Geology and Mineralogy. 145 
of McKean County, Pennsylvania, and five miles north of Wilcox, 
a station on “si Philadelphia and Erie Railroad 104 miles east of 
the City of Eri 
The history of the well may be briefly stated as follows 
The Wilcox Well No. 1, or the old Adams Well, was drilled 3 in 
1864 (?) to a depth of 1618 feet and afterward continued to a 
depth of 1,785 feet,* where the tools which still remain in the 
hole, were lost. 
The elevation of the top of the conductor above the railroad 
bridge at Wilcox is 120 feet or 1,629 feet above the mean level 
of re Atlantic Ocean.+ 
The well was drilled “ wet,” that is, no effort was made to kee 
the water encountered in the u per art of the hole from following 
the drill. Great Lai ible was experienced in drilling on account 
of a heavy water vein which was struck at 60 feet depth. This 
was more Erwin? the case after the gas veins at 1200 and 1600 
feet respectively were met. The water would flow into the hole on 
top of the gas wack it would ae ae the pressure of ~ 
ai : 
e tools were lost the upper 400 feet of the well was 
cased with a four inch casing having a water packer or seed bag 
attached to its lower end, “effectu tually excluding the water and 
rendering the hole practically dry. 
The well was then tubed and it is reported that as much as 
100 barrels of oil were pumped and shipped to market; but on 
account of the great expense of procuring the ees i ‘the ks 
was finally abandoned and the gas allowed free escape into the 
open air. The gas was afterward fired and the derrick burned. 
Three or four years ago a wooden plug was inserted into the 
i the ga 
warmest sun. The ice in this case was produced naturally on the 
same ee that governs the operation of the Kirk freezing 
machin 
From the time the gas was first struck by the drill up to the 
Ialiibeie part of 1876, a seemed to have, according to Mr. Schultz, a 
constant flow, but as no measurement was made of its pressure it 
is probable that it wi taady diminished. 
* Authority, Mr. M. M. Schultz, of Wilcox. 
A seaman! of Wilcox being 1,509 feet according to railroad levels made 
uent to 1 
t Fora eth record of the Well, see a paper by Prof. Lesley, in the a 
ceedings of the American F iitosophios 1 Society, vol. x, page 238; also one 
the Petroleum Monthly of a later date. 
r 
