STATE GEOLOGIST. 265 
charge of $1.50 for each cooking fire was made. For lights the charges 
were 25 cents each for the first two and 15 cents for each additional one. 
On October 1, 1901, the company adopted the meter system, the rate 
being 20 cents per thousand. The effect of this was economy in the use 
of gas, so that there was a supply for all, whereas before the supply was 
inadequate during cold weather. The change met with much opposition 
at first, but this was short-lived, and the wisdom of the new plan is now 
generaly admitted. 
The number of families supplied (1900) exclusive of Nelsonville, is 
approximately as follows: 
OTT see crepe tec eked Sooke ovo er arirader ove “ar cieneralere sie soete teat lela Seles 300 
GOUMS EC TRAP e aris rete rreye eons ele etareterccevela le covsiareue e-eleleusinteteere syscete 250 
INewarl@exinetomumettn these ota liuaer oii, clench agen! «x 250 
SIVA WiILC C ideerecpetayareacrens perote lore, tues ie eis, oxo GHG cise site vap(eve) aula! ahs) eltace Se 8.%e 200 
ING Wie LRALESivAllll Cir ccecdsret a teveio tore ovatene eh oho e) one caieretonene seh dios 150 
WEME REED] ACES Beek Merarees eek ere Boeke eg eee See cess Gea le tebone we jeletsitens le 350 
TO Callaeaperenaterswres eh tone be ech ae, eens ara aicrcta ttc eit a Weterevere sree 1,500 
MUSKINGUM COUNTY. 
This has never been an important producer of oil or gas. Neverthe- 
less it must be ranked among the pioneer counties of the state in oil pro- 
duction. Few areas, too, outside of the large producers, have been more 
thoroughly tested. “Wells have been located in all the ways that can be 
suggested, viz., at the caprice of the drillers, at random, in the neighbor- 
hoods of the famous blowers of the salt-water days, and lastly, with all the 
aid that geology can give, on the summits of the low arches and terraces 
which the spirit level reveals, and the records of all agreé as to the outcome. 
The order and character of the strata are remarkably uniform and regular, 
but there is nothing whatever to break the monotonous returns of complete 
and unrelieved failure. There is a little gas or oil, or both, everywhere, but 
the fatal flood of salt water is always just at hand, and the most brilliant 
promise is speedily extinguished by it.’? 
Zanesville and Vicinity.—In 1884 the Zanesville Heating Company 
drilled a well in the valley of the river in Putnam. The well head was 
just below the Lower Mercer limestone. The Berea sand, having a thick- 
ness of 20 feet, was found at a depth of 840 feet, and was charged with oil. 
Work continued until the shales lying below the Berea had been penetrated 
to a depth of 1,149 feet, but without finding beds of sand or reaching the 
great limestone below. The well was a failure. A second well was begun 
soon. It was located two miles south of the city on the Bishop land in sec- 
tion 4 of Wayne township. The Berea sand was struck at a depth of 847 
feet, and was 33 feet thick. It yielded a little oil and gas, but not sufficient 
for commercial purposes. In the spring of 1897 a well was drilled on the 
1Geol. Sur. of Ohio, Vol. VI, p. 376. 
