The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1890-04-02

Y
some shallow. wells that had produce
fairly, about two and q hall miles up tn
river from Eureka. He caught Gre, ant
coming down, started tho Henry Cam
well, on tho Cook farm, a milo aboy
Eureka, and as far out In tho country
This was drilled for shallow oil 10 :
depth OF 900 feet, and would hoye mad
q five barrel well, but It's producer wa
not satisfied and abandoned It. In 1888
Johnston drilled another we'll OH til,
Cook farm, half mile nearer the river
ln'spite Of finding nice shallow show
tho well was drilled deeper. At so
feet Q sand was found that resemble,
the Macksburg sand, but from It's thick
ness, four feet, was deemed useless.
The next well, on Ruttencutter, 2 GO,
feet northwest OF tho Cook we'll, wa
drilled In 'S5, aud at tho same iepti
showed mine feet more OF sand, with
strong gas flow, but no oil. The ga
burned for three years md was Gnall,
extinguished through the filling OF tht
we'll @ith-l yariety,pf old rubbish, iron
tateel, stone, &c., by some over.interestel
person. u, ~ih q! |jl.'-j. fyt,i pa {
The next well, drilled in 1880 on thu
Ab. Smith farm. .QbQ feet northwest O
the Rnttencutter well, showed NJ tht
same, depth Il $3.50 feet, nineteen feet o
sand, with strong gas, and spray Of oil
A shot was putin her, but itspoiled her
and neither, gas nor oil was heard q
more .- Ts.t. - (,
5 THE ISLAND WELL, ,.H-l
But hero was n pointer. II, rs the
wells were. moved northwest tho sand
grew thicker, the gas stronger and the
oil irecr, why could not q well be located
Tor enough over to tiud stronger gus and
paying oil The experiment was tried,
and the Island well was the result. In
December, 1880, on the Brother Island,
owned by Mrs. Green, was started thiu
well. 1t was a full mile NORTH.
east OF the "Big John" With only
two bits in the pay streak it started
OF. at 450 barrels. What sho will do
when tthe drill goes farther into the
sand is a subject for, conjecture. Exper.
fenced oil men say 1000 barrels; con
servatives think 700; all Will know DO.
fore long. E lt:I1 II r. Es5r'i \ .rlii'ss 4
. Meanwhile operations were eoinc: !: on
In the neighborhood of tho "Big john
well. Mccullough wells Nos. I mud . and
Cochran No, 5 came in almost ZIP to the
500 barrel mark. The Eureka field was
a success! The upper country" man
was forced to take back his snoers and
put mp his money, il heiihad sufficient
regard Tor his own nocket.book to wish
asllce Of the new oil territory.
The result OF these strikes has been to
raise property to enormous prices, and
to bring oil men from Pit.sburgh,Wash
ington, Bradford, Macksburg aud all the
fields @in-the country locking to the
scene, cash in hand, to buy or lease
whatever they can get. laltt5ilf q
lg3 ! il IAN IMPORTANT FEATURE.
There is another feature OF this field
that is worth mentioning before other
divisions Of the subject ara reached, and
that .istthe. shallow oil. On both sides
Of the river, are good, paying shallow
wells, runuing ID three sands, 200, 400
and GOO feet deep. These sands range
from 80 to, Is feet ia thickness, and for
the , expense, pay; remarkably well.
Furthermore, they are more easily
located with accuracy than the deep
wells. and therefore lessrisky. Anum.
ber OF these wells havo been drilled by
by James Story on the Ohio side, north.
eastof the Island well, and are paying
very well, running from 5 to 20 barrels.
Two have been drilled few hundred
yards east of the Island we'll, on the
Smith and, Hendricks farm, aud both
show up nicely. W ~ ..is' & {
llow'THE BELT RUNS.
4 This oil belt, it is now decided, runs
northeast and southwest from tho Big
John we'll to the Island well, and thence
over the river into Ohio, how far no one
eau tell but it is reasonable to suppose
that it will extend some distance. Oper.
ations will be commenced in both direc::
tione, and the past promises largely for
the future. In Ohio the best develop
ments arc looked for.
The position OF the Island well in the
river, opposite Belmont, and the direc-
7tlon OF the belt 60 10 prove this, and
Pittsburgh men are bidding high for
property on that side. A derrick is now
going up on the Froedel farm In Ohio,
on the river bank, lining almost exactly
with the Island and the Big John. {
4& Prophets say it will be larger than the
Island well. Another well will shortly
be- located on the O'Neil farm directly
across from the. Island, and west Of the
supposed belt. Two more will be placed
on.ths. Greenwood and Hayes farms, re.
speetiyely, north OF the belt. These
fotir wells will determine, the direction
taken; by the line through Ohio, and
will be the base Of future onerations
On the West Virginia side six wells are
drilling, and nine rigs in process OF erec
tion; all within one and one.half miles
all save three Of the drilling wells with
in radius OF half mile, taking the Is
land as the center. Most Of these loca
tions are between the two gas wells ant
the island, and it is believed that nj
Twill be moro or less successful. ;i0l
4 WHEELING OPERATORS.
Among Wheeling gentlemen inter
ested IRE G. w. Brockunier, Of the Ma