Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1865-05-26
Correspondence of the Pfttsburg Commercially
PETROLEUM. WHERE IT is AID WHAT IT is. $
Ohio, Feb. 6.

it is and what it is That article contains
much which | think is erroneous, and
much that is true, and looking more near
ly III the right direction for the origin of
this important production of the earth !
than anything / have elsewhere seer. pub |
lished ON the subject, from the fancies ia
the Atlantic Monthly, to the crude ideas
which we find in many periodicals of less
scientific pretensiOns. Some of the state
ments you give for facts touching the to-
biographical basin having its center about
Pittsburg, think very erroneous, and
calculated to mislead the public as to the
localities of the oil deposits
You viii pardon me if regard the to-
Biography of the country, even correctly
represented, as having Of itself little to
do with the locality of the oil. 1t origi-
mates and exists in the rocky structure of
this portion of the earth's crust, and its
origin and locality depend upon the posi-
ton and mineralogical character of that
alone
I propose to give you my own views on
the subject, hoping that, if not wholly
sustained by the facts developed in the fu-
ture, [ may at least be able to throw some
light on the subiect-to point out some
landmarks of value to investigators and
collators of facts, for on these aloneshould
all theories worthy of the least regard
rest.
I may premise that I am not an oil
speculator, having never been interested
pecuniarily in the business; but the geolo-
gy Of our coal field and its underlying
rocks has been a matter of deeply inter
esting study for nearly thirty years, both
by the aid Of the observations of others
and by extensive personal examinations,
and in the light of these examinations l
can see no difficulty even without tread
ing upon the verge Of human knowledge,
In pointing out source for the immense
oil deposits of this basin and accounting
for many of the phenomena attending
| them.
It is a well known geological fact, that
our coal field is nderlaid-enclosed as in
an outer basin, first, by stratum of con-
/ glomerate rock, two hundred feetin thick
ness -secondly-by a series of strata of
| fine grained sandstone about three hun
dred feet in thickness, and thirdly a
stratum of Hblack" or "bituminious shale
about two hundred and fifty feet in thick
ness. These measurements will apply
only approximately, to all localities being
sometimes over or under what l have CIV
en-. Beneath the 9bituminous shale" we
have the great cliff and blue limestone
deposits, seen at Sandusky, Dayton, Gin
cinnati, Louisville, &c, and which constl-
tutes the only rock over SO large portion
of Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, and has
a thickness of 600 feet or more. Each
of the first named, cropping out beyond
the verge of the coal field proper, occupy
successfully downwards, a larger breadth
of territory than the one preceding it
Consequently the territory Of the btu
minous shale' greatly exceeds that of the
coal field the bottom of which is geolOg-
licallv five hundred and fifty feet above It's
upper surface. This stratum of shale
crops out on the shore of Lake Erie from
near Sandnsky Bay into the State of New
Y ork, and having less dip there than
further towards the interior of the basin
it passes under the Lake and into Canada.
1t may be seen at the crossing of the
Cleveland and Toledo Railroad over the
Huron River at Monroeyille-ought to be
seen on the Pittsburg and Fort Wayne
Railroad, in any of the deep streams be-
tween Mansfield and Bucyrus. The city
of Columbus stands upon its western
limit, and 1t crosses the Ohio river into
Kentucky between Portsmouth and Mays
Vile This bituminous shale at its ex-
posed surfaces presents few of its real
characteristics. The bleaching process Oi
the atmosphere has deprived it Of its yea
color, and much Of its more volatile con-
stituents have been evaporated but by
opening into the bed short distance, il
will be found of brownish black color
emitting an odor of bitumen on being rub.
bed or slightly heated, and will flame
when placed upon the fire. The proper
!, ton of bituminious matter itcontains may
vary somewhatin different localities The
specimens l experimental upon many
years ago, were procured by myself IN The
bed of Tinker's Greek, where the 9. x Z
II. R. now crosses that stream over The
high bridge east of the village Of Bedford
in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, and also on
branch of the Chagrin river, few miles
eastward of the same place. These speci
mems lost ne-eighth of their weight by
subjection to the fire, while the pieces re
tanned their original size and shape.
Here then we have in this immense bee
of bituminOus shale, 250 feet thick, anC
underlying portion of the State Of Ney
J, York. Il large part of Pennsylvania. Ohio
:, Kentucky and tennessee, all of Wes
e Virginia and part of Virginia, source
q capable of producing a supply of petrole
5 um far beyond anything we have yet con
G ceived, and to which all the facts We
S brought to my knowledge pointas its origin
+ Dipping with overlaying strata, accor
! ding to the best data yet obtained at tn
e rate of little over thirty feet t
i the mile, towards the geological centre o
n the basin, somewhere between the Obi
p river and the foot of the mountains
:: this bituminous shale would at the cen
:. tire of the basin attain a depth of prob
) ably 5000 or 1000 feet beneath the sur
d face, and possibly more. At Parkers
burg its upper surface can hardly be les
IT than 1900 feet lower than the Ohio river
r at which distance from the surface of tn
l. earth we would have at its lower surfac,
It according to the progressive increase {
# heat downward, of about % degrees of /
- Nearer the centre of the basin it woul
lie be propOrtionately increased, and the slO'
1f distilation of oil and gas would tax
v. place from IT, And as these substance
" were evolved; the oil would be driven b
10 the immense expansive pressure of th
Is gas in every direction which afforded it
" passage. This movement of the oil
lie the pressure of its expansive asseciat
es would of course be upward or latterall.
D. along the planes of stratihoation,-bC
er cause it would be in these directions alou
he it would find vent. But as the overlay
to ing stratas are, in most places, sufhcien
S, ly impervious to bear an enormous pres
III ure without any preceptible leak, rs
1T proven by the powerful outbursts of ga
often experienced in perforations mad
b. for oil, the movement of oil and &,
b. would approach the surface in those pli
IS ces only where assures of some sort e.
ly tended to permit its passage in that dire
IS, tion. And on the other hand it might |
- driven along the more open seams Of Il
n stratihcatiOn to long distances fro
s. where the heat of the earth was sufficiel
n e. IioAilofiou and fhan oOY,aa 81