Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1860-08-13

II nGluEI AEllH 9llM VI AhAQ NAI AhAa AllN ANiEA@
ence to the date Of the pits, or connection
with those who dug them, must be left wholly
to conjecture.
We have said the wells at Titusville are nu-
merous; they are 80, even within the range
Of local vision; but this point, we are as
sured, has by do means furnished most Of the
oil, thus far. The whole distance Of Oil
Creek, to its mouth; may be considered con-
tinu0us oil bed, on both banks. Wells, at
short intervals, occur along its shores, and
upon the lower part of the stream, near its
mouth, the operations have been so extensive
that much more oil is reported to have been
drawn here, than from the regions farther up
stream. Perhaps the reason we have heard
less of this supply, in this quarter, may be
that none Of the oil is sent this way, but all
finds market in Pittsburgh, by the Ale
ghany River. Taken in all its extent the
valley Of OIL Greek has thus far furnished tho
chief supply of oil But other localities are
rising in Importance. At Franklin, and
about the month Of French Creek, adjacent,
operations are extending with success. A
point upon the Allegheny, some seventeen
miles above the mouth of Oil Creek, at the
little village of Tideiute, promises rich re-
suits Operations there are but recent, yet
the indications are that great supplies Of
oil are TO be drawn from there. Drilling is
progressing on both sides of the Allegheny
river, here, and also in the deep gorges, be-
tween the high bluffs which, at this point
on the west side, come down to the waters
edge.
Up one of the goFges, known as the Cor
don Run, and some mile or two from its
mouth, we found a party drilling. The en-
tire distance to them was woods, and they
held little communion with the world
They lived in their shanty, and cooked for
themselves They had, of course, a bellows
and an anvil, for dressing their drills, and
hard by they were burning a coal pit, to sup
ply their forge fire. The number of wells
that were under way, at this point when we
were there, was stated to US at seventy. OF
these but four were finished, in the drilling,
while but two had commenced to pump. At
Titusville we learned that the estimated num-
Der of wells-including all stages of progress
from that point to the mouth Of Oil Greek,
and embracing those at Franklin, little be-
low, was fifteen hundred, To this number
add The seventy at Tideinte, and those scat
tered here and there, in various other parts
of the three counties, and the whole number
of wells at that time finished and in progress
may be set down at very nearly two thous-
and. But the activity in this business is such
that the true estimate of yesterday will be
false and unreliable tomorrow. New wells
are commenced every day, and in so many 10
calities, that no estimate, or even count of
them would remain accurate for twenty-four
hours
The depths of these wells varies greatly
not only in distant but even in the same
neighborhoods. Oil has been obtained at
sixty feet and also at four hundred and TWEEN
ty-fve. Both these are extremes; and prob
ably most wells fall between one hundred and
ffly and three hundred feet of depth. They
do not even when clustered together, appear
to effect the yield of each other; and we
heard of none that had decreased in their
yield, save two, and both of these were of
much less depth than that at which constant
supplies have been received, from the first
The supply, then, has no apparent limit since
new wells are continually going into opera
ton, and yet these, while yielding full re-
turns, make no inroads upon the yield Of
Others. The present supplies are mostly
marketed in New York and Pittsburg. Il is
sent to market just as the pumps raise it from
the earth; and this condition the oil men
inform US that it now pays them net profit
of twenty-four cents per gallon.
And now probably some readers may in
quire, What is this2 and what its origin ?"
What the substance is there is no doubt It
is petroleum, which, as such, has been long
enough known. It is also Harlaem oil, Brit
ish oil, Seneca oil, and rock oil, all which
names have been applied to it. in its liquid
state. When its volatile portion has been
partly eyapOIated it becomes Barbados Tar;
and after thorough and perfect evaporation,
the remainder IS Asphaltum. But of its ORR
gin-we speak only for ourselves-we know
nothing. We have met plenty Of people who
knew all about it; but they satisfied only
themselves, and not US. Theories are not
wanting upon the subject; but these are
usually such as are, Of necessity, false, be-
cause they conflict with settled truths; which
truths are, Of course, unknown to such theory
builders.
The surface rock of all parts Of the oil re-
gion which we visited, is everywhere the
same. 1t is a sandstone belonging to the
subcarboniferous conglomerate The surface
we traversed, as before observed, is constitu-
ted, in large degree, of abrupt and preeipi-
tous elevations and depressions; and we
found this rock everywhere Gaping the high
est hill-tops, and paving the lowest valleys.
The sedimentary rocks underlying this, and
in which the oil is obtained, consist largely
of argillaceous shale, interstratifed with thin
beds of sandstone, clay, limestone, and Oc-
casionally with thin plates of iron pyrftes of
extreme hardness. Between the various stra-
ia of these rocks, as elsewhere, in the earth,
water is constantly cOursing, in rivulets and
larger bodies. Such of these as have not
come in contact with the oil, in their course,
are still uncontaminated and these often
prove great annoyance TO the operator,
while such as have had contact with the oil
in their subterranean Voyagings bear that
substance along, upon their surface, and thus
deliver it to the pumps Of such wells as have
intercepted these streams in their courses
Buffalo ETPfsss. ID H. -li..