BORING FOR OIL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5244, 25 February 1885, Page 4

BORING FOR OIL.

Describing the mode of operation at the Southern Cross works, the Poverty Bay Herald says :— A drill of some 40ft in length, weighing upwards of a ton, is lifted and dropped by means of a huge walking-beam. After this gigantic tool has penetrated to a certain depth, it is withdrawn to make room for an ingenius instrument called a sandpump, which is lowered by means of independent gear, and in an incredibly short space of time brings to the surfaca all the mud, stones, and mullock previously loosened by the drill. It is impossible, however, for words to give even a faint idea of the magnitude of tho undertaking. The tall derrick towering steeple-high above the on-looker, the gigantic tools, the massive hawsers, the immense force employed, and yet the perfect order and command evidently possessed by Mr Weaver over the whole of his gear, must be seen to be realised. In the lowering of the ponderous drill down the tubing it is a sight to witness the velocity which it gains as it descends into its narrow bed, and after the first 200 feet, the speed increases to an extent which would lead the passer-by to the impression that a whirl-wind was sweeping through the building — the immense windlass flying round like lightning, the rush of the drill down the tube, and the whole structure vibrating as if about to be blown away. Yet all this power and weight can be checked instantly, as if by magic, with the slighleat. t,oufih nf the break. Mr Weaver has now attained a depth of 466 ft. the working being still in papa, a few traces of sand and shells being occasionally perceptible. Faint signs of oil are likewise to be discerned at frequent intervals, and Mr Weaver is very hopeful regarding the result. He has worked, he says, on ground of a precisely similar description, and has found oil-bearing rock underneath. He believes that at about 600 feet the indications will be more decided in character, but tbat it will require deeper sinking to find payable oil.