THE MINING AND QUARRY INDUSTRY I913 55 



in bottles, large quantities of mineral waters are consumed at the 

 spring localities by the hotels, sanatoriums etc., for which no ac- 

 curate statistics are obtainable. 



The returns received from the spring water companies for 191 3 

 showed total sales of 9,448,348 gallons with a value of $806,298. 

 This was about the same quantity as was reported for 19 12 when 

 the sales amounted to 9,682,447 gallons, with a value of $760,847. 



NATURAL GAS 



The year 191 3 witnessed unusual activity in exploratory work 

 and drilling in the natural gas fields of the State. It does not 

 appear that any very notable discoveries were made in the way of 

 new pools, such as have been reported from time to time in previous 

 years, or that the bounds of the existing fields were materially 

 extended, yet altogether the year's activity resulted in an important 

 increment in the supply, principally owing to intensive exploitation 

 of the known resources. 



The growth of production during the last decade has been quite 

 remarkable and seems to evidence the capacity of the fields for still 

 further development. The only district which has been exploited 

 probably to the limit of its possibilities is that in northern Allegany 

 and Cattaraugus counties where the existence of oil has furnished 

 an incentive for exploration that has been under way for nearly 

 half a century. 



The gas pools are distributed among sixteen counties which lie 

 mainly in the western part of the State. The counties in the 

 extreme western section are the most productive. The four counties 

 of Erie, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany contribute nearly 90 

 per cent of the total output. They contain a large number of 

 individual pools in different geological horizons. Chautauqua and 

 Erie counties have come into prominence rather recently, but lead 

 all others in regard to output. Genesee county in the last five or 

 six years has assumed importance through the development of the 

 field near Pavilion. The remaining counties, including Niagara, 

 Livingston, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Monroe, Wyoming, 

 Yates, Onondaga and Oswego, rank as relatively small producers. 



In addition to the counties named there are many others in which 

 gas has been found. Test wells are reported as having shown gas 

 in nearly all the counties that lie between Lake Ontario and the 

 Pennsylvania boundary, as well as in Jefferson, Oneida, Albany 

 and other counties in the northern and eastern sections. The more 



