r72 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



doned the project. The Page & Damn well, lot 19, Erwin 

 township, is filled with water and has ceased to produce. 



PETROLEUM 



The high price of petroleum during the past three years has 

 greatly stimulated production. Search for oil has been vigor- 

 ously prosecuted along the borders of known fields, and aban- 

 doned pools have been revived and worked. Old wells have 

 been cleaned out and refitted and new ones drilled between, 

 sometimes at intervals not exceeding 50 feet. The new wells 

 are shot with heavy charges of nitroglycerin, 200 quarts being 

 a common quantity, and often start off with a suprisingly large 

 flow. The production soon drops to an amount varying from 

 y 2 barrel to 4 or 5 barrels a day. 



The wells are pumped in multiple by what the operators call 

 a " power." To the periphery of a horizontal disk several radi- 

 ating wire ropes are attached. The ropes rest on X-shaped 

 rockers, placed at short intervals, and are connected, at the re- 

 mote end, with the pumps, which may be half a mile or more 

 distant from the power. By means of a gas engine the disk is 

 made to turn half revolutions, thus tightening the ropes and 

 pumping several wells simultaneously. By operating a power 

 for a few hours and then passing to another, a single man may 

 care for a large number of wells and thus decrease the cost of 

 production. The gas for the engine is either obtained from 

 the oil wells or from a "gasser" in the vicinity and costs very 

 little. By the above means, wells producing only y± barrel of 

 oil a day are pumped, and are considered remunerative. 



The little oil pool at Humphrey has not greatly increased in pro- 

 ductiveness. The wells in this group are small producers, and 

 the field does not, at present, give promise of further profitable 

 extension. A new well was drilled about Aug. 15, 1902. It was 

 located on the Edwin Guthrie farm about 450 feet northeast 

 from another well, which has been pumped since 1898. At last 

 accounts the well had 100 feet of oil in it, but had not been 

 pumped. 



No change is reported from the field near Allegany village. 

 The Rice brook pool is practically exhausted and has almost ceased 



