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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



from the mill near by, but that showed the same pressure. Still 

 hesitating to accept the testimony of the gages, Mr Moss ob- 

 tained an instrument from the great locomotive works in Dun- 

 kirk, the reliability of which was guaranteed. When this con- 

 firmed the reading of the two already put on the well he saw 

 that the driller had fulfilled his contract and made payment. 

 This was 12 or more years ago. The well has been running 

 ever since and without appreciable reduction in volume or pres- 

 sure. It has kept the house constantly supplied with fuel and 

 light and has never been uncapped. Though the driller received 

 two prices for his work, the owner never made a more profitable 

 investment. 



G. E. Ryckman has drilled three wells on his premises. The 

 first was carried to a depth of 400 feet, but there were no addi- 

 tions of gas below 200 feet. This well has kept the kitchen 

 stove supplied with fuel for 12 years and has also furnished 

 lights for the premises. The second and third wells have made 

 but a small addition to the supply derived from the first. 



c Westfield. This town has had almost as conspicuous a con- 

 nection with natural gas as Fredonia. From a spring within its 

 limits gas was conveyed in the early years of the century to the 

 government lighthouse at the harbor on Lake Erie, furnishing in 

 all probability the only light of this sort ever used in the world. 

 Gas has also been developed by many wells in the village and 

 applied to household service. Several deep wells have also been 

 drilled here,, but without results, except as they may have made 

 some small contributions to our geologic knowledge. The light- 

 house supply will be first described. 



The harbor of Westfield was called in the early days, Portland 

 harbor. The name was afterward changed to Barcelona. Chau- 

 tauqua creek, which flows from the "hightt)f land," to the south- 

 ward (the dividing ridge between the waters that flow into the 

 Gulf of Mexico and those that are discharged into the Gulf of 

 St Lawrence) is one of the largest streams of the county. It 

 unwaters Westfield township and Chautauqua township in part, 

 the balance of the drainage of the last named township going 

 by Chautauqua lake to the Ohio river and thus to the Gulf of 

 Mexico. 



