PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS IN NEW YORK 519 



has been brought into his house and he is also able to supply one 

 of his neighbors with light. No signs of exhaustion appear in 

 the supply thus far. The original rock pressure was 24 to 30 

 pounds. Under winter use it declines somewhat, but the sum- 

 mers have so far seemed to restore it. The well is 670 feet deep 

 and is cased with five and five eighths inch casing to a depth of 

 150 feet. 



Mr H. A. Burton drilled a well in 1896. The drill passed 

 through 550 feet of blue shale, and then struck the black band, 

 which proved to be about 100 feet in thickness. At 701 feet a 

 " blower " of gas was struck, which was very noisy for a few days. 

 Its roar could be heard several miles away. Its pressure at the 

 time exceeded 100 pounds to the inch, but it soon fell to 40 and 

 finally to 25 pounds. Fearing lest the two veins of unequal 

 pressure might interfere with each other, the owner separated 

 them, bringing them up by different pipes, both of which are 

 under control. He has used thus far, only the gas of the upper 

 vein. The supply from this source has proved adequate for three 

 households in the winter and for five in summer. The lower 

 vein has a pressure of 20 to 24 pounds. There seems no reason 

 to believe that the well would be endangered by its utilization 

 at the present time in connection with the upper vein. 



In the fall of 1897 Mr George Martin drilled a well for gas on 

 his premises which proved successful. It furnished a good sup- 

 ply of fuel for his house. An examination of the well a few 

 months after it was finished revealed the presence of oil in it in 

 considerable quantity. As usual, the oil is of lubricating char- 

 acter and apparently of very good quality. The quantity in such 

 cases frequently amounts to 15 or 20 barrels. 



The gas supply from the shales continues along the lake shore 

 border for 175 miles beyond the western boundary of New York. 

 The shale formation extends with unbroken continuity from 

 Chautauqua county westward through Erie county, Pa., and 

 through Ashtabula, Lake, Cuyahoga and Lorain counties, O., ter- 

 minating at Huron, O. Throughout its entire extent it gives 

 rise to the kinds and conditions of gas production that have 

 been described in the preceding pages. Hundreds of wells have 

 been drilled throughout the portions of the belt here named 

 and the number is being constantly multiplied. There has been 



