The Bozeman courier., 1927-11-25

ZAPPIN G tOreSted mountainous
M country, locating streams and
M lakes is a comparatively simple
job, for at least the surveyor has
general idea of what the country looks
like to the naked eye. But mapping the
bottom Of the ocean and its mountains"
and canyons" is a decidedly difficult
proposition.
OsitiOn.
DR.. Samuel Spitz, however, is the in
ventor of an instrument which is far
more accurate than the old lead line
and many hundred times as speedy in
locating the contours on the oceon bed
DR.. Spitz was a business visitor in Great
Falls recently.
DR.. Spitz's latest invention, however,
and the one which brought him to Mon
tana, is the petrolometer, a device which
is used to measure the depth Of an oil
sand, operating on the same principle
as the marimeter. DR.. Spitz is engaged
in testing land for the Allen Oil COM
pany on the Benton lake structure, ID
miles north of Great Falls.
In the last year, DR.. Spitz declares,
the petrOlOmeter has located 10 prOduc-
ing wells 1t is set forth in his biography
that the California Petroleum Developing
company of Los Angeles, which he Or
ganiZed and which is cOmmerc1allZ1ng
the service of the instrument for testing
oil lands, has 80 far made 152 tests and
the instrument has never failed. Wells
have been brought in within five feet
of their reported depth and none ever
showed a greater variance than 80 feet
of the depth recorded. They allow them
selves a differential depth of $50 feet in
order to cover probable variation in the
speed of sound waves through the vari-
Gus and sunGry substances encountered
in the earth"
Works Like Marimeter
It is possible to completely line up q
instrument
declares. 1t records the oil bearing sand
in the earth directly over which it rests
and not at a varied radius. Thus it also
records when on edgewater or a fault.
The petrOlometer works on the same
principle as the marimeter, DR.. Spitz
says, measuring depth by sound wave
and the returning echo. Saturated Oi
sand is the only substance in the eartf
which will not carry sound waves, III
declares, is that when the wave started
from the surface hits the oil sand it il
reflected back to the surface and pickeC
up by the microphone.
DR.. Spitz has already located severa
probable drilling sites for the Allen com
pany in 22-2 east. W. G. Morrow, a repre-
sentative of the company, has been gath
ering the data secured by DR.. Spitz bu
stated Saturday that he did not know
whether the company would drill any o
the locations spotted by the petrOlOmetel
The operation of the marimeter deptl
sounding instrument, according to Dl
Spitz, is very simple. The instrument cal
be placed in any part of a ship and b
pressing one of the buttons on it a SCUM
vibration is sent from the bottom of tn
snip by means of an electric hamme
striking against a steel diaphram.
A microphOne placed close by picks u
the original sound just produced an
relays it to the instrument, which
often placed on the bridge. This cause
an indicator to move around dial q
the sound penetrates through the waite
strikes the bottom of the ocean and re
turns in the form Of an echo.
Echo Does It
The echo is picked up by the micro
phone and relayed by electricity to tn
recording instrument, causing the ind
Gator Immediately to stop. The dis
tance the sound travelled is automat
Cally recorded by the instrument an
shown by the Indicator on the dia
measured in fathOms.
Thus DR.. Spitz has come to be know
as "the man who logged the ocean"
hasn't logged the entire ocean bed
probably never Will-but the instrumel
he perfected in his California laboratOl
has enabled the United States geodet
survey to accomplish the work.
Practically all of the perils Of ocea
travel and shipping can be eliminate
by the marimeter, it is claimed in q
excerpt from The Biography of DR.. San
ueI OplJZ, taken from the 'NaClOn
CyclOpedia of American Biography"
"By pressing buttons on the instr
ment," says the excerpt, after explain
ton Of its depth sounding operation
have been explained, either port or sta
board, whichever is desired, the micr
phones placed at the designated loc
tiOns on the ship will pick up the sour
vibrations of any vessel many miles aw;
at sea.
Banshes Many Perils
THE device thus affords means
ascertaining the proximity Of danger al
will permanently Danish all perils of ic
bergs or submerged rocks; prevent &C
lsiOn Of ships at sea, keep them safe di
tanCe from shore and record instantly
any time the depth of the ocean VIII
the ship is travelling at full speed"
The marimeter was first exhibited
the Marine show at New York in Mover
Der, 1922. It attracted immediate atte
tiOn was put to various tests and tod
is almost universally used on all Unit
States geOdetic survey ships for charti
the floors Of the ocean by the vessels
the United States navy and mercha
marine.
One Of the first tests given the /
Portland, Ore, to Spokane and tn