Columbia Democrat and Bloomsburg general advertiser. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1850-1866, 1865-06-03
'MsBURG COLUMBIA COUNTY PENNA SATURDAY JUNE 1865


woll marked manner: The Phillips
we'll, on Oil creek, is 400 feet the Braw-
Icy well, at the mouth Of Cherry run, 500
feet the Cornwall we'll, $40 feet the
Avery we'll, over 700 feet aud at Titus-.
vile he estimates the proper depth at 900
or 200 feet.
In the Mahoaing coal oil region in ives.
tern Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, near
tho limo, the three oil bearing sand rock
strata are beneath the lowest coal bed
the Continental" boring at Edcnburg, n
Lawrence county, penetrated, in descend
lug order, the following formations beftro
it struck the oil First, the superficial
DRIFT, 80 feet thick. Second, sandstopes
aud sLales, 300 feet thick, the bottom lag
ers Of which consisted Of fctid black shalcs,
fiom which coal gas blew of with vic g.
lencc. 1'tird, the first white sandstone,
SO feet thick, arranged in three strata, 4
softer middle between harder upper and
lower formations; the whole mass said to
be thin, going east, and holding abundance
of ga. in its crevicos. Fourth, shalea and
states, is feet thick, charged with oil and
ges. Fitb, the second white SAT dstone,
rs feet thick-softor, coarfcr, and tougher,
or more difficult to bure through than tho
first, and full Of gas after passing thro'
which they struck the great oil stratum,
d43 feet from the surface. Crawiord's
boring, not far OF, went down $50 feet,
through another shaley formation, and
struck oil, supposed to come up through u
crovicc from tho third white sand rock.
That there is an intimate connection be-
tween the character cf these sand forma-
tious and the character Of the oil which
issues from them is indubitable. TT rule
among the miners is, as stated by Mr..
Clark iu the Proceedings Of the Amer.
can Philosophical Society,"" (Junc, 1869,
page 81 J that the harder the rock may
be to Nill, the lighter in color, pure in
quality, and smaller in quantity, will be
the oil obtained thefcfrom; and tho softer
the rock, the darker and moro abundant
the oil.
The chemist of The Canada survey, Lr.
Hunt, ii53ts strenuously upon the dis,
tuction between lignitic and bituminous
rocks, inasmuch as some have been dis
posed he says, "to regard the former as
the source of the btumcn found in nature,
which they conceive to have originated
from slow distiIla,ion. The result Of q
careful examination Of the question has,
however, led us to the conclusion that the
| formation of the one excludes more or
less completely that of the other; and that
bitumen has been generated uuder condi.
tons different from those which have
transformed organic matters into coal aud
Ignite and probably, in deep water DE-
po. its from which atmospheric Oxygen vas
excluded
Mr. Hunt instances iu support Of THE
view, the fact that the highly iDaammable
py roschist or black states Of the Utica
aud Hamilton goups contain no soluble
bitumen, and that the Trenton and cor.
niferous limestones at the base Of the 81.
lurian system are imprcgnated with pctro-
9 um, and give rise TO petroleum spring.,
although no fossil land plant has been
found in them. The fact that consider.
able portion of the tissues of the lower
marine animals is destitute OF nitrogen,
and very similar in chemical composition
to the woody Gbrc Of plants, forms another
link in the chain of reasoning on this dis
tinction between bituminous and ligntic
rocks. The black states, and even the coal
beds arc, in fact, layers of mud, chargGa
slightly or 10 excess with lignitic matter,
peat, or humus part Of which has assumed
the form of glance ccaI and part the form
Of mineral charcoal, but alGost meme oI
which is solGblo in bcpzolo or sulphuret
Of car bon; whereas these liquids easily
dissolve out the ready formed bitumcn
from the rocks which may contain them,
| But whenever a coal bed became Q repos.
tory of dead fish, like The cight.foot Goa
at the mouth of Yellow creek, at the bend
of the Ohio, or as in the case OF the two
foot stratum Of phosphate iron-oro depos
tied between n" Two benches Of the Deer
River coal bed, at Egypt, 10 North Caro-
lina--how different an aspect the minera
then wears, glossy with soluble bitunen T!
Mr.. Hunt argues with much force tha
the mere fact that intermediate strata ,por
ous enough to abeorb al the floating btu
men in their vicinity, are nevertheless des
tituto of any, is enough 10 prove that tn
accommodations of oil now furnishing III
world with light, never came from the sub
volcanic Installations ol the beds of coz