THE MINING AND QUARRY INDUSTRY I915 45 



$53,801. The remaining counties represented in the industry were 

 Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Onondaga, Oswego, Schuyler, 

 Steuben', Wyoming and Yates. 



The business of distributing the output among the cities and com- 

 munities within the different districts is controlled by a relatively 

 few companies, some of whom are employed also in productive 

 operations. The largest single distributor is the Iroquois Natural 

 Gas Co. of Buffalo with pipe lines to the principal fields in Alle- 

 gany, Cattaraugus, Erie and Genesee counties. The Alden- 

 Batavia Natural Gas Co. and the Pavilion Natural Gas Co. are 

 important producers and distributors in the Erie-Genesee county 

 district. In Chautauqua county the larger operators are the Frost 

 Gas Co. and the Silver Creek Gas & Improvement Co. In Allegany 

 and Cattaraugus counties the Gowanda Natural Gas Co., the 

 Empire Gas & Fuel Co. and the Producers Gas Co. have pipe lines. 

 In Ontario county the main producer and distributor is the Ontario 

 Gas Co. Among the smaller companies engaged in the business are 

 the Consumers Natural Gas Co. with wells in the town of Darien, 

 Schuyler county, the Baldwinsville Light & Heat Co. of Baldwins- 

 ville, Onondaga county, the Pulaski Gas & Oil Co. of Pulaski, 

 Oswego county, and the Sandy Creek Oil & Gas Co. of Sandy 

 Creek, Oswego county. 



The geological occurrence of natural gas in the State has been 

 described in various reports issued by the New York State Museum. 

 The productive gas pools are distributed over portions of sixteen 

 counties, but they are all in the section that lies west of the 76th 

 meridian, which crosses the west end of Oneida lake. Discoveries 

 have been reported from time to time in the eastern part of the 

 State, notably in the sections along the Mohawk river as far east 

 as Albany county ; in this region, however, the gas seems to be 

 confined to small pockets which are rapidly depleted. 



The most prolific gas pools thus far found are in the sandstones 

 of the Medina formation, near the top of the latter. This forma- 

 tion outcrops, in a belt along the south shore of Lake Ontario and 

 consists mainly of shale with sandstones in the upper part, with an 

 aggregate thickness of about 1200 feet. It extends along the lake 

 shore from the Niagara river to Oswego county, and continues 

 eastward for some distance beyond the hmits of this county. The 

 strata have been little disturbed or changed since their uplift. 

 They dip slightly toward the south or southeast, the average 

 inclination being about 50 feet to the mile. The dip together with 

 the rising elevation toward the south soon brings the strata under a 



