ASPHALT, OIL, AND GAS IN SOUTHWESTERN INDIANA. 
By Myron L. Fuller. 
INTRODUCTION. 
During the field work in southwestern Indiana in 1902 two discov- 
eries, one of asphalt and one of oil, resulted from the sinking of deep 
wells. While up to the end of the year no important developments 
had taken place, it is not impossible that the discoveries may lead to 
such developments in the near future. In the following paragraphs 
brief notices of the recent discoveries and a short discussion of the 
geologic structure are given. 
ASPHALT. 
During the drilling of a well by the Interstate Gas and Oil Company 
at Princeton, in 1902, a bed of asphalt several feet in thickness was 
found somewhat over a hundred feet below the Petersburg coal, or 
that which is mined three-fourths of a mile west of the well. 
In this connection it may be of interest to note that a similar bed is 
supposed to have been encountered in the old Hall well on the south- 
west outskirts of the town, about a mile south of the new well, and 
that in the mine to the west of the well a black substance, known as 
liquid asphalt, seeps into the bottom of the mine at 450 feet to such 
an extent that some of the rooms have been abandoned and closed. 
It is said to enter through a nearly vertical "break," filled with clay. 
OIL. 
Probably the best showing of oil found in this portion of the Slate 
was obtained near Birdseye, Dubois County, in the summer of 1902. 
The first well was drilled by the Southern Indiana Oil Company, of 
Evansville, Ind. Oil was found in what the drillers call the "Trenton 
rock," at a depth of about 1,000 feet. The well is stated to have 
afforded about 5 barrels a day, but no pumping for the market has yet 
been done. Up to the end of 1902 three wells had been drilled, two of 
which obtained oil. Early in March, 1903, a flowing well in sec. 3, 
T. 3 S., R. 3 W., was reported to have been brought in by the Stand- 
ard Oil Company, while another was about to be drilled in by the 
Southern Indiana Oil Company. The Ohio Oil Company is also 
operating in the field. 
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