fuller.] COLLECTION OF WELL RECORDS AND SAMPLES. 23 
oil and gas problems would create a sort of "bureau of information" which would 
be of much value to both the operator and the geologist. 
The gas production is greater now than at any time in the past, and the oil pro- 
duction is holding its ground fairly satisfactorily. It seems likely, therefore, that 
there will be steady demand for information for some time to come, and it is not 
unlikely that an "oil and gas division" could be made a division of some importance 
in the Survey. 
The lack of available funds made it impossible to take up the plan 
as a part of the work of the geologic branch at that time, but in 
November of the same year a memorandum embodying a plan for a 
proposed " well division " was submitted to the Director by Mr. F. H. 
Newell. Under this plan it was proposed to organize in the hydro- 
graphic branch a division of work devoted to wells and ground waters, 
which should be under the charge of a geologist designated u chief of 
the well division," under whom would be two assistant chiefs, one for 
the eastern part of the country and the other for the western part, 
including the sixteen reclamation States and Territories. It was 
expected that each would spend at least four months of the year in the 
Washington office, so that one geologist would be constantly on duty 
to attend to administrative work and correspondence. It was pro- 
posed to give particular attention to a card catalogue of wells and to 
the compilation and filing of schedules relating to wells, which should 
include those drilled for oil and gas as well as for water. The cata- 
logue and other data were to be available to the entire Survey, and 
the officers of the division were to supply information to drillers and 
others requesting it. In addition to the regular geologists, it was 
planned to have an assistant in each State to visit wells, study the 
stratigraphy, collect general information, and prepare detailed reports 
on the geology in its relation to the water resources, the results of 
which were to be published annually in progress reports, or as sepa- 
rate water-supply papers in the case of completed studies. 
The memorandum of Mr. Newell was referred to Dr. C. W. Hayes, 
geologist in charge of geology, who, in a letter to the Director dated 
November 18, 1902, expressed his agreement with Mr. Newell as to 
the necessity of such an organized effort to systematically secure the 
records of wells being drilled for various purposes throughout the 
country, but questioned the desirability of placing one man in charge 
of the entire work. Instead, a recommendation was made that two 
geologists be employed, one to be placed in charge of the eastern sec- 
tion and the other in charge of the western. It was proposed that 
the general supervision of the work and of the scientific portions 
relating to water should rest with the hydrographic branch, while the 
portions relating to geology should be under the similar supervision 
of the geologic branch. 
