THE DISTRIBUTION, PROPERTIES AND USES OF PETROLEUM.
the first historic records of petroleum is that of its use on the walls of Babylon and Ninevah about 2000 B. C. Pliny describes the burning of oil in lamps in the time of Nero, and for ages the seepages of crude oil have been drawn on and used by the people of Persia, Arabia, China and India.
In the United States, crude oil was first secured early in the Nineteenth Century as a by-product in connection with brine wells, but it was not until 1859 that Colonel Drake drilled the first well put down expressly for oil, near Titusville, Pennsylvania. This led to the develop ment of the Appalachian field and since then the search for petroleum and the development of new fields has spread over the continent, under the stimulus of the growth in variety and extent of internal combustion engines, until now the oil and gas production of the United States is greater than that of any other country, and has become one of its most valuable mineral re sources. The more important fields are those of the Appalachian district ; western Ohio, Indiana and Illinois; southern Kansas and Oklahoma ; the Gulf fields of Texas; and the California fields along the coast range. Alaska, Colorado, Michigan, Utah and Wyo ming produce small quantities ; and Utah and Wyoming especially give promise of a large prospective production.
In the United States the customary unit of volume for measuring petroleum is the barrel of 42 gallons, each gallon containing 231 cubic inches. Other countries measure it more commonly by weight, the English expressing it in tons and the Russians in poods, of approxi mately 36 pounds. The following conversion table gives the approxi mate relative values : The simplest method of boring a well has been that of turning an auger into the ground and this has, no doubt, been extensively used for ages for obtaining water, and is still occasionally employed in some sections for this purpose. The drilling of water-wells preceded that of wells expressly for oil, and in an old Dominican convent garden in France a deep well has flowed continuously since 1126. When rigid iron pipe had become known, driven wells were put down by pointing the end of a piece of pipe, boring small holes near the pointed end and then driving this pipe down by means of a sledge or drop hammer.
Such wells were found to be successful only for comparatively shal low holes and loose formations.
The churn, or free-falling tool method is thought to have origi nated with the Chinese centuries ago in their search for water in the arid districts. In this system, falling tools, suspended from the sur
face, drill the hole by impact and churning motion ; and adaptations and improvements of this method are used in drilling the large pro portion of wells sunk today.
The first American churn drill made use of a spring pole sup ported on a forked upright. Suspended from the end of this pole was a 'string' of solid wooden rods which were screwed together, and into the lowest of which was screwed the cutting tool. It was operated by several men who pulled the end of the pole down quickly so that the drill would strike a blow at the bottom of the hole ; the spring of the pole would then lift the drill, so that it might be pulled down again. In order to clean out the cuttings, the rods would be raised and unscrewed one by one, the drilling tool removed, and a sand pump put in its place. This was a long tube with a flapper bottom opening inward, which allowed the sand to work up into the tube, when the latter was lowered on bottom, and held it there while the pump was being pulled from the well.
This led to the Canadian 'pole-tool' system that has seen exten sive use till recent years, especially, as its name implies, in Canada. In this the spring pole was replaced with a walking beam. Steam was used for motive power, and the poles suspended from a 50-ft. derrick while being run in and pulled from the well. The poles, of wood and from to 3 in. diameter, usually consist of two rods spliced end-wise with iron straps and rivets, making a total length of 35 feet. At one end a band is riveted to the wood and its end is a threaded pin; the other end has a box into which the pin of the next lower rod is screwed. The walking-beam supplies the drilling motion and a chisel-point bit on the end of a 'string' of tools, similar to those in common use, does the cutting. While drilling, the string of poles is suspended from a chain which winds several times around a pipe that projects beyond the end of the walking beam. The chain runs along the top of the walking beam to a ratcheting device known as the 'slipper out' by means of which the driller is enabled to let out the chain when he wishes to lower the string of poles a few inches in order to make the bit strike solid ground on bottom. As in the spring pole method, the cuttings in the hole are brought out by means of a sand pump or bailer, run in and out of the hole on the bottom of the string of poles. This method has been quite successful in drilling some fairly deep wells, but is seldom used now.