RETORT OF THE DIRECTOR AND STATE GEOLOGIST 1*121 



Erie county 



Certain wells drilled near Gowanda have been described 

 (p. rll 5) under the heading, Cattaraugus county. 



In Erie county some new territory has been developed and the 

 capacity of the old fields slightly increased by the addition of 

 new wells. At Alden one new well 130S feet deep was sunk in 

 the spring of 1S99 and proved to be the largest producer of that 

 group. The Alden natural gas and fuel co. now has 120 meters 

 on its lines. The gas pressure keeps up. 1 



More wells are being drilled with the purpose, it is said, <jf 

 supplying Lancaster with gas, a franchise for this privilege hav- 

 ing been asked. 



Since my last report A. J. Richardson has drilled 11 wells be- 

 tween East Aurora and Orchard Park. Of these only six have 

 been producers and they are small. The gas occurs in the 

 white Medina or quartzose sandstone. One well on the Petrie 

 farm had some additional gas in the red Medina. Brine was 

 found in all at the top of the Niagara limestone. The product 

 is piped to East Aurora and Orchard Park, supplying 1G0 meters 

 in the former and 53 in the latter; 1,083,400 cubic feet were used 

 in East Aurora alone in March 1899. The supply is hardly suffi- 

 cient to meet the present demand, and the mains are now taking 

 gas from the Standard pipe line. 



At North Collins are three wells, two of which have produced 

 a small quantity of gas. This has been piped to the town and 

 supplies a limited number of taps. The original supply of gas 

 has decreased so that a part of the service has been discontinued. 



At the State homeopathic hospital, Collins, a well was sunk 

 about 1898 to the depth of 400 feet without getting through the 

 drift. Water was obtained in large quantity. Later another well 

 was drilled for the purpose of obtaining gas and oil. The fol- 

 lowing record was furnished by George Neher, of Orchard Park. 



'The Buffalo evening neics of Nov. 22,1899, through its Alden correspon- 

 dent, reports that the Alden natural gas and fuel co. is laying a two inch 

 pipe line to Akron to help out the gas supply there. The same authority 

 states that a franchise has been granted this company for piping the vil- 

 lage of Lancaster. 



