194 RESOURCES OF TENNESSEE. 



Or again, the oil may simply fill porous or fractured and fissured spaces 

 in the Newman limestone without strict regard to either general structural 

 or underground water-level conditions, but its occurrence may be depend- 

 ent primarily on the presence or absence of such spaces in the rocks. 



By keeping careful records of future wells much needed light can un- 

 doubtedly be thrown on the underground structure and on the conditions 

 under which oil has accumulated in the region and as a consequence much 

 more intelligent prospecting will become possible and the chances of suc- 

 cessful drilling corresponding increased. m 



TECHNOLOGY. 



Drilling. Derricks and rigs of standard type have been used in drilling 

 some of the wells, while drilling machines have been used in others. 



Cost. It is understood that wells away from the railroad have been 

 contracted for at about $1.65 per foot, while those on the railroad have 

 been taken for $1.50, the driller to move and place his rig and build his 

 derrick, which may afterward be removed by him, or provide his drilling 

 machine, water, fuel and everything except casing. 



Water may usually be had in the many small streams of the region ex- 

 cept in late summer and autumn when most of them go dry. It may be 

 reached by wells at slight depths anywhere. Coal is available in some 

 places for drilling, and wood may be had in abundance everywhere. 



The roads of the region are neither very good nor very bad. They 

 probably average better than in most Appalachian oil regions. Labor may 

 be had at reasonable prices. 



LAND MOLDINGS. 



Much of the area has been bought in years past for coal and timber 

 and is held in tracts of from 5,000 or 10,000 to 40,000 or 50,000 acres. 

 The owners of a number of these tracts are pursuing a liberal policy in 

 granting leases to parties who desire to develop their leases, but do not 

 encourage leasing to be held for speculative purposes. 



WARNING AGAINST IMPOSTORS. 



Parties have been operating in the region who profess to be able to 

 locate oil with a device that is supposed to "work" on some heretofore 

 unheard-of electrical principle, when carried by the manipulator over an 

 area where there is oil. It can not be too strongly emphasized that there 

 is no known instrument or device that when carried over the surface may 

 be made to "work" or vibrate or be affected in any manner whatsoever by 

 oil deposits in the rocks beneath. All such claims are fraudulent, and 

 money spent in hiring such "oil finders" is simply wasted, whether they 

 operate with a witch hazel wand, a peach tree switch or a supposed elec- 

 trical or other device. 



