132 ANNUAL REPORT 
amount. The number of dry holes is nearly as numerous as the producing 
wells. The southern extremity of the pool lies within one mile of the 
Chester Hull field proper and the two may eventually be connected. 
Three miles northeast of Chester Hill a small pool was discovered in 
1899, the first well having been drilled on the land of Samuel Milner. The 
First Cow Run sand was found at a depth of about 310 feet. It lay about 
90 feet below the Ames limestone, but was so thin that it made nothing 
better than a show of oil. The best well on the place had an initial pro- 
duction of 30 barrels daily, but a year later had decreased to three barrels 
for a corresponding period. In this well there was a production from 
two sands,—(1) The First Cow Run, and (2) the Wolf Creek or Milner, 
which lies about 90 feet above the former. The three wells on this place 
were producing conjointly four barrels daily, when it was visited in July, 
1900. ‘The oil from the tank on the farm had a gravity of 46 B. 
About 14 wells have been drilled on the adjacent farms owned by 
Stephen Milner, Joel Starlin and J. F. Calvert. All went to the Cow 
Run sand. The producers found were small, the ten wells having a daily 
production of 12 barrels only, when the locality was visited. 
Geology of the Field.—On the Dale farm, near Joy, the Pittsburg 
or Federal Creek coal lies 180 feet above the valley, while the hill tops 
extend about 200 feet higher. The Ames or Crinoidal limestone lies just 
above drainage on this farm, and the interval between it and the 
Pittsburg coal is 170 feet. Just below the village of Joy this lmestone 
passes under drainage, but appears again farther west near Federal and 
south near Amesville, Athens county, where it is finely shown in the 
valley, and where it received its name. It is very persistent and is found 
in every well in the vicinity of Joy. The formation does not ordinarily 
exceed 2 feet in thickness. It is filled with fossils, especially crinoid 
stems, and is very hard, giving a metallic ring when struck by the tools, 
and so is easily recognized by the driller. These characters make it one 
of the most important geological landmarks both above and below drain- 
age in the shallow territory of southeastern Ohio. Another well-known 
limestone in this district is the Cambridge, which is thicker than the 
Ames but is much less fossiliferous. Lying as it does either immediately 
below the First Cow Run sand, or separated from it by a few feet only of 
shales, it serves as a base, which when reached by the driller shows that 
the position of the oil sand has been passed. Since the strata in this part 
of the state dip to the southeast, the lime bearing formations under con- 
sideration lie farther below the surface in that direction and cannot be 
satisfactorily located farther east than Brown’s Mills. This may be due 
to the disappearance of the rocks in question; or it may result from the fact 
that heavier drilling tools are used, which may pass through the thin lime- 
stone so rapidly that the driller does not recognize them. 
1The Ames limestone is found above drainage in the eastern part of Wash- 
ington county, where the Newell’s run anticline crosses the Ohio river. 
