The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-09-19

barrels stored on the surface in these
large reservoirs. The oil Is pumped
from the small tanks at the wells to the
stations and from them not only into
the big tanks, but by series Of sta
tions. situated about thirty to forty
miles apart. to the seaboard, thus saw
ing vast sums of money in barreling
and transportation.
For a number of years Oil was bar
relied and sent to Pittsburg on flat
boats from Oil Creek, a distance Of 132
miles. Later, refineries were built along
the creek and large iron tank cars con-
structed, holding about sixty barrels,
on which the refined product was con-
veyed to all parts of the United States
and to the seaports for export to Eu-
rope. Now large iron tank steamers
carry the export oil across the ocean.
GEOLOGICALLY CONSIDERED.
The geological strata in which oil is
found consists of conglomerate states
and shales. Conglomerate rock is
made up of pebbles mixed with more or
less sand and all cemented into a close.
hard rock. These pebbles vary in size
and quality in various localities, being
usually of quartz, though some times
sandstone, and they are found from the
size Of pea to that of goose egg, and
occasionally larger. They have evil
IDENTIFY been thrown together in their
present shape by the action of water
tumbling pushing and rolling them to-
gether. The conglomerates of the To-
cation mentioned belong to the vesper-
tine formation of the Pennsylvania
survey. 1t is found In stu in it's native
bed only upon the tops of the highest
hills; but pieces Of 1t which have been
broken off by their own weight, after
the softer rock beneath had been de-
composed and washed away, are found
scattered over the hillsides. sometimes
in immense blocks. which are so en-
during as to defy the action of the ele-
ments and bear record in their ruins
of the former conditions and changes,
which their more yielding neighbors,
the sandstones and states, could not
withstand.
AS found here it is not coarse. the
pebbles being rarely larger than hick-
ory nuts, and they become smaller as
we trace this formation westward,
while the opposite will hold good as
we 60 eastward. The accompanying
vespertine sandstone and states also
becomes finer in their textures, and the
whole formation becomes thinner as 1t
spreads westward from 1900 feet on the
Susquehanna river to not more than
100 to $50 feet on Oil Creek. From this
.l.t . l,r tnx yl a
westward and a corresponding change
in the texture from coarse to fine we
are led to believe the material from
which these rocks are composed was
derived from a continent lying on the
east or northwest of the Appalachian
ranges, previous to their upheaval, and
that these materials after being
brought down to the sea through the
channels Of rivers flowing west and
southwest were distributed to their
present location by the powerful ocean
currents that were undoubtedly subject
to laws similar to those which govern
our present great rivers to the sea.
AN ILLUSTRATION.
For familiar illustration take a long
mill pond or lake with a creek flowing
into 1t at one extremity and out at the
opposite, the creek will bring down, es-
pecially at the time Of a flood, large
quantities of loose stone, pebbles, sand,
black mud, vegetable mould, and blue
mud or clay: and it will dispose them
over the bottom of the pond or lake In
the order in which we have named
them, that is, at the upper end of the
lake. At the mouth of the creek will
be found the large stones, then the
smaller ones or pebbles; then, as the
current becomes less, the black mud
was deposited, and finally the blue
clay, which the water held longest and
carried farthest: and the beds will be
found to become thinner as they be-
come finer in texture, thus correspond
ing to the conglomerates, sandstones.
states and shales of the New York
state and Pennsylvania formations Of
the second series.
1t will be readily inferred from the
above that a sandstone is only q very
fine conglomerate: also that black car
bonaceous states may be attributed to
vegetable origin; and, that argillaceous
shales, or the soapstones of the oil
regions, are derived from clayey forma-
tions. The vergent series of rocks so
called by Professor Rogers is immedi-
ately below the vespertine and it CORE
spends to the Chemung and Portage
groups of the New York state geolog-