Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1900-04-25

appoint conferees In the absence Of ex-
press authority given 1t by the ruiz Of
the party.
coal Or AuD Gas.
Some time in the sixties,s vixen
|Spiece owned what Il now Zo0k's
mill on Licking Greek, in Milford
township, it was reported that coal
oil oOze had been discovered at
the head of the Spiece mill dam.
The writer was then Q boy or quite
a young man and one morning with
Ia young man friend, now Squire
Wertz, of McVeytown, Mifflin
county, walked to the place and
listened to the tales of people there
of the coal oil indications. That
morning traces of coal oil were en-
tirely wanting and we came home
impressed with the belief that il
coal oil indications, had been pre-
sent they had been placed there by
the hand of man for some purpose
best known to those who had dis
tributed the oil over the meadows
at the head of the dam. There
was a color of plausibility about
the reports in their connection with
the stories of salt licks that it is
said abounded along the creek from
that place down almost as far as
to Port Royal. 1t is a fact, that
q well was once drilled for salt ON
an island in the creek below what
is now Leonard's mill, and the bit
of the drill pole broke off and fast
tened in the hole and caused the
abandonment Ofthe work. That was
well on to one hundred years ago.
Salt it is said is a common accom-
paniment of coal oil finding, hence
the color of pl.usibility. At Part
ner's blacksmith shop the location
of deer salt licks within sight Of
the shop were pointed out. Lick
ing Creek itself was quoted as a
name derived from the numerous
deer licks along its shores. Infer.
entially all that talk was meant as
just that much proof of coal oil
and gas in the rocks deep below
the surface of the stream and val
ley. Wertz and the present writer
were skeptical. We had not seen
or felt or tasted salt, coal oil or gas,
and as seeing and feeling and tast-
ing is the naked truth we came
away as nearly a pairof unbelievers
as could we'll be found any where
within the limits of the valley.
But with all that we understood at
that early day in the coal oil trade
that it was not beyond geOlogi-
cal possibility for coal oil to exist
in the rocks of Juniata county, and
since then it has been demonstrated
that the same rocks that exist in
Juniata county carry coal oil and
gas in other parts of Pennsylvania
and in other states Of the union.
The man who has made the study
of trees an object, and even men
who have not studied trees know
that there is no use in going to a
pine tree to gather peaches from it.
Peaches don't grow on pine trees,
and pine cones don't grow on peach
trees. So it is with rocks, men
who study rocks know that in Ger.
tain rocks coal oil cannot he found,
no more than grapes can he gath
cred from thistles. Coal and gas
is found in rocks that underlie Jun
iata county, and doubtless at one
time rocks in the valley carried
both oil and gas, but by the break
ing of the rocks::it was possible for it
to escape by evaporation and other
wise. Has all the oil and gas evspOr-
ated is a question that has not been
fully determined. Some of the oil
rocks in the county come to the sur
face, of course the oil and gas they
once contained has long since disap-
peared. Other oil and gas bearing
rocks in other states lie deep be-
meath the surface in Juniata county.
There are barren fig trees, and pos
sibly there are also coal oil and gas
rocks that are barren of both coal
oil and gas. If there are no bar
rem coal oil and gas rocks there
should be coal oil and gas in Jun
iata county down on the Trenton
lime stone.
Recently the coal oil and gas
talk in Licking Creek Valley has
been revived. Coal oil and gas
indications, it is said have again
been discovered near the same
locality that Squire Wertz and the
writer visited a generation ago.
The indications are reported more
pronounced than at any previous
time. Occasionally there is con-
siderable of an oily OOze and some
times the escape of gas from holes
made in the mud by pushing poles
in the mud and drawing out the
poles is so strong and infiamable
that the gas can easily be lit with
a match and burns to the height of
several feet.
-
OeoloeicaA Tine.
An ingenious theory for the estima-
ton Of the time Of the various geo-
logical periods has been propounded BY
An engineer whose work m Weatppn