In the matter of tempering great care is to be taken. If too soft, the bit will not be sufficient for the work; the cutting edge will be turned, and the blunt surface battered and fail of accomplishing the object. On the other hand, if they are too hard the edge will be broken, and the reamer probably break and leave a portion of its steel in the well, to be a source of trouble and annoyance in carrying on the work. The practice of some, and their experience has been favorable to the plan, is to bring the bit, when properly dressed, to a fine cherryred color, and then to plunge it in water until it arrives at the proper tinge of blue. The reamer having been brought to the same color in the fire, is suspended by a rope over a bucket of water, permitting the face of the reamer to extend into the water about one-fourth of an inch, and suffering it to cool gradually. In this way the face or working portion of the bit is brought to the proper degree of hardness for the work assigned it, whilst the shank and part immediately adjoining the face are so annealed as to guard against fracture, in the repeated blows that accompany the operation of drilling.

As a general rule, the well is full of water almost to the surface of the ground. This, at first, results from the surface water flowing in from above, and afterwards from small veins of water that are pierced on the way downwards. This water answers an admirable purpose in carrying on the work. Were it not for its presence, the sand and debris of the rock set free by the drill would clog at the bottom of the well, and become as hard almost as when in its original position; but the water reduces it to a fluid, muddy mixture, that permits the drill to reach the rock, and at the same time

116

WATER VEINS-GAS.

presents it in good condition to be taken up and withdrawn in the sand pump.

In the journey through the rocks, there is not the monotony that might be supposed. Although it is a pathway through a sandy Sahara, yet, as in Africa, there is an occasional stream of water passed on the way, that adds variety to the work, and interest in its progress. These water-veins are found at all distances from the surface, and in the sand rock as well as in the dark shale. Nor is this mere imagination. The workmen has the practical evidence. Sometimes, after having worked the usual length of time, and bored the usual distance, he withdraws his drill from the well, and, to his surprise, finds all the implements clean and bright as though carefully washed in clean water. On applying the sand pump, he finds neither sand nor muddy water as usual; indicating that a vein of water has been tapped that has carried away all the sand and mud that had accumulated in the two or three hours' work. As the work proceeds, veins of salt water are always met with. Not a well has been bored to the depth of two hundred feet without meeting with this saline rock, or, at least, veins of very strong salt water. may eventually have upon the theories as to the origin. of petroleum cannot now be determined. The fact is plain as to its invariable presence in all boring operations. In some wells bored in Franklin, old salt miners assert that the salt water thrown out from a two and a half inch tube would condense into thirty barrels of salt per day.

What weight this fact

During the progress of the work carburetted hydrogen gas set free. in the sand pump, as it is brought

there is more or less This is first noticed to the surface with

its deposit of sand. Minute globules rise to the surface, lively and sparkling, like a glass of soda water. Sometimes this supply is so abundant as to cause an ebullition on the water of the well at its surface, resembling the furious boiling of a pot. This exhibition of gas was formerly considered a very favorable indication of oil, yet is by no means infallible. Still the eager workman is always on the alert for accompanying symptoms, and a flow of gas, or better still a vein of oil is hailed with as much satisfaction as were the joints of cane and banana leaves, floating on the water, to Columbus and his crew, as they approached the shores of the new world. Yet many another navigator situated as Columbus was, would have given over the voyage when almost in sight of land, with all these indications of success; or would have changed the course of his bark so as to have missed the land after all his anxiety and toil. So now many an oil seeker, with both gas and small veins of oil, wearies and becomes discouraged almost in reach of a fine vein of oil, as proved by the success of succeeding workmen in the same well; or perhaps more frequently he bores past the vein, leaving it but a few feet or inches to the right or left of his drill.

In passing through these oil veins their presence is indicated by the oil rising in the sand-pump, and floating upon the surface of the well. Sometimes they continue to manifest their presence while the work progresses; sometimes they disappear altogether, as in cases where a large vein of water is passed that carries. the oil with it from the well. In the earlier stages of the business, this "show of oil," as it is termed, was considered most favorable to ultimate success; but latterly it is not regarded as essential, as many first class

118

MUD VEINS-DIFFERENT STRATA.

wells have been discovered without the intermediate show; and, on the other hand, there has been many a brilliant show that has resulted in failure and disappointment.

A strange feature has been discovered in the process of deep boring, particularly in the Oil creek valley. This is what is termed a mud vein. It appears to be a thin stratum of mud or clay of a most tenacious character, very annoying to the workmen, and sometimes most disastrous in its influences upon his work. This stratum is found at a depth of about five hundred feet from the surface, and is usually about five inches in thickness.

As the work advances, a register is kept by the judicious borer of the different strata passed through, and also of the veins of water and soil met with, in order to the formation of an intelligent judgment in the matter of tubing the well. This, it will be at once perceived, is of the utmost importance. If the well is a success, it will be necessary so to arrange the tubing that all the surface water, and that which proceeds from internal veins, shall be entirely excluded. It is likewise necessary that the point selected for shutting off the water from above be in the smooth solid rock, else the tubing will be imperfect, and pumping a failure. This point can be ascertained from the register.

In connection with this register, samples of the rock at different depths are often preserved. This is done by putting a small part of the contents of the sand · pump upon a board, and noting the depth from which it was obtained. In this way a tolerably clear opinion can be formed as to the nature of the different strata passed through. If it were possible to pass down by removing the rock in solid core, as has been proposed,

DISCOURAGEMENTS-BREAKING DRILL.

119

such an opinion could be much more correctly and intelligently formed.

But, as might be readily supposed, this operation of descending a thousand feet amid the rock is not without its troubles and discouragements. There is many a "hill difficulty" on the journey that must be ascended, albeit the way is downward. Sometimes these difficul

ties are sufficient to appal the strongest heart, and wear out the most persistent energy. Sometimes they arise from want of caution in the workman at the rope, sometimes from an imperfection in dressing and tempering the drill, and sometimes, perhaps oftenest, from circumstances that can neither be foreseen nor avoided.

Sometimes a bit breaks, leaving a piece of hardened steel deep in the recesses of the rock. When the fragment is small it is often beaten into the sides of the well, and disappears forever, without much annoyance. When it is larger the difficulty is great, for it may not be possible either to beat it to pieces or extract it from its bed. Sometimes the bit becomes detached from the auger-stem by reason of the loosening of the screw from its socket. This difficulty may be aggravated from the fact that the workmen may not be aware of the displacement, and for hours be beating upon it with the top of the auger-stem. When this happens various plans are adopted to extract the truant drill. Sometimes in a neighborhood as many tools accumulate, designed for such accidents, as there are instruments in a surgeon's office. There are persons, too, who get a reputation for such skill in extracting implements from wells, that they are sent for from considerable distances, and demand extravagant prices for their services. These