SPAMS, GHOLOGUSM, — + 225 
1900 was 12. The oil, however, is not the most valuable product. There 
are 8 gas wells which have a high pressure and supply large quantities of 
fuel to surrounding towns. 
According to Orton Dunn, the A. J. Ward gas well, completed April 
13, 1899, had an initial rock pressure of 736 pounds per square inch, and 
an open pressure of 35 pounds through a 3-inch aperture. The top of the 
sand was found at a depth of 1,380 feet. After drilling 9 inches in the 
sand the pressure became so great that the drill could not be forced down 
further. The well was not shot. This supplies 200 families at Caldwell; 
At at South Olive; 120 at Dexter City; 40 at Elba, and about 25 farm 
houses along the line. Besides these it supplies 28 boilers for drilling and 
pumping. The Fulton Caldwell gas well No. 2, completed January 12, 
1899, had an initial rock pressure of 730 pounds. On August 31, 1900, 
it had dropped to 385 pounds. Besides the John S. Dunn Company, the 
United States Company reaches this field and pipes the gas to Caldwell, 
Barnesvile, Quaker City, Cambridge, Byesville and Pleasant City. The 
Charter Oil Company, which formerly entered the territory, has sold its 
wells to the United Gas Company. 
The gas rates in Caldwell are as follows (1900) : 
The United Gas Company makes a monthly rate of 50 cents per fire 
for a No. 5 mixer. For all illuminating purposes 15 cents per light is 
charged, but 50 per cent. of this is paid to the corporation for the privilege 
of entering the town. This charge is made to protect the Electric Light 
plant, owned and operated by the town. The John S$. Dunn Company 
makes a rate of $12 per year for the first fire ; $6 for the second ; $2 for the 
third, and $1 for the fourth and each additional fire. These rates are for 
the No. 5 mixer. The company makes five-year contracts. | 
More recently a number of gas wells have been secured northeast of 
Dudley, and these supplement the supply received from the latter place. 
At Moundsville in section 36 of Olive township, two Berea wells 
have been drilled. One of these was dry, but the other struck a large body 
of gas having a rock pressure of 650 pounds. Near Belle Valley some 
drilling has been done in recent years. Four producers have been secured, 
the first one in 1897. ‘This started at 5 barrels per day, and still flows 
from 3 to 4 barrels. The remaining wells have a similar production, 
though two of them require pumping. The sand is the Berea, and lies 
1,300 feet or more below the surface. It is very regular, the thickness 
ranging from 15 to 18 feet. Where oil is not found, salt-water is, and the 
latter is common in the thicker parts of the sand. The wells are cased 
through the Salt sand. An effort has been made to extend the producing 
territory both north and south, but as yet without success. Thus 6 dry 
holes have been drilled in sections 17, 18 and 19; while from 2 to 3 miles 
southeast from Belle Valley, failures are recorded in sections 33 and 34. 
In the extreme southeast corner of Jackson township a large number of 
18, G. 
