146 
have done the most of this kind of drilling have drilled the most 
dry holes. Our knowledge along this line is of a negative nature 
and enables us to steer clear of places where there is no possibility 
of striking oil. The novice, however, might start his well on the 
granite, which was created before the oil and gas, and contains 
no organic matter, as it was produced by the agency of fire. 
The early operators were looking for repititions of what had 
already been found; to-day we are looking for surprises, for we 
have learned that every new field has certain conditions peculiar 
to itself, and what may hold good in one section may not hold 
good in another. 
The oil is right in the pores of the rock. There are no actual 
veins, pools, or ponds of oil but a porous rock saturated with oil. 
The oil rises in the rock to a fluid level, for if we strike oil here at 
2,000 feet and locate the next well on a hill whose rise is 200 feet 
above the first, we will strike the oil at 2,200 feet if at all. 
The average life of oil wells is about fifteen years. The 
Allegany field in this state has been the best field ever struck in 
point of staying qualities. It was struck in 1880 and is still pro- 
ducing. ‘The Bradford field has been the largest field as regards 
area. The West Virginia oil fields are the most expensive to 
operate as many wells in them cost $10,000 each, and some wells 
more. ‘They are from two to three thousand feet deep but this 
is not the reason that they cost so much. It is because in places 
the rock slacks like lime when water comes in contact with it and 
caves are formed, which have to be cased off, and it is no uncom- 
mon thing to finish a well with six or seven strings of casing. I 
have seen wells that had over two miles of pipe in the single well. 
The Grayville oil field in Monroe County, Ohio, is what we 
call a “ glycerine production,” for the wells show scarcely a sign 
of oil till they are shot ; then they start off at about a hundred bar- 
rels and settle to ten or twenty barrels a day. In some fields, 
and under some conditions, we now use as heavy as 700 quarts 
of nitro-glycerine to a shot. To see a well on a bright day respond 
to a shot and make a big flow of oil is a very beautiful sight. It 
is better than fireworks. The yellow oil glistens in the sunlight 
like’a fountain of molten gold. aS 
