STATE GEOLOGIST. 283 
More than 15 years ago Oscar Chase drilled a well on his farm in 
Rutland township. The drill reached a depth of perhaps 1,000 feet. Only 
a showing of oil was found, but there was sufficient gas to heat and light 
his residence. 
Several wells have been drilled to a depth of about 1,000 feet near 
New Lima. All made a showing of oil, but beyond this there was nothing 
to reward the operator. 3 
KNOX COUNTY. 
In 1884 a deep well was drilled on the bank of Owl creek south of 
the Baltimore and Ohio station, Mt. Vernon. The Berea sand was struck 
at a depth of 478 feet and was 30 feet in thickness, but contained salt 
water only. The drill was kept at work until the underlying Bedford and 
Ohio shales were drilled through, and the Devonian limestone penetrated 
to a depth of 78 feet, when an accident occurred and the well was aban- 
doned. A thickness of 1,000 feet was reported for the Ohio shales, but 
from a record shown on a later page this appears too large. At the bottom 
of the drift, which was 87 feet thick, a heavy flow of fresh-water was se- 
cured, and this now furnishes part of the city’s supply. 
This failure, however, did not convince those interested that the terri- 
tory was lacking oil and gas in commercial quantities, and arrangements 
were made to continue the exploration. About two years later a well was 
drilled on the farm of Thomas Banning, two miles north of the city limits. 
The depth reached is reported to have been nearly 2,000 feet. A light 
flow of shale gas was the only reward for the heavy expenditure, of labor 
and money. In the same year a well is reported to have been drilled on 
land of George Simpkins 4 miles northeast of the city. The depth was 
about 200 feet less than in the Banning well, but the results were similar. 
In the spring of 1887 a well was drilled near the city limits. The Berea 
20 feet thick, was struck at a depth of 453 feet, and 887 feet below the 
Berea the Corniferous limestone was found. Work continued until the 
Lower Helderberg and Niagara limestones had been passed through. The 
total depth of the well was at least 2,600 feet.t About this time the city 
of Mt. Vernon, acting under authority of the legislature, provided $10,000 
to continue the investigation. The objective stratum was the Clinton, 
since it had already been shown to contain valuable reservoirs of gas at 
Lancaster, Thurston and Newark. Two contracts provided that a depth 
of 3,500 feet should be reached, with the hope of finding the Trenton 
which had shown such unexpected results in Northwestern Ohio. The 
first of these wells was completed in the fall of 1889, and because of the 
light that it throws on the thickness of several members of the Ohio 
Geological column, the following record taken from Dr. Orton’s report 
is here given in full.? 
~ 1Geol. Sur. of Ohio, Vol. VI., p. 367. 
2Geol. Sur. of Ohio, First Ann. Rep. (1890), p. 244. 
