﻿Report 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  Geologist. 
  475 
  

  

  ordinary 
  road 
  making, 
  but 
  the 
  alumina 
  which 
  they 
  contain 
  

   would 
  tend, 
  to 
  some 
  degree, 
  to 
  cement 
  them, 
  and 
  the 
  grains 
  of 
  

   sand 
  would 
  render 
  them 
  less 
  liable 
  to 
  attacks 
  by 
  rain 
  or 
  melting 
  

   snow 
  The 
  consequence 
  is 
  that 
  rain 
  storms 
  would 
  not 
  wash 
  

   out 
  the 
  road 
  as 
  readily 
  as 
  the 
  ordinary 
  sand 
  or 
  dirt 
  road. 
  

  

  Under 
  certain 
  circumstances, 
  therefore, 
  these 
  grits 
  may 
  be 
  

   considered 
  as 
  a 
  cheap 
  and 
  desirable 
  road 
  material 
  ; 
  but 
  with 
  an 
  

   abundance 
  of 
  limestone 
  the 
  latter 
  would 
  make 
  an 
  excellent 
  

   substitute 
  even 
  though 
  the 
  initial 
  cost 
  be 
  a 
  little 
  greater. 
  

  

  Natural 
  Gas. 
  

  

  There 
  has 
  been 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  general 
  belief 
  that 
  in 
  Albany 
  

   county 
  conditions 
  were 
  favorable 
  for 
  the 
  production 
  of 
  natural 
  

   gas. 
  There 
  has, 
  however, 
  been 
  no 
  great 
  excitement 
  on 
  the 
  

   subject. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1886, 
  June 
  twenty-sixth, 
  practical 
  explora- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  rocks 
  began 
  wifch 
  the 
  object 
  settling 
  the 
  question 
  as 
  to 
  

   whether 
  they 
  contained 
  gas. 
  Drilling 
  was 
  begun 
  about 
  one- 
  

   fourth 
  of 
  a 
  mile 
  from 
  Knowersville, 
  now 
  Altamont, 
  a 
  station 
  on 
  

   the 
  Delaware 
  and 
  Hudson 
  railroad. 
  The 
  elevation 
  of 
  the 
  mouth 
  

   of 
  the 
  well 
  is 
  510 
  feet 
  above 
  tide, 
  and 
  595 
  feet 
  below 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  

   the 
  Lower 
  Helderberg 
  limestone. 
  

  

  The 
  well 
  was 
  drilled 
  to 
  a 
  depth 
  of 
  3,000 
  feet. 
  The 
  drill 
  

   for 
  the 
  first 
  2,500 
  feet 
  is 
  reported 
  to 
  have 
  passed 
  through 
  gray 
  

   shales, 
  gray 
  and 
  black 
  slates, 
  alternating, 
  quite 
  calcareous 
  in 
  

   places 
  and 
  occasional 
  thin 
  beds 
  of 
  sandstone. 
  At 
  a 
  depth 
  of 
  497 
  

   feet 
  a 
  "gas 
  vein" 
  was 
  struck 
  which 
  in 
  1888 
  produced 
  gas 
  at 
  a 
  

   confined 
  pressure 
  of 
  forty 
  pounds 
  per 
  inch. 
  This 
  was 
  the 
  only 
  

   indication 
  of 
  gas 
  in 
  the 
  well. 
  On 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  difficulty 
  of 
  

   getting 
  water 
  to 
  carry 
  on 
  the 
  drilling 
  a 
  water 
  well 
  was 
  drilled 
  to 
  

   a 
  depth 
  of 
  325 
  feet, 
  within 
  three 
  feet 
  of 
  the 
  deeper 
  well. 
  JSTo 
  

   water 
  was 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  second 
  well, 
  but 
  at 
  a 
  depth 
  of 
  200 
  feet 
  a 
  

   pocket 
  of 
  gas 
  was 
  struck. 
  This 
  gas 
  burned 
  to 
  a 
  height 
  of 
  three 
  

   or 
  four 
  feet 
  for 
  twenty-four 
  hours 
  when 
  it 
  became 
  exhausted. 
  

  

  The 
  geological 
  structure 
  of 
  the 
  rocks 
  in 
  which 
  theKnowersville 
  

   gas 
  was 
  obtained 
  is 
  such 
  as 
  to 
  make 
  it 
  hardly 
  possible 
  for 
  them 
  to 
  

   contain 
  gas 
  in 
  larger 
  quantities 
  than 
  was 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  Knowers- 
  

   ville 
  well. 
  The 
  question 
  as 
  to 
  whether 
  they 
  actually 
  do 
  contain 
  

  

  