494 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



To its fine and varied soils, with all that these imply, and its 

 admirable and well tempered climate, the lake shore belt adds 

 another advantage that has not yet come to due recognition. It 

 holds in the uppermost 500 to 800 feet of shales that begin its 

 geologic section, a stock of natural gas, not large in amount 

 and low in pressure, but easily obtained, easily controlled and 

 fairly persistent, from which the artificial light and heat of the 

 region are already furnished to a small extent, and the supply of 

 which can be increased and multiplied almost indefinitely. It is 

 this last named element that is to be discussed in the present 

 chapter. 



Special interest attaches to the natural gas of the county be- 

 cause of the fact that utilization of it was begun here at an early 

 date. The experience of Fredonia takes the foremost place in 

 this connection. In fact, this little village, with its insignificant 

 supply of natural ga^, leads the way in the history of gas utili- 

 zation in this country and is also widely known in the old world 

 as well. This history will occupy the opening section of tfie pres- 

 ent chapter. 



a Fredonia (Pomfrct townsMp). Fredonia is a beautiful village 

 situated immediately below the main beach or ridge which runs 

 parallel to the present shore, separated from it by an interval of 

 two to three miles and higher by about 200 feet. The size of 

 this ancient beach and the amount of material composing it show 

 that the lake stood for a long period, as time is counted in human 

 history, at this level. Centuries at least w T ould be required to 

 account for its work. The present outlet by Niagara river had 

 not yet been opened. Canadaway creek flows through the vil- 

 lage. It is a considerable stream for Chautauqua county; in 

 fact, one of the three largest of its list. It has a drainage basin 

 of about 50 square miles, gathering its water in Arkwright and 

 Pomfret townships from an altitude 600 to 900 feet above the 

 lake. This gives a rapid descent to the stream. It occupies a 

 new valley which it has worked out of the bedded rocks already 

 named. From Laona northward, the valley is cut entirely in 

 the Portage shales. The valley does not follow the joint lines 

 of the formation but cuts across them at various angles. 



The direction of the joint lines of the shales was measured for 

 the survey by Ezra S. Ely, a civil engineer of Fredonia. There 



