The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1865-01-25
About Oil and Oil Territory

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Trsm large report in the New York
World Of the newly discoyed,oil regions
.sar Fishkill, we take the fsllswiag sx-
tracts which will be highly interesting to
the people Of this county. al, .ss
F. THE TESTS OF PETROLEUM,
| As numbers Of people, many Of them
| tfren Oil Greek, and the other Pssnsylva-
aia petrslean producing regions, a. well
as these, of West Virginia, are aew in
vsstigating the surface scan Of ell On Fiah
kill creek and its trikutaries, statemen
of the yarisss methsas put in spsratisn
in sraer to detsrmins the actual prsse nee
of the rock all may net be uninserssting
to the reader.
An experienced ell prespsctsr viii irst
carefully mark the color Of the ssun cat
ling upon the surface of the water. Pc
trsleun, uadsr suck circunstances,a ass
sunes prismatic oslors; sonetines its hue.
are simply grayish or reddish, but in ali
cases its celsr sparkle in the sunlight
fact due, perhaps to the mineral properties
of the substance. Still, oxide Of iron has
Sometimes an appearance very similar, and
the mere colsr dses net satisfy the scar
cher after oil. He next uses slsth or
handkerchief, and collects upsn it, in the
runs and streams, az muek Of the greasy
scun as 10 possible. To this he applies
the tests Of feeling, smell and taste. The
supposed pstrsleun nay be mere scum
upsa the surface Of the water, resulting
from the decomposition of vegetable sub
e.. L
an oily feeling to the teach. sGensins
rsok oil, hswever, has q taste Of its eva,
very easily distinguished; and with its
peculiar aud characteristics smell every
person Whs haA ever used kerosene is fa-,
niliar, smala which eanast without resort
to chemicals be Disguised But after ear
speculative ell hunter is satisfied that OBJ
jsct of his search really dses exist in the
banks Of the streams, the next questions
which arise is--kay itnst have been put
thers2 may net its presence be due to sx-
traassas causes? In other words, may
net the lands have been "saltsa?" OF
course it is possible, barely possible, to
.salt'' lands, but is must be remembered
that petroleum is an exceedingly selatile
substance, and to thoroughly impregnats
a marsh and csllectisn Of running
streams aad ditchss wsula require quan-
tity actually enormous; and mere thar
that, the ''salting" process nust be re-
gularly ana frequently repeated. On the
Jones farm, in Fishkill township, the in
dicatiens Of petroleum exist over great
surface; they are present in running
streams, and by jumping upon the banks
Of these, and these Of the ditchss, the oil
can be made to exude and osvsr the sur
face Of the water. When eur reporters
visited the spst the ground was hidden BY
deep snow, and it was sonswhat tell
sems journey to reach the streams whore
the phenomena were frst discovered
After the snow had been removed, and
hsles dug in the swampy ground under
1 meath, the peculiar Prisnatic scum was
observed to collect, in nearly every in
stance; upsH the water in these sxcaya-
j ITEMS. Almsst the entire march has this
/ peculiar prsperty-that ell will gather
4 upsn the surface of its water, if the latter
/ 10 allowed to stand undisturbed any length
y of time. The ssverest test ofthe presence
j Of ell in the earth, is found in a very sim
j pie bat convincing experiment. This
consists in disturbing the bsttsm or bss
!, Of the stream upon which the peculiar
! scum has been found While it is posi-
BILE that the whole bsdy of the marsh
, with the banks Of the streams might b,
) arti6cially impregnatsd with pstrslsun
; it is quite out Of the question to doets
or, s'salt" the beds Of the runs or ditch
i Ies. The explorer, therefore; takes . sticl
e and disturbs the earth at the bottom Q
the strsans, and if oil is percsptibls CON
ing to the surface there is very little aou
of the presence Of the genuine article, an
:. that it actually proceeds from an interis
reservoir sr vein. -
}. WHAT is AN OIL nEaIoN?-THH aEoLo
e oIsAL REolsITEs.
It il a notable cirucunstaAce that &
a far ne oil wells have been sunk any whsl
= On this continent east Of ths Blue Rids
- Traces of ell have bsen discovered
:. many places throughout the anthraci
!. coal region, bat SO far only wells in tt
. bitsniasus ssal region have been work,
- with profit. In speaking, by the way,
anthracite and bituminous coal regisr
we de net wish to be uAderstsod as sayil
Il tDab tno ldSo VI itb S0ASeSHS0 .. - W
~ ~ eoantry, is any reason for suppssisg II
~ the ell comes from the seeal All is J
:. theory tsuching this impsrta at substans
:: 1t is a somewhat remarkable fact, that ;
IN though the oil is always found in Goa
VI try which is apparently coal region,
~ ceal IN any material quantity is ever 1
=. ~ covered ia an oil producing country.
- ~ That is to say, that while the strata m
N exhibit every evidence that coal she.
:" be found somewhere in the immedii
eighberhsoa, yetit is never 50 found
- loil is discovered. In this cennectiol
ln' is worth bearing in nind that 80 pesit
en- have experienced gtelsgist been Of
lg. existsnos of csal in the rock formation
her the Hudson river, that not once.
many tines, csmpaniesE have been fern
to prospect for and mine csal in the nai
"o bsrAosd of the Fishkill msantains;
the the frat lump has yet to be discover
Notwithstanding the various attem pts N
get in that country. There seems to be, b
ever, plenty efireA there, aud Sc me ]
si the GU .lity known as the "Galer
but the latter metal has uot as yet
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