The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-05-09
Depth to


Town and County. Trenton.
Observation-Disclosures ....."..t...... 54s
Brookville-Franklin ...........-...-... boy
Connersville-Fayette ............t.... aaSS
Cambridge City-Wayne ...."."......- es9
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. ..........-......s.. ~
Portland No. 2-Jay IVY
Decatur-AdamS
Fort Wayne No. 2-Allen.....".......l,4as
Auburn-DeKalb -.-l55i
Butler-Dekalb 2,090
North Vernon-Jennings .................. ge0
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...".....'......, sSeo0
ACKNOWLEDGMENT o0o
New Castle-Henry bo
Muncie-Delaware %
oSO
Hartford City-BIackford ................. 935
Observation-Disclosures ....,.".........- so
Biuffton-Wells .l,Ot9
Observation-Disclosures ................. 995
Columbia City-Whitley .......-........l 10Y
A~lbton-NoDle .'1'SS0
Jefferson-Clinton 696
JeffersOnvilIe-Clark 500
Columbus-Bartholomew ................. 900
S~helbyVille No. 1-Shelby..............- 50
Greentield-Hancock .................. $50
Anderson No. 2-MadiSon .............,... S4
Marion No. SGrant .....,............. 80
Lafontaine-Wabash ........"...... 600
Wabash No. Wabash ........"...... S8l
North Observation-Disclosures ..............l,I3 0
Observation-Disclosures 3o5
Observation-Disclosures .....".....-...... SUI
Broad Ripple-Marion ................... S64
Noblesville-Hamilton .................... S44
~Tipton-Tipton 9yI
Northumberland go
i z u-hld III -
Rochester-Fulton IL
Observation-Disclosures ,391
INSTRUMENTATION
Frankfort-Clinton
Delphi-Carroll 500
Observation-Disclosures lO4
Observation-Disclosures .............l43 0
Fayctte-TippecanOe ,IZS
MOnticellO-W hite 90
Observation-Disclosures so
Valparaiso-Porter ], 800
RockVlle-Parke y
FOWIer-BenbOn Jd0
Kentland-Newton to0
South Bend-St. Joseph. $50
1t is easy to discern that there is a gen.
orally northeasterly dip of the strata in
the northern and a general southwesterly
dip of the strata in the southern part of
the State. The wide extent of territory
included in the Indiana gas belt is at a
summit of a vast ridge running northwest
and southeast, and which slopes off rapidly
towards the northeast and southwest. This
ridge extends entirely across the State.
The largest accumulation of gas is found
along the summit of the ridge rather than
upon the sides, where an oil field of inn
portance will be opened up in time, unless
the State officials stop the progress of the
drill for oil along the gas belt. The ridge
itself slopes very gradually toward the
northwest. A straight line from Cam
bridge City, where the top of the Trenton
rock reaches the extreme limit of height
ia feet above the sea level-to Rensselaer,,
Jasper county, also on the summit of the
ridge, will pass almost directly through
New Castle, Alexandria, Upton, Delphi
and Monticello.
EARLY TRACES OF OIL.
Southeast from the gas area the Trenton
limestones rise gradually, until finally
they appear at the surface in northern
Kentucky. In the search for gas in the
early day oil was found, in nearly every
instance, in any of the above mentioned
wells where the Trenton limestone was
encountered anywhere from $50 to 200 feet.
A ~well-known oil inspector, who is very
much in touch will the Standard, has Wis
tied the Carver we'll, and the following is
his version of the we'll and its boom: The
unusual interest which has been stirred up
over the Northern Lima Oil Company's
we'll on the Carver farm has gone down
to some extent, as there is less speculation
and more fact in connection with the sub
ject. That the new find is a good one is a
settled fact, and about the only question
now open for debate IS whether the well
is a chance hit, that will only lead to a
rich crop of blasted hopes and shattered
visions of greasy wealth, or whether it is
a forerunner of the opening up of a large
area of productive territory in the gas belt.
Both sides of the debate can be heard
wherever the matter is discussed by oil
men. The well had no showing of oil to
speak of when first drilled in. 1t was
drilled to over one hundred feet in the
Trenton limestone, and got two streaks of
rather soft sand, with a hard streak, TWEEN
ty-fve or thirty feet thick, between. After
the shot it commenced to flow, and has
shown no signs Of stopping up to yester-
day, when it was noticed that the oil was
becoming somewhat roiley. The capacity
of the We'll was, as they always are in this
field, greatly overestimated, chiefly owing
TO a lack of tankage or pipeline facilities,
which prevented the owners from allowing
the well to flow, except by heads. The
pipe line has the we'll connected up, and it
is allowed to produce at the rate of about
ten barrels per hour. The oil is of an ex-
cellent quality for Trenton rock oil, being
clear up TO the time it showed a trihing
water, and being of a fine odor. It's spe-
ci1c gravity is 81. AS might be expected.
such a strike. when all parts of the Tren-
ton field are quiet. caused an influx Of oil
men, big and little, such as this quiet little
city of seven thousand people never had
and probably never will have again. Ev-
cry man was here to lease. Land owners
have the fever bad, and their ideas as to
the value of leases are drawn on the Monte
Cristo plan. Some farmers capitulated at
very reasonable figures, and most of the
territory within Gatling-gun-shot distance
Is about all taken. A small ten-acre lot
within one thousand feet of the Carver
well was the only piece within the Lima
Northern Company's we'll which they did
not have, and a scramble was made for it.
one company getting four and another six
acres. Wells are now under way on these
two small pieces, and their completion viii
be awaited with great interest, as upon
them hinges to a great extent the future
of the new field.
II ~