Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-05-28

eight miles In width. as now d.er.s
by the seepages and springs OF natural Z
gas lheS were beginning to drill
there before the ovcrnment locked nm
the oil fields, and several claims had
already been taken out. These claims I
the government could not control. and
some work Is now being done upon
them In all. twenty-SiA different holea y
have been drilled, and In ten OF theso s
more or less, oil has been struck Soma
of the wells have been producing from
ten to twelve barrels per day. but tina
deepest we'll has been put down onty
sixteen hundred feet, and none has gone IS
deep enough to actually test the field.
iAkATAGA OIL FIELD
LITTLE FURTHER SOUTH
y little further south, along tho
coast. is another oil region This is
known as the Yakataga field. It lies
just beyond the Bering glacier, and ex-
tends TO the southeastward for a dis
lance of perhaps twenty miles The
field is marked out by the oil seepinc
out of the ground. The southern edge
OF 1t is ocean shore. The oil goes on
To an uneXplored and icc-covered re-
Gion tributary to Icy Bay. Some ia
found ooZinG out of the ground near
thc Tahtse River. and a number OF
seepaCes are reported all the way from
iakataga to Yakutat Bay, a distance )
of several hundred miles.
This YakataEa oil comes out for tho
most part IN series OF snort valleys
Most OF the seepagcs are small but
there is one on Johnston Creek that
is roughly estimated to discharge a.
barrel or more of oil day. No drill
ing has been done in this field and tho
district is almost inaccessible from the
ocean. as the landings are exposed to
the full sweep of the Pacific. The
chief trouble as to building a railroad
or pipe line is the Boring glacier,
which lies between Yakataga and tho
Berling River coal fields. That gla-
cier is said to be recetlinE, and in time
the field Will probably he accessible.
There is another oil field only n short
distance from Seward. on the west
shore of Cook inlet. The steamers to
Anchorage pass near it. 1t is almost
and not far from Hanna Lake. one of
the most beautiful bodies OF fresh
water In Alaska. This is the Iniskin oil
field. so called because II lies on the
shore of lniskin Bay, which is a part
OF the western coast of the inlet
The oil here is supposed to lie in a.
stratum OF sandstone. 1t is seeping out
of the ground. No drilling has been
done there since 1904. and before that
the field was only partially tested. One
we'll was sunk to depth OF 1000 feet
1t was producing gas and oil when the
water rushed in and shut off the OIL
y second we'll was abandoned at a
depth of $50 feet and third struck oil
and gas at 10 feet. The lniskin field
is easily accessible to steamships, al
though the harbor is sometimes blocked
by Ice foes.
The fourth oil field on the Pacific
seaboard is on the Alaska Peninsula i
that great hori: of land about 500 miles
long which forms the southwestern
most point OF the territory, ending In
the Aleutlan Islands. The oil has been.
found near Cold Bay. distance per-
maps OF about zoo miles from the Kenafs
peninsula, and Just across the wav
from the Island OF Kodiak. There are
number OF oil seepages in that feId
ana two wells were drilled there be-
lore the conservation scheme stopped
further exploration. The seepaees are
strong and in one place natural gas
nows OUT or the ground. There is a
good harbor at Cold Bay, which Is open
throughout the year This oil feId Z.
the nearest Japan OF those so far dia-
covered. $3.50
EXISTENCE OF PETROLEUM
KNOWN YEARS AGO
The fact that petroleum exists IN
NiaSka Is not new. The Cold Bay 6eld
was known TO the Russians as far back
as 1850. but no attempt was made,,to
investigate it; and thirteen wears aftsr3
we TOOK possession of the territory oil
was reported along the Pacific sea-
coast. IT is now about twenty year.$
since attention was drawn to the Kall
taiia and fakataga fields and the first
drilling at YakataSa was in 1901
little later a survey was mada fnr
pipe line from Contr oller BAY To tbnf
field. W 'hue
The first drillngs in the Iniskin 6e,d
were nj about the same time and a.
was TWO years later that the wells wera
sunk In Cold Bay. The work Of In
NestiEation was going on when the
california oil fields greatly Increased
their output. This took the life out
or me Alaska oil boom. and before II
could he revived the conservation craze
occurred and in 1906 all the petroleun,
lands OF the territory We're withdrawn
from entry
The discovery Of these seyere, oil
helds. at such wide distances anart
shows how little we know of Alaskas
The oil mound at Smith BAY is almost
1000 miles directly north of ths
point on the Alaska Peninsula, where
the petroleum is oozine out at Cold
BAY. The oil seepages along the pa
chic coast extend at wide Intervals
apart. over distance, east and west.
almost as great as that between Neuy
YORK and Chicago. Only about one
hith or Alaska has been carefully In
restigated by our biologists and there
are probably other deposits OF ne
trolenm in the wilds of the uneyplored
regions FRANK c.. CARPENTER.
IHkMuOC ODNr ~ or1