USA > Ohio > Auglaize County > History of western Ohio and Auglaize County, with illustrations and biographical sketches of pioneers and prominent public men > Part 33
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"To remove the paraffine, the simplest plan employed is to shut in the well; that is, to turn a stop-cock on the tubing so that no gas can escape for twenty minutes or an hour, or as long as it is thought safe, there being danger of too great pressure lifting the tubing and unseating the packer. When it is judged that sufficient pressure has been obtained, the cock is quickly opened and the rush of gas which follows will usually throw out much of the paraffine. Sometimes it is shot out in lengths of a few feet, looking like huge candles, and again it is pushed out, falling in long coils upon the derrick floor or into the tank.
"If the gas pressure fails to expel the paraffine, the tubing must be withdrawn and disjointed. Steam is then blown through the joints until they are thoroughly cleaned, when the tubing is returned to the well.
"No care is taken to save or utilize this crude paraffine. Usually it is shoveled out of the derrick, and finally, softened by the sun, it soaks into the ground.
"After the tubing is all in, the sucker rods, with working- valves on lower end, are lowered into it. The sucker rods are of hard wood, octagonal or round, with a cross section one and one-eighth inch in diameter, and are twenty-or twenty-five feet in length. On each end iron joints are riveted to the wooden rods, and steel joints welded on the iron by which the rods are screwed together.
"On the upper end of the sucker rod is put the polished rod which passes through a stuffing box screwed into the top of the tubing. The pipe leading to the tank is screwed into a T, just below the stuffing box. The top of the polished rod is fastened to the end of the walking beam by an adjuster, by which the rod can be lowered or taken up, bringing the working valve to its proper position."
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HISTORY OF WESTERN OHIO
The total cost of a pumping well, 1,200 feet deep, is esti- mated as follows :
Rig, complete $350
Boiler, 20 horse-power 450
Engine, 15 horse-power. 210
Drilling, 1,200 feet, at 75 cents per foot. 900
Casing, head, etc. 250
Tubing and pipe to tank, 1,300 feet, at 13 cents. 169
Shot, 80 quarts, at $2.00 per quart 160
Tank, 250 barrels. 100
Teaming, connections, tank-cover, etc. 59
Sucker-rods, pump, polished rod, stuffing box
100
Total $2,748
Engine and boiler can be sold at.
500
Net cost
$2,248
PRODUCTION.
In the Auglaize county fields a well is rated large which starts to flow at 200 to 250 barrels per day, and at the end of a month or so has only settled to fifty or seventy-five barrels.
TANKS AT WELLS.
"Each well is provided with one or two 250-barrel wooden tanks. The tanks are circular, and a little smaller at the top than at the bottom, so that the iron hoops can be driven down as the wood shrinks, and the joints begin to loosen. These recep- tacles are eight feet high and sixteen feet in diameter at the bottom.
"The oil flows into the tank through the cover from the pipe leading from the well. Ten inches above the bottom is inserted the two-inch pipe through which the oil is pumped into the line of the transportation company. Close to the bottom is a wooden plug to let out any water coming in with the oil from a pumping well.
"In cold weather the oil becomes thick, and to thin it and allow the water and sediment to settle out, it must be heated before it can be run into the line. This is done by steaming, best by a steam coil; sometimes, however, by blowing steam directly into the oil and drawing off the condensed water below.
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AND AUGLAIZE COUNTY
"When a tank is connected to the pipe-line of the transporta- tion company, and each time afterward that the hoops are driven, it is carefully measured and its capacity computed for each one- eighth inch in depth. Then at any time, by measuring with a stick marked off into feet, inches and fractions, called the gauge- pole, the contents of the tank can be known.
"From this way of measurement, it has become customery to speak of a well's production in inches. In ordinary conver- sation a man will say that his well does three, five, or eight inches, as the case may be, the inch being understood, unless otherwise stated, to mean one inch in depth in a 250-barrel tank, which is about two and one-half barrels, or more exactly, two and three-quarters barrels at bottom of tank, and two and one- quarter at top.
"When the oil has been run into the lines of the Standard Oil Company, the exact amount is calculated from the gauger's memorandum, allowance being made for sediment and tempera- ture, if necessary, and the amount is credited on the books of the company to each person having an ownership in the oil ; that is, the royalty, usually one-eighth, is first taken out and placed to the credit of the owner of the mineral right, then the balance is distributed in the designated proportion to each individual, if several parties are operating together, or to the firm as a whole, according to the wishes of the persons interested."
IRON OIL TANKS.
"The large iron tanks of the Standard Oil Company into which the Auglaize county oil flows are called working tanks. They are usually in pairs ; when one is full the new oil is turned into the other, the first being meanwhile gauged and then emptied. From the working tanks the oil goes to the storage tanks, located within two or three miles of the Standard Oil Refinery, located near the city of Lima. The storage tanks vary in capacity from 22,000 to 37,000 barrels."
REFINING THE OIL.
Trenton oil is dark in color, from the amount of asphaltum that it holds in solution. It is low in gravity, and contains vari- able amounts of sulphuretted hydrogen, which give to the oil
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HISTORY OF WESTERN OHIO
an offensive odor, that resists expulsion with great stubbornness. For a time the skill of the chemists was baffled in their efforts to find an economical method of eliminating it. In the course of six months after the discovery of Trenton oil, however, Prof. W. H. Pitt, of Buffalo High School, worked out a process for the removal of the offensive odor. By his method, called the Paragon process, the heated oil in a state of vapor is passed through cylinders filled with heated iron filings. After the pro- cess was perfected, refineries were erected at Toledo, where the practicability of deodorizing the new oil was established beyond question.
A second method, known as the Lead process, was put into operation soon afterward, by the Eagle Refinery at Lima. In this process the oil is agitated for ten or twelve hours with a solution of caustic soda and oxide of lead. At the expiration of that time it is found that the oil has lost its odor, the sulphur having combined with the lead.
To the solution of caustic soda and lead, chloride of copper is added by some refineries.
ARTESIAN WELLS.
It will be proper in dismissing the history of oil and gas wells, to notice briefly the numerous artesian wells of the county.
They are confined mainly to localities through which pre- glacial gorges extend. Nearly every deep well drilled in the gorge extending from Wapakoneta to the southwestern part of the county was a fountain well until the water was shut off by casing. The immense volumes of water, sand and gravel that flow from the wells in St. Mary's township are impediments encountered by drillers in the gas and oil fields of that township.
The wells differ much in depth. The water supply at Wapa- koneta is derived from fourteen artesian wells having a depth of forty feet. The same is true of the wells at St. Mary's. In both villages, the water from the wells is piped into receiving wells, and is pumped from there into stand-pipes.
The flow from wells having a depth of forty or fifty feet does not rise above two or three feet above ground. In most instances the water rises from a bed of gravel lying between two beds of impermeable blue clay.
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The great underground reservoir tapped by oil drillers varies in depth from two hundred and fifty to three hundred feet. The underlying bed of the shallower wells rests upon a bed of hard- pan usually two hundred feet in thickness, underneath which there is a second bed of gravel, forty or fifty feet in thickness, resting on a bed of impervious blue clay. The location of the fountain-head of these great wells is unknown. It is a well- known fact that the water in artesian wells may come to the surface scores of miles from the place where it is entered. In this county the flow is in a southerly direction. If, therefore, we desire to locate the fountain-head, search must be made for it in the Canadian highlands, at a distance of several hundred miles from Auglaize county. The long distance that the subterranean current must traverse has led many people to doubt the truth of the general hypothesis. The theory has been advanced, that the flow is produced by a high pressure of carbonic acid and other carbonaceous gases. The water from these wells is highly charged with carbonic acid; which, by its solvent power, holds lime, gypsum, magnesium and iron in solution. Soon after exposure to the air the water loses its acid, which is immediately followed by a deposit of a portion of the minerals held in solution.
The large flowing wells of the county are not wholly confined to the gorges passing through it. Many wells have been drilled ·on each side of the great gorge that have tapped the same reser- voir. The following altitudes above sea level, of wells located from half a mile to a mile back from the gorge present data of much interest to students of this subject :
The John Mosler well, one mile east of Wapakoneta. 926 feet. The Chas. Shafer well, S. E. qr. of Sec. 26, Wash- ington Tp. 1,025 feet.
The M. Walter wells, S. E. qr. of Sec. 26, St. Marys Tp. 885 feet.
The W. H. Koop wells, S. E. qr. of Sec. 15, St. Marys Tp. 887 feet.
The L. Doenges wells, S. W. qr. of Sec. 30, St. Marys Tp. 880 feet.
It will be observed that the water is lifted ninety-nine feet higher in the Charles Shafer well than in the Mosler well; and that the difference between it and the wells in St. Mary's town- ship are 140, 130, and 145 feet, respectively. It is difficult to
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HISTORY OF WESTERN OHIO
account for the difference of hydrostatic force exerted, except upon the hypothesis that each well has a source differing corre- spondingly in elevation. The differences in the chemical charac- ter of the water flowing from different wells are evidences in favor of the latter view of the problem. The water flowing from the Mosler well contains a small percentage of magnesium and iron, whereas the Shafer well yields water heavily charged with lime, iron, and much carbonic acid. Differences of a similar character, also, occur in the wells of St. Mary's township. In considering the difference of hydrostatic pressure in the differ- ent wells, it is reasonable to suppose that it is augmented by the accumulation of gases along the flowing lines. The accumula- tions may result from decomposition of the sulphate and sulphide of iron. There are, also, reasons for belief that the pressure is augmented at points along the line by hydro-carbon gas from the Hudson shales, that has forced its way upward through fis- sures in the overlying rocks. It is no uncommon thing for farm wells, when dug, to fill with carburetted hydrogen. When the ordinary lamp test for carbonic acid (commonly called damps) is applied, the gas takes fire. It is frequently the case that the well is abandoned and a new location selected. Such instances were of frequent occurrence in localities in which oil and gas have since been discovered. Many wells have been dug in Auglaize county that have yielded large volumes of carbonic acid. Within the last thirty years seven persons have been asphyxiated in wells of this class. In 1869 a well was dug on the lot of the Freyman school-house, located two miles north of Wapakoneta, that yielded copious volumes of this gas. The water in the well was kept in a state of great agitation for several weeks. When the writer visited the well the noise of the agitated water was plainly audible at a distance of twenty rods from the well.
CLIMATE AND FLORA.
"From its geographical position, the climate of Auglaize county is necessarily one of extremes. Its surface is swept alter- nately by southwest return trade winds and north and northwest polar winds - the alternates succeeding each other in quick returning cycles. There is scarcely a week in the year in which examples of these currents do not occur." The return trades or
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southwest winds are usually attended by a rise of temperature and a depression of the barometer. The rains of the county, in the main, are brought in by the southwestern winds, having their origin in the Gulf of Mexico. A few rains having their origin in the Great Lakes are floated into the county by the northwest and polar currents.
The annual average temperature of the county is fifty degrees, and the annual average rainfall is about thirty-two inches. Be- tween the average summer and winter temperatures there is a difference of forty degrees. The extreme of the heat of summer frequently rises to one hundred degrees in the shade, while the "cold waves" of winter have been known to depress the mercury to twenty-four degrees below zero.
The winters are very changeable. Snow seldom remains more than twenty days at a time. The distribution of precipita- tion in any year is about as follows: in spring, nine to eleven inches ; in summer, eleven to thirteen inches; in autumn, five to seven inches; and in winter, three to five inches. The spring rains are distributed through the months of March, April and May, and are followed by a period of dry weather often extend- ing into July, and at times as late as August.
Storms .- This county has never been visited by a violent storm either from the northeast or southeast; nor do the clouds from any eastern point between north and south often exhibit many electrical phenomena. But from every direction on the opposite side of the meridian they come charged with lightning, and are driven by impetuous winds. Of these thunder-gusts, those from the northwest are by far the most destructive. They occur at any time during the day or night, but most frequently in the afternoon. Of the more destructive type of storms, only two have passed through the county within the last twenty- one years. A revolving storm of this character passed through the townships of St. Mary's, Moulton, Duchouquet and Union in 1884. Houses were blown down, barns unroofed, and forest trees up-rooted. Much damage was sustained from the destruc- tion of growing crops. A second tornado occurred in May, 1886, that passed through the townships of St. Mary's, Washing- ton, Duchouquet, to Union township, where it changed to a northeast direction. All buildings in its track were destroyed. Forest trees were uprooted and carried long distances, and the
364
HISTORY OF WESTERN OHIO
leaves of trees near the track had the appearance of being scorched. This storm was also accompanied by violent electrical discharges, resembling the rapid firing of heavy artillery. In this storm the electrical discharges were from the earth upward, presenting the appearance of tongues of fire. As the storm passed over forests the electrical tongues shot upward to a considerable distance above the tree-tops, presenting a scene of great sublimity.
Revolving storms of a less violent character occur in the months of July and August, and in some years as late as the first of October. The diameter of these storms is much greater than it is in the more destructive tornadoes. They come, usually, from the southwest or west, and are characterized by a greater precipitation of rain and hail, than other storms. The amount of rainfall at times is very great, amounting, in some instances, to as much as six inches in the course of an hour. Such rains are usually called cloudbursts. Such a cloudburst occurred at Wapakoneta in 1894, when four inches of rain fell within a period of twenty minutes.
The latter class of revolving storms are generally designated as general and local storms; the term general being applied to storms having a diameter of many miles, whereas a local thun- der-storm is supposed to have a diameter of only a few miles. In this county they are usually from one to three miles in diame- ter. The occurrence and distribution of local showers. is irregu- lar. It is not unusual for a section of the county to receive a succession of local showers, while other sections are suffering from want of rain.
For several years past the summit ridge has been a dividing line between two drifts of local rains. A belt of from one to four miles in width receives but little rain during the summer months.
Winter Storms .- As winter approaches the rains become more general, and are usually unattended by such violent winds and electrical phenomena as accompany the summer rains. About the first of December the northwest and polar winds begin to blow, and continue with but few irregularities until the first of March. Within the last thirty years our winter storms have gradually assumed the character of the storms peculiar to the western plains. We now have many blizzards in the course of
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a winter. Our blizzards, however, differ from the western storms in the amount of snow precipitation. In our county it rarely amounts to more than two or three inches. As the bliz- zards have increased in number, the annual amount of snowfall in Auglaize county has diminished.
The quantity of snow that falls in the county is inconsider- able. Our deepest snows are not more than twelve inches in depth, while the ordinary depth is two or three inches. This being the case, and periods of mild weather occurring frequently in every winter month, the ground seldom remains covered longer than a week or two at a time. The cold, dry winds blow- ing over the uncovered fields of wheat, barley, rye and clover are very destructive to such crops.
Climatic Changes in Progress .- The productive character of the soil varies much at the present time from what it was in the early settlement of the county. At that time the ponds and swails were filled with water during the greater part of the year. From these reservoirs vapors were constantly ascending through the dense foliage of the forest, saturating the air to a degree most favorable to the growth of vegetation. All varieties of fruit-trees flourished at that time and bore fruit in abundance. The temperature, too, ranged higher, and was more equable during the spring and summer months. The winter temperature was not so low - rarely falling below zero - and the precipita- tion of snow was greater, and lay on the ground for greater lengths of time. Such were the conditions of climate from 1845 to the winter of 1855-6, within which time large areas of forest were cleared away, and the surface partially drained. Following the changed conditions, the atmosphere became dryer, and the temperature lower. In the winter of 1855-6 the temperature sank to fifteen degrees below zero, thereby killing all the peach trees in central and northern Ohio. Fifteen years later the cli- mate became so dry as to affect the apple crop. Since that time there has been a gradual decrease in the amount of humidity during the summer season, and a corresponding diminution in the amount of snow in winter. With the increased dryness of the atmosphere, certain varieties of timber began to die. About 1855 the shellbark hickory began to exhibit signs of decay, which continued until the quantity of that variety of timber was greatly
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HISTORY OF WESTERN OHIO
reduced. The decay of hard maple, beech and oak commenced soon afterward and is still in progress.
THE FLORA OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY.
Up to 1845, Auglaize county was unsurpassed for its stately trees of many valuable varieties. The splendor of its flora was displayed in its oaks, black walnut, butternut, poplar, hickory; ash, wild cherry, linden, tulip tree, with almost endless varieties of trees of minor values. Underneath these monarchs of the forest, varieties of smaller growthed timber grew in great abun- dance. Many species of plants once common in the county have disappeared, or are found at rare intervals. The yellow lady's slipper and showy orchis, the wild orange red and Turk's cup lilies, the yellow puccoon and blue cohosh, the ginseng and squill, the white water lily, and yellow poplar, will in a few years be stricken from the flora of the county.
A general treatise on the vegetable productions of the county would exceed the limits of this work. Nothing will be at- tempted, therefore, beyond a catalogue of the principal forest . trees, and such herbaceous plants as are of general interest. Many species must necessarily be omitted ; but enough will be given to show that the botanical resources of the county are not inferior to any part of northwestern Ohio.
FOREST TREES. OAKS.
Quercus rubra L. Red oak.
Quercus palustris Mx
Swamp oak.
Quercus coccinea L.
Scarlet oak.
Quercus velutinea L. Black oak.
Quercus alba L. White oak.
Quercus minor Mx.
Post or Iron Oak.
Quercus macrocarpa Mx
Burr oak.
Quercus platanoides Mx.
Swamp white oak.
Quercus prinus Willd.
Rock chestnut oak.
Quercus acuminata Willd.
Chestnut or yellow oak.
ASH.
Fraxinus Americana L White ash.
Fraxinus pubescens Walt. Red ash.
Fraxinus quadrangulata Mx
Blue ash.
Fraxinus sambucifolia Lam.
Black ash. Water ash.
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AND AUGLAIZE COUNTY
WALNUT.
Juglans cinerea L.
White walnut. Butternut. Juglans nigra L.
Black walnut.
HICKORY.
Carya amara Nutt
Bitternut.
Carya alba Nutt.
Shagbark hickory.
Carya sulcata Nutt.
Thick-shellbark hickory.
Carya glabra Torp.
Pignut.
Carya microcarpa Nutt.
Thin-shelled hickory nut.
BEECH.
Fagus atropunicea Sudw. American beech.
Of this variety of timber, woodmen recognize three species -Red Beech, White Beech and Yellow Beech-all growing on dry upland soil.
Carpinus Caroliniana Walt. Water beech. Hornbeam.
SYCAMORE.
Platanus occidentalis L.
Planetree. Buttonwood.
MAPLE.
Acer rubrum L.
Red maple. Swamp maple.
Acer dasycarpum Ehr White maple.
Acer sacharinum L. Sugar maple. Rock maple.
Acer nigrum Mx.
Black maple. Sugar tree.
POPLAR.
Populus grandidentata Mx.
Populus alba L.
Populus monilifera Ait.
Cotton-wood.
Populus tremuloides Michx.
American aspen.
ELM.
Ulmus Americana L
White elm.
Ulmus racemosa Thomas Cork elm.
Ulmus fulva L.
Slippery elm. Red elm.
Ulmus alata Michx
Hickory elm.
LINDEN.
Tilia Americana L .. Basswood. Tilia heterophylla Ait.
White basswood.
Large poplar. Yellow poplar. White poplar.
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HISTORY OF WESTERN OHIO
BUCKEYE.
Aesculus glabra Willd.
Ohio buckeye,
In addition to the foregoing list, the following trees, not so common, are added :
Celtis occidentalis L.
Hackberry. Sugar-berry.
Moras rubra L.
Red mulberry.
Gleditschia triacanthus L.
Honey locust.
Cerasus serotina Dc.
Black wild cherry.
Cerasus Pennsylvanica Ait.
Wild red cherry.
Gymnocladus Canedensis Lom
Coffee tree.
Magnolia acuminata L.
Cucumber tree.
TREES OF SMALLER SIZE AND BUSHES.
Ostrya Virginica Willd.
Iron-wood.
Cercis Canedensis L.
Red-bud. Judas tree.
Amelanchier Canadensis Gray
Service berry.
Rhammus catharticus L
Common buckthorn.
Prunus rubra L.
Wild red plum.
Staphylea trifolia L.
Bladder-nut.
Negundo - Moench
Box-elder.
Cornus florida L.
Flowering dogwood.
Cornus alternifolia L.
Cornus stolenifera Mx.
Red osier.
Dirca palustrus L.
Leatherwood.
Sambucus Canadensis L.
Common elder.
Sambucus pubens Michx
Red-berried elder.
Zanthoxylum Americanum Mill.
Prickly ash.
Crataegus tomentosa L.
Black thorn.
Crataegus punctata Jaeq.
Red thorn-apple.
Viburnum prunifolium L
Black haw.
Viburnum rubra L.
Red haw.
Benzoin odoriferum Nees
Spice wood.
Ribes cynosbati L.
Wild gooseberry.
Ribes hirtellum Michx.
Smooth wild gooseberry.
Ribesia prostratum L'Her
Fetid currant.
Ribesia floridum L.
Wild black currant.
Asimina triloba Dunal.
Common pawpaw.
Corylus Americana Walt.
Hazel-nut. .
Rhus glabra L.
Smooth sumac.
Rhus toxicodendron L.
Poison ivy. Poison oak.
Salix condida Willd.
Hoary willow.
Salix tristis Ait.
Dwarf gray willow.
Salix humilis Marshall
Salix nigra Marshall.
Low bush willow. Black willow.
Malus coronaria L.
American crab-apple.
AND AUGLAIZE COUNTY 369
FLOWERING PLANTS.
The following flowering plants have been identified in Auglaize county within the last thirty years : .
Erythronium Americanum Smith. Dog's-tooth violet.
Cardamine purpura Torr.
Rose-colored cress.
Sanguinaria Canadensis L. Blood-root.
Iris versicolor L. Blue flag.
Eupatorium sessilifolium L. Boneset.
Campanula Americana L
Bluebell.
Cichorium intybus L.
Cichory.
Lilium Canadense L.
Yellow lily.
Liatris odoratissima Willd.
Deer's tongue.
Phlox maculata L. Willd
Sweet William.
Viola lanceolata L.
White violet.
Viola hastata Mx.
Yellow violet.
Viola Canadensis L
Blue violet.
Viola grandiflorea L.
Violet.
Nuphar advena Ait.
Yellow pond lily.
Hydrastis Canadensis L.
Yellow puccoon.
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