The Portland daily press., 1866-03-17
A word more about Oil Mining.

not seen" r san honest mans the noblest
work of Cod" " J. G. W.
| A Word more about Oil Mining.
PErRoL1A, G. W. March Is, 1885:
To the Editor of the Press:
| In my last ventured word of caution to
| friends at home about investing their hard
earned cash in the risky business of oil min
ing. A few of the hazards OF this business 1
will now refer to. To sink well il is peces
sary first to cree. derrick and engine house,
which, instead of resembling those articles
used at Fort Gorges for lifting heavy stone,
much more closely resemble small, raugh,one-
story church with lofty but spireless tower.
The tower or derrick is about sixteen feet
square on the ground, tapering to four Or five
lat the top, and about As feet high. The well
is in the centre of this structure, in the top of
which are pulleys arranged with ropes for TAX
ing up, putting dow n, and operating the drills
tubing, &c. ,.f -y-3v -, Wy f-,Bt
On one side of this derrick building is
erected, connecting with it, perhaps 49, to 80
feet long, with substantial timber foundations
in which an engine of from 10 to 16 horse
power is placed, to do the drilling and pump
ing of the well. A walking beam of wood
about twenty-five feet, long, playing over a
stationary beam or gallows-frame, forms con-
Meeting link between the engine and the
pump or drill This derrick and house cost
from $400 to $500, Canada currency. An En-
CINE will cost 81 200; fifty cords of wood-the
average amount for sinking well-$100; tub
ing, pump, &C., about $500; carriage of en-,
CINE, water oil, betting, iron casing for surface
uncertain in amount, but say $3.50, and sink
ing the well 50, so per foot, the average depth
in this region being about $50 to ATS feet.
These figures are stated with so much def
niteness that person might suppose there
was very little risk in sinking a well; that the
cost might be counted up with great deal Of
precision and certainty. But there is another
side to this leaf The hole made in the rock
is about five inches in diameter. and some
times-Quite trequently-when at the depth
of a couple of hundred feet or more, stool
sticks; )" that is, drill or "bit' gets fast, and
OIL Vic ChO1 10 VI WOlhuICl iOI IIOutuS pHOfG
unayaiins to get it out. I know of half a
dozen wells in this vicinity, an in this dnpeas
ant fix. One of them, down 400 feet, has been
stuck six months, and yet efforts to clear it
are not abandoned. - t--1A4
% In other instances, after going through a.
thick stratum of hard rock, bed of gravel is
struck, and the water not only becomes troub-
lesome, but the gravel scaves in" fills up the
hole, and if it docs not stick the tools it great
ly obstructs operations, Then, again, some
times the hole is carried too far down, and.
ito use a miners phrase athe bottom is knock
ed outr o This means that the hole is not
stopped in the porous rock in which it should
stop, but is carried Just little too far, striking
big water vein that underlies this region,
and though you pump for months water only
is the result. know of two Of this kind of
nlisfortunes that have recently occurred in.
this neighborhood, -'eH q ael
In the Boutwell, region an intelligent gen.
tleman, who has been long there, gave it to
me as his opinion that half of the wells had
already proved failures, and that much larg-
er portion would when developments were
carried alittle further. In Petrolia few wells
have yet proved failures, but the developments
of the next sixty days are needed before the
record in this respect can be fairly made up.
There is asmall locality deemed perfectly sure;
outside Of this all as yet is uncertain. At Oil
Springs the water is very troublesome, so that,
unless nearly all the wells are pumping at the
same time, it is difficult to raise much oil -
showing that all are pumping from one COM
mon basin. BY the laws of the country the
pumps are not allowed to work on Sunday,
and while standing still so much water accumu-
lates that it requires constant pumping all day
Monday, as a general rule, to bring the well
back to the condition it was left in Saturday
night. ,.: S5-.iS III 30
From the foregoing suggestions it may be
reasonably inferred that though the oil bust
ness is very slippery, it does not always flow
easily; that it has its strong ebb tides as well
as food, and that an oil well In prospect is very
far from being certain source of revenue to
the owner.
Then the flow of the wells is grossly over
estimated You hear of 100 barrel wells that
don't sell 20 barrels day. ain told that a
hundred barrel well at Boutwell, does not flow
so big stream as a fifteen barrel well at Pc
trolia, and am suspicious this statement is
not entirely fictitious. But I Z must stop,
though my oil well has not yet done flowing.
Twill lubrcate and then try the pumps again.
4.F ~. s,5e.fp SPURwINK.
CANADIAN PRoDUCB.-We are informed
that the side tracks of the Grand Trunk Rail-
way at Island Pond, are crowded with ears,
loaded with Canadian produce, which has
been rushed over the line in immense quaint
ties for the past three weeks, in anticipation
of the expiration Of the reciprocity treaty
The treaty expires to-day. The Railway. Com
pany has been taxed to it's utmost extent in
conveying freight from Canada. 4- ro'ss
Gy-The people of Rochester, N. Y, are dis
posed to take time by the forelock. At char.
| ter election last week, they made a. plain is