STATE GEOLOGIST. 255 
by salt-water. Three additional wells were drilled in the vicinity of 
Lisbon late in the eighties, but without satisfactory results. 
No further exploration was done in this part of the county until 1899, 
when two Berea wells were drilled within the Lisbon corporation. Both 
were failures. In the same year a Berea well was drilled on the Har- 
baugh farm, one-half mile southwest of town, but this well also was a 
failure. About the same time a well was drilled one mile southwest of 
Lisbon on the old Philpot farm. A shallow sand, found at a depth of about 
375 feet, made a good show of gas, and the Berea yielded gas, oil and 
brine, but the well was abandoned. In the winter of 1900-01 work was 
begun on the Fink farm along the line separating sections 32 and 33, and 
since that period three additional wells have been drilled. All reached the 
Berea, and 3 produce gas, the rock pressure of which was between 250 
and 300 pounds per square inch. No use was being made of this as late as 
August, 1901, but the owners of the wells expected to pipe the production 
to Lisbon. The Berea grit in the vicinity of Lisbon has an average thickness 
approximating 50 feet. The sand contains much salt-water, thus greatly 
damaging the territory. 
Unity Township.—A deep well is reported to have been drilled on the 
old Mendenhall farm, about one mile east of New Waterford, some- 
where between 1860-70. It is reported to have yielded a small quantity of 
heavy oil and much salt-water, the latter supplying the salt works for a 
short time. The well has long been abandoned. About the year 1889 a 
well having a depth approximating 800 feet was drilled in the village of 
New Waterford, and after having been shot produced a small quantity of 
oil. It was pumped a short time and then abandoned. ‘This well encour- 
aged further explorations, and one located on the Thompson farm one- 
fourth of a mile east of the village was soon begun. At about 600 feet 
some gas was found, and at 1,200 feet a show of oil. Work did not cease 
until a depth of 1,700 feet was reached, but nothing was found to repay 
the operator for his heavy expense. No further work was done until 1897, 
when a well was drilled on the land of Ephraim Ruperts, adjoining the 
Thompson farm. A good show of gas was found in the Berea at a 
depth between 600 and 700 feet, but a heavy flow of brine was encoun- 
tered below the pay-rock, and this ruined the well. Another one was then 
drilled on the Thompson place and the gas secured in the Berea was piped 
to New Waterford, but brine soon overcame the gas. Eight additional 
wells have since been drilled near the village, the last one in 1899. Nearly 
all made some gas, and the results simply duplicate those already given. 
They supply the village with light and fuel, the rate being 25 cents per 
thousand cubic feet, with 2 per cent. off for cash. Salt-water is the great 
enemy of the field. It lies below the pay-rock, from which it is separated 
by a hard stratum. When the latter is penetrated the brine rises and 
drowns the gas. The productive strip has a length of one mile and a 
width of perhaps one-eighth of a mile. 
