PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS IN NEW YORK 513 



natural channel was deserted and numerous insignificant escapes 

 took its place. The return of the water of the stream would 

 shut off the latter, restoring the original flow. 



Judge Campbell's gas spring, the one in question, is about 

 three quarters of a mile from the lighthouse (not two miles, as 

 the last document makes it). It occurs in the floor of a little 

 stream called Tupper's creek, and but a few rods back from the 

 lake. The joint lines in the Portage shales are very distinct at 

 this point, appearing as if a slight uplift had been experienced by 

 the shales. In direction they agree with those already described 

 in the bed of Canadaway creek at Fredonia. The two main sys- 

 tems are approximately northeast-southivest, and east-west. 

 Other directions are also found in subordinate joint lines. The 

 " odorous, air," noticed by the old surveyors, is still in evidence. 

 One entering the ravine, either from the lake or the highway, will 

 easily find his way to the escaping gas by its unmistakable odor. 

 The spring was marked at a still earlier day by the French ex- 

 plorers of this region as a fontaine qui bouille. At a later date 

 this immediate neighborhood was investigated as a source of 

 salt. A so-called salt well was dug near this point in 1815. It 

 was very shallow and nothing came from this search. The not 

 unwarrantable expectation seems to have gained entrance to the 

 minds of some that where one form of mineral wealth occurs 

 other forms are likely to be found. Drilling at any point in the 

 neighborhood for a few scores of feet would undoubtedly have 

 revealed the presence of salt water. 



No effective means for accumulating the gas have ever been 

 employed. Iron pipes are thrust into the crevices of the rock to 

 catch what they can. At the present time the supply is very 

 scant, not enough for even a single fire. In the days when 

 the lighthouse was supplied, wooden pipes (pump logs) were em- 

 ployed to convey the gas. When the harbor and lighthouse 

 were abandoned, an effort was made to secure the gas spring for 

 the service of the village of Westfield. In working toward this 

 result the property changed hands several times. It is not nec- 

 essary to follow these changes in detail. In 1864 Judge Camp- 

 bell first sold the property. Among the subsequent owners were 

 David H. Taylor, the Barcelona petroleum co., the First national 



