Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1912-08-21
PETROLEUM In MAINE.
TRACES OF OIL IN HANCOCK
COUNTY.
BANGOR MAN WRITES AS TO POSI-.
BILrTY OF OIL HERE IN PAYING
QUANTITY.
From the Bangor Commercially

A home opposition to the Standard Oil
eompany-some people say SO, and there
Ia large majority who pooh-pooh at such
a proposition. For several years rumors
of oil being found in Aurora have been
common. Small walls OF a dark colored
oil with disagreeable odor have been
exhibited in Bangor by different parties
claiming Great Pond and, the town OF
Aurora as being the location from which it
came. While there has been more or less
mystery connected with these reports, the
writer, on December q, 1909, wrote to
Frank e. Mace, OF Great Pond, concerning
these reports. The following is a copy
of his reply:
GRgAr POM, ME-. Jan. is, 1902
Mfr. Gurus r. Stackpote, Bangor, Me-;
Your letter of December 81, 1909, at hand,
making inquiries in regard TO oil In the town
of Aurora. There is more or less oil in Diff
ferent tracts OF land in Aurora, as the springs
and brooks are covered with scum at some
times Of the year, but don't know how much
the percentage is.
ANY information I can give you will be
oheerfully given.
Yours very truly.
FRANK e. MACE.
II would seem by Mr.. Mace's letter that
an investigation was invited and that he
would have no trouble in showing the
goods. Herbert A. Wentworth, night
ticket agent at the Union station, Bangor,
in 1910, informed me q short time ago that
he had located the place where oil is to be
found; that Mr.. Cuuard, carpenter and
builder OF Bangor, who had made nume-
rous trips to Aurora, was soon to go with
him: he had seen the oil and it was surely
petroleum. Al. Bachelor, at that time
with the Fairbanks Hardware Co., has
sample of this oil given him by Aurora
people. Even the farmers of that section
claim that at certain times the smell OF Pc
troieum oil is very pronounced.
CONDITIONS FAVORABLE FOR OIL.
Now let us consides the conditions ia
voraele for petroleum deposits in all coun-
tries as shown by our leading biologists,
and see IL we have any formations or indi-
cations like those found in Aurora or vi
cinity to warrant any investigations
meaning an investment OF several hundred
or possibly thousand dollars.
smell OF oil by the farmers or bottle
OF oil purporting to come from this dis
trict does not absolutely denote that pay
ing "oil zones" can be reached. Our best
authorities claim that while the presence
OF oil under ground can be proven by
drilling, certain indications favor the ac-
cumulation Of petroleum.
Oil is found in large quantities in strait
fed or sedimentary rock such as sand
stone, shale and limestone. Some dis
tricts are rich in fossils and organic mat
ter, such as the remains OF fish, crus-
taceans, seaweed and diatones. Diatones
are microscopic plants in some water,
large beds OF infusorial earth or diatom-
Gus earth being made up OF hard salifer-
Gus skeletons or cases. For aminifers, are
miniature salt water animals which build
cells of lime and have contributed largely
to the formation Of limestone.
Bitumen may also be found in this
strata. The larger the thickness and the
more abundant the organic remains, the
larger may have been their possibility as
sources Of oil. Bitumous matter is being
widely distributed, while accumulations
OF petroleum are relatively rare, and fossils
may abound in regions where oil does not
occur. The same might apply to coal.
The character and position OF the strata
must always be taken into account, for
even though the original sources we're more
than adequate, oil can accumulate only
where the conditions are favorable; evil
IDENTIFY, there must be porous beds to act
as reservoirs, impervious barriers to con-
Hna he oil for ha n
the oil from its source. The porous beds
must consist of such material as sand,
gravel, sandstone, certain limestone and
zones of fractured rock, W lille wet shale,
clay and fine grained sand and sandstone
saturated with water are probably among
the.most effective barriers against the pas
sage Of petroleum. Owing to the move
ments OF the earth's crust, folds are COM
mon in strata, and these folds may either
be in the form of arches, when they are
known as anticlines, or they may occur
as troughs, or synclines. Rocks may be
dry or full of water, and petroleum, being
lighter than water, naturally accumulates
above the water in the same strata.
Consequently, where rocks are over
saturated with water, the oil, II present,
will be found in the snticlines, or in the
level portions Of the strata. In dry rocks,
on the other hand, the oil may be at or
near the bottom of the synclines or in
beds which do not slope sufficiently to
overcome friction, while in porous rocks
partly filled with water the oil is apt to
accumulate just above the water, particu-
iarly in level parts Of the strata.
Among the surface indications OF Pc
troleum are oil springs and seepages,
asphalt deposits. gas Jets and outcroppings