STATE GEOLOGIST. 147 
city, one on the farm of A. W. Powers and the other on the land of Mary 
Riley. The well on the first-mentioned farm is said to have been drilled 
nearly 40 years ago, but has been in use about 9 years only. The second 
well is reported to have been drilled 10 or 11 years ago. Both are now 
very small producers. The Dresser Company drilled its first deep well 
in 1896, and has sunk one or more wells of this type each year since. 
In 1897 the Home Gas Company of Malta was established. In the 
summer of 1900 it had three producing wells, all of which were small, sup- 
plying approximately 50 families. The Dresser Company reports that it 
supplies 700 families. The charges are 10 cents per 1,000 cubic feet, but if 
the bills are not paid when due 10 per cent. is added. It is claimed that 
this rate does not pay the expense of operating the plant. Before the 
Home Company was established the rates were just double those stated. 
The Gas Sand.— With the exception of the two wells noted, the sand 
is the Berea. ‘This divides here, the two parts being separated by a bed 
of shales which is 30 feet thick on the west side of the river and 20 feet 
thick on the east side. The gas is derived entirely from the sand below 
the shales and is known locally as the “stray,” that above the shales being 
considered as the Berea. The lower bed or “stray” ranges in thickness from 
7 to 29 feet, and the upper bed is probably confined to about the same 
limits. Wells drilled near the river on the north side of the county show 
this parting, but on the east side of the county it disappears, and the same 
is true near the river 3 miles south of McConnellsville. The casing reaches 
through the Big Injun sand, a depth in the valley of approximately 800 
feet. Below this no water is found until the Berea is struck. The quantity 
found there is not large, and is restricted to the upper stratum. The wells 
are shot with from 4o to 80 quarts of nitro-glycerine. 
Rock Pressure of Gas.—The Dresser Company reports the closed or 
rock pressure of the gas as having ranged from 380 to 545 pounds per 
square inch in 1899. Before that date the pressure was never measured. 
The open pressure, and hence the production of the wells, has never been 
determined. That this is small is shown by the fact that 23 wells are re- 
quired to supply the towns of McConnellsville and Malta, the combined 
population of which is perhaps 3,000. 
The operators have the usual trouble from salt-water. During the 
winter months the wells have to be “blown” every other day, but during 
the summer this does not have to be done at all. 
Within the past few years a number of wells have been drilled in the 
northern part of the county. In September, 1899, one on the land of 
William Porter, at Shawnee Junction, reached the Berea at approximately 
1,125 feet, but neither oil nor gas was found. In 1897 a well was drilled 
on the Hite farm, on Island-run, about one mile from Eagleport. This 
well made little more than a show of oil. It was pumped irregularly for a 
month, producing perhaps 20 barrels in all, and then was abandoned. In 
