Page images
PDF
EPUB

PREFACE.

Volume V, Geology of Ohio, was published in 1884. Although it contained more than 1100 pages, it not only failed to include a number of the subjects that certainly deserve a place in a work treating of the Economic Geology of Ohio, but it also failed to provide room for several chapters that had been already prepared. Among the latter was a single chapter on the oil and gas production of Ohio as developed at that time.

In view of these facts, Governor Hoadly recommended to the Legislature in January, 1885, that the chapters already prepared for publication, and other chapters to be prepared on subjects pertaining to the economic geology of the state, should be published under the title, Geology of Ohio, Volume VI. Action was taken in accordance with this recommendation, and an appropriation of $4,500 was made for carrying forward the necessary work. It was also ordered that a small edition of the chapter on Petroleum and Natural Gas should be published in advance of the volume. October 1, 1885, was fixed as the date of this publication.

This year proved to be the beginning of by far the most remarkable movement ever experienced in the geology of Ohio. Surprising developments, in the way of oil and gas production, from sources to which neither geologist nor oil producer had ever looked with any expectation of large results, were going forward in the state and it required all the resources of the Survey to keep pace with these developments. Instead of a single chapter on oil and gas, as originally contemplated, the necessity for a half dozen chapters was made apparent, or in other words, the chapter was expanding to the proportions of a volume.

When October came, the material in hand had so far outrun the limits of the chapter on which the action requiring its publication in advance had been based, that it was counted best to withhold it until January, and to leave the disposition of the new report to the incoming Legislature. The chapters were promptly offered to the Legislature and the recommendation was made by the State Geologist that they should be issued at once, as a volume of the Survey Reports exclusively devoted to petroleum and gas. If the recommendation had been adopted, this volume would have been issued in 1886.

The Legislature finally decided in May, 1886, to continue the work of the Survey until February, 1887, in the enlargement of the volume, appropriating $3,000 for this purpose, and ordering the State Geologist to publish meanwhile, an abstract of his investigations on petroleum and gas. This abstract was at once prepared and was published in July, 1886, under the title, "Preliminary Report on Petroleum and Inflammable Gas in Ohio." By it the first authentic information in regard to the new gas-fields and oil-fields of Northwestern Ohio was made public. The interest in the subject was wide-spread and the publication of this little volume was therefore timely. Its facts and conclusions helped to supply a somewhat more intelligent basis for the exploration that was going forward on all sides.

On February 1, 1887, the date fixed by the Legislature, the chapters for Volume VI were presented for publication, and on March 11, the volume was ordered to be published, the necessary appropriations being voted for this purpose. The action of the Legislature in ordering the publication was practically unanimous, only two opposing votes being cast against the bill.

Immediate steps were taken to carry out this action, but to the surprise and regret of all concerned, it was found, after the adjournment of the Legislature, that by clerical oversight, the bill had neither been enrolled nor signed. On account of its imperfect condition, the Auditor of State refused to count it law and to place upon his books the appropriation which the Legislature had voted. The question was brought before the Attorney-General, who confirmed the decision of the Auditor of State.

In the endeavor to avoid, if in any way possible, the delay in publication that would thus be occasioned, and with the approval of Governor Foraker, who counted it well that the question involved should be definitely settled, the State Geologist brought suit in the Supreme Court of Ohio, by Hon. George K. Nash, in the name of the firm who had contracted to supply the paper for publication, to compel the Auditor of State to place upon his books the appropriation which the Legislature had, as all agreed, designed to make. The Court pronounced an elaborate opinion through Justice Spear, sustaining the position of the Auditor of State and AttorneyGeneral.

The contractors for the state printing and also the firm to which the contract for supplying the paper for the volume had been let, agreed, however, to go on with their respective parts of the work, relying upon the next Legislature to make good their outlays. The State Geologist supplied copy, and thus the volume was substan tially ready for publication January 1, 1888. Governor Foraker called attention

4

in his annual message to the facts already stated, and recommended a re-enactment of the legislation of last winter that had been found defective. This action was promptly taken and the long-delayed volume, considerable portions of which have been twice rewritten, at length sees the light.

The bulk of the volume is devoted to the subjects of oil and gas, as is proper, in view of the recent astonishing developments in Ohio. Fortunately for the author, there was, in the latter part of 1887, a little lull in the storm of exploration that has raged in the state for the last four years. Of this he has gladly availed himself in getting his record into print. The statements of the volume are thus a little nearer to the present conditions of the field than they could have been if published at any other time within the period above named, but it does not require a very careful reading to find in the text the traces of frequent revision. More than this, the conclusions which larger experience has given will be found side by side, to some extent, with the earlier generalizations from a smaller and less important line of facts. In spite of all the unpaid labor that has been expended in this revision and extension of the report, there are still some sections of the field to which scant justice has been done.

If the volume could be written as a whole with present knowledge, it is certain that the emphasis with which some of the facts are stated and the inferences drawn from them would vary in many points from the inferences and emphasis which now obtain. Such results are to be expected, however, as long as continued study is given to such subjects as these.

Something has been learned in regard to the geology of petroleum and inflammable gas from the study of the new fields in Ohio, but a great deal more remains to be learned. There are few, questions pertaining to the subject to which full and final answers can now be given, but the facts relating to Trenton limestone oil and gas that are here presented, are sure to be recognized by all students in this department of geological science as of great significance and importance. The new Ohio field is destined to become classical ground in such study.

In the legislation ordering the present volume, it was required that the coal fields of the state which were not treated of in Volume V, should be here described. This work was undertaken, and excellent chapters will be found on the Pittsburgh coal in Eastern Ohio and in the Pomeroy field, by Messrs. Brown and Lovejoy respectively. Reliable maps of the coal areas accompany these chapters. One important section of the first named field was omitted in this review, from want of time in 1886, and from want of funds in 1887. Reference is made to Harrison county. It is a matter of sincere regret that it has been found necessary to do such injustice to its fine body of coal lands as to leave them without mention or mapping in the present volume.

Another omission to fully comply with the law providing for publication must be acknowledged. A chapter was to be prepared on the composition, strength and durability of Ohio building stones. In its preparation, a good deal of time has been spent, and the facts accumulated would have been found to possess both scientific interest and practical value, but unfortunately, the data obtained have been mislaid or lost, and time has not been found to repeat the observations and tests. A large part of the work had been done on the Berea Grit.

In recording the great number of facts that it has been attempted to incorporate in this volume, it can scarcely be otherwise than that errors of statement will occur. It can be truly said in extenuation of such inaccuracies, that pains have not been spared in gathering the facts. It must be remembered that the sources of such information are varied and unequal in value, and that exactness is not always attainable.

To the companies that have been formed in so many of the towns of Ohio to explore the underlying rocks for gas and oil or to utilize the same when found, to the contractors and drillers who have done the practical work of exploration and exploitation, and to a great body of intelligent observers beside, the Geological Survey is greatly indebted. Information of great value has been freely given by all, and few attempts to mislead or deceive have been detected.

A half dozen persons have been so painstaking in supplying the accumulating facts from their several fields, that it would be wrong to leave them without special acknowledgments, although such mention may seem almost invidious in the presence of the great number whose services are scarcely less.

Reference is made to Hon. L. C. Sawyer, of St. Mary's; Hon. George C. Phelps, of Bowling Green; Capt. George P. Waldorf, of Lima; Milton Taylor, of Toledo, and David A. Wolff, of Bryan.

The chemical work of the volume constitutes one of its most interesting and important features. In no other state of the Union has the chemical composition of the s cedoutas extensively as in Ohio.

Special acknowledgments are also due to the officers of various railroad lines who have contributed greatly to the success of the field-work that underlies this volume, by giving free transportation for all or portions of the time to the officers of the Survey. The appropriations by the Legislature have been small, and it would have been impossible to do what has been done in the accumulation of facts, without the assistance afforded in the way here indicated.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE

« PreviousContinue »