The Cairo bulletin., 1911-11-16
SURVEY GIVES
TIPS ON OIL
Uncle Sam Sends Out Rcs-|ss OF
Study Made In
Illinois
LESSONS FROM CARLYLE
Investors Are Warn,d TO Be
Careful Before Sinking
Their Money

given out an advance statement nas-
ed on geologic field work lust COM
pleted In cooperation with the Illi-
ncls Geological Review The pur-
pose Of this tip to the oil mon and
landowners is to divert raLdor3
Wild eating from unpromising ter
ritory to exploration in areas whose
rock structure and other geologic
factors hold oat greater promice FOL
inc occurrence OF oil pools The
statement is as follows:
Discovery OF the Carlyle, Illinois.
OIL field last spring and the intense
excitement attending it have aroae- |
% great interest in oil and gas pros
pecting throughout the southwest
ern part OF the state. An oil boom |
can be compared only to a gold rush |
Scfe is mad scramble for claims |
Or leases and many things are done
Dy sensible ron which later appear
Wild and foolish, Stories Of Happen
ines at Carlyle, in spring of 1911.
VIII lclg be told by those who were
present and felt the favar In their
Nd Is.
TIE extreme r'sans used to por
susia and coerce land owners. tae
w'id speculation in leases, tho
losses ard gains OF thouand3 Of dol
lars, and the Consequent demoral,z-
alton Of al other lines OF business
made Impressions which VIII not
fcoa be forgotten, And scasoned oil
o2eTatcrs paid fabulous prices, ten
twenty, ard ov1n thirty thousand
dollars each, for leases on farms sew
cTal niles from the nearest wall and
most such farms were fond to have
70 OIL under thesa.
Discovers Good Signs.
IN The summer just past, Il. w
Shaw Of the United States Geo!ogi
cal Survey. has been making a de-
tailed study Of a large part Of Gin
ton, Washington. and ST. Clair cour>
ties and has discovered several dla,
tHicts II addition to that at Carlyle
in which at least the structure Of
the rocks is such rs 70 favor the &C.
emulation Of oil aal gas, whereas
the remainder Of tae territory
probably coata'rs nothing but aalt
wa.or. report Of this work viii
be published just as soon as possible
Nv the Illinois Geological Survey
with which the United States
Geological Survey cooperatos and il
is hoped that it viii be ready fer
distribution b. the spring OF 1912
At present the results OF this Survey
have not yet been fully determined,
that will take many weeks OF study
hut in order to place within reach
Of interested parties such as is nov
scntable-informatio which It is
hoped win enable the operators tc
avoid unpromising territory-the
more likely places arc enumerated
below
The principal Known factors gov
crning oil and gas Accommodations
are % structura or lay of the rocks.
CD the presence and shape of
good reservoir or sand. and CD the
size and relative positions of bodies
of salt water
A curious fact in connection with
oil and gas accumulation is that wa.
ter through greater capillary at
traction can drive oil out Of certain
kinds of porous rocks The places
Tor oil Accommodations are thus in the
kinks. and corners of porous rocks
where the OIL is protected somewhat
IRON the pressure of the water
Furthermore, since oil aud GAS arc
lighter than water they commonly
take position in the uppermost
part of porous stratum whore such
a stratum Is overlain by imperyious
material such as clay. An intelligent
search for oil bodies must. There.
fore, take into account all the iteme
enumerated above
In southern Illinois tho sources O.
geologic information are Chiefly
rock exposures and well records bpt
to small extent also tho surface
features. Although the layers q
rock are nowhere exactly parable
and they vary considerably in thick
ness yet they are everywhere M
proxmately parallel and tha Law q.
the beds far below the surface car
be inferred by working out. from
rock outcrops ard well records, thu
lay OF beds at or naar the surface
With regard to the character OF Til
rocks far below the surface much
can be learned by studying thea
rocks in areas where they outcrog
at tho surface. Information on sail
water bodies comes almost entirel,