The weekly echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1868-1876, 1875-10-21
Communicated ~ .
q III yYy49 kA

| uOn OF the parish, 5LlaG am aware Of
are Sulphur, Petroleum and Gypsum,
and the finding of them has enabled us
to know more Of the
....a. a GEOLOGY a
Of this section than would perhaps have
been known for many years more than
all the geological surveys Of the savans
would or could have ever found ont.
| All the results of examinations show
| that this is an aliuvial area. But in
order to give the reader more full ard
exrlicit insight and understanding, ii
will suffice to go into che details of the
information obtained by the enterpris-
| ing efforts of the
| CALCAsIEU SULPHUR AND MINING co.
Early after the conclusion of our late
war, fever for oil ragged all through
| the United States and as it wasJ tol.
erably we'll known that several petro-
leum springs existed In about the centre
of this section, it was not surprising
that the infection should take root
here. An Oil Company was formed,
which bored down into the bowels of
the earth 1880 feet and in addition to
finding oil in no paying quantity, dis
closed the existence OF an immense
sulphur bed, and beneath it an mex
haUstible amount of Gypsum. The
failure of the Oil Company to find oil
in paying quantity, ended it's career,
and this company was founded to mine
sulphur. Two other attempts were
made to find oil and sulphur: one by
your enteTprising citizen, DR.. VIM. I'll.
kirkman, and another by some gentle.
men in New Orleans. Both bored down
to the depth at which sulphur was
found by this company, but unfor-
tunately found neither oil nor sulphur
perhaps their efforts might have been
crowned with success if they had gone
little deeper. for no strata lay level.
but are known to undulate very much.
Dr. Kirkmau's lore is located in Sec.
ton 10, Township 9 South. Range 10
West, and the other mentioned, is in
Section 13, same Township and Range
and that of this company in Section 70,
all in the S uthwestern Land District
of Louisiana. I am informed that GOOD
and wholesome water flows from the
bores in Sections 10 and 13, whereas
the flow from the bore of this company
Is highly sulphurous. DIR. Kirkman' 3
bore is made on one of the Sand
Hills" the "qusstio Ueratz" of the
savans, in the g ''Shoupique marsh. y
That of this company is made on the
east side of this marsh. / am informed
that q pine, log was struck in DIR, Kirk |
man S bore at the depth of several hun
dred feet, which fact would indicate |
that at one time this marsh was deep |
lake, with Shoupique bayou rs its |
outlet. In all the boTiDgs Fossils were !
found at great depth. But q section |
md description of the strata of the ex-
oloring bore of this company will afford |
more definite information, and the sec
'ion Of the extracting shaft, rs far as it
vas sunk, may throw some light upon /
he interesting subject OF the ''Sand
Hills" which dot this section like innu-
nerable bumps. .....
The section of the Company's explor-
ng bore shows q feet of soil 1853 feet
u solid clay, intercepted by two LAYERS
# quicksand, ~ and 15 feet thick I79
eet of quicksand AZ feet Of crumblinp
narl 30l6 feet of calcareous sand !; 4
eeG of calcareous mari, with many
oiled pebbles; feet of hard, compact
alcareous stone AZ feet of very pure,
rhlte, saceharoid, calcareous substance,
hard, although fissurated ia
very direction, containing in its inte-
ior band seven feet in thickness, of
he same calcareOus matter, completely
and reduced 10 the con-
ition of sand; I12 feet of sulphur
otal depth bored, $40 feet. All the
trata above the sulphur are more or
sss imprrgnated with petroleum tar
he great value of the sulphur stratum
an be readily appreciated when il ii
nown that III contains an average of ~ i
en- cent. Of pure sulphur. Below tile
llphur comes the gypsum, and not.
the Oil Company bored
ito it nearly 700 it,. it was not penntra- /
ID through. The qualities Of this mate
al as manure, and its use in the arts, ,
10 50 well known, that I viii not expa-
ate upon them here.
The Sulphur Company has done con.
derable work in the way Of sinking
70 extracting shafts, one go feet and
10 other l05 feet, placing on the
.ound all the paraphernalia az the iron
ork, erecting all the necessary build |
"a. erecting q large extracting engine
II saw mill, invoking an outlay 81 !
veral hundred thousand dollars.
The debris Of the extracting shaft.
Ink l05 feet, seems Co offer some ex- g
anation Of The cause and origin of the Q
Sand Hills. At 81 feet in this shaft, q