34 RESOURCES OF TENNESSEE. 



it was reported by Mr. Scott to be approximately 2,000 feet 

 deep. The drill was in very tough, dark blue clay that the 

 drillers called gumbo. Mr. Scott said that at 270 feet, a 2-foot 

 oil sand was struck that he thought would produce five barrels 

 of oil a day; that from 1,230 to 1,457 feet, the drill passed 

 through sand with a showing of oil all the way, but especially 

 in its upper and lower 30 feet ; and that a little gas was struck 

 in the upper 30 feet of the sand. He estimated that the total 

 output from the sand would be from 20 to 30 barrels a day. 



Mr. M. J. McGinnis, City Clerk of Caruthersville, Missouri, 

 stated in a letter that a well was sunk there 1,550 feet for 

 water, and that no indications of oil or gas were found in 

 drilling. 



Mr. J. W. Rhores, Jr. of Osceola, Ark., reports that the water 

 supply for that city comes from the depth of 1,450 feet; for 

 Wilson, Ark., from a depth of 1,690 feet; and from Marked 

 Tree, Ark., from 2,200 feet. So far as the writer is informed, 

 none of these showed indications of oil or gas. 



DIFFICULTY IN LOCATING WELLS. 



In areas of old rocks, such as those surrounding the Embay- 

 ment area, the geologist can, with comparative ease, locate the 

 places where oil or gas might be secured and the areas or 

 localities where there is no chance for them. In most areas, 

 such as Middle Tennessee, most of Kentucky, Pennsylvania, 

 West Virginia, Oklahoma, or that part of Arkansas west of the 

 Embayment area, an operator would be very foolish to put 

 down a well without the advice of a competent geologist. But 

 in the Embayment area, where almost the entire surface is so 

 completely covered with recent deposits as to hide all the usual 

 indications of the structure, the work of a geologist in locating 

 prospective wells would be difficult and might prove futile. As 

 has been suggested to the writer by Dr. Glenn, it is possible 

 that a study of the bluffs from Hickman southward to Memphis 

 might reveal a north-south difference in structure; and that 

 light might be thrown on the structure away from the river 

 by careful use of railroad and drainage profiles. 



While a large number of deep well records would be of the 

 greatest assistance of any data that future developments may 



