The evening times., 1901-06-25
GAS AND OIL N ONTARIO
II Description of the. Investigations
Being Made There.


Writing TO the State Department Of the
gas and giI discoveries near Ottawa, On
tario, Charles r. TuEpep- the United
States Consul at that place, says:
For several years, there has been dis
cussion Of work done in the vicinity of OF
tawa in the discovery of oil and gas As
the locality is only fifty-five miles from
the New York State line I give below a
description of the Investigations that are
going on. with a brief history of the Dor
irgs, etc, that have taken place in this
neighborhood.
Some thirteen years ago, Ottawa was
startled somewhat by the supposed dis
covery of petroleum at Ramsay's Corner,
ten miles from this city. One Mr.. John
Cunningham brought a bottle OF tarry
matter with a strong odor of petroleum,
which he claimed to have found on his
fathers farm. a sample was sent to an
assay Office In New York and the report
came that il was petroleum, fine SpeCi-
men of condensed grade
"A company was formed, which bored
to the depth of ,005 feet. Neither gas nor
oil was found; sulphurous water was
struck however, at $50 feet, and salt wa
ter at $50 feet This disheartened for the
time seekers for oil and gas about Otta-
wa Two years ago. Senator PoirieT, of
New Brunswick, undertook to make
thorough study of the geological and
stratigraphicaI conditions Of the Ottawa
Valley, aided by one Of the leading geolo-
gists in America
The counties Of Carleton, Russell, and
Prescott We're thoroughly investigated.
No less than $50 bore holes down to the
rock Out not into the bed roci0, at
Il 70
were made by an artesian-welI bore
through the everything clay (mostly blue
clay), and reliable map was drawn. The
bore hole of 1889. in the suburbs of OF
tawa, was examined, and it was found
that It had been sunk where the Trenton
limestone crops out uncovered at the sur
face a condition fatal to the finding of
petroleum. oil and natural gas.
AT Cunningham's s farm, the Trenton
limestone is covered by the Utica shale
and the Hudson River shale, and by 2G4
feet Of everything blue clay, remarkably
soft. The elevation of the surface is about
260 feet above sea level.
Senator Poirier started boring this last
winter, with a diamond drill owned by the
Ontario Government. No boring had ever
been made through the belt of the Hud-
son and Utica formations around Ottawa,
and from surface exposures. the geclOgi-
cal bureau OF Canada had come to the
conclusion that the maximum thickness
of the combined Hudson River and Utica
strata would not exceed $50 feet The
Ontario diamond drill had capacity Of
469 feet. At that depth the drill, on close
examina ton of the fossils found in the
cove, had not traversed the Hudson for
nation. At about 40 feet from the sur
face, a column Of water and gas about
thirty feet high spurtedL cut, but lasted
only twenty-four hours. The water, am
informed, showed positive evidence of oil,
being covered with an oily cream
''Deducting from ze9 feet the 20i feet of
overlying clay, the drill az Cunningham's
farm had only penetrated the rock 265-
feet. 1t was thought advisable to drill
from a point where the rock outcropped
at the surface. Such point was shown
to exist some three miles away. At this
spot, the stratum was found to be hori-
zontal and altogether undisturbed.
AT 450 feet strong pressure Of gas was
met, 200 pounds to the square inch, ac-
cording to the Official report The drill
could only reach q few feet lower, and
the boring had to be abandoned. At that
depth the drill had, upon examination Of
the fossils, barely reached the Utica shale-
The drill hole which is one and a
fourth inches in diameter has been left
unpIugged and has continued ever since
to give cut gas-rock gas without doubt.
The water that comes out is coated with
greasy matter, with spots resembling oil
Encouraged by these results, Senator
Poirier and his associates secured
pumping drill of 1000 feet capacity and
started boring a rev hole on Cunning
hams farm, some thirty feet from the
first one On the 31st Of May last. the
drill had reached $40 feet from the sur
face; that is, 336 feet in the bed rock The
driiIer had met with no phenomenon, ex-
cept n stronger jet of water and gas at
about 4S0 feet. which, however. did not
last There are appearances of a tarry
substance on the water.
on is expected to be struck at about
600 feet from the surface-that is at 100
feet below the rock, at the contact of the
Trenton limestone with the Utica shale-
In Ohio and Indiana. it has been found
at that horizon What is required
now is a thorough equipment Of drills to
properly test this BASIN
FuR0pE AND AMERICA