The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1910-12-27
Some OF The Land Located
In Knox County
Ohio Fuel Acting As Agent
For [he Standard
Leases Much Of The Terri.
tory In This Section

The following item from the Pitts
burg Gazette Times of Thursday
shows that the Standard Oil Company
has leased about all the available land
in Ohio for gas and oil purposes and
that some of the territory is In Knox
county:
Millions of dollars are to be spent
by the Standard Oil Company for the
development of an entirely new oil
and gas field in Ohio. 1t Is said that
it promises to exceed in richness any
field that has been discovered in many
years in the eastern section of the
country.
With this announcement has come
an interesting story of development
Of oil lands which for two years has
been kept as quiet as possible, and
only because of the Independent pro-
ducers getting into the field and tax.
ing up leases of their own and fore
ing quick action ON the part of the big
ger interest has the matter been
brought to head. 1t took but few
months then to get agents into all of
about II counties extending from Lor-
ain county on the north to Hooking
county on the south and gather up
leases, ranging somewhere between
100000 and 100000 acres, and these
agents are still at work.
Independent operators have been at
work also. Roswell d. Crick of Pitts
burgh is among the independents who
have secured large holdings and his
include more than 1000 acres in Rich
land and Crawford counties.
The sudden activity in this section
of Central Ohio is the result of re-
markable discoveries as to the loca-
tion of oil and gas rock and sand.
For years it had been supposed that
the new field was barren of either oil
and gas. In fact, the oil men have all
along held that there was an arch d.
sand formations in Ohio, which ex-
tended from Sandusky on Lake Erie
to Cincinnati, and inasmuch as the
producing formation dips down about
20 feet to the mile from the northern
portion of the state, it was considered
impractical to search for oil in the
lower counties mentioned.
About two weeks ago some inexper-
fenced farmers in Fairfield county,
near Bremen, started drilling for oil in
that territory and secured a good
producing well. At first this was
thought to be freak well and knowl-
edge Of 1t was kept secret by the few
men interested. But some other wells
followed and each showed similar re-
suits. Then the Standard Oil inter-
ests quietly stepped in and bought the
production of these wells and covered
the entire district with leases. In the
meantime Mr.. Crick started to investi-
gate and he began to ignore the old
| time belief that there was no produc-
ing sand, practical Of development,
east of the geological arch in the GEN.
ter of the state.
| In the old Lima field, in the north
western part of the state, it was
found the drillers had been forced to
go through what is called the Clinton
rock, which was barren of gas and
ell, to reach the Trenton rock, where
much oil and gas was secured. In the
Lima field the Clinton rock lies near
est the surface and the Trenton sand
below 1t. Beyond this dividing arch,
however, it was found that the Clin-
ton rock at greater depth produced a
heavy grade of oil and considerable
gas. The logic of the situation then
forced itself on Mr.. Cricks mind, that
if the deeper the Clinton sand went
the richer it grew, the same rule must
work with the Trenton rock under it.
Hence, by drilling down deep enough
in the eastern part of the state and
beyond the dividing line of the arch,
the Trenton rock was, he felt sure,
promising of a richer production of oil
and gas than the best of the Clinton
rock.
| At first this reasoning was scorned
by the Standard interestn, but now
they have drilled good well west of
Columbus in the Trenton rock and
considerably east OF the dividing line.
When this was done the Standard