The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1913-02-12
DEEPEST WELL
IN ALL WORLD
Being Drilled I'm Washing
ton County, Pa.
HOLE NOW $3.50 FEET Deep
Reaching Down For New Oil
Records In Unknown
Rock Strata.
THE LONGEST STRING OF PIPE

What is to be the deepest well in
the world is being drilled by the
Peoples Natural Gas Company on
the Geary farm. in Washington
county. 1t is a short distance from
the famous Mcdonald oil field,
where the largest oil wells east OF
the Rocky mountains were drilled
more than 90 years ago.
A remarkable feature of the pro-
ject is that the well contains the
longest string of pipe ever put into
a hole in the ground. This is of
SIS inch special casing, and there
is 6,053 feet of it, 4S3 feet more
pipe than the total depth of the
deepest well previously drilled n
Pennsylvania. This well was drill
ed by the Forest Oil Company, near
Elizabeth, Allegheny county, and at
tanned a depth of $50 feet, where
operations were stopped by the loss
of three strings of drilling and fish
ing tools.
The Geary farm well is now the
deepest in the United States-6, 060
feet-and drilling in the ferrifer-
Gus lime. Barring accident, it will
be drilled to the Trenton rock. s.
900 feet, the lowest oil producing
formation in the world. With the
equipment in use, President John
G. Pew, of the company. believes
the chance is good for reaching the
goal.
Mr.. Pew and John B. Corrin yes
terday gave much interesting in
formation concerning the we'll,
which has been under way for Is
months. 1t is being drilled for in
formation, and records of progress
and strata are being kept by the
United States Geological Survey,
with the company's permission.
These will be of value to hundreds
besides those making the heavy in
vestment.
Formations were found regular
for nearly half the way, that is. to
the fourth and fifth sands, where
the Mcdonald oil was found Be-
low that it has been difficult to
identify the well known oil and
gas producing strata. There was
nothing to correspond with such
well known sands as the Speechley
and Bradford and Tiona and Cooper
Hill are wanting. The drilling has
been mainly in soft and broken
rock. Two serious caves-not cav
erns-have been encountered be-
low the Mcdonald sand. one OF
them Just above the ferriferous
lime. In oil and gas parlance a
cave is rock that caves in, filling the
hole. These very deep caving shales
have been less difficult to handle
from the drillers' point of view
than they might have been, be-
cause no water has been found be-
low the salt sand.
Several small gas puffs have
been found. The expansion of
these has interfered materially
with the taking of accurate tenn
peratures at the bottom. The geo.
logical survey obtained a tempera-
ture of 40 degrees Fahrenheit,
and the company had previously Sc
cured one nearly 30 degrees high
err. before the gas had cooled the
hole. These correspond nearly to
observations elsewhere and to the
accepted theories of temperatures
below the surface. They are nearly
the same as temperatures taken at
similar depths in the Simplon tun-
mel.
The largest flow of gas found is
the latest and comes from the ferrif-
erous lime. This was at more than
5000 feet and because II blew the
drilling water up the walls, the
black slate caved and the drilling
tools were stuck. A string of fish