PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS IN NEW YORK 481 



Calciferous arid 

 Potsdam 



Sandstone, bluish, at 1095 ft 



Gray sandstone at 1106 



Salt water, weak vein, at 1125 



Dark sandstone at 1135 



Salt water, stronger vein, at 1175 



Gray sandstone at 1295 



Red granite, probably struck at 1560 



Micaceous band, 16 feet thick, at 1582 



Red granite 1598 



A flow of gas of great energy was found on April 3 at 830 feet. 

 It held up at first in open flow a water column of six inches in 

 the casing. This would indicate a production of about 3,500,000 

 cubic feet for 24 hours. In three days time, however, the open 

 pressure was so reduced that it held up but one inch of water. 

 Even this figure stands for a million feet a day. After the well 

 was completed and the gas from this and all other horizons 

 was gathered into the three inch tubing, the volume was found 

 to be about 500,000 feet a day. 



The discovery of this " blower " naturally aroused great excite- 

 ment in town. For a few hours there was no stock of the drill- 

 ing company in the market. Golden visions of a " boom " at hand 

 led every one to revise at least mentally the selling price of his 

 real estate, but as the gas vein exhausted its energy the town 

 dropped back to its ordinary business level. 



The real features of the situation soon came to be recognized. 

 A volume of 500,000 feet of gas a day under 100 pounds rock 

 pressure would not make a basis for a manufacturing plant, 

 though even for such purposes the amount of gas is too large to 

 be despised, but when applied to the lighting of a city or to a 

 supply of domestic fuel for residents who would be glad to pay 

 for such a luxury, this volume would make a very respectable 

 figure. At 25 cents a thousand it would yield f 125 a day. This 

 view of the case came to be accepted by several of the leading 

 business men of the town and several new wells were forthwith 

 ordered. 



The first of them was one drilled by J. S. Hazelton, at his resi- 

 dence on N. Washington st. It was finished in October 1897, 

 at a depth of 890 feet. A fine vein of gas was struck at this 

 depth. The well was tubed with two inch pipe. The rock pres- 

 sure ran up to 100 pounds in 40 seconds, 200 pounds in 3 minutes, 



