recently been established at Quaker City. So far as the elevations taken through the vicinity show, the strata to the westward appear to hold a monotonous descent, and no indications have been found in this immediate neighborhood of the suspensions or interruptions of the dip that we are learning to regard as indispensable to large accumulations of gas. Somewhat more favorable indications are apparently found about three miles to the eastward. At that point a small terrace appears to be developed. If further drilling is attempted here in the absence of other determining circumstances, this terrace should be tested.

F. DEEP WELLS OF FAIRFIELD, PERRY AND MORGAN COUNTIES.

Lancaster.

An interesting and important well is now being drilled at Lancaster, Fairfield county, by a company of citizens, in order to properly test their territory with reference to gas or oil. The well is located in the valley of the Hocking river, a little below the railway station. Its elevation above tide is 812 feet. The divisions of the well record, though unmistakable in the main, are not in all cases sharply defined in the accounts that are accessible. As reported by Mr. Albert Smith, the contractor, the leading facts are as follows:

1,810

Red-rock, interbedded with hard calcareous bands, beginning at..............

The surface of the Berea grit is here 412 feet above tide. The first bed of red-rock, thirty feet in thickness, was struck at 1,810 feet, as noted above. It was succeeded by three beds of sand, so-called, at intervals of twenty or thirty feet, and below these a second red-rock was struck.

The sinking of the drive-pipe through the 130 feet of drift, above noted, was slow and expensive. A large tree was struck nearly endwise at a depth of forty feet, which proved very troublesome, and lower down beds of quicksand occurred in considerable amount, which were hard to pass. The Berea grit was found in fair volume, but essentially unproductive. The shales were soon passed, but the limestones below proved hard and stubborn, and the drill descended through them slowly. The lower surface of the limestone does not come out very distinctly in the records that are accessible, but a red shale was struck at 1,810 feet, interbedded with which were hard calcareous bands that bruised the bits out of gauge like sandstone. Gas was found in a considerable volume in this last-named series, and especially in a hard stratum at 1,957 feet. There is some question as to the geological source of the gas-whether derived from the Clinton or Medina horizon, with the probabilities greatly in favor of the former. Both contain red shales. The progress of the well will, perhaps, clear away the uncertainty. The flow of gas in the well was measured by the anemometer at the casing head on February 10, 1887, and the amount of daily production was found to be 74,880 cubic feet. If the gas were obliged to issue from a two-inch pipe, probably not more than 60,000 feet per day at most would be produced. Salt-water appears to enter the well in connection with the gas. At the date of measurement there was thought to be not less than 200 feet of it in the well.

Great interest has been excited by the success that Lancaster has achieved in finding a deep source of gas, and the drilling of deep wells will be greatly stimulated thereby throughout the entire region. It is too early to decide what the value of the discovery is. (March, 1887).

The later records of this well and of two subsequently drilled are full of interest. Drilling was continued in the first well for a comparatively short distance below the gas vein, but the distance proved long enough to identify the horizon beyond all question. A bed of red rock was the most conspicuous element in the new portion of the section, and this, on examination, proved to be the iron ore of the Clinton horizon, the most definitely characterized bed in the whole column of Ohio. It was thus learned that the gas in question is derived from a bed of crystalline light colored limestone, included between two beds of red rock, all of which are of Clinton age.

The analysis of the gas rocks also throws a good deal of light upon its place in the scale. Its composition is as follows, viz.: (Lord.)

To those who are acquainted with the composition of the several limestones of our scale in their outcrops, these figures will be significant.

There is but one limestone in the list that agrees with them, and that is the Clinton limestone of southwestern Ohio.

A chemical composition of this character will scarcely be found compatible with very large gas production, if we can judge from the experience of the Findlay field. If such production is realized here it will probably be found that the rock has become dolomitic in character.

A number of other analyses of the drillings of this well are appended here. No. 1 belongs 100 feet or so above the gas-rock, and represents the Niagara limestone perfectly. Nos. 2 and 3 show the composition of the shales that carry the Clinton ore. The analyses are as follows: (Lord)

In the last analysis, the iron constituted 11.2 per cent. of the combined product.

The Clinton limestone has long been known to be petroliferous. It is decidedly so in its outcrops in southern Ohio. Especially in Montgomery and Preble counties, notable quantities of petroleum are found in quarries of the limestone and in springs that issue from it. The surface indications led to the drilling of deep wells in both these counties during the oil excitement of twenty-five years ago, but the surface indications were all that was in the field, and deep drilling was not rewarded in any way.

More recently the Clinton limestone has been found a source of gas and oil in northern Ohio. The Fremont shallow well, derive their supplies from this horizon, and a well in Wood county has been already reported which produces thirty to forty barrels of oil per day from the same series (page 233).

Still, the discovery of so considerable a gas vein as Lancaster has obtained in the Clinton was altogether unexpected. The same series had been penetrated during the two preceding years, scores of times, in the counties to the west and north, without realizing any value whatever, and the conclus on already stated, that but one horizon of gas belongs to any one locality, was counted fully warranted by the facts. This conclusion is not really vitiated as yet, for although Lancaster is located on the edge of Berea grit territory, this stratum has no apparent value here. It has furthermore been shown that the Trenton limestone loses its productive power in this portion of the state on two counts, viz., its chemical composition and its depth below sea, involv· ing also its lack of suitable relief. Under the circumstances, the discovery of a new source of gas, large enough to be respectable, in a field so well tested already, was certainly surprising. It seems to leave but little value to geological forecast.

The well above described was torpedoed with 100 quarts of nitroglycerine during the summer, and its flow was said to be increased several fold by the operation. It has been utilized in the shops of the Hocking Valley Manufacturing Company. Its yield has not been de. termined recently, but it is asserted that volume and pressure are well maintained. The supply is not quite adequate to the demands of the works into which it has been introduced, at least with the present appliances for using it.

The history of the two wells subsequently drilled will now be briefly given.

The second well, located near the base of Mt. Pleasant, has been recently brought in and proves to be of great importance and significance. In its record, it agrees in all essential particulars with well No. 1. It is a little more than a mile northeast of the first well and is located upon ground forty or fifty feet higher. The design was to strike the outcrop of the rock and thus avoid the trouble from the drift, before experienced, but fifty feet of drift clay were found at this point also. The Berea grit had a small showing of gas, but it also carried salt-water, which was cased out at about 450 feet. The descent through the shales and upper limestones was uninterrupted until a depth of 1,855 feet was reached. Here a strong flow of limestone brines, rank with chlorides of sodium, calcium and magnesium, was struck. It came from the top of the Niagara shale, which appeared here as thirty feet of soft drilling. Immediately below, hard bands were found interstratified with thicker beds of shale. It is probable that this change marks the beginning of the Clinton series. By this determination, its upper surface was reached at 1,885 feet. The well was cased to 1,900 feet with 5-inch casing. This is the deepest string of large casing known in the state. In the Cleveland well the length is 1,850 feet. A band of red shale was found at about 1,950 feet, and at 1,989 feet the crystalline limestone, which proved the gas-rock in well No. 1, was reached. It re

sponded the moment it was tapped by the drill with a vigorous production of gas. This sheet of limestone proved to be about ten feet thick, and was followed by another band of red rock, in which drilling was suspended. The flow of gas, as measured from the casing by the anemometer, October 14, 1887, was found to be 792,000 cubic feet per day, or in round numbers 800,000 cubic feet per day.

The gas appears to differ from the Trenton limestone gas in having less sulphuretted hydrogen and greater illuminating power. Analysis may not, however, confirm these observations. The well is entirely dry, and is in all respects in perfect condition.

Well No. 3 was brought in a few days after No. 2, and proved even more vigorous than its predecessor. It is located on an outcrop of the Logan Conglomerate, a little more than a mile southeast of the city. The three wells thus mark the corners of a triangle, and it would seem reasonable to count, at least, the territory included within its boundaries as gas territory. The further limits of the field will necessarily await the definition of the drill.

The well-head was about twenty feet higher than the location of No. 1, but the gas-rock was not reached until a depth of 2,020 feet was attained. In No. 2, the gas-rock was found at a greater elevation than in No. 1, but in No. 3, more than sixty feet lower. The last well proves to be the best, a result which the present scanty series of facts leaves unexplained. The level at which it was struck would seem to place it at a disadvantage.

The well is tubed with 44-inch pipe from top to bottom. The same strong stream of salt-water reported in No. 2 was found here also, near the level of the Niagara shale. This last-named stratum was found to be about fifteen feet thick. In addition to the 44-inch pipe, the regular casing extends to the Berea grit and below. The Devonian limestone was reached at a depth of about 1,150 feet. The Logan Conglomerate continued as a gray sandstone for 145 feet. There were several belts of red rock above the gas vein. The gas-rock proper is reported as at least fifteen feet thick.

Well No. 2 was measured on October 14th, and the daily product from the 44-inch pipe was found to be 878,000 cubic feet. Like results were obtained by Prof. G. W. Welch a day or two before this. The flow would doubtless have been 1,000,000 feet if measured from a 5-inch pipe.

The closed-pressure of the wells has not been determined, but there is good reason to expect that it will be high. The gas is derived from a depth of nearly, or quite 2,000 feet below the surface, and about 1,100