S<  lulwrif1']        INDEPENDENCE    QUADRANGLE,  KANSAS. 
455 
in  the  above  table  is  contained  in  the  Independence  district.  From 
corresponding  reports  for  the  months  of  April,  July,  and  September, 
1904,  the  following  condensed  totals  arc  deduced  : 
Wells  drilled  in  Independence  quadrangle  in  April,  July,  and  September,  190J§. 
Month. 
Producing, 
previous 
report. 
Abandoned. 
Completed. 
Total  now 
producing. 
Drilling. 
Rigs  up  and 
building. 
April 
June . , 
573 
19 
101 
655 
617 
883 
1,016 
50 
14 
July 
September • 
569 
948 
30 
11 
142 
79 
54 
47 
5 
14 
The  July  report  includes  also  the  Elk  City,  Caney,  and  Coffeyville 
areas,  and  the  September  report  includes,  in  addition  to  these,  the 
Wayside  pool.  The  figures,  besides  showing  the  ratio  of  completed, 
abandoned,  and  producing  wells,  are  of  interest  in  showing  a  gain  of 
nearly  400  producing  wells  between  the  end  of  April  and  the  end  of 
September,  Avith  a  total  number  of  1,016  in  active  operation  on  the 
latter  date.  The  largest  wells  yet  procured  are  in  the  Bolton  field. 
One  had  an  initial  production  of  700  barrels  a  day,  while  others 
flowed  about  500  barrels  a  day  for  a  number  of  weeks.  A  great 
many  have  been  obtained,  however,  which  produced  from  100  to  200 
barrels  a  day  at  first,  and  have  maintained  a  good  pumping  produc- 
tion to  the  present  time. 
Character  and  value  of  the  oil. — Like  all  Kansas  oils,  the  oil  of  the 
Independence  quadrangle  has  an  asphaltum  base.  It  is  dark  brown 
or  black  in  color,  and  heavy,  but  varies  greatly  in  specific  gravity 
from  place  to  place,  sometimes  within  narrow  geographic  limits. 
When  the  Standard  Oil  Company  began  buying  oil  and  established 
a  general  market  in  these  fields,  it  divided  the  Kansas  territory  into 
two  divisions,  which  it  named  North  Neodesha  and  South  Neodesha. 
As  the  division  line  between  the  two  areas  thus  created  is  the  town- 
ship line,  passing  about  3  miles  north  of  Fredonia  and  9  miles  north 
of  Neodesha,  the  whole  of  the  Independence  quadrangle  lies  in  the 
South  Neodesha  division.  This  is  the  division  containing  the  heavier 
oils,  for  which  until  recently  the  company  has  constantly  paid  20 
cents  per  barrel  more  than  for  oil  from  the  North  Neodesha  division. 
Late  in  the  year  1904  the  Standard  Oil  Company  revised  this  mode 
of  classifying  oils  and  begun  buying  by  gravity  tests.  It  sets  its 
highest  price  on  the  oil  with  a  gravity  of  32°  B.  (0.8641),  which  it 
still  calls  South  Neodesha  oil.  Oils  heavier  than  this  were  discounted 
10  cents  a   barrel   for  each  degree,  so  that  an  oil  testing  28°    B. 
