Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-08-12

accommodation furnished by the leu
eral reserve banks to their members
and through the latter to non-members
The outcome has been. it is said. to
make the demands upon the federal re-
serve banks in connection with the
loan decidedly smaller than had at one
time seemed probable. The peak" OF
| the load borne by reserve banks was
reached on June %. Immediately after
which time the aggregate bills held
by the federal reserve banks amounted
. to $435, 1000. 900. as contrasted with
$145. O0o.0 900 about a month earlier.
The geological survey is coming be-
fore the people Of the country in .
new way, namely. that of
Wild.Cat protecting small investors
onwu from putting their saw
VII "eAAs' ings into wildcat schemes.
Very frequently new so-called oil wells
are established and frequently the sur
vey officials look into these alleged
wells to find out the true state Of at
fairs.
, Considerable interest has been mani
| Tested in the possibility of obtaining
oil in some parts Of southern Georgia,
| which several companies have been or
ganized to test. To aid in the develop
ment of this and other areas in that
region. II the conditions seemed to war
| rant it. the survey officials have ex-
| amined two areas in that part Of the
! state.
| While no complete report has yet
| been made. it is the opinion of those
experts who looked into the matter that
! there are no indications that the oil is
present in commercial quantities. The
surface indications. they say, may be
| classed as direct indications. Although
! it is not possible at this time. 1t is said.
to describe in detail the structure of
the areas considered. it may be stated
that the evidence of the existence of
"anticlinal folds is unsatisfactory and
! inadequate and affords no sufficient
ground for drilling for oil.
No direct evidence of the presence of
| oil in the underlying rocks, either as
| surface seeps or as "showings" in shall
low wells, was found in these areas.
Although the absence of such direct
evidence does not prove that oil is not
| present. it IS pointed out by the officials
| that it leaves the question Of the prob
able presence of oil in commercial
quantities more doubtful than If traces
could be found
Validating, or drilling prospect
wells for oil. in any new region. is. it is
| pointed out, as the term suggests.
financially hazardous. and although 1t
! is game in which the stakes are large.
the chance of success is proportionately
small. especially If the geologic struc-
ture or the surface indications are I'M
! favorable. No one should invest. it is
stated by these men. who know this
work so we'll, in "wild-catting." and no
| one should invest in It without due con-
sideration of the risk involved. The
drill, however, is the only instrument
by which the presence of commercial
pools of oil at any point can be definite
| ly proved.
| Much of southern Georgia. say these
men, who have gone into this situa-
! ton. is fiat and without significant ex
lposures of rocks. SO that it is difficult
| or impossible to discover favorable
places for drilling. In such areas the
discovery of oil that may be present at
any place must depend on the random
wildcat well. The only valuable result
| of drilling most wildcat wells Is
knowledge of the underground forma-
tons. and many wells obtain but lit
tie valuable information.
| In short. say these experts, the evil
dence now ohtainable as to the pres
ence of oil in these areas of southern
Georgia is meager. and drilling there is
pure and simple wild eating" with all
the hazard of drilling in new region
in which oil has not yet been discovered
| in commercial quantities.
| large and important field of work.
| including more engineering and field
! work than most
| Research Work for of the electrical
! Public Utilities. the bureau Of
| standards. is concerned with the vari-
Gus public utilities. particularly the
electric light and power. gas. street
railway and telephone companies. The
work includes % scientific and engi-
| neering research: (2) the study, of
public questions: (3) the preparation
of specifications regarding the quality
of public utility service; ca methods
of testing and inspection employed by
municipalities and commissions; Co
safety rules for use by the utility COM
panies to safeguard their employees
and the public. and t6l the collection
| and distribution Of information.
This work is natural outgroWth OF
| the research and testing work done by
| the bureau of standards for the public
utility companies for some years. The
| testing of electrical instruments and
meters, of gas lamps and the standard
employed in measuring the candle
power and heating value of gas. the
life-testing of electric lamps. the test
ing of instruments used in telephone
work and similar Investigations and
tests connected with the public utili-
ties have all involved to a greater or
less degree questions of standards OF
service In the various public utilities.
and hence the bureau gradually ac-
cumulated a considerable amount of
Information on these questions.
During the past year the work on the
standards for gas service has been &C
lively conducted along such lines as
the heating value. pressure. purity and
candlepow of the gas supplied and
the accuracy of meters used for meas
uring this gas to customers. together
with many problems of a technical ma
ture bearing upon the relations between
the gas companies and their customers
The demand for the bureaus assist
ance on these subjects. 1T is said. has
been evidenced by the many requests
coming from city and state officials
and from representatives of the vari-
Gus gas companies concerned
The work of this division of the bu-
reau has eliminated in model ordi-
nances and state regulations proposed
by experts in this work. These. it IS
said, have frequently served as the
basis from which local regulations are
drawn by officials in charge of such
matters. Such proposed rules have been
submitted by several state and many
city authorities for advice in advance
of adoption, and in other cases the
Interpretation of such regulations con-
corning gas quality has been submit
ted to the bureau by one party or an
other to controversies where standards
were involved.
Experiments on the substitution of
heating value for candlepower as a
standard for gas quality are now 60
ing on in order that additional tech
meal Information may be collected to
show the exact relation between the
usefulness of gas for practical appli-