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The limestone was struck at 1,629 feet, and was drilled into for seventy-eight feet, when the rope broke and the well was abandoned. Salt-water was struck at 500 feet, and the cas ng was set below it. As usual, a little gas was found escaping from the well, but the supply was of no value.

Mt. Vernon is just about embarking on a more expensive and continuous search for gas than has heretofore been undertaken. The first of three wells to be drilled has already been contracted for. In case of failure in the first, the line is to be extended to the eastward, the hope being that a supply similar to that of the Neff wells on the eastern side of the county can be found in this direction. It is also in contemplation to attempt to reach the Trenton limestone. The Neff wells that are located in this county have been already treated in a separate section, page 339. (December, 1886)

The results of the search referred to in the preceding paragraph can be given in part, The first of these wells was drilled in the spring and summer of 1887 to a depth of 2,600 feet or more. The Berea grit was found twenty feet thick at a depth of 453 feet. The interval from the Berea grit to the Devonian limestone is 887 feet, the latter stratum being reached at 1,340 feet. At 1,960 feet, a strong flow of salt-water was struck, a weaker vein having been passed at 1,518 feet. The main vein, which nearly fills the well from bottom to top, seems likely to have come from the Niagara limestone. The Niagara shale appears to have been reached at 2,125 feet.

A considerable proportion of the well was drilled wet, the tools descending but eight or nine feet a day into the rock through nearly 2,000 feet of salt-water. So far as learned, no production worthy of note has been secured from this well. The Trenton limestone must be at least 3,250 feet below the surface at Mt. Vernon, and is not any more likely to be found an oil-rock here than any other stratum of the scale. It has been found utterly devoid, not only of all production, but of all capability of production for at least 100 miles west of Knox county.

Millersburg.

A test-well was drilled in Millersburg, Holmes county, in 1886, by a local company. The elevation of the well-head is about 892 feet above tide. Soil and surface waste held for thirty-five feet. The rock, where first struck, was found broken and disturbed to some extent. The Cuyahoga shale, when reached, was found normal in all respects. The Berea grit is reported to have been struck at 725 feet, or 167 feet above tide. This is deeper than was expected from comparison of the records of wells nearest to Millersburg. Drilling was continued through the Ohio shale to a depth of 2,100 feet. The last drillings were black shale. These facts indicate that the shale series here has a thickness exceeding 1,300 feet. It is probable that 1,600 or 1,700 feet would be found if the work were pushed on until the limestone is reached. The record, as furnished by the company, is as follows, but parts of two records seem to appear here. The Drift had no such thickness in the well described above:

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Slate very dark..

Bedford and Ohio shales { Slate alternatively light and dark..

Hard rock, sand or lime.......

Slate, light and dark

Black slate........

(Slate, light and dark

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470 “

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A well producing gas and oil from a depth of 900 to 1,000 feet was recently reported on the Netherow farm, four miles from Millersburg. It is probable that the source of production is the Berea grit. If the well were begun on the highlands, the greater depth of the oil rock could be easily explained.

Coshocton.

At Coshocton, Coshocton county, a deep well was drilled in 1886. The elevation of the well-head is about 771 feet. The record, as kindly furnished by W. H. Parrish, Secretary of the Natural Gas Company, is as follows:

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Shales, black, blue and gray, in frequent alternation (Ohio shale).. 1,220
The well was finished at.........

1,280

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A small amount of oil was found in the Berea grit, associated with salt water. The well had no economic value. It was sunk by veteran drillers from the Macksburg field, who did not fail to recognize the identity of the section with the lower part of the section in their own wells. The surface of the Berea grit was found ninety feet below sealevel. Between the record of the company and the samples of drillings saved, there is, however, a discrepancy as to the place of the Berea grit to the extent of twenty feet.

Canal Dover.

At Canal Dover, Tuscarawas county, a very deep and thorough test of the underlying rocks as to their petroliferous character was made in 1884. The well, which was drilled by Mr. C. W. Bodey, was the pioneer well, so far as great depths are concerned, of this portion of the state, and its record became, on this account, unusually interesting and instructive. Too much credit cannot well be given Mr. Bodey for the care with which he followed the descent of the drill into these then unknown depths. Samples saved from all the well-marked changes in the drill-hole were turned over to the Survey, and there is thus in hand a perfectly authentic account of the successive strata in central Ohio, to a depth of nearly 3,000 feet. The record of this well is beyond question the best yet made of the series which it represents. Drilling was begun at the level of the Lower Mercer limestone, and at an altitude of about 884 feet above tide. The record can be generalized in the following terms:

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The drill rested in black shale at a depth of 2,760 feet, where the well was finished. It is not likely that the shale series extends very much further at this point. At Massillon, a few miles to the northward, it was 1,860 feet thick. The Berea grit was reached at a depth of 860 feet, or twenty-four feet above tide. It yielded a little gas and some salt-water. A more detailed account of the shale series is appended, the record being deduced from the samples of drillings already referred to.

The impossibility of dividing a column like this into the three divisions formerly laid down, viz., Cleveland, Erie, Huron, based chiefly on the color of the shales, is obvious.

At 886 to 898 feet, yellowish-blue shale, part of Bedford.

At 1,200 feet, brown, light-brown, or drab shales.
At 1,240 feet, gray shale.

At 1,550 feet, blueish-brown shale.

At 1,600 feet, light-blue shale.

At 1,632 feet, dark-blue shale.

At 1,655 feet, gray shale.

At 1,656 feet, black slate, thirty feet thick.

At 1,710 feet, light-blue shale.

At 1,900 feet, dark-blue shale.

At 1,920 feet, black shale, thirty-five feet thick.

At 1,920 feet, brownish-black shale, thirty-five feet thick.

At 1,965 feet, gray shale.

At 1,975 feet, light-blue shale.

At 2,000 feet, dark-blue shale.

At 2,075 feet, black shale, twenty feet thick.

At 2,105 feet, gray shale, fifteen feet thick.

At 2,120 feet, black shale, ten feet thick.

At 2,200 feet, dark-blue shale, fifteen feet thick.
At 2,300 feet, gray shale.

At 2,365 feet, dark-blue shale.

At 2,431 feet, dark-blue shale.

At 2,475 feet, light-gray shale.

At 2,508 feet, dark-gray shale.

At 2,630 feet, dark-gray shale.

At 2,631 feet, black shale.

At 2,682 feet, dark shale.

At 2,720 feet, banded shale, drab and blue.

At 2,730 feet, black shale.

At 2,760 feet, gray shale, banded with chocolate.

A part of these determinations are based upon large fragments of the shale which are credited to particular depths as above reported. It is possible that some of these pieces may have fallen from upper portions of the well to the bottom, and that the order may thus, to a certain extent, be erroneously given, but no large amount of uncertainty can happen from this source.

E. DEEP WELLS OF LICKING, MUSKINGUM AND GUERNSEY COUNTIES.

Newark.

Two attempts to reach a supply of natural gas for Newark, Licking county, have been made by the citizens of the town within the last year, or rather are now being made, as neither of the wells is counted finished, though operations are temporarily suspended on both. The first well was begun by an informal organization of citizens, who started the drill on the banks of the Licking in the western part of the town. The location proved unfortunate, as the drift was found very thick and

hard to penetrate at this point. The elevation of the well-head was about 830 feet above tide. The Berea grit was reached at a depth of 546 feet, or about 254 feet above tide. It proved very thin at this point, but true to its character it yielded a little gas, and with the gas some saltwater was also produced. A little additional gas has also been derived from the underlying shales, which were penetrated to a depth of several hundred feet, but there is nothing thus far in the record of the weli to indicate that fuel of any great value is buried under this part of the town. The record of the well is given below :

Drift......

Blue shale (Cuyahoga, lower part)
Black shale (Berea shale)

236 feet.

270 “

40 "

Sandstone, containing gas with a little salt-water (Berea grit)
Bedford and Ohio shales, succeeding for.......

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This well was drilled with pole tools, and its progress has been slow. It was filled up to the Berea grit recently and a measure of the pressure of the gas yielded by the rock was obtained. The gauge showed a maximum closed pressure of forty-nine pounds, several hours being required to reach this point. The volume of gas was too weak to move the anemometer.

The well was afterwards shot with a charge of rackrock, but no great addition to its flow was secured. What little gas there is shows great persistency. The facts pertaining to this well were kindly supplied by J. W. Blair, Esq.

The second well was begun in October, 1886. It is located near the Everett Glass Works, the fact being recognized that this manufacture is in more urgent need of natural gas for fuel than any other interest of the town. The record of the well is as follows, all of the elements appearing in their normal conditions:

Drift, 165, Cuyahoga shale, Berea shale and Berea grit, 370 feet. The well is cased at 535 feet. The Bedford and Ohio shales are about 900 feet thick, the limestone series being struck at about 1,436 feet. The upper portions of the limestone were dark and highly bituminous. It is possible that these beds should be referred to the shale series. The first light colored limestone reported in the samples occurs between 1,500 and 1,600 feet. A blue shale appears in soft drilling, eighty or more feet thick, at about 2,000 feet. (January, 1887.)

The later facts pertaining to this well deserve a place in the record. Drilling went forward slowly until the last of February, 1887, when at a depth of 2,240 feet quite a heavy flow of bitter and salt-water, heavily charged with mineral matter, was struck. The water rose fifty feet an hour, filling the well for at least 1,700 feet. It was struck in a

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