The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-12-26

ped by humon ingenuity has wrought
Its greatest freak. To the expert 1t does
not seem possible that for thirty years
the spot was passed by when every
sign outwardly visible pointed to the
existence Of great oil or natural gas
deposits in the immediate vicinity.
such as were eventually found.
These two products Of nature. oil and
gas, are SO intimately associated that
they are practically inseparable. They
are found In the same belt, in the same
sandstone deposits and under Identical
conditions. It may in fact be set down
as a positive rule that there is always
some quantity Of gas where oil Is
found, but this rule does not hold good
with the same regularity the other
way, some Of the large gas fields show
ing no trace Of oil. Personal observa-
ton strengthens the view entertained
by many biologists that petroleum is
liquIfied natural gas. and soft coal
solldiaed petroleum Soft coal Is en-
countered at different depths through
out the oil belt, and appears to be
simply an older product Of nature.
1t can be seen that previous to such
knowledge as could be obtained
through geology and experience the To-
eating Of well must necessarily have
been a mere matter of guess work. To-
day, while positive knowledge OF the
value of a prospective well must still
await the result Of drilling, the results
can be fairly well forecasted by care
full study Of surrounding conditions.
The great oil fields of the FIRST thirty
years were those Of venango, Mexican
and Butler, counties. in northwestern
Pennsylvania, and with the exception
Of that Of Bradford in Mexican coun-
ty, they were all badly spotted" That
of Bradford, however, was very reg
ular. and large in extent. containing
over 10000 producing wells. with less
than 100 dry holes, The sand found at
Bradford has never been found to be
productive In any field since. It was
Of a close, hard formation, but after
being ''shot" was very productive. This
hardness OF the sand accounts for the
large number Of wells drilled there and
their lasting qualities.
In the last ten years the Mcdonald
field, about fifteen miles west Of Pitts
burg, has had no rivals In the size Of
Its wells and in that respect far sur
passed anything discovered before, the
wells on the Kelso, Matthews, Sturgeon
and other farms producing. some Of
them. from I'VE to twenty thousand
barrels Of oil day. While spotted"
In the sense of having some hard
strealSs of sand on which were found
only light wells. this field had COM
partlvely few dry holes. 1t also en-
joyed the unusual advantage of pro-
ducIng oil in two different sands. In
some parts Of the Geld the Gordon"
and "hfth sands both were productive.
The process of shooting" or tor
pedoIng wells consists in lowering into
the well a shell containing from ten
to one hundred quarts of nitroglycerin
at the depth Of the sand, after which
It is exploded, shattering the rock and
creating large "cave" or exposed sur
face in the rock. This together with
the powerful suction caused by the
shot, increases the production Inn
mensely Cor a few days. but 1t results
in no permanent benefit to the wells.
1t is being resorted to less and less,
except where the sand is very hard
or the vicinity orsother wells compels
the operator to get all the oil possible
out OF his we'll in the shortest possible
time, for fear his neighbors will drain
the sand in the vicinity of his own
well, which is done when wells are
close together.
The shooting of a well, especially a
large one. is most picturesque sight
the oil after the shot flowing In solid
column $50 feet high for many minutes,
and often throwing out white pebbles
as large MS hens egg from the sand
below. 1t Is also most dangerous oc-
cupatIon, the slightest accident setting
off the explosive before its insertion in
the well meaning the total humiliation
of anything or anybody within radius
of 800 feet.
In the slstersville field very little
shooting was done. the sand being
usually OF n loose formation and the
presence of water along with the soil
rendering the process Of shooting much
more difficult. sN
The discovery of this aeld was Of a
most peculiar character. Early In 1890
a moor man by the name OF Mooney
who had saved a little money by hard
work as a helper on drilling wells. de-
termined 10 drill wildcat" well on
Polecat Run, a mile above town, with
his saylngq. A wildcat" well Is one
far removed from producing territory
which In this case was nearly nifty
miles distant. After drilling his well
into the sand, It made one large flow
of oil. lasting ten minutes, then, on
drilling deeper through the thickness
NJ the sand. salt water but no oil came
In great abundance. Nothing daunted'
Mooney put the well to pumping ana
though scarcely able to buy food kept
II going against the advice OF old OPP
orators for ten months At that time
the salt water had greatly diminlshe :,
all