WELLS OF BUREAU COUNTY, ILLINOIS. 627 



the drift contains a larger proportion of sand and gravel than the upper. In 

 the marshy area outside the Wisconsin sheet, which occupies much of the 

 northwest part of the county, there is a surface sand a few feet in depth, 

 but the deep wells usually penetrate a large amount of clay. Sand dunes 

 also cover portions of the elevated moraine. In the southwestern portion 

 of the county the drift is of variable constitution and contains but a small 

 amount of blue till, except where its depth is unusually great. 



In the eastern portion of the county numerous instances of the occur- 

 rence of a buried soil have been brought to light by the deep wells. In 

 several of the wells which penetrate a buried soil inflammable gas has been 

 obtained, which in some instances has been of sufficient strength to furnish 

 light and fuel for dwellings for a period of several years. Three wells in 

 the village of Lamoille show gas with a pressure of 18 pounds per square 

 inch, another 20 pounds, and still another about 11£ pounds. A dozen or 

 more other wells have a weaker pressure. A well at George Windle's, 2 

 miles east of Lamoille, has a pressure of 26 pounds per square inch, and 

 one at C. L. Dayton's, 3 miles north of Lamoille, has a pressure of 28 

 pounds. Many other weaker wells are found between Lamoille and Men- 

 dota. The strong- wells usually obtain gas in sand and gravel while the 

 weak ones" find it in a greenish clay, associated with the buried muck and 

 soil. It seems probable that the gas is formed from the vegetation in these 

 muck beds, though another possible source is found in the escape upward 

 from the underlying Trenton limestone. This limestone in the neighboring 

 States of Indiana and Ohio is found to yield gas in large quantities. The 

 heavy blanket of bowlder clay which occurs in this region forms a suitable 

 barrier to prevent the gas from escaping. A small amount of g-as, how- 

 ever, has been noted from the early days of settlement to escape along the 

 borders of Pike Creek in the vicinity of Lamoille. 1 



INDIVIDUAL WELLS. 



The public water supply at Princeton is obtained from two wells, 

 2,093 and 2,525 feet in depth. They apparently each terminate in the 

 Lower Magnesian limestone. The head is about 72 feet below the surface, 

 or 638 feet above tide. The shallower one is cased to a depth of 1,000 feet, 



1 The statistics concerning these gas wells were largely contributed by Miss Ella Lemmon, of the 

 Lamoille public schools, and by Mr. George Dean, of Lamoille. 



