336 PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS. 



tions were suspended for the night. Early the next morning 

 residents of the Copley farmhouse were awakened by noise 

 from the well, which had drilled itself in during the night and 

 was pouring a great stream of oil through the six-inch casing, 

 the pressure being sufficient to throw the oil far above the top 

 of the 84-foot derrick. Since this well was in wildcat territory, 

 no tankage or pipelines were ready to receive the oil, and it 

 flowed into the bed of Sand Fork Creek, which fortunately was 

 almost empty of water on account of a protracted drought, and 

 much of it was saved by making dams across the stream until 

 pipelines could be laid. The most vigorous precautions were 

 taken to prevent this lake of oil from catching fire, armed 

 guards being stationed along the highways to warn people 

 against lighting matches within the zone of the gaseous vapor. 

 Accurate information is not available regarding the original 

 production of this well, but employees of the South Penn Oil 

 Company now living at Copley and those of the Eureka Pipe 

 Line Company who laid the line to the well estimate it from 

 10,000 to 12,000 barrels daily, which makes it probably larger 

 than any other well ever drilled in the State. The Copley Pool 

 is situated along both sides of the axis of the Grassland Syn- 

 cline, which at this point reaches its lowest structural level 

 within the two counties, having a gradual downward slope 

 along its axis from the Upshur Line 17 miles eastward. Pro- 

 duction is entirely from the lower sands, the Gordon being by 

 far the most prolific. The producing limits of the pool em- 

 brace an area of six or eight square miles, within which 125 

 to 150 wells have been drilled. The following record, taken 

 from Volume I (A), page 369, is that of the Copley gusher, 

 which still produces 3 barrels of oil daily: 



Michael Copley Heirs No. 1 Well Record (363). 



Courthouse District; 2.2 miles northwest of Bealls Mills; authority, 

 South Penn Oil Co.; elevation, 790' B. 



Top. Bottom. 



Feet. Feet. 



Pittsburgh Coal 140 



Pencil Cave 1775 1800 



B| 9 Lime 1800 1895 



Big Injun Sand 1895 2 025 



Gordon Stray Sand (oil, 2519') 2512 2524 



Gordon Sand (oil) to bottom 2530 2530 



