The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1919-09-04
SOME DEEP WELLS
THE WORLDS RECORD
TWO DEEPEST WELLS ARE IN
THE UNITED STATES
OTHER WELLS.

during the last rev years the hope
Natural Gas company. and the Peo-
Piles Natural Gas company, both Of
Pittsburg, Pa. have been drilling deep
wells In northern West Virginia and
southwestern Pennsylvania to find
deeper oil-bearing and gas-bearing
sands. their object being to reach If
possible, the horizon of the rich Gin
ton sand Of Ohio. which Geologist
White Of West Virginia, states should
be found in this region at depths be-
tween 1000 and 5000 feet.
Drilling for Deep Oil and Gas.
The first exceptionally deep we'll
thus drilled, the r. A. Geary well. Of
the Peoples Natural Gas company Is
about four miles northwest of Nc
Donald, Pa. and about 20 miles south
west Of Pittsburg. The mouth Of the
well is about 1850 above sea level. The
well penetrates the Gordon stray sand
the last Of the usual gas sands in
this region, at a depth of 1871 feet.
From this point to a depth of $500
feet the strata penetrated are alter
nately "lime" and "slate" and from
800 feet to the bottom, 724S feet,
they are sand" and "lime' inter-
spersed with about go feet of rock
salt The second deep we'll was drill
ed by the Hope Natural. Gas COM
pany on the farm of M. o. Golf, in
northern West Virginia. It's mouth
is 1854 feet above sea level. The well
begins 200 feet below the level of the
Pittsburgh coal and penetrates the
usual oil bearing and gas bearing
sands, the lowest being the Bayard,
which lies at a depth Of 2210 feet. The
strata in the remainder of the we'll
are alternately "lime" and Slate"
The third deep we'll, the ]. H. Lake,
of the Hope Natural Gas company, is
about s miles southeast of Fairmont
w. Va. 1t is about 20 miles north Of
the Golf we'll and about go miles
south Of the Geary we'll. The mouth
Of the well is about 1900 feet above
sea level. The Bayard sand, the low
est of the gas sands, was found in
this we'll at a depth of 1850 feet The
remaining strata are alternately
lime" SLATE" and sand"
Four Deepest Wells in the World.
Named in the order of depth, the
four deepest wells in the world are
the Lake, 1879 feet; the Golf, 1885
feet; a we'll at Czuchow Germany,
734S feet; and the Geary, 724S feet.
The two deepest wells in the world
are therefore the Lake and the Golf,
the Lake SURPRISING the German we'll
by the large margin of 231 feet. In
comparison with these great depths,
other depths reached by wells or
mines sunk in the crust Of the earth
are rather insignificant. The deepest
mine in the world is shaft No. 3 Of
the Tamarack mine in Houghton
county, Michigan, which has reached
a depth of $500 feet. Other shafts of
the Tamarack company and of the
Calumet & Hecla mine, in the Lake
Superior region, reach depths between
1000 and 5000 feet. Three shafts in
the Prizbram silver mines, in Austria,
have reached depths of about 5000
feet. The Victoria quartz mine, at
Bendigo. Australia, is 1900 feet deep.
A number of shafts In the Transvaal
gold region of South Africa have been
IN nf on
Limits to Depths Of Mines and Wells.
The depth to which mining shaft
can be sunk is limited by the heat of
the rocks, as the temperature at
mile in nearly all parts of the earth
is so high that workmen can not live
in 1t, even with ventilation. The depth
to which a well inches in diameter
can be drilled seems to depend chief
ly on skill In drilling and strength Of
cable. The cable itself is heavy, and |
besides carrying its own weight and |
the weight Of drill, which weighs 1 |
or tons, 1t must bear strains pro- |
duced by vertical movements of the
drill, which may be so great as to |
break 1t at any moment, so that the
drill and a part Of the cable may be
lodged In the we'll In such a way that
they can not be removed. Exception
III skill Is required. therefore, in OPP
Grating the ponderous machinery used
IN drilling a well. The drill, which is
column Of steel about s inches In
and 40 or so feet long. bev-
lied to a v-shaped edge at the lower
md, Is attached to one end of the
able. and at some other point, de-
ermined by the driller, the cable is
attached to long beam, which Is OPP
rated In the same manner as the {
Walking beam # a steamboat. Merely
o lift the drill through the height {
determined by the swing Of the end Of l
he walking beam and to let 1t drop .
epeatedly would do no drilling. In I
rider to drill. oscillations must be in s
uced in the cable, such as those set n
p by attaching a light weight to a
suspended rubber band. A slight os-
Illation properly induced by the fin
err at the upper end OF the rubber
and will produce very large oscil-
tion Of the weight attached to its
'wsr end In some such way as this 8
he skilled driller produces oscilla- 8,