Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-12-14
AN EXPERTS OPINION,

Value of the Strike to the City-Result of
a Test of the New weIl-A Monument
to the New Era Thought to be Opened.
The following opinion OF an oil and gas
expert is given as showing the possibilities
extended by the strike in the fifth sand:
But five wells have been drilled deep
enough around Pittsburg to get this sand.
They are: First, Painter g. Sons completed
3 well at their mill, West Carson street Just
across the river from the Exposition, No
vember % 1884 and at J, $50 Ieet, obtaining
s feet OF medium quality of sand, in which
there was little gas. Second, Jones &
Laughlins drilled their No. l well at the
American Iron Works, Tweuty-f tn ward,
completed to 4 depth OF 5000 feet, April 10,
1885, and al :, ,034 feet (Which would be the
same level as the Exposition sand, allowing
for the difference in elevation,) got leet
o! fine, white sand, but barren. Third,
Westinghouse No. Z. at Homewood,
drilled in 1885, got about % ieet OF
the same sand, close in texture, and
therefore small in volume, but which is still
making some gas into the Philadelphia
Company's mains. Fourth, in the same
neighborhood, in the we'll which Mr.. West
inghouse drilled to 4, 700 feet, about 20 feet
of this same sand was found, with some
show of gas, but not enough to be of any
value; S21 feet below this sand, at 5000 feet,
they got about 20 feet of reddish brown
sand with a small show of both oil and gas.
Fifth, Thomas Liggett on January 5, 1890,
got into the top OF what is the same sand
on the Stoner farm, Penn township,
about three miles east of the city line, on
the Pin-Hook anti-clinal; the tools were
lost, and, alter fishing for the same until
October. they finally abandoned the Job and
sold the we'll 10 the Philadelphia Company,
who are now using it. The well, while
small in volume. is making the same amount
OF gas now that it did when struck.
One Thing That is Settled.
It has been settled beyond doubt that this
is the same stratum which is known in
Washington county as the fifth sand. That
the stratum underlies Pittsburg and vicinity
has also been settled by the few wells
drilled deep enough to reach it, and with
the thousands of acres under which it is
now known to exist, the probabilities of
future gas supply Tor the Gas CITY are in
deed very great. What the result of further
drilling on the Exposition well may be, no
one can tell. They nave already sufficiency
for their own uses and some to spare,
and further drilling may develop a large
well, hut whether it does or not, the fact is
demonstrated that the best gas-producing
sand now known underlies the city and
vicinity, with gas in paying quantities, and
no doubt Iurther DEVELOPMENT will lead to
the finding of prolific deposits, the benefits
OF which will be incalculable to the in-
dustries of Pitisburg.
The caloric fluid was tapped Friday night,
at u o'clock, in the fifth sand, at depth of
l $50 feet. J. c. Boyce, of the Oil Well
Supply Company, by care ul and scieu-
an ,atp ,lc hx-
PiJtot's tubes, as recommended by Prot.
Robertson, of the University of Ohio, DEM
1strated the fact that the we'll in its pres
ent status is producing 547 ,6l3 cubic feet
dav, which, according 10 Mr.. Boyce's calcu-
lation, is equivalent to % TONS OF coal, or
enough gas TO run % or 80 large stationary
boilers.
An Eight-Foot Vein of Coal Found.
AT LAO feet the gas, or salt sand, was
struck, and at !, 600 the centennial sand was
struck. At $50 feet an eIght-ioot vein OF
coal was also found.
The record of this we'll is without doubt
the most elaborate and complete of any we'll
drilled since the first inception Of the
great oil and gas industries, samples
having been taken every ten feet of
the geological formations from the
time tue well was begun up to the present.
These samples nave been placed in glass
Jars in rotation in the Exposition building,
where they will in the future be one of the
interesting features OF the exhibition. and
will remain as monumental to the new era
which it will likely open up to the great
manufacturing industries of Pittsburg.
Too much credit cannot be ascribed to the
Oil Well Supply Company for its gener-
osity and magnanimity, to which the dis
covery is due. II. MCC.