Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1865-01-30
WEST VIRGINIA or RFGT0Ns
A Shallow Letter from Some SHALLOW,
Fellow. l--sI
Correspondents New York News.
LITTLE KANAwHA OIL REGION !
III HH 4NANAWHA UIL REGION,
JannarY 20 lRRh


January 20, 1865.
tnls ls Indeed a remarkable country.
Although rough in exterior, it presented
lnexhaustible fountains of wealth. Eyerv
where are evidences of the vast treasures
that lie dormant in the earth; and these
wild lands, which a few years ago were
considered comparatively worthless, now
sell at fabulous prices, cansed by the ap.
parently unfailing supplies of oil that ere
hoW into tanks of the enterprising borer.
aud go stimulating the price of stocks. that
OLD ard soberminded people in the vicinity
declare the world is going mad about
petroleum.
Widely distorted strata and almost i'm.
penetrable forests have been bought by
our enterprising Eastern capitalists, espe.
cially in the region lying along and ada.
cent to the great geological upheayal
| which marks this particular district
The line Of this geological disturbance
ia well marked aud somewhat remarkable
in its features, is easily traceable III one
circular belt from Middle Island Greek
from Peasants and Tyler Counties, through
| Wood, Writ and Jackson Counties, across
the Great Kanawha, extending into the
eastern portions of Kentucky, where to- day
thousands of dollars capital and hundreds
of enterprising men are developing the
country with every prospect of success.
This whole district bears evidence OF
some violent disruption, and the rocks in
cline at angles of from FIVE to fifty degrees,
in some places presenting an almost Verti-
/ cal surface.
This dislooation can be reediIv traced
over the summit OF the highest hills. and
In the depth of the lowest valleys, The
unliorm inclination is from east to west,
me variable width is from five to fifteen
miles, aud In some localities there appears
TO nave been a series of upheavals or dis.
turbances.
The popular belief of the existence Of
oil has been heretofore confined within
this range; but the recent DEVELOPMENTS in
Eastern Ohio and Southern Indiana have
had tendency to disabuse the public
mind of any such theory. One fact ia
settled that at almost every point where
these breaks in the rocks or upheaVals oc
cur, the oily treasure is most likely to bs
found in large quantities. Good wells can
be produced at a depth of from seventy
FIVE to two hundred feet; and the great
we'll flowing one thousand barrels struck
within the last month at Horse Neck has a
depth of but one hundred and sixty.two
feet. Another large we'll still producing
copiously was discovered last month, and
is but two hundred and twenty three feet
sink. These are all too shallow, which is
the principal objection to nearly all the
wells yet bored in West Virginia, aud these
lands only require to be bored as deep as
those ia Pennsylvania, and the future
promises even better than that region.
Will these oil wells hold out2 is the
question asked by many, Who can answer.
The nearest approximation to satisfRc
tory reply can arrive at is to refer to the
n 4 a ~
operating near the station of Petroleum,
on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, which
have been pumped without interruption
for the last four years, and with no appa
rent diminution.
Nothing attracts the attention of the OBJ
server so universally as the great number
of new derricks and scores of engines, in
every stage of progress toward fitting up,
which meet him in every glen and hollow,
| from Middle Island Greek to the Great
Kanawha. The din of the miners hammer
is heard day and night, and the puff Of the
engine greets one RtTalmost every turn of
the road, and surprising spirit of enter
prise is everywhere apparent.
a word about the expenses OF putting
down well, and will close this hssty
letter, reserving the minute details for q
future paper, or to those better able to
| portray their worth and beauty.
Wells are generally drilled by parties
who make contract for the job at given
price per foot. @
These contractors merely perform the
work of drilling, the parties owning the
lands usually finding the engines and 9TH
er tools.
EXPENSES OF WORKING AwBIL.
The following is believed to be fail
estimate of expenses to put down well oi
500 feet:
One engine ten horse pOWer....... l0(
Derrick ~
Walking beam, sampson post, e,c.''...'''''' 8 5I
One set OF dTiiug So
One and half inch hAwser and sand pump. l0t
Five hundred feet of 40,
Fifty test of drawing ~
Two engineers at IS per day. Se'
Contracts for boring 800 feet at So 6O....... 125
Misc ellaneOuS tools o.
Contingent expenses...... %