The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-11-16
Wa.Peka Oil Men Confident of
Their Territory.
]. ]. Crawford Tells of the Fa.
vOrable Indications.
OLD THEORIES ARE EXPLODED
Mississippi Limestone Much
Deeper Than Was Supposed.
A Strike Would Mean Much to
This City.

The Wa-Peka Oil & Gas company
has passed the dream stage and is now
a reality and a going concern. 1t Is
purely a Topeka concern and is incor-
porated under the laws of Kansas
with capital of $4,000. all treasury
stock. The company carries no over
head expenses and will have no paid
officers unless the project results in
production. 1t is an orga nization COM
posed of Wakarusa farmers and To-
company is not entirely sold and it is
hoped that Topeka men will continue
to lend the support which is necessary
in order to learn whether oil may not
be found which will place Topeka on
the map in even greater eminence
than has already been attained. or
all the schemes and propositions that
have been boosted here in the hope of
not only attaining success but also in
giving the city of Topeka greater
prominence none has yet been offered
which If successful would bring great
er renown to the city.
]. J. Crawford of Toronto. O., a man
with twenty-five years of experience in
the oil business, a man who also has
enough confidence in the territory to
spend his own money in putting down
a well at st. Marys. which is already
uOW Ia " a dCptIl Va 4sOUU lceI, ana VINO
says he is going to keep trying until he
either hits oil or decides it can not be
done, is in charge of putting down the
well at Wakarusa. The we'll is located
on the farm of George Neil. president
of the company, and is part of a tract
of $500 acres Of land upon which oil
leases have been obtained by the COM
pany.
Old Theory Has Hurt.
According to ]. J. Crawford this
territory has been neglected on ac-
count of data furnished by Haworth.
state geologist. upon Information
based upon a well which was dug at
St Marys in 1892. At that time Ha-
worth claimed and published in his
report that Mississippi limestone was
reached at a depth of 1871 feet Mis-
sissippi limestone is considered to be
the last word regarding the possibility
of striking oil and ordinarily after
reaching this stratum drillers would go
no farther. But Crawford has a well
of his own within a mile to the west of
the well put down at st. Marys, and
altho the well is now down to a depth
OF 1900 feet Mississippi limestone has
never been reached.
Further recent progress on Craw-
lords well indicates that they have
gone thru 500 feet of Cherokee shale
Oil men all agree that this stratum is
the oil bearing shale and if the strata
above contain the right ingredients for
forming oil. it will be found at the
bottom of this stratum above the Miss
issippi limestone stratum or any stratum
firmer than the shale which may &C.
cur between the shale and the lime
stone. The oil bearing shale has
been found here thicker than at Ell
dorado or at Augusta, where it is only
about 400 feet thick. The shale is
thicker here than it is in some of the
best oil districts in Oklahoma.
Wells dug at Eskridge Mcfarland
St. Marys. Eldorado and Augusta show
that the Mississippi limestone. which