STATE GEOLOGIST. 33 
feet a much larger flow was found, sufficient to produce a flame from 20 to 
30 feet in height. This attracted much attention in northwestern Ohio and 
produced great excitement at Findlay. With the hope of finding a larger 
body of gas the drill was kept at work until the rock in which the fuel 
was found had been penetrated to a depth of 556 feet, but without success. 
While this well was small it demonstrated the presence of gas in the un- 
derlying rocks, and this was sufficient to make further exploration certain. 
The Findlay Gas-Light Company quickly saw the significance of the new 
discovery, and began drilling a well in December, 1884. The results were 
very similar to those secured from the first well, but the company turned 
the gas into its lines and Findlay for the first time was using natural gas. 
Well No. 3, completed in June, 1885, was likewise small, but No. 4 
had an initial flow of 1,250,000 cubic feet in 24 hours,t and was the first 
that could be rated successful. More, however, remains to be said of this 
well; oil appeared “at the same time and at the same horizon, at which the 
gas was found.’* Later the quantity of oil increased, becoming about five 
barrels per day late in 1885. When the Karg well was completed the gas 
in the well under consideration decreased, but at the same time the oil in- 
creased from 5 to 15-20 barrels per day. Facts pertaining to this well 
have been given with some detail since it seems to have been the first in 
the vicinity of Findlay from which oil was secured in the Trenton lime- 
stone. Well No. 5 also showed some oil; but this was regarded as a 
nuisance, and an effort was made to exclude it from the gas rock by in- 
serting a plug, the oil apparently coming from a lower horizon than the 
gas. The effort was only partially successful. Well No. 7, drilled in 
November, 1885, had an initial production of 3,335,000 cubic feet per day, 
making it the largest up to that time in the field. The next well was a 
failure as a producer of gas, but after having been shot with Io00 quarts 
of nitro-glycerine it began flowing oil at the rate of 300 Darrels per day. 
The volume decreased rapidly, but the well was by far the largest producer 
of oil yet drilled in the new field.? Wells from Nos. 9 to 12 inclusive dis- 
played no new features, or striking characteristics, and hence will not 
be further mentioned in this report. 
It remained for the next well, “unlucky thirteen,” to revolutionize 
the history of the field, and to make Findlay for a time the most conspicu- 
ous town in Ohio. This was the Karg well. It was located near the 
railroad station in Iindlay, and was drilled by the Findlay Gas-Light 
Company. Work was begun in December, 1885, and the well was com- 
pleted 24 days later. The Trenton limestone was struck at 1,118 feet, but 
the flow of gas was small and the drill was kept at work, as was customary 
under such conditions, with the hope of finding a larger supply. At 1132 
and 1138 the flow increased, and at 1144 it became so great that the tools 
99 
1Geol. Sur. of Ohio, Vol. VI, p. 122. 
2Tbid, p. 123. 3Ibid, p. 126. 
Bib (ep 
