PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS IN NEW YORK 461 



not take on all the consumers of gas that it could have secured, 

 but from the first determined to husband its resources and not 

 to press its gas supply to the limit. For the first four months 

 of the service the Monroe well was drawn on for 2,000,000 feet 

 a month, or 66,666 feet a day, and this moderate use was 

 marked by a notable decline in the pressure of the well. In 

 March 1897, the pressure was 800 pounds. It declined rapidly 

 thereafter and brought alarm to those cognizant with the facts, 

 but by this time the second well had been carried well down into 

 the Utica shale and was furnishing a considerable volume of gas. 

 This supply was at once turned into the city line and presently 

 the Monroe well was cleaned out and drilled a few feet deeper. 

 50 feet of shale, dropping from higher levels, had accumulated at 

 the bottom of the well. This was removed and the driller set 

 to work for a few feet on rock never reached before. According 

 to some reports it was deepened 50 feet, which would make its 

 total depth somewhat more than 2400 feet. Its volume was not 

 only restored but increased and its pressure rose to a much 

 higher figure than ever before, viz, to 1540 pounds. After allow- 

 ing the well to blow for 24 hours, with interruptions, 1450 pounds 

 was registered. The gas in July 1897, when observation was 

 taken for the survey, showed a pressure of 1350 pounds. 

 When returned to the line a decline of 45 to 60 pounds to the 

 month was again experienced, while the gas consumed did not 

 exceed 1,000,000 feet for the same length of time. 



Well no. 2 was drilled in the river valley on the Wells farm 

 and is known as the Wells well. The drill began work on it 

 early in 1897. A good volume of gas was found in the Medina, 

 reported at 400,000 feet a day, but at 1838 feet, in the Utica 

 shale, the production became so large that it was impracticable 

 to keep the tools at work. The well was tubed with three inch 

 pipe at this depth and an open pressure of 2.75 inches of mercury 

 was shown. This stands for a daily output of 2,126,270 cubic 

 feet. The rock pressure at this time was 825 pounds, which was 

 reached in 17 minutes after the gate was shut. As stated in the 

 preceding paragraph the entire village plant (160 meters) was 

 put on this well for a period of three months, and in this 

 time the pressure was not reduced below 500 pounds. The tub- 

 ing was set at 600 feet. This well has since been drilled into the 



