlying strata being better understood and defined, and the failures proportionately less, the figures are as follows : In 1869, there were drilled .... 991 wells. 1,007 946 1,032 530 433 In 1870, In 1871, In 1872, In 1873, In 1874, *Total from 1869 to 1874, inclusive, - - 4,939 At round numbers, five thousand wells have been drilled since January 1, 1869, producing forty-two millions of barrels, at an average price of $2 91, giving a production to each well of 8,400 barrels, and a gross earning of $24,500. Of tlie 10,500 wells that have been drilled on or near actual ])roducing territory, 3,250 are pumping to-day, with an average j)roduction of less than ten barrels eacli. It will be seen that during tlie last six years, Ave liavc nearly doubled tlie average entire production of a well, Avith but a sliglit increase in gross revenue. It will also be observed, that three liundred A\mlls drilled before January I, 187 1, are pumping to-day. Making a fair alloAvance for Avells recently started, avo shall have the aAmrage life of a Avell at a little over tAVO and one-half *This ostiiiiiito of wolls iiis nnd boxes, iniikiii<>; it necessary to renew tlieni at intervals. The Jars are made entirely of Norway iron two inches square, with the exception of the inner faces and ends of the slotted ('>penings, which are lined with steel ; the whole heing heated red-hot and carefully annealed, to effect a thorough union of the metals. The stroke of the jars has heen reduced to 12 inches, and their total length is about 6 feet. The Bitts are made of Norway iron, with 40 pounds of steel on the point, which is drawn to a width of 5J inches, more or less, according to the size of the well. The flat and round Keamers are made also of Norway ii*bn, with more steel on the point ; there are also various extra tools for different purposes. The hollow Reamer for straightening a crooked hole, is shown 1)11 the plate. A spud or spoon for enlarging the well around a stuck tool, is simply half a hollow reamer ; a slip socket, to drop over the head of a tool that is fast, with dogs or teeth to fall out and catch under the collar ; a horn socket, or tapering iron tube, to drive and wedge upon the head of any fastened iron. ‘All these, with many others often especially devised and con- structed for the purpose, are recpiired at various times in sink- ing a well. The cable used is 6 inch untarred manilla rope ; the wire rope has not yet been made that will answer for drilling purposes, as none are sufficiently pliable to use on the shaft of a bull-wheel, and to increase the diameter of the shaft would cause loss of power. The sand pump lias two improvements: first, the valve with a drop stem to open it on reaching the bottom of the well, and second, the piston which keeps its place at the bottom of the pump while being lowered, but when drawn up, fills the pump by its suction with the loose debris and water. Film lying. The main improvements under this head may be included in the two items of sucker-rods and valves. The old style of sucker rods with fish-tail ends, has long since passed out of use ; the rivets constantly becoming loose and dropping into the work- J. 56. CONSTRUCTION AND STATISTICS OF ing barrel were a great annoyance. To remedy tills we have a . joint without any rivets, where the wood is driven into a metal socket and widened at the end with a wedge, (as shown in the j)late^) an intermediate piece of small tubing, making a screw connection between the two sockets. The valves in use are a plain standing valve at the bottom of the working barrel, and a three or four cup valve or a water packer of some kind ; especial valves are made for gas when it predominates largely in a well, and to meet the several condi- tions which occur. The body of the sucker-rod is made of the best upland ash, IJ- inches in diameter, and in length from 24 to 28 feet. As an instance of the energy with which this business has been prosecuted, it may be stated that over 3,800 patents bear-- ing upon the production and manufacture of Petroleum have been issued since the strikins; of the first well. O Section 3. — Pipe Line Transportation. Pipe lines, their construc- tion and capabilities.) comptarative value of this method of trails- portation. The first producing wells being found upon the flat land of Oil creek and the Allegheny river, the removal of the product was not a matter of great difficulty ; flat-boats loaded with oil in barrels and sometimes in bulk, conveyed the oil down stream to the nearest railroad. The railroads gradually extended their branches along tlie valleys of the region in all directions, but the oil produced from inlying valleys or remote spots, had to be conveyed in barrels by team from the wells to the dump tank at the shipping station, often a distance of ten or twelve miles, and at a cost of as much as three dollars per barrel. To remedy this, it was natural to turn to the conveyance of water in pipes as an example, and in consequence a four inch cast iron pij^^K) with leaded joints, was laid in 1861 from Titus- ville, four miles down tlie creek. Owing undoubtedly to its imperfect construction, it leaked so badly under the slight pressure to which it was subjected and was such an alarming failure, that all projects of the kind riVi: LINE TRANSPORTATION. J. 57. were abandoned until the year 1865, -wlion Air. Samuel Van- pyckle conceived the very happy thought of extending the tubing of the Avell as it were, to the station desired, liowever distant^ and laid the first line of tAVO inch tubing six miles in length, from Pit-hole to Aliller farm, having two intermediate })ump. stations Avhicli were subsequently abandoned as unnecessary. The mechanical success of this line soon caused the matter to he taken up by others, and the length and capacity of the lines extended over the upper, and finally over the lower region, until at present the net Avork of pipes which, like the veins of a human body, extends throughout the entire country, reaches Avith the branches to the Avells, the enormous aggregate of nearly tAvo thousand miles. A\^ithout intending to specifically describe the extent and ca- pacity of the several lines, it is desirable to direct attention to the peculiar and unexpected advantages of this mode of trans- portation, and to note the discovery of some valuable facts con- cerning its economy and the possible range of its usefulness. There are to-da}^ in the oil region, fifteen separate companies engaged in the transportation of oil by nipe from the Avells to the railroad. llie Octave Pipe Company gathers up the oil from the Avells of Church run and Octave districts, and loads at Titusville. The Church Pun Pipte Comjxmy is confined to the Avells at Church run, delivering at Titusville. The New York Pipe Company has a main line from Tidioute and AYest Hickory through the London, Colorado and En- terprise districts, 13 miles, Avithout relay ; also a line from AYest Hickory to Garland, on the Philadelphia and Erie railroad, 15 miles, Avith a relay pump station half-way. The Titusville Pipe Company has a line from Pit-hole through the Shamhurg and Pleasantville districts to Titusville, eleven miles. The Pennsylvania Transportation Company has a net Avork of lines of about 150 miles in length, draining the Pit-hole, Pleas- antville, Shamhurg, AYest Hickory and Octave districts, ship- ping at Titusville, Aliller Farm and Oil City. The line from J. 58. CONSTRUCTION AND STATISTICS OP West Hickory to Titusville pumps tliirteen miles without a re- lay. The company also operate a ten mile line and connection in the lower region, from Millerstown to Brady's Bend. The Rochester and Oleopolis Ripe Company has the only success- ful gravity pipe line ever put in operation ; it is six inches in diameter, and formerly delivered the oil from the Bit-hole dis- trict to the railroad at the mouth of Pit-hole creek. It has also a line laid from Oleopolis over the hill to Oil City, which is an ordinary 2 inch line. The United Ripe Lines reach almost every part of the lower oil region, and aggregate over 500 miles in continuous length. Their main lines are from Turkey run, at the head of the great lower oil belt, to Oil City; from Modoc and Fairview to Bay- miltoipon the Jamestown and Franklin railroad, over 22 miles; from Karns City, MillerstoAvn and Greece City to Ilarrisville, on the Shenango railroad, three lines, twelve, fifteen and sixteen miles each. The Union Ripe Company is side hy side in length Avith the United Pit>e, draining the entire lower region hy innumerable short lines to the Allegheny Valley and Pittsburg railroad, and shipping to Butler and Coyle’s station, on the West Pennsyl- vania railroad, by main lines of fifteen miles in length ; the total continuous length of main lines, and connections, being more than 500 miles. The American Transfer Company^ from U})per Turkey Pun to Emlcnton, has about 50 miles of main lino and connections. Tiie Antwerp Ripe, and tlic Oil City Ripe, extends from the Petersl)urg district to the Allegheny Valley railroad, and to Oil City through the Sandy district. The Grant Ripe Company, from the Grant farm above Par- ker’s landing, delivers on the riAX‘r, and is 30 miles in continu- ous length. Th.e Relief Ripe Company, from Story farm and Armstrong run, also delivers at the river, and is one of the most ])rominent routes of transportation for the oil in the lower region. The Columbia Conduit Company is the i'orerunner of a formi- dal)le com[)etition of the pipe line, as a means of trans])ortation, compareicious, is the fact, plainly visible in Mr. Lncas’ profile, that 710 such change of dip occurs ill the first and second sands above it. It looks as if the 'well sinkers of the I\arson Ho. G had missed the third sand and gone down to a stray fourth. Great confusion has arisen from such mistakes all over the oil regions. In fact, well- sinkers usually fix their attention too exclusively on the gravel- layers ; and the coarse sand-beds are so frequently replaced by softer and liner sand-beds and by shales, that it is no wonder if some elements of uncertainty enter into the composition of all our geological sections of the oil regions. We are obliged, therefore, to confide in the accumulated testimony of several thousand wells, and in the local knowledge of the number, thickness and position of their “sands,” acquired by intelligent oil men. Perhaps the chief value of a profile section like this of Mr. Lucas is, that no one can look at it carefully without feeling a strong conviction that it expresses the real structure of the undergound, to a depth of one or two thousand feet beneath the present surface ; although not a single well record, of all the sixty-five out of which it has been constructed, can be said to be perfectly and entirely reliable. In trigonometrical surveys, the observer can rely with perfect confidence on the 7nea7i of his hourly observations (if extended through an entire month) to a fraction of a second of arc. In astronomy, the 7nean of many thousands of observations of the times of the emersion and im- mersion of Jupiter’s moons, is accepted as nearly perfect. So, in our profile-section a comparison of its sixty-five well-records, each imperfect in itself, proves beyond the possibility of serious error the following important propositions : I. — That there are seven principal sand formations, viz : (а) The sand rocks which outcrop on the liill sides of the highland of Clarion county, east of the Allegheny river, and of the highland of Butler count^q west of that river. And these “ surfaee” samd rocks include Ho. XII, or “ the conglomerate” and “Millstone Grit” of our geological books: (б) The “ blufi‘ sand” rock which forms the Allegheny river cliffs above and below Parker City. Hitherto considered to be 84 J. PETROLEUM. II. the genuine Xo. XII conglomerate, this rock now seems to represent eitlier the first and second mountain sands, or the second mountain sand alone, of Venango and Warren counties; the far northern outcrop of which is at the Rock Cities” near Clean, and west of Chatauque Lake, in the State of Xew York : (c) The (third) mountain sand, as in Venango county. (d) A first oil sand : (e) A second oil sand ; (/) A third oil sand, to which nearly all the wells of this profile section were 2 :)ut down ; and ^ (g) A fourth oil sand, a hundred feet still lower, struck by eight of the wells of the section, at Retrolia, Karne City and Millerstown; three of these yielding respectively 900,700 and 100 barrels a day. Much must yet he done to settle definitely and exactly the equivalency of the various members of the ^rountain Sand Series, some of which are probably double. But there can be no doubt about the wide out-spread and general regularity of these ; nor that of the four oil sands beneath theni. It must always be re- membered that oil sinkers care nothing about the regularity and extent of sand rocks, except so far as they continue to be coarse and gravelly enough to hold an abundance of oil, and to give it out freely. Their attention is absorbed by the gravel patches, streaks, or belts, vi the sand rock formations. For their pur- j>oses toiler e the gravel ends the sand rock ends. Xot so for the geologist. lie must study the outspread of the sands, their number, order, thickness and distance asunder, whatever be their constitution ; and where they are not gravelly, as carefully as where they are ; where they are merely saturated with an oil which cannot be sucked out by the strongest pumps, as care- fully as where they hold oil which will fiow and spout the mo- ment a vent to the surface is granted to it. The whole theory of the origin and extent of the petroleum deposit depends upon a thorough study of the sands, no matter whether they constitute, in whole or in part, good oil rock or not. II. — Irregularities of tliickness of each sand are evident throughout this section, and throughout all such sections. All oil men are well accpiainted with these irregularities. Their ]). L. l.UCAS SECTION. 85 J. true cause is not yet understood; uor is it yet made very plain how they are coimeeted with alternations of coarseness and fine- ness in the composition of the rock. But certainly one instructive lesson has been learned, namely, that there is no apparent relationship between irregularities of thickness (and coarseness) of one sand, and irregularities of thickness and coarseness of another sand above it or below it. Xo relationship is visible between the irregularities of the oil sand and those of the mountain sands. They grow thick and thin, coarse and fine, each one for itself, and without regard to one another. This must be especially true when the bottom oil sand and the top mountain sand, 1,000 feet vertically apart, are consid- ered. Hence it appears entirely unreasonable to judge of the condition of the third oil sand, as some have professed to do, by observing the coarseness or fineness of the surface sand rocks. The two things liave evidently no connection. III. — Intermediate sand-rocks undoubtedly exist in many lo- calities. These do not appear in Mr. Lucas’ profile, nor usually in other similar sections, and chiefly for tlie reason that oil sinkers neither care for them nor wish to notice them, most wells being sunk on contract ^‘to reach the third sand,” and contractors being satisfied in their own minds, from their own experience or that of their neighbors, at about what depth they are likely, and indeed almost, if not cpiite certain, to strike the three principal sands. IV. — In Clarion and Armstrong (according to Mr. Lucas’ profile) the three oil sands are crowded close together, and the three mountain sands also; while a great interval (300-400 feet) separates the two groups. But in the new Butler region the oil sands lie as far asunder from one another as the first oil sand lies from the third mountain sand. This change in the character of the whole section is best seen in the lowermost representation of the profile section on the plate, because this is drawn to a true scale. The intervals between the sand-rocks are of course occupied by shale formations, in which mud pre- dominates over sand, and no gravel beds occur and no oil is ex- pected to flow. Some of the above propositions will be made more clearly 86 J. PETROLEUM. II. manifest in Article 8 of this report, hy means of a care- fully measured section made some yeare ago along Slippery Kock creek, 25 miles west of the southern end of Mr. Lucas’ line. But the demonstration of some of the most important points will he given in Mr. Carll’s reports of the progress of the survey in the Venango county oil field. The three oil rocks of Mr. Lucas’ profile section pass fiir be- neath such wells as are shown in the Slippery Rock section ; in which, moreover, the mountain sands appear to carry oil. This is again true in the Little Beaver and Ohio river (Smith’s Ferry) oil fields. In Greene county the oil hearing rocks lie many hundred feet above even the mountain sand series, viz : in the Barren Measures, between the lower or Allegheny Coal Series and the upper or Monongahela Coal Series. On the other hand the new Beattie A\^ell at Warren struck, at the end of March, 1875, light oil, fiowing at the rate of several liarrels per day, in a Sand lying at least 600 feet below the Third Sand of Venango. The petroleum of Pennsylvania, therefore, must not he looked upon as confined to the three (or four) oil sands shown in Mr. Lucas’ profile section. It ranges, in various districts, through at least three thousand feet of measures, and is of dif- ferent qualities at different horizons. This is a strong argu- ment against the supposition that it ascended l>y distillation from the deep, and was caught and lield l)y the gravelly por- tions of the sandstone formations. Another strong argument in the same senseis deducihle from the fact that a few hundred feet of shale has, in most cases, eftectually prevented the oil from ascending from the oil sands to collect in the mountain sands, or escape at the surface. It folloAvs, as a matter of course, that one or two thousand feet of similar shale fonviations undcrlyiiuj the oil sands — (See Mr. AVrig- ley’s profile section) — would l)e c([iially potent for ])reventing the ascent of oil from greater de})ths to collect in the oil sands. A third argument finds its basis in the fact that the petro- leum of Canada is wholly difterent from that of Pennsylva.nin. A¥e know that the Canada oil rocks pass underneath Lake Frie, and lie (no doubt with their proper petroleum) at a great de|)th l)eneath the oil sands of the Allegheny river country. The re- D. r.. LUCAS SKCTIOX. 87 J. suits of the Geological Survey in 1875, will enable us to give, with great aecuraey, the additional depth to wliieh our wells would have to he sunk to broach Canada oil. Certainly the depth will be too great to affect our production. But the argu- ment against any supposed connection of our oil with rocks at •that depth will only be strengthened thereby. The gas wells of the Erie shore are, doubtless, furnished by the Canadian oil horizon. The scientiffc geological questions connected with the discus- sion of the 2,000 feet of measures exhibited in Mr. Lucas’ pro- file section must be left for Mr. Card’s reports. Some of these require close work during the ensuing season. But enough is already known to make it safe to state here, that the “ bluff sand rock” of the profile is, probably, the top of the Chemung formation ISTo. YIII ; that the Bed Catskill formation Xo. IX, which forms arches in the gaps at Blairsville and Connellsville, and makes the great red terrace along the Allegheny mountain at Altoona and Tyrone, has thinned away to nothing ; — that the White Catskill Xo. X, above it, is also almost gone ; — that the lowest coal beds are in Xo. XI, the thin-edged representa- tive of the great Red Shale formation which surrounds the anthracite coal basins* ; and that the conglomerate of Xo. XII is here a very subordinate sand-rock, of no great thickness. The variations in this interesting formation, which we have always considered as the base of the productive coal measures, will be illustrated by tbe ^lap and Profile of Slippery Rock creek. It only remains to state, that the Geological Survey is in- debted to the courtesy of Col. J. I). Potts, president of the Em- pire Transportation Company, for the opportunity of publishing Mr. Lucas’ valuable contribution to an'-accurate knowledge of our oil region. Col. Potts has promised to add the gift of an instrumental survey of all the pipe lines of the company when completed. Xo doubt the publication of these materials will incite other citizens of western I^ennsylvania to contribute to- wards the annual report of 1875 equally valuable data. What is now wanted is not theories but facts : local facts ; well au- thenticated facts ; accurately measured facts. It is the business *The subconglomerate Coal Measures of East Kentucky, and of Mont- gomery county, Virginia, belong here. 88 J. PETROLEUM. TI. of tlie survey to study and collate these ; and to extend local- surveys until the whole held is understood. In the end, we will not only he possessed of a correct map of western Pennsylvania, , but of a correct plan of its underground, everywhere. What is given in the report of 1874 will serve for a small sample of’ the kind of work to be done, the mode of doing it, and what • may he expected to come of it. Letter of Col. J. L. Potts. 1129 Girard Street, Philadelphia, ) March 22, 1875. \ To the State Geologist : Dear Sir : — Our company own an extensive system of Pipe • Lines, reaching from the Butler branch of the West Pennsyl- vania railroad, in Butler county, to the neighborhood of Eden- hurg, in Clarion county. The cost of this system has been great, and early in 1874 it became desirable to form some idea as to the probable farther extension thereof becoming requisite through farther and new developments of oil territory. It was also important to frame some probable conjecture as to the permanency of production in the territory which the exist- ing system of our pi}>es traversed. To accomplish these purposes I instructed !Mr. Lucas, the Resident Engineer of our pipe system just described, to make a careful survey which should include a system of surface levels, having reference to mean tide as a datum, and which should also include the results found in drilling wells which were situ- ated nearest to the line of survey. The latter information could, of course, only he obtained from the well owners, or' those who had performed the drilling o|Xjrations. In many cases accurate records of tlie distances drilled through the various strata have not been kept, as such records were not essential to the main object which the well-owner had in view; Init I believe, in the main, tlie information thus obtained can he relied upon. The results of the whole survey were embraced in a con- densed map of the district, and a longitudinal section. The latter, you will notice, has been framed upon an assumed.' air line. This assumption, in cases where the line surveyed. I). L. LUCAS SPXTION. 89 J, varied considerably from an air line, lias led to a slight distor- tion, but not enough to seriously affect the object of the inves- tigation: I might say that we have not, since the survey, made any considerable extension of our pipe system ; and further, that the southern extremity of the survey did not commence at the But- ler branch, but at a point called the O’Connor well, some 3| miles north-east thereof; this well being the most south-west- erly one then producing in the district. Very respectfully yours, JOS. D. POTTS, FresideiiU 90 J. PETROLEUM. III. III. On a Map and Profile of Coal and Oil Measures along Slippery Pock Creek, in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania ; froin a sur- vey, in 1864, hy J. P. Lesley and Leo Lesquereux. Ten years ago the writer was called upon to explain the cause -of the failure of oil operations along the lower reach of Slippery Rock creek, where several wells had been sunk to depths ex- ceeding 700 and 800 feet. It became evident that the only assignable reason for failure was that the wells were not deep enough, and should be sunk to 1,500 feet, more or less, to strike the third sand of the Venango county petroleum measures. This conclusion was confirmed by the facts revealed by the oil sinkings of 1873, in Butler county, as displayed in the profile section of Mr. Lucas ; Article II of this volume. The map and profile of Slippery Rock is now published be- cause it explains certain points in the geology of Western Penn- sylvania, not commonly known ; viz: 1. The relation of the mountain sand rock series to the pro- ductive coal measures above them is well exhibited. 2. The local tliinning away to notliing of No. XII, a massive and sometimes conglomeritic’ sand formation, as large (normally) as the heaviest of the oil sands, affords a visible illustration which may be studied in the open air, and as flagrant an exam- ple as will be likely to occur anywhere underground, of tliose irregularities in tliickness and coarseness wliich characterize all the sand rocks, botli those of tlie oil series and of tlie mountain series, and by which the history of petroleum production has been entirely determined. 3. The issue of petroleum from the base of No. XII, on Slip- pery Rock creek, as in Lastern Kentucky,’^* repeats the argu- ment for the genesis of petroleum in its Jiome rock, at whatever horizon in the series tliat may lie in any given region. *tSoo itjy l)!i|){u- ill I’roceeUings Am('r. IMiilos, Sot'. I’liihvda., Vol. X., j). 30, ■extracted* l)olo\v. SLll’l’ERY ROCK Sl^X'TION. 91 J. 4. The same steady and consistent, but slightly irregnlar, dij) of all the measures to the southward, seen in this section as in the profile of Mr. Lucas, finds here another opportunity for its measurement. The top of the principal (bluff?) sand in well No. 17, at Seceder’s Bridge, lies 160 feet above the datum level of the profile, water level at the junction of Slippery Bock and of Conequeness. The top of the same sand in well No. 1, at Van Gordon’s bridge, lies 100 feet below the same datum level. Distance, 26,000'. Fall, 260'. Rate, V : 100'. Mean rate per mile, 53' ; S. 35° W. The shape of the water-tree of the Slippery Rock and Cone- quenessing basin shows that this (S. 35° W.) is tlie bearing of maximum dip of the underground, considering only the moun- tain sand rocks next below the present surfiice. Slippery Rock creek, in descending from Seceder’s bridge to Van Gordon’s bridge, follows a somewhat tortuous course, which lengthens the air-line of 26,000 to 30,000 feet. The water-fall amounts to 130 feet, which gives a rate of 23' per mile. Taken on the 26,000' air-line, the creek descends at a rate of 26' per mile. The mean dip of the sand-rock is therefore just twice that of the water-fall. Hence, at Seceder’s bridge the bottom of the conglomerate sand-rock (No. XII) ranges along at a height of fifty feet above the bed of the creek ; — in three-quarters of a mile it descends to the bed of the creek ; — for a mile and a quarter further down it is covered by the creek ; — for another mile it keeps just at the level of the creek ; — and for yet another mile it keeps a little above the creek. For four miles the Slippery Rock flows in a small canyon, with vertical walls, composed of the outcrop of No. XII ; and there is thus aftbrded a fine opportunity of studying the variations and irregularities of one of these great^sand-rock formations not to be neglected by oil men. The rock in question, then. No. XII, is at Seceder’s bridge 104 feet thick ; — three-quarters of a mile below the bridge, where its bottom touches water level, 80 feet ; — and three miles below the bridge, only 30 feet. Whether it thins away to nothing, or whether it gets unnoticed below water-level and eludes further study, will be seen hereafter. 92 J. PETROLEUM. III. 5. The next important thing to notice is the appearance of gravel layers in the body of No. XII at Seceder’s bridge. Two of these gravel layers are represented in the profile section: one, at the base of the sand-rock, XII ; the other towards the top of it. They do not exactly underlie each other ; the thin edge of the upper one lapping over the thin edge of the lower one. This illustrates what happens in the oil sands of the oil re- gions to the north-east. It is in such lenticular patches and streaks of gravel, or conglomerate, in the body of the oil sand rocks, that the great accumulations of petroleum are struck by the fiowing and spouting wells. Wherever wells are sunk out- side of the thinned edges of these gravel patches they find the sand-rock too compact, and such wells are sure to be either poor or dry, whether the sand-rock be charged with oil or not. The Slippery Rock, which gave name to this fine stream at the first settlement of the country, is a plate of sandstone lying in place on the east bank, about a mile above Van Gordon’s bridge, where there was a natural exudation of petroleum. An old natural oil spring is marked on the map at three miles above Van Gordon’s bridge, just below the mouth of HellHollow. An old well, 20 feet deep, was here sunk, but the petroleum issues from the base of No. XII, and does not rise through any fissure from the oil sand rocks which underlie the bed of the creek at a depth of 1,000 feet or more. 6. From Gordon’s bridge, down stream, there is a remarkable change in the structure. This change has caused the stream to turn out of its natural course towards tlie west, and, after join- ing the Conequenessing, to flow north of west. Where two streams of size meet full in each otlier’s face, flow- ing in nearly horizontal strata, the geologist may be sure that he will find the bottom of a wide and gentle trough. Roth streams flow down the dip. The dip on the Conecpienessing above its junction with the Slippery Rock must be the reverse of that on the Slippery Rock. In other words, the long gentle descent S. 35° W. of the rocks Avhich we have been describing along the Slippery Rock, and which is exhibited in the section, ceases be- tween Van Gordon’s bridge and Wirtemburg, and gives place to horizontality, or to a gentle rise, which continues up the Cone- quenessing. SLirrEiiY rock; section. To sliow this, nine littlo vertical sections liavo been placed on the map along the banks of tlie two streams. They show a sarid- stono layer, the bottom of which is 10 feet above water, 2,400' below the bridge; 30 feet, 1,400' further; GO feet, GOO' further ; 50 feet, 1,350' further ; 70 feet, 1,300' further ; GG feet, 2,200' further ; and GO feet, 1,900' still further down, where Smaley's run enters the Conequenessing. Taking the fall of water into con- sideration, and the variable thickness of the sandstone layer in question, and confining our attention to the right bank alone, wo may say that the dip in the hill side above water level, rises at Wirtemburg about 40' in a distance of half a mile, in a direction about S. 75'^ W., and then slowly falls westward down the Cone- quenessing. But the variability of the sandstone stratum which gives us this dip is sometimes extraordinary. At Wirtemburg the bottom of the rock is 30 feet above the water on both sides of the stream, but the layer is only G' thick on the right bank, and much thicker on the left. Further down it is thicker on the right bank. At the mouth of the stream the bottom of the rock is 50' above water, right, and only 10' left; but the stratum is, only 4' thick, right, and 30' thick, left. The sand-rock, therefore, at this point, swells from 4 to 30 feet in thickness in about 200 yards. As no material general disturbance of dip is here supposable, these figures show that it is the bottom of tlie sand-rock which swells downwards 40 feet, while the top sinks only 14 feet. Mr. Wrigley expresses his beliof that all variations of thick- ness in the oil sands, or rather in tlie oil gravels, are variations of the bottom plane, and not of the top plane, of the rock. In one sense this is theoretically true, because the extra force of a current depositing gravel should be first exerted in excavating the sand and mud upon which it throws down its gravel. But until a very large number of observed cases be collected it would be unsafe to lay it down as a rule to govern practical oil operations, that the bottom plane of an oil rock is the plane of irregularity. If, however, such a rule be proven, then it will follow that in calculations of dip the well records of the bottom of a rock must not be taken into account, but only the well records of the top. In the case of the rock under consideration it will appear, ])y what is reported of it below, that neither its 94 J. PETROLEUM. III. top surface nor its bottom surface can be assumed as a regular plane, from which to get the grand mean of dip of the under- ground country of the region. Mr. CarlPs underground contour lines of the first and third oil sands of Yenango will illustrate the above remarks, but must be carried out to a greater extent than was possible in 1874 be- fore the question can be fully settled. The Wirtemburg sandstone thickens to 12' half a mile above Smalley’s run, and to 23' at the mouth of Smalley’s run, where the upper 17' of it is gravel and the lower 6' sand. Near the mouth of Conequenessing, on the Beaver river, it is from 60 to 75 feet thick, and well developed into two gravel-sand forma- tions, with a streak of coal between. It has always been recog- nized here as the genuine conglomerate No. XII. In all this distance, from Seceder’s bridge, down the Slippery Kock and down the Conequenessing, to Beaver river, we aro never at a loss in our structure, because the ferriferous (iron ore bearing) limestone crops out on the hill-sides above. We have seen that at Seceder’s bridge this limestone is 6' thick and 215' above the water ; at Van Gordon’s bridge, 3J' and 155' above the water; and on Beaver river, 19' and 227' above the water. Distance 26,000'. Fall 190'. Bate 1': 137'. Mean dip of limestone per mile 38 J' S. 35° W. Tlie bottom of XII is below the limestone at Seceder’s bridge 165'; on Beaver river about 200'; therefore, at Wirtemburg, where the limestone is 155' above the water, XII must either be just under water; or it must be the little sand-rock above de- scribed, 10' above the water, which no doubt it is. Mr. Lesquereux, at my request, made liis own independent observations on the continuity of No. XIl, but with an entirely different object in view, an object to be mentioned directly. He' identified the Beaver-river-outcrop of No. XIl, gradually thin- ning as it was followed up the Conecpienessing, with the great Seceder-bridge-outcrop, gradually thinning as it was followed down the Slippery Bock ; and he came to the conclusion that this important, massive, often conglomeratic and almost univer- sally outspread fornnition — Avell worthy to be regarded as the l)aso of the productive coal measures — actually tliins away and entirely SLIPPERY ROCK SECTION. 95 J. disappears for a distance of five miles along Slippery Rock above- Wirtemburg. As this phenomenon is typical of wliat must take place in other parts of the State, and explains the source of many former geo- logical errors, and as such irregularities and vacancies must also be characteristic of the mountain sands and the oil sands which underlie this sand of No. XII, the folloAving summary of Mr. Les- quereux’s careful observations is here added.* He says: At Homewood station No. XII is exposed along the river, with a thickness of 160', resting on No. XI soft black shales, with a layer of ball ore (clay-iron-stone) and thin layers of coal. At Homewood furnace and the mouth of Conequenessing, XII is 110' thick, on XI shales and ore. At the mouth of Smalley, six miles up Conequenessing, XII over XI, are together 60' thick. At the mouth of Slippery Rock XII is 40' thick, only 6' or 8' of XI being visible above water. Ascending Slippery Rock, rapid irregularities are noticable, the massive XII turning into one or two layers of shaley sandstone, disappearing and appearing again. It is last seen just below the lower mill at Wirtemburg, as a six foot stratum of grit, overlying 6' or 8' of black shales and ore. Here “ it definitely loses itself in a thin bed of soft shaly sand- stone, wedging into the top of that clay iron ore which in the section is marked as under the bed of coal.” These strata (XI) continue along the creek, above Wirtemburg, at the same hori- zon and with the same character, but without any trace of sand- stone (XII) for six miles above. Then XII re-appears in the same manner and at the same geological horizon (l e. lying upon XI) as it was seen to disappear at Wirtemburg. It rapidly in- creases in thickness, and at Seceder’s bridge (three miles further up) XII is already 110' thick, lying on 49' of XI. Mr. Lesquereux made one of his most important fossil dis- coveries in tracing this outcrop. To explain this the following ■ section of the Wirtemburg hillside, as he gives it, must be care- fully studied. The Wirtemburger Section. Capping the hills are fragmentary patches of a once extensive coal measure rock, (Freeport S. S.,)a hard, gritty, micacious sand- * See his memoir “ On Fucoides in the Coal Formations,” with a plate, read before the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, May 18, 186G, and published at p. 313, of Vol. XIII, of the Transactions. 96 J. PETKOLEUM. III. stone, generally gravelly in its upper layers.* Its lower layer, somewhat shaly, is marked by abundant fucoid (seaweed) for no trace of the plant itself has been left. The prints are moulds left by the decay of marine Algm, resembling HaiPs large Palceopliycus tuhularis\ whose place has been filled by a softer whitish sand. Accordingly the original form of the plants are pretty distinctly printed on the stone. The moulds are gene- rally placed horizontally on the stones, but sometimes penetrate obliquely or even vertically. Omitting for the present a descrip- tion of these fucoids, the next formation, descending the hill- sides, consists of shales in great force, including streaks of coal, and thin beds of stigmaria fire-clay and shaly sandstone. The whole mass is about 175' thick, of which 150' are shales; soft, slightly micaceous and spotted black by oxide of iron, containing in places a quantity of branching, cylindrical fucoids, mostly re- sembling HalPs small palceophjcus tuhularis.X In some places the seams of coal become workable beds, 3 and 4 feet thick^ as shown in the profile section. Limestone 3 feet thick, hard and black, underlies the shales. It shows no remains of plants. It rests, like a coal bed, on Fire-clay, 2 feet thick. This rests on Sandstone, 5 feet thick, sometimes passing into a hard mix- ture of coarse fire-clay and leaves and stems of stigmaria. In fact the whole seven feet of rock beneath the limestone may be considered as a thick bed of fire-clay, the top part nicer than the rest. Under it come Shales, 15 feet thick, soft, grayish, without a trace of fossil plants. Under this lies another and remarkable Limestone, 1 foot thick at Wirtemburg, and then Coal, 5" to 1' thick, bituminous, hard, laminated, sometimes bony or shaly. Then ' Black shale, 5 to 8 feet thick, soft, easily disintegrated, inter- mixed with small oval pebbles or balls of carbonate iron ore, and the top of the shale sometimes becoming a layer of clay iron stone balls. This is at low water level at Wirtemburg. The lower limestone, coal and black shale continue in view for five miles above Wirtemburg, along the creek, wherever erosion *See profile section l)etween wells No. 2 and No. 3. t Hall’s Pala>on. New York, I. p. 7, pi. 2, fij^s. 1 and 2. 4;Pal3eon., New York, I. p. 7, pi. 2, figs. 1, 2, 4, 5. SLIPPKRY ROCK SKCTION. 07 J. •'Exposes the rocks ; and the limestone never exceeds 18", and always exhibits a certain kind of fossil plant, now to be de- scribed, named by Mr. Lesquereux, on this discovery at Wirtem- burg, in 1865, caulerpites margiiiatus. The bottom of the litoestone is the base of the carboniferous .system proper. The top of the black shale is the top of the .subcarboniferous system proper. Between the limestone, with its caulerpites marginatus, and the black shale, with its pebbles of iron ore and thin coal, ought to come in the ‘^great conglomerate" No. XII. But it is here wholly absent — evidently was never deposited ; although it is •over 100 feet thick only three miles up the creek and 150 feet thick ten miles down the stream. Water plants of the family of the Algee or fucoids, or sea- weeds, are remarkably scarce in the coal measures. In 1836, Thompson could mention only one species, at the end of a cata- logue of 39 genera and 290 species fossil plants of the coal mea- sures. From 1836 to 1865, no fossil botanist had added a single carboniferous fucoid to the list. Some doubtful forms were pub- lished by Mr. Lesquereux, in Silliman’s Journal, Vol. 32, p. 194, and Professor Stevenson and Mr. White have recently found spirophyton or cock's tail forms high up in the coal measures. In 1865, however, Mr. Lesquereux found large numbers of them 'On the underside of the Wirtemburg lower limestone. He says : They were found attached or flattened on the lower surface • of a thin stratum of limestone immediately overlaying a bed of coal 6' to 18' thick. The fucoides, for they belong evidently to a kind of marine plants, have thus grown, either as a part of the materials of which the coal is a compound, or immediately over them. For they appear to derive the black color, which seem- ingly paints them on the limestone, rather from the coal than from their own substance. When detached blocks of the lime- stone have fallen into the creek, and, washed for a time, have been cleared of the coal which adheres to the lower surface, the matter becomes bleached, and the remains of the fucoides appear in slightly depressed and dark distinct outlines. But when the coal which adheres to the limestone, as if it were strongly glued to it, is removed by mechanical force, the stone preserves its 7— J. 98 J. PETROLEUM. III. black color, and the remains of these plants are scarcely dis^ cernible. ' The limestone on the line of contact with the coal, and for two or three inches above it, is somewhat shaly, though of a piece and homogeneous, its thickness varying from 12 to 18 inches. It is a kind of “black-band’^ (iron ore) containing iron and sulphur in large proportions, and essentially composed of hroken remains of innumerohle marine shells. The fucoides, which occupy only a few inches of the lower and shaly part of this lime- stone, are mixed with the remains of shells, and often perforated and lacerated hy them. “ Though hard, compact and in banks generally continuous, the- limestone layer breaks into large cuboidal pieces. Caulerpites marginatus (new species) is the name of these fucoidal remains. Their form, however variable, may be com- pared to that of a lyre or harp. * * * * The fronds vary in length from two inches to one foot, are half as long as broad,, and surrounded by an apparently fleshy or tubular margin from J to b iiich broad. Strongly arched ribs, apparently produced by alternate inflation and thinning of substance, pass from the in- ner side of the vein to the other border, filling the whole lamina. * * * * They are not true nerves, for they do not branch or connect with each other. They abruptly vary, an appearance likely caused by the compression of a body some- what inflated like a bladder.” Mr. Lesquereux remarks, after a full description (with plates) on the resemblance of these plants to the Avell known and far older Fucoides Cauda-galli, (Cock’s tail sea-weed,) discovered by Yanuxem in 1835, in the lowest Devonian formation of Ncav York, (splendid specimens of which maybe seen on tlie limestone rocks at Tyrone City,) called afterward by Mr. James Hall Spu^o- phyton, (Corkscrew plant.) Mr. Lesquereux, after discussing Mr. Hall’s ideas of the struc- ture of the plant, remarks its apparent resemblance to Tha- Icwsiophyllmn clathrus,{\iii^\cQ Sea-leaf,) growing on the shores of llussian America; but considers it quite a different sort of plants not at all bushy, and altogether more simple. He therefore finds a place for it in the living group of green-seed sea- weeds, called Caulerpce ; Avhich he describes as having a horny, membranous SLIITERY ROCK SECTION. 99 J. Piibstance, destitute of calcareous matter, without cells, and strengthened inside with a spongy network of filaments, filled with a sort of slime. The stalks printe'd on the Wiiftemburg limestone are shining and polished, and the whole plant was fos- silized as a flattened flexible bag. Ih'ogniart describes a Fucoides serra^ from the extremely old limestone rocks of Point Levy, (Quebec,) which must have had a similar growth, but a difi*erent shape. These Caulerpites marginatus of the lower Wirtemburg lime- stone differ entirely from Hall’s Paloeopliycus (ancient sea-weed) tubularis, both the small variety, so plentiful in the shales high up the Wirtemburg hill side, and the large variety in the sand- stone at the very top of the hills, described a few pages back. The latter (large variety) are somewhat thicker than those of the shales (small variety,) varying in thickness from one-half to one inch ; either simple, like flexuous pipes ; or irregularly forking on one side only ; or divided from a central axis, and sending branches in every direction. It is observable that although the shales of this Wirtemburg section are mostly soft, grayish, apparently well fitted for the preservation of coal plants, there is not, in the whole 165 feet,, any trace of ferns, or of any of the species of land plants gener- ally and commonly found in the coal measures. At one place only, just below the mill one mile below Wirtemburg, a shaly sandstone, seen parting the two benches of the coal bed at. the base of the section, bears prints of the bark of Calamites, (reed,) Lepidodendron, (scale-tree,) and Sigillaria, (seal-marked tree.) The Caulerpites limestone forms the roof of this coal bed. So the Archimedes fossil-bearing limestones (upper bed and sometimes next lower bed) rest on shaly sands, marked with large coal plants and holding thin layers of coal, in Kentucky, Illinois and Arkansas. These Archimedes limestones are 5wZ>-car- boniferous formations, corresponding to our No. XI and No. X. The pciLceophycus tubularis covering the soft shales of the Wirtemburg hill-sides and printed on the upper conglomerate sandstone on the hill-tops, are also like those to be seen in Chemung (?) rocks (No. YIII,) along Oil Creek, in Venango county, Pa., and in Waverly sandstone. No. X, in Ohio, and seem to be identical species. 100 J. PETROLEUM. III. Judging by all this, Mr. Lesquereux’s first impression natu- rally was that all the rocks of our profile section from the bed of the creek to the tops of the hills belonged to the subcarbon- iferous system, and the conglomerate sand-rock capping the hills looked like No. XII, the base of the productive coal measures or carboniferous system proper. This conclusion being utterly in- admissible, and shown to be so in the locality itself by his per- sonal tracing of the real No. XII, as above described, from Homewood station to Wirtemburg and Seceder’s bridge, there resulted the following important conclusions : 1. The Slippery Rock section exhibits 300 feet of the lower productive coal measures, in a large degree destitute of carbon- iferous land plants ; but, on the other hand, largely charged Avith sea-plants belonging to an older (subcarboniferous) age. 2. The sea plants of this kind began to live as early as the loAver Silurian age, (Calciferous No. II,) and represent the primordial types of the vegetable Avorld. They continued to flourish through the upper Silurian age, (Clinton, No. V,) as Fucoides antlq^ius, [Buthopteris antiquata, gracilis, pahnata, im- pudica and ramosa of Hall.) They Avere especially abundant in the Devonian age, (Chemung and Waverly, No. YIII and X.) They continued to groAv as palccophjcus tuhulosus in the lower true coal measure age, (Allegheny R. Coal System.) And they reappear as Fucoides Targioni (Brogt) in the Chalk age of Eu- rope. The other type of fossil sea plants discovered by Mr. Lesque- reux, at the base of our section, viz : Caulcrpitcs marginatus, is represented throughout the Avliole extent of the Devonian rocks. At least it seems identical Avith the fucoides cauda-galli, of the Corniferous, (Upper Helderburg, bottom of VIII,) and similar forms in the Chemung (top of VIII) and in the Waverly (X.) It is especially abundant in S. E. Kentucky, about 50 feet beloAv the base of the millstone grit (Conglomerate No. XII.) There may have been different species, but certainly most of the marine Algm had a largo vertical time-range througli the Paheozoic for- mations. 3. Consequently they cannot housed as geological guides. We knoAv nothing about their internal structure, ddiey AA^ero cellular masses, easily rotted, rapidly losing sha[)e Avhen dead, and leaving SLIPPERY ROCK SECTION. 101 J. on tlie ancient shore-sand mere moulds or indistinct impressions. They cover, by millions, the Chemung rocks (Oil system,) and have a thousand shapes whicli seem, at first, to be easily classi- fied into species and genera; but the task is fruitless ; form gradu- ates into form, and no specific marks can be detected. Whole fields of this ancient marine vegetation appear like a grass-plot, each blade of which has some peculiar feature, but none marked ‘ enough to make it positively distinct. Either there are as many species as individuals, or all belong to one species, represented by a great number of closely allied varieties. They cannot be used as geological guides. It is entirely different with the land plants of the coal ages, whose woody tissue was well fossilized, the leaves retaining their specific outline and nerve structure, and trunks, branches, leaves and fruit all offering themselves for study to the botanist. Hence Mr. Lesquereux’s life-long labor to classify the coal plants in re- lation to the coal beds, so that the geologist might find in the special vegetation of each bed a key to its identification all over a coal basin. Sea-plants have always lived in an element less subject to variations of heat and cold than land plants exposed to shifting north and south, sea and land winds. Hence sea-weed forms have remained more constant from the earliest ages; whereas the air breathing coal plants were subject to violent extremes froip age to age, as the continent was alternately submerged to re- ceive sand- gravel deposits, and exposed again to sustain a forest. Changes of species and genus must have followed the covering- up of every principal coal bed. Sometimes the new land was sand, and sometimes mud ; there- fore, sometimes the soil was warm and sometimes cold ; sometimes calcereous and fertile, sometimes barren. All such changes would change the vegetation ; and hence the different qualities of coal beds. Migrations of plants must have occurred, as various localities were submerged and others were laid dry. No one species needs have perished entirely ; but the groupings of the species must have varied frequently^ and hence one coal bed in a region should be characterized by a certain botanical aspect^ produced by the predominance of one or more species of plants over the rest at that time and over that area. 102 J. PETROLEUM. III. 4. As coal beds are now acknowledged by all men of science to bo fossilized fields of ancient air-breathing vegetation, consisting of trees, reeds, ferns and mosses; and as there seems much good reason to believe that cannel coal beds (from which petroleum can be distilled) differ from them chiefly in this, that the vegetable mass was not fibrous, but cellular ; that is, were not air-breathing, but water plants ; so there is a strong disposi- tion among geologists to explain the origin of fluid petroleum, held by oil sands and oil shales, by a reference to the proofs we have of an extraordinary submarine vegetation in the Devonian age. •There is no doubt,” says Mr. Lesquereux, ^dhat the marine vegetation of the Palaeozoic ages can be compared for luxu- riance, and in some measure for its composition also, to the ter- restrial vegetation of the coal epoch. From the upper Devonian down to the lower Silurian, some strata of shales are not only covered, but indeed filled, sometimes for hundreds of feet in thickness, with fossilized forms of water-plants (Hydrophytes.) These evidences of a primordial vegetable world are far more numerous than the remains of land plants in the shales of the coal measures. Nevertheless, they appear to belong to plants of a soft tissue, mere cellular, probably mostly uncellular vege- tables, the debris of which had not by mucli the same chances of fossilization.* *Mr. Lesquereux ascribes this luxuriance to the “acknowledged” surplus of carbonic acid in the air and water of the early geological ages. I, for one, am not willing to acknowledge this assumption. Peat lx)gs are now as deep and probably as quick growing as any of the coal beds. Why are not the thickest coal measures those of the oldest age ? Why was there an immensely long non coal bed producing age between the Juniata (Hamilton) coal measures, and the Appalachian (carboniferous) coal measures? Why are there no Silurian coal measures? Is not the marine vegetation now as luxuriant as that of any previous age? Do not the hydro7X)a require as mucli carbon as the hydrophyta? and are they not as abundant now as ever ? If an excess of carbonic acid occurred in the coal ora, where did tlie excess come from? If from the nebulous envelope of the earth, why did its etlocts not show earlier ? If from volcanic exhalations, why do wo find that the coal era was one of remarkable freedom from structural disturbance of the earth crust? Those and such like questions make the whole carbonic acid gas theory extremely questionable. Quantity of coal can bo just as easily explained by reference to immensely long ages of unusual quietness and steadiness of the relative level of land and sea, with the ordinary amount of moisture and heat in the atmosphere. Tiino to collect and fix a modorato (juantity of carbonic acid is as good as having an extra quantity of carbonic acid. SLIPPERY ROCK SECTION. 103 J. ^‘We have no proofs from fossil remains that tlio Hydrophytes (((water plants) of old attained a very large size. The largest circiihir fronds of Fucoides cauda-galli show a diameter of about •one foot ; the greatest depth of the branching Fucoides in the €hemung is from two to three feet. But we cannot judge all the vegetable representatives of an epoch from a few fossilized specimens. These may have belonged to a species of a more compact organization, or to some kind of Coralines, which had their surface covered with a hard crust of lime, while other groups of a soft, mere cellular tissue, which had representatives •of a large size, have been totally decomposed and destroyed. There is no need, however, of this hypothesis, on the size of the Palaeozoic Algae, to argue by comparison on the fecundity of the marine vegetation of old. Small species of Hydrophytes in our time afford sufficient analogies. The great bank of Sargassurrij which extends between the 20th and 45th parallel of latitude, covers, according to Humboldt^s computation, a space of more than 260,000 square miles. In places this floating bank is so thick as to arrest the progress of vessels, and it appears at present to be of the same extent and to occupy the same place as when it was first noticed by navigators. What can we then infer to have been the result of a vegetation whose force was at least double of what it is now, and which has written its his- tory in whole strata of great thickness ? ^‘It cannot be presumed that this whole vegetable world of Palasozoic seas has left nothing after it but useless petrified re- mains.’^ The inference is natural that as the land plants pro- duced our coal beds, the sea plants produced our petroleum. The function of both was the same, to fix and store up the car- bon of the air for futurity, and their different constitution enabled Them to do it, one in tlie air, the other in the sea. Chemistry teaches little about this subject in a direct way.^* But we may get an indication from the natural chemistry of life. ^‘Algoe, especially the group of the Caulerpce, feed some of the animals of the seas remarkable for the size and the prodigious fatness of their bodies. Harvey suggests that the green fat of *Liebig wrote to Lesquereux that there were, unhappily, no analyses of species of Fucus, or of other Hydrophytes, which could bo used as affording support to his views, but that his arguments were so conclusive that they liad removed any doubt in his (Liebig’s) mind of the truth of the theory. 104 J. PETROLEUM. III. the turtle, so highly prized by epicures, may be colored by the- unctuous green juice of the Caulerpa3 on which they feed. It is quite possible that the color of the Devonian petroleum, which is exactly that of the Chlorosperm Hydrophytes, may be ex- plained in the same manner. Whales are not certainly known to- feed on Algte, but their stomachs are always found filled with them.’’ This leads to another consideration. There is a remarkable analogy between the gelatinous sea animals and the gelatinous water plants. Whales are known to be habitual feeders on squids, or cuttle fish, some of which are small and others of im- mense size, and on all the families of the great world of jelly fish. Many who doubt that petroleum is the decomposed and re- composed hydro- carbon organism of the seaweed world, are strongly inclined to assert that it is the decomposed and recom- posed hydro-carbon organism of the world of coral and jelly fish life. Geologists have noticed that the casts of corals in the New York and Upper Canada rocks, underlying our Pennsylvania oil formations, are often filled with the Canadian kind of petroleum. The corniferous limestone, full of fossil animal forms, is roundly asserted by many to be the home of the Canada oil ; and some go so far as to assign to it the source of the Pennsylvania oils,, by an ascending distillation. The arguments against this view have already been given. But it shows how deeply rooted in. the minds of all who know most about the wdiole subject, is the conviction that petroleum is nothing but the fossil product of the soft sea animals and sea vegetables ; no doubt of both. But the older and deeper (Canadian and Middle Kentucky) oils are- more animal, and the upper (Pennsylvania) oils are more vege- table. To give this statement all the breadth it deserves would re- quire a small volume. Mr. Lesquereux has resumed it in a few admirably written paragraphs at the close of his memoir, wdiich leave little to be said. He heads the statement thus: Geological and Geographical Disirihution of Petroleum Deposits ami Fucoidal Jicmmns. ‘^Oil bearing strata are seen in the coal measures mostly in- ferior to the big bed of coal, No. 1, which is often a cannel coal SJ.ll’I’EIiV liOCK HECTION. ior> J. and sometimes also, but rarely, at a higher horizon, as, for exam- ])le, below coal No. 8, and also No. 12*, generally in more or less evident connection with cannel coal. Tliis has probably led to the opinion, still admitted by some geologists, that all the deposits of petroleum owe their origin to a slow decomposition of coal under some peculiar influences. As there has not heretofore been observed any indications that remains of marine plants might have existed at some places, mixed with aerial plants of the bogs of the coal epoch, it was not easy to account for such a phenomenon as that of the formation of coal and petro- leum at the same horizon and under the same circumstances. But this curious fact, I think, is explicable now. When the combustible matter has been formed especially from the remains of aerial plants, whose tissue was mostly vascular, or vascular and cellular, like that of the Lepidodendron^ Slgillaria, ferns,, etc., it becomes by mineralization a hard coal, with thin layers or distinct laminas, sometimes shining, sometimes mixed with opaque layers and flakes of charcoal, and giving, Ijy combustion,, a proportion of ashes according to the nature of the wood. When it has been formed merely by floating fresh-water vege- tables, like Stigmarla and its leaves, the compound, originally half fluid and more easily decom}K)sed, becomes, by the slow process of combustion, compact, homogeneous, without apparent layers, tending to mere bitumen, thus forming the different va- rieties of cannel coal. Now, I believe that when this floating vegetation has been more or less densely intermixed with ma- rine plants, and ]^>erhaps also influenced by marine water, the almost total absence of woody fibres has casually prevented the bedding of the material, and so, by slow maceration, part of it has been transformed into fluid bitumen. It is probably for this reason that we sometimes see, as at Breckenridge, in Ken- tucky, a bed of cannel coal so nearly decomposed into jxitroleum that it can scarcely be used as coal, and at 4 lower level, even in close proximity, and where every trace of coal has disap}Xiared,, inferior strata of sandstone, strongly impregnated ivith j)etro- leum. * These are the numbers adopted by the Kentucky Geologists. The Penn- sylvania coal beds were lettered, not numbered. But in both cases coal bed A, and coal bed NO. 1, means the lowest bed of the Productive Coal Mea- sures. 106 J. PETROLEUM. III. “In descending from the base of the coal measures into the Devonian, we find deposits of oil nearly in the whole thickness of this formation, with the exception of the Old Red sandstone, equivalent of the Ponent* and part of the Vespertine of Penn- sylvania. All the plants of this formation, and they are numerous enough, belong to swamp or land plants, and no trace of petro- leum has been seen in these measures. But down from this red sandstone, the Chemung is full of remains of Fucoides, and where they are found, all the sandstone strata of this formation are more or less impregnated with oil. “ Still lower the black shales of the Hamilton group aie so much charged with bitumen, that they have often been considered as the true source of the Devonian petroleum. There the re- mains are nearly, almost totally, obliterated. A few teeth of fishes and small shells, very rarely large trunks of Lepidodendron, nothing more, at least in those extensive deposits, generally of great thickness, which border our western coal basins. The color of these shales, and the bitumen which they contain, indicate a formation under water, under the influence of a powerful vege- tation ; and a marine vegetation, without doubt ; else, besides the well-preserved trunks of Lepidodendy'on^ which have probably been brought floating, we should find there other remains of aerial plants. At Worthington, in Ohio, where I have spent much time in searching for fossil remains in these black shales, T have seen them often covered with round spots of coaly matter, varying in diameter from half an inch to one foot, showiug no trace of organ- ism, and resembling some kind of round, hard Ulvacea', like those which are seen in great quantih' attached to the muddy shores in shallow water, f *Ponent. H. I). Rogers’ name for No. IX, whioh is several thousand feet thick in Rastern Pennsylvania, but thinsto nothing under Western Pennsyl- vania. Vespertine is No. X, also one or two thousand feet thick at the Rust, but represented only by some thin layers of sand and shale in the West. These two formations make the Second Mountain at Mauch Chunk and Pottsville; the upper half of the Ikick Bone Allegheny Mountain; most of the Catskill Mountain on the Hudson; A'c. The Chemung, Portage and Hamilton, No. VIII, make the Valley of Williamsport, Lock Haven, Altoona, J. 112. INDEX. PAGE. Percentage of refined from crude 67 Perfect distillation of crude oil 66 Pennsylvania Transportation company 57 Petroleum Centre 27 Petroleum as fuel 73 Petroleum, not a simple fluid 65 Petroleum and artesian wells in China 12 Petrolia, liambton county, Canada 16 Peculiarities of the West Virginia oil region ' 17 Pipe Line transportation 56 Pit-hole 26 Pleasantville 23 Process of refining 66 Properties of refined petroleum 65 Pumps for pipe lines 59 Pumping 55 Raymilton, Venango county, Pa ’ 38 Rangoon district ' 11 Residuum in lubricating oils 72 Refining 64 Reno 30 Red Hot 25 Relief Pipe company 58 Relative spaces occupied by equal weights of coal and petroleum 74 Regulating drilling, the possibility 77 Refining capacity of United States 70 Ready tests for the consumer 69 Relative heating powers of petroleum and coal 73 Record of well at Volcano, West Virginia 18 Record of oil sands, lower oil fields 33 Record of Fredonia gas well 44 Record of well at Shamburg 24 Relative composition of crude and refined petroleum 65 Record of a Canada well .Vv 16 Report of B. S. Lyman, on the Punjaub district 12 Rouseville - 28 Rochester and Oleopolis Pipe company. 58 Rock City, Allegheny county, N. Y., conglomerate 39 Russian petroleum, Caucasus.. 13 Sage Run 39-30 Sand-pump reel 51 Sampson post and walking beam 52 Safety of oil increased by age 71 Sand Hill, West Virginia * 17 Sand-rocks at Watson’s deep well 44 Scrub-Grass 31 Scientific opinions and early theories 6 Shamburg 24 Sliaft at Tideoute 20 Sugar crook 37-39 vSimple device for burning petroleum 74 Silver and copi>or among the Indians, how obtained 3 INDEX. J. 113. I'AOK. Slippery Rock creek 34 Statistics of petroleum 47 Smith’s Ferry, Ohio 37 Special tools 55 Stand Off City 29 Stewart’s run 36 Surface oil in first sands 45 Surface oil, how formerly obtained 2 .Summary observations ‘ 76 . Summary of the main points for the protection of the public from dan- gerous oils 70 Suggestions concerning the protection of the public from dangerous oils 69 Tax paid by petroleum to the United States 78 Tarentum.. 35-4 Tideoute 19 Table of production— price and export from the commencement 47 Titusville Pipe company 57 Titusville 22 Thorn creek, Butler county. Pa 37 Third sand, from Enterprise to Titusville 45 Total production to date 7 47 Total value of export 78 Troy township, Crawford county. . 38 Triumph City 1 ..W'.T.. 20 The Canada oil region f.. '. 16 The casing 52 The difference in the extent of the upper and lower sand-rocks 42 The Drake well .7 . .7 22-38 'The discovery of salt 4 The driving pipe 52 The economics of petroleum 47 The Economy tract, at Tideoute 20 The eastern and western belts at Millerstown 33 The fourth sand, cross-belt 8 The first pipe line 56 The fall or dip of the sand-rock 45 The first flowing well 5 The first lease for oil purposes . ^ 4 The first refining of petroleum 4 The first wells of Tideoute 19 The future of oil production 77 The four main products of the still 67 The geological situation of the third or oil bearing sand 42 The Indians of western Pennsylvania..'.! 2 The lowest third sand of the oil region 45 The life of a well 48 The lower oil fields 32 The maximum depth of wells not yet attained 78 The Phillips and Empire wells 5 The general outline of the Pennsylvania oil region 17 8-J J. 114. INDEX. PAGE, The range producing heavy oil 77 The relative advance of the Pennsylvania drillers in the art 50 The relative weights of oils of different fire-tests. 69 The rig : 51 The section, diagramatic 43 The strata underlying western Pennsylvania 41 The use of direct trails as means of communication by Indians and early white settlers 3 The uses of petroleum 71 The Watson and Parker fiats. 22 The well ^ rr. . .v^. .» 52 Union Pipe company 58 United Pipe lines _. 58 Use of dry steam in petroleum as fuel.’.T 74 Use of benzine as fuel 74 Utica, French creek. Pa 35 "Value of the total export 48 Varying gravity of crudes • 71 Valves and sucker rods ^ 56 Volcano, West Virginia ^ .^ 17 Water packer 53 Walnut Bend ■. 30 Walled oil pits 1 Water shed of the oil country 15 - “Water logging” of the sand-rock 9 West Pit-hole 4 23 West Hickory 20 West Virginia and Ohio oil region 17 Wells at Tideoute in first sand 45 West Hickory heavy oil 37 White Oaks, West Virginia 39-17 What we are searching for 42 Wilcox, Elk county. Pa 37 "Yield of crude from bituminous shales 72 INDEX TO ARTICLE 11. MAP AND SECTION OP PIPE LINE BY D. JONES LUCAS. Page. Allegheny river 79, bluffs 83, coal system 86 Altoona ; : 87 Angell (G. D. ) well 80 Armstrong county 85 Asa Say well 80 Ballat & Lee well 8L Barren coal measure petroleum 86 Bear creek, Butler county 79, 81 Beattie well at Warren 86 Bennett (Edward) well 81,82 Blairsville Old Red sandstone 87 Bluff sand-rock on Allegheny river 83, 87 Borough well, Butler county 80 Brown No. 1 well 81, 82 Brady’s Bend synclinal 82 Buffalo creek, Butler county 79 Butler fourth oil-sand 80; oil region 85 Canada petroleum 86 Carll’s calculations of dip 81 ; reports of 1874 86, 87 Catskill Old Red sandstone formation 87 Chautauque Lake conglomerate 84 Chemung formation 87 Clarion oil district 81 ; highland 85, 86 Conglomerate No. XII 83, 87 Connellsville Old Red 87 Crage Farm well 87 Depth of Canada oil beneath Pennsylvania 87 Dip of oil rocks in Western Pennsylvania 82 Diviner well, Butler county 80 Donelly No. 6 well 82 Dry Hole well, Butler county 80 Edenburg 79,88 Empire Transportation Company 87 Erie gas wells 87 First oil-sand 84 Fourth oil-sand of Butler county 80 Foxbury 79 Gas wells of Erie 87 Gravel layers 83; gravel and oil 84 Greene county petroleum 86 Harrington well 79 (115 J.) 116 J. INDEX. rAGE.. Hillside well 80' Intermediate sands Intervals between sands 85^ Irregularity of sand-rocks 84 Isabella well 81 Karne’s City 79, 84 ; well at Parker 70 Kentucky subconglomerate coal measures 87 Lake Erie underlaid by Canada oil 86 Lightfoot well 79, 80 Little Beaver river petroleum 86 Local perturbation of dip at Bear creek 82: Lower or Allegheny coal system 86 Lucas’ section along pipe line 88’ ^[artina 70 Martinsburg 70 M’Desmit well 80 Mahoning 81 Mean of observations to be trusted 83 Millerstown 79, 80, 84 Millstone grit. Conglomerate, No. XII 8S Monongahela Upper coal measures 86: Montgomery county, Va., subconglomerate coal measures 87 Mountain sand series 84 Nesbitwell 80 New York State conglomerate 84 No. VIII, Chemung formation 87 No. IX, Catskill old red sandstone 87 No. X, Catskill, white sandstone, Berea 87 No. XII, Conglomerate 83, 84, 87 O’Connor well 80, 81, 89 Ohio river petroleum 86 Oil-belt trend 79 Oil excitement of 1873 79 Oil Creek synclinal 81 Oil sand system 84 Olean in New York, conglomerate 84 Parker City 79, 83 ; Karne well, 79 Parson No. 6 well at Bear creek 82, 83 Petersburg 79 Petrolea 79, 82, 84 Petroleum of Pennsylvania 86 Pipe line 87,88 Potts (Col. J. I).) 87; letter 88 Rate of descent or dip in third sjind 81 Rate of descent or dip in fourth sand 80 Rate of dip for tlie whole country 81, 82 Range of petroleum, vertically 86 Recent oil production 79 Red Bank creek anticlinal 81 Relationship of oil to surface rocks 85 Reliability of well records 83 Rock City conglomerate, second mountain-sand 84 INDEX. 117 J. rAOK. Sands, seven in nunibcr 8‘i Second mountain-sand ! 84 Second oil-siind 84 Shales stop the ascent of oil SG Slippery Rock creek section 8G Smith’s ferry, Ohio river, petroleum 86 Strike of country 82 Subconglomerate coal 87 Surface-sand rock 86 Terrace on Allegheny mountain 87 Third oil-sand 83, 84, 86 Third mountain-sand 84 Turkey City 79 Tyrone 87 Upper coal system (Monongahela) 86 Venango county oil field 84, 86 Warren oil. . . r 84, 86 West Pennsylvania railway.'.' 88 Wrigley’s report 86 I^f DEX TO ARTICLE III. REPORT OF SLIPPERY ROCK CREEK. PAGE Algfe Altoona Appalachian coal field. 102 Archimedes limestone in the west 99 Arkansas, No. XI, coal 99 Beaver river Conglomerate No. XII *. 94 Bitumen in limestone 107 Blackband iron ore -with shells 9S Black slates of No. VIII, Hamilton 106 Breckenridge cannel and oil 105> Brogniart’s Canada fucoides 107 Buthopteris (Hall) 100 Calamites in coal measures 99 Calciferous SS, No. II, seaweeds 100 Canada oil differs from Pennsylvania oil 104 Cannel coal and Petroleum 105 Carbonate of iron ore 96 Carbonic acid in excess in atmosphere / 102 CarlPs report of 1874 94 Cauda-galli seaweed 97, 98 Caulerpites marginatus ( Lesq. ) 97, 98, 99, 100 Caulerpites limestone 99 Caulerpae family described 98 Caulerpse, food of turtles, Ac 106, 104 Cellular tissue of petroleum plants 102 Chalk of England and seaweeds 100 Chemistry of petroleum 103 Chemung formation on Oil creek 99 Chemung, No. VIII, full of seaweeds 100, 106 Chlorosperm hydrophytes 104 Clinton formation. No. V, seaweeds 100 Coalbed of No. XI, under Conglomerate 05 Cock’s tail fucoid 97, 98 Conequenessing creek.. 01 Coral petroleum in New York 104 Coralines 103 Corkscrew plant (Spiropliyton) - 98 Corniferous formation. No. VIII. lOO DesmidiaceJB produce oil 107 Devonian fucoides 98, 100 ; petroleum. ..... 106 Diatomacea3 produce oil 107 (119 J.) 120 J. INDEX. rAGK. Dip of sand rocks irregular 91 Distribution of oil geological and geographical 104 ‘ Excess of carbonic acid in atmosphere 102 Ferns, absent from Wirtemburg shales 99 Ferriferous Limestone outcrop 94 Fire-clay 96 Fish teeth 106 Fossil plants, 95 Freeport Sandstone on hill tops 95 Fucoids serra 99 ; antiquus, Targioni 100 Fucoides cauda-gilli 103 Fucoides scarce in coal measures. ; 96, 97 Fucoides and shells mixed 98 Fucoides and petroleum 104 Gasp4 fucoides 107 Genesis of petroleum 90, 101 Geographical distril^ition of petroleum 104 Geological distribution of petroleum 104 Gravel layers in sand rocks 92 Groupings of fossil plant species 101 Hall (James) 96; fucoides 98 Hamilton black slate. No. VIII )106 Harvey 103 Helderburg (Upper) 100; limestone 107 Hell Hollow 92 Homewood station and furnace, Beaver 95 Humboldt on the Sargasso seaweed 103 Hydrocarbons (petroleums) 104 Hydrophytes (water plants) 102,103 Illinois, No. XI, coal 09 Irregular dip 01 Iron ore of No. XI 05 Jelly fish petroleum 104 Juniata coal measures in VIII 102, 106 Kentucky petroleum 00 Kentucky sub-carboniferous coal, XI 09 Kentucky fucoides 100 Lepidodendron, (fossil scale-trees,) 99, 105,J06 Lesquereux (Leo) 13; survey 04 Lesquereux’s caulerpites marginatus 07 Lesquereux’s resume of the subject 104 Liebig’s letter to Lesquereux 103 Limestone of XI 96, 97 Lock Haven, Chemung 100 Lower Silurian fucoides 100 Luxuriance of sea vegetation in all ages 102 Marino shells in black band ore, XI 08 Mauch Chunk, Catskill F. IX 100 Migrations of plants 101 Millerstown coal 100 Natural oil spring, Slippery Rock 02 No. II, fucoides, seaweeds 100 % INDEX. J. 121 No. V, fiicoidcs, seaweeds ]^o. VIII, on Oil creek, seaweeds No. X, in Ohio, seaweeds No. XI, limestone No. XII, oil 90; variable 90 ; on Beaver river No. XII, traced by Lesquereux 95; disappears Ohio fucoides Ohio, No. X, Waverly Oil Creek, No. VIII, Chemung Oil sands of Venango county Oil spring on Slippery Rock creek Old Red sandstone, Catskill Palseophycus tubularis (Hall) ♦ Palseozoic algse • Petroleum from seaweeds Petroleum not from coal Point "Lfevy fucoides * Ponent Red sandstone of Rogers, IX . Pottsville ' Quebec group fucoides ^ Range of the Cauda-gilli fucoid Rate of dip of Conglomerate and lime Rate of water fall in Slippery Rock Reeds Relation of petroleum to gravel rock Rocks, saturated with petroleum Russian America, seaweed Sargassum fucoid, and sea Scale-tree, (Lepidodendron,) Seal marked tree (Sigillaria) Seaweed fossils useless as guides Seaweeds numerous and productive Seceder’s bridge on Slippery Rock Second Mountain, Eastern Pennsylvania, Catskill, No, IX Sigillaria, (seal marked tree fossil) Slippery Rock 100 ; creek survey Smalley’s run Spirophyton, (screw plant) fucoid Stevenson, (J. J.) Stigmaria Subcarboniferous coal. No. XI Synclinal of Conequenessing creek Thalassiophyllum clathrus, (lattice seaweed,) TJlvacese. Tipper Canada petroleum Upper Helderburg Van Gordon’s bridge. Slippery Rock creek Venango county, oil-sands Vertical sections down the creek Vespertine sandstone of Rogers, No. X Waterplants Waverly sandstone of the Ohio survey. No. X PAOK. 100 .... {>9,100 .... 99,100 97 94 .. 93,95,97 107 99 99 94 92 ..... 106 . 96,99,100 103 101, 103, 104 ... 101,103 99 106 106 99 98 91,94 91 99 92 93 ... 103 99 99 ... 100 96,101 91,94, 100 ... 106 ... 105 90 94 97 97 ,.. 96,105 99 92 93 . . . . 106 , . . . 104 ... 100 .... 91,94 94 93 , . . . 106 ,... ‘'102 ...' 99 122 J. - INDEX. PAGE. Waverly seaweeds lOO Wells, No. I, 91 ; No. 19 91 White 97 Williamsport 106 Wirtemburg 92, 100 ; sandstone 94 ; XII 95 ; limestone 99 Worthington in Ohio 106 Wrigley’s views of variation of sandrocks 9S t .1 ,v -O] -t if' -’: ,vw"""~"T ■ . '^'^7 1: ' '•■/ sr^'Tj'i? I I '* -'r'i-'/ ■ /-'V i ’// ^/^i ^ . ///;?' i , S . ■j'jf- v-?-^ ! fJ^'-'-sH' ' ^ j"^-'4 - * '-yg- .V I ifV' Iv '; .' l|V. ,. ■ ,,., I'^'i? : . V '■ s '.M i ' 'i ///^ AAz ^y '/SSi^ Az yS e<^/fyf/Mti^ Ja^' ■/*' ^4tal *r /ns I /S7-/ ^HOTO-ZINCOGRAPH. by F S\r«t. 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