The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-01-29
OLD BATTLE SITE NOW
MARKS NEW OIL FIELDS

! holding them in store The strata Is
a few feet in depth. and then the dirt
begins again. The last Of these stratae,
| eight In number, he says, will be
reached at depth of $500 feet, &C
| cording to the best of calculations.
Each layer contains it's burden Of VAL
| liable oil. one layer with crude petro-
| leum. another with lighter mixture.
and so on down the line with a varied
| composition and quality
Seams Opened by Quake.
Near the bottom. the geologist has
] calculated, gas is formed, which OPP
crates on the body of lighter oils that
| are confined there. The reason for the
! appearance of the surface oil Is due,
he declares. to some earthquake effects
I on the land, which has opened cracks
| or seams in the soil. But for this, no
signs of oil would ever have been seen
| until wells had been sunk to the re-
quired depth.
| On certain pools on the land, II Is
stated on good authority, there have
been seen signs of much gas at times.
which is regarded by those versed in
such things as an indisputable sign of
the presence of oil in large quantities.
On the farm are two huge holes in tho
ground, some twenty feet In depth and
twenty or thirty feet across the top.
as symmetrical and as evenly planned
as II they had boon the work OF an
engineer They have been there for
20 many years the oldest inhabitAnt
rememb ers them as they are today. and
oil trees growing in their bottom give
further testimony as to the ago OF the
pitn The only explanation that can
be xtven. biologists again declare. are
that they are the product Of some gas
eous upheaval long ago. and further
attest the presence Of strong oil bear
Ing gas.
OF Great Significance.
The value OF this gas. and its signi-
fcance, is very great At the bottom
of the oil-sand stratae. whore the
finest and most valuable oils are to be
found. this gas will collect In large
quantities. when the drilling has
pushed through the harder surface
above them. and made an opening and
path for the liquids upward flow.
the gas will form "gusher." which
will indicate the highest efficiency
and power an oil well can attain. Then.
the owners say. oil will spout higher
than the highest tree on the farm. and
in an endless stream.
with it's own force the "gusher will
push the oil through a pipe line to a
ratfroad than runs not far from the
scene of action. where tank-eare VIII
carry 1t away 10 the refinery. In case
the railroads will not render tho prop
er concessions. the oil company man
aEer says, 1t Is only six miles TO the
James River and he will lay n pipe
line there. Then his products can be
emptied into tank -barges and carried
to Newport News or some other port
for distribution TO any of 4 number OF
refneries.
The Eastern Oil Company. who de-
clare their stock Is selling with great
rapidly, urge visitors to go and see
for themselves. Not only will the evil
dences of oil more than likely prove
amazing to some but the historic value
OF the surrounding country, with Its
hills and ridges pregnant with deeds
and scenes of the years long gone that
have filled pages upon pages of his
tory. 10 well worth the trouble and
the time required to make the trip.
they say.
Each point on the farm is gladly
and eagerly shown and its features ex-
little pool OF water. with its covering
% greasy. murky OIL is examined and
tested The advice and explanations
Of experts of nation wide fame are ex
posed 10 view. and all this is strength
ened By legend. by well-founded stor-
les. and by scientific facts that cannot
be easily contradicted.