The Sun.
London, England, 1865-11-10 00:00:00

........

nearer to the surface. Then it appears to be a
well-established fact that the wells do not yield
so much in winter as in summer ; that they are, in
fact, peculiarly sensitive to the influences of heat
and cold. Some of the wells differ in the yield to
the extent of 20 and 50 per cent., while in some the
supply altogether ceases. Some of the managers
explain this diminished yield by the fact that a
greater quantity of solid 'paraffine is found during
the cold weather; that this, clogging the inside of
the tubes, diminishes the area through which the
oil has to pass ; that the deficiency is not, in
fact, due to the well, ')ut rather to the capa-
city for its delivery on the surface. This explana-
tion, however, like so many on the subject of petro-
leum, will not hold water, for owners, anxious
to extract as much as possible from the wells, have
arleltutibieedotbhsetm :
euscuitn li
to.ln
ns winter, or taken steps to remove
ofthtehedak
prararffiecneses,esb:,thewrie oil is
with no
satisfactory
found nature will take her rest, and though six or
seven hundred feet below the surface, where snow
and frost are supreme, still by some mysterious
sympathy she feels their influence, doles
out her
treasures with a niggard hand, or seals up the reser-
voirs of oil until a more congenial season. The oil
wells are not merely sensitive to the extremes of
cold, but they are affected by meteorological influ-
ences to an extent which would be scarcely credible
were there not so many cases on record to justify the
assertion. Twenty-four hours before a cold rain or a
snow storm that unfailing barometer, the oil well,
isturaeffisecnteift
onAlycrheacnogredeodf, wb,ind or
,t fall of
predicted. tTempheer '
ain-
fluence of the change is felt in the depths of the well
long before it is known on the surface of the earth.
The column of petroleum in the tube of the oil well
rises and falls, is slack or abundant, precisely as
the readings of the barometer indicate rain or storm.
In spite-of every effort which is made to keep up
the temperature at the upper portion of the tube,
and to exclude all atmospheric influences, the yield
is still affected by these changes. One well, which
in summer gave forth 100 barrels per day, in winter
yielded only 20 ; in another the decrease was from
85 to 10 barrels ; a third of which I was informed
fell off from 300 to an average yield of 50 ; but in
these, as in several other wells which were men-
tioned, the supply recovered in summer to the old
standard. Subject to these fluctuations caused by
temperature and change of weather, in the face of
so much uncertainty in attaining the oil, and
with the full knowledge of the short-lived existence
of a flowing or pumping well, the work of explor-
ing and prospecting still goes on with unabated
energy. The supply of oil is not diminished over the
whole area, though many individual wells have long
since " given out." New districts are constantly
being added to Petrolia, where fortunate men.
" strike ile," and find themselves millionaires who
but yesterday were all but penniless adventurers.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE—This Day.

LIVERPOOL RACES—Tuis DAY.
BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.
HANDICAP.

East Lynn
Skylark
Jane Shore 3

Nine ran.
LIVERPOOL CUP.

Elland •
Windham
Sidewind
Eighteen ran.—Winner objected to for crossing.
HURDLE RACE.

Benazct
Jacob
Cutler 3
Five ran.
WHIT EFIELD NURSERY.

Venturesome 1
Kenilworth
2
Carnizette
3
Sei•en ran.
SELLING NURSERY.

Rama
1
Venturer
Sauey Boy

Ri, rnn.
LATEST DETTING ON THE t)Utjtio.L.

LIVERPOOL CUP.
sto 1 agst Elland (taken)
6to 1 agst Bendigo (taken)

SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE—This day.

LONDON, Nov. 10.—Wind :this day at noon—North_
westerly; moderate breeze, and fine weather, but rather
cloudy.

CLYDE) Nov. 9.—Wind S.W.—Arrived—Tearless, from

Bahia.

SOUTHAMPTON, Nov. 9.—Wind S.E.—Sailed—Douro,
steamer, for Brazils.
KINGROAD, Nov. B.—Wind S.—Arrived—Bessy Parker,
from St. John's, N.B.

[BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. i
GRAVESEND, Friday Morning.

Arrived—Curtis, from Cronstadt ; Lightning from Go-
thenburg ; Elliner, from Koningsberg ; Scandelhaven, from
Frederickstadt.

Sailed Triton, from Boulogne ; Lord John Russell,
steamer, for Dunkirk.

DEAL, Friday Morning.

Passed, Nov. 9—Victoria, from London, for Rangoon.

Passed—H.M.S. Bristol, from Shields, for Portsmouth ;
Forester, for Demerara; Citizen, screw steamer, for
Bordeaux— both for London.