East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1865-11-22
right, the Superintendent of the
"Crescent t" Company.

From personal examination Of every
well sunk at this point, | am able to
, say that thus far there has been no
: failure to strike oil in paying quanti-
) ties. This favorable state of things
: cannot reasonably be expected to con-
tinue, for the excitement will inevita-
bly, carry many beyond the limits of
, the oil basin. grd
i have to-day visited many of the
oil wells of this town. Quite a large
number are producing oil. On every
side new wells are being sunk. A
very large amount of capital is being
expended in these new enterprises,
and, so far as i could ascertain, with
a fair show Of success.
GUN BEDS.
Tho most extraordinary thing to be
seen here is what is called the I" gum
beds" being large deposits of sort
of gum, caused by the evaporation of
the petroleum forced to the surface by
the gas which escapes in large guam
titles. o+ a.
SURFACE WELLS.
! There are large number of surface
wells, or those sunk only to the rock,
in which operations are suspended
and somo of these, which produced
the most when first sunk, are appar-
emily exhausted and abandoned.
. HOTELS At OIL SPRINGS.
There are several hotels here, but
the best one is kept by Mr.. Hendrick-
son, formerly of Pontiac, and more
recently engaged in business at Detroit
His house is crowded, and / saw many
Michigan names on his register, and
not few familiar faces at his table. |
Several of your citizens have pur-
chased locations at this point and are
sinking wells, and hope will meet
with success.
THE GREAT FLOWING WELL.
The great flowing well spoken of by
Sir William Logan was near here, and
the evidences of the great overflow
from it are seen for miles along the
stream near which the well was stu
ated.
boutwell,.
l returned to Petrolia from Oil
Springs, and left there this morning
in time to reach the early train, and
reached this place ria London, at 2
O'Clock T. Nj. | have spent the re-
mainder of the day III looking at the
wells here. / have made arrange
ments to procure the amount of oil
shipped from here weekly, which will
be sent you in due time.
IT'S MOST NOTED WELLS.
per Well" tho slick Well, " the "Rope
Well" and the "Victoria Well,' but {
unfortunately for me, none of these
are in working order. One is putting
down larger engine; another is re- {
pairing its pumps; a third has broken
some part of its engine, and fourth
is pumping water and not oil. From
the most reliable data ! could find,
which am inclined to take with some .
grains of allowance, the Pepper !
Well has produced for many days in
succession over a hundred barrels per !
day The strata is the same here as
at Petrolia and Oil Springs, and from :
the number of new wells just starting,
this seems to be the point for specula-
ton.
THREE HUNDRED WELLS BEING SUNK.
1t was told that there were now
being sunk, nearly, if not quite, three
about b,1aff1lf i've thousand nld dollars each. In
the course of the next three or four
months, these wells will all be down
to the oil, if oil is found.
SITUATION OF boutwell,.
Boutwell, is on the Great Western
Railway, about twenty-seven miles
east of Chatham, and about three
hours ride from Detroit.
1t is not part of my duty to draw
comparisons between different locali-
ties, but / would advise all who desire
to invest, to visit Boutwell,, Oil Springs,
and Petrolia, and see for themselves.
GEOLOGICAL FORMATION OF THE OIL REGIONS.
The most interesting question re-
specting these wells is to determine,
If possible, whether the oil found here
is exceptional, or whether the forma-
ton is the same in other oil districts.
For this purpose / have examined the
best accounts given of the Pennsylva-
MIA Oil District and wells, and COM
pared them with the facts observed
here. / have drawn my data as to
the former region from the able work
of Mr.. William Wright, "On the Oil
Regions of PENNSYLVANIA" In speak
ing of tho geological strata in which
oil in that State occurs, he says:--
"That tho series of rocks found in
sinking five hundred feet were:
"Efrst.-Sehist rock, with mica and
q little horn-blcnde.
"SecOnd, "A very soft, selicious rock,
resembling soapstone. Feels very soft
and greasy ut first, and has a nearly
white color; but hardens and becomes
blush after a time.
"7Isyd-A hard transition rock
"Towh. Fosslifercus limestone,
containing assures or caverns, in which |
oil is found. This is usually termed
the second sand rock, as it contains
sand in various proportions. The first
sand rock in Pennsylvania occurs usu-
ally from ono hundred and sixty TO
two hundred and fve or ten feet, is
from sixteen to forty feet thick, and is
followed 10y the strata called soap
stone which varies from fifty to one
hundred and fifty feet in thickness,
!, and is followed by a second sand
rock from fifteon to thirty feet thick,
in which oil is found. In some Of the
wells. IL is snid. there are three stratas