Record. xxix 



May 4, 1908. 



Vice-President Andrews in the chair; attendance 46. 

 Mr. H. A. Wheeler presented a paper on "The Occur- 

 rence of Oil and Gas about St. Louis." 



The great industrial advantages of natural gas and the still greater 

 civic benefits that would result from eliminating the smoke and soot 

 produced by our bituminous coal have made its possible occurrence of 

 great importance to St. Louis. It induced a syndicate of one hundred 

 leading manufacturers about 1887 to retain Prof. W. B. Potter to inves- 

 tigate the possibilities of finding natural gas in the vicinity of St. Louis. 

 After he reported unfavorably, they authorized him to conduct extensive 

 tests on making producer gas at the adjoining Illinois coal mines and 

 piping it to St. Louis. Ten carloads of local coal were forwarded to 

 Pittsburg to test in various gas producers and while the results were 

 satisfactory, the fuel gas could not compete with the low prices of 

 coal that rule in the St. Louis market. Subsequently Prof. I. C. White, 

 the oil specialist, was also retained and on his recommendation two 

 test wells were drilled to the Trenton limestone (the gas horizon of 

 Indiana). One well at Edwardsville, 111., twenty miles northeast of 

 St. Louis, was 2300 feet deep, and the other, at Marshall, Mo., seven 

 miles west of St. Louis on the Manchester road, was 1800 feet deep. 

 As both were unsuccessful, the syndicate abandoned further work. 



The numerous wells that have been drilled for water (estimated at 

 200) about St. Louis, have added a large amount of unfavorable evi- 

 dence until the Welle-Boettler well recently tapped some gas and oil. 

 The wells usually range from 400 to 900 feet in depth, although the 

 Belcher well near the river at 210 O'Fallon street, drilled in 1854, is 

 2199 feet, and the famous well at the Insane Asylum, at Arsenal and 

 Macklind avenue, is 3843 ^/^ feet deep. Fresh, potable waters that are 

 rather high in carbonate of lime and magnesia are usually found above 

 700 feet, while below that horizon they are more or less saline. At 

 about 1500 feet, a "sulphur water" occurs that contains small amounts 

 of sulphuretted hydrogen, as at the Belcher well. 



At a well drilled in 1888 at the Grone brewery, 2207 Clark avenue, 

 a heavy, dark petroleum was noticed at 712 feet, but, as the amount 

 was trifling, it attracted no attention. 



In drilling for water at the Welle-Boettler bakery at 3905 Forest 

 Park boulevard, in 1904, gas and oil were struck at 620 feet, which fact 

 created some excitement and stimulated the drilling of ten wells the fol- 

 lowing year in that neighborhood. The No. 1 Welle-Boettler well showed 

 a gas pressure of about 250 pounds when closed in and furnished suf- 

 ficient gas to operate three bake ovens. It also yielded several barrels 

 of heavy, black oil of great viscosity. A second well 100 feet north, 

 that was 700 feet deep, gave small amounts of oil and gas, a third 900 

 foot well, 100 feet west, was barren, and a fourth well 400 feet deep, 

 located about 75 feet northeast of No. 1, gave a trifling amount of oil. 



