THE OIL-FIELDS OF EASTERN ('ANAHA — EI>LS. 019 



Tlicst' several oil hands are mined after the fashion of 

 hituiuinons coals, and are delivered at the distillation works at 

 a cost of four to six shillings per ton. There is also a royalty 

 of from three to tenpence per ton of shale, and the cost of the 

 finished illnminatin«;- oil, after crediting the vdlue of the ani- 

 moninui sulphate, is two and a half pence per gallon. Much 

 of this detail is taken from the valuahle work of Eovertou 

 Redwood, in whose book on •'Petroleum and its products" a 

 very full description of the industry in all its stages is given. 



Comparing then the small size of the Scotch seams and the 

 comparatively low percentage of the bituminous contents with 

 the generally thicker beds of iVlbert county and the much 

 higher percentage of bitumen, the economic importance of these 

 deposits, as a possible source of supply for crude petroleum 

 becomes at once apparent; and ia the present strenuous search 

 for new oil-fields and the rising price of the finished product, it 

 would seem perfectly feasible under proper management to 

 operate these Ivew^ l^runswick areas with a fair margin of 

 profit; more especially in view of the now well establish- 

 ed fact that these shales, whenever thev are found, do 

 not readily yield up their bitumen contents except by distil- 

 lation. The further consideration of this question is, however, 

 a matter for the careful consideration of the best expert 

 Bngineering skill, and careful managemcat is required in all it? 

 stages. 



Considered from the standpoint of fuel under steam gener- 

 ating boilers, it has already been hinted that some of these 

 heavy bands of oil-shale possibly could be utilized as a source 

 of heat and power. Of these there are two kinds, the black 

 being especially well developed at the old Albert mines and at 

 Baltimore in Albert county, as well as in parts of the district 

 l)etwer'ii the Petitcodiac and ^lemramcook rivers, having been 

 slii]i])(^d (|uito extensively from the latt;'r area for distillation 

 in ISCO-C),"). The grey shales are bettei- developed in the area 

 west of Ijaltimorc on the head waters of Turtle Creek:. 



