The Lansing state Republican. [volume] (Lansing, Mich.) 1855-1874, 1860-08-08

A dispatch from Washington dated the 2Sth.
says:
report reached here tonight, through
parties who were at Occoquan yesterday. that
tne greatest excitement prevailed at that place
when they left; that several Republicans had
been attacked, and severe fights resulted. One
statement is that Mr.. Janney. a Bell and Eve
rett man old settler in Virginia. large
property holder, and the owner of the land
where the liberty pole was erected-was bru.
tally assailed and beaten because he asserted
that be had the right 10 declare his own prn.
ciples upon his own homestead and to permit
others TO exercise their rights within his own
| grounds, if il pleased him 10 do So"
THE PENNsYLVANiA OF wRLLs
THEaR APPEARANCE, MANAGE.
NEWT. &C.
The Editor of the Auburn dduertiser. G. ".
PECK, Esq. has been paying visit 10 Franklin.
Pa to investigate the Oil Springs. The fol.
lowing are extracts from his account
The village Of Franklin is situated on French
Creek, just above the point where it emptes
into the Allegheny River. The town is sur
rounded by mountains, whose elevation must be
from $50 to 500 feet above the valley in which
it is located. Ii is an old dilapidated village
and had it not been for the discoveries Of oil.
must have remained, for some time to come un-
heralded, and almost unknown, except to the in
haoltants OF its immediate vicinity. The To-
cality is, nevertheless, picturesque in the ex-
treme, and when Aourishing village or CITY is
erected here, and a rail road is constructed
through Its limits, as will most assuredly be the
case If the oil continues to Aow even in its pre-
sent quantities, 1t will be most attractive
| spot.
| Within mile Of the centre Of the village
there are now in process Of boring and in sue
cessful operation, over one hundred oil wells
Thirteen of these wells are already finished and
are producing oil. In eight Of them pumps are
at work. Six wells have been sunk to the
usual depth, and no OIL They have been abau-
doned. The amount OF oil pumped daily varies
in different wells. The Evans well, which was
the first bored in this vicinity, yields from eight
to ten barrels per day. There are wells in this
county from which forty barrels Of oil have
been pumped in day, and whose average
yield it is believed will be from thirty to thirty
five barrels a day.
The average Of the ten wells now in opera
ton in this vicinity is about twelve barrels per
day. The depth which is usually reached be-
fore oil is discovered in paving quantities II
about $50 feet.
Two wells have favorably developed them
selves since our arrival h,It. We paid visit
to one OF them on the first day OF our arrival.
The owners had reached 10 nearly the depth at
which oil is found. and trcmbled with anxiety
as to the result. They were men in very mode
rate circumstances, and after spending three or
four hundred dollars in boring il would be
serious loss TO them Their anxiety therefore,
for the result, may be imagined. On Friday
morning the owners OF this well would not have
been considered responsible for q debt Of five
hundred dollars. On Friday afternoon they
could have obtained credit to the amount Of
f,centy thousand dollars. They had found oil,
and In moment had stepped from poverty to
scedith.
The excitement Of the people Is up TO fever
heat. And 1t is not strange that it should be-
The citizens OF the town see that what they
considered one year ago. to be q village which
had reached its full growth, is destined to be-
come one OF the most important points In the
| whole State. The great drawback low Is the
want OF facilities for getting the oil to market
Steamboats, run up the Allegheny to this point
during the fall and spring months. bat they will
not be capable Of doing hundredth part Of the
freightlng business. Ii is about forty miles
from this village to the neasest point OF the
Pittsburgh and Erie rail road.
II would be impossible 10 state accurately
the market price for oil wells in successful ope-
ration. They cannot be bought at any figure
that capitalists would be willing TO pay. Ten.
6tteen, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, and in come
| cases hundred thousand dollars would TO Of
fered in vain to their owners, for deed OF their
wells. The operators here. are, as yet, men Of
limited means-ihOse, generally. who have long
been residents Of the town. Capitalists, how
ever, begin TO come in, and the capacity Of the
hotels is already pretty thoroughly tested.
The quality of the oil procured is good II
sells readily in New York for 30 cents per gal
Ion in crude state. After refining. it is said
to be superior 10 the Kerosene oil for all purpo-
ses for which that article is used Its illumina-
ting properties are excellent AS we can attest
by actual observation.
The manner OF boring wells is by drills simi-
lar to those used for boring for salt. Many OF
the wells are bored by steam power. After oil
Is found the well is tubed and steam engine
is put TO work pumping. The oil is run of
into vats holding from three hundred to five
hundred barrels From these yats it is drawn
off into barrels. The barrels hold forty gal
Ions. There is a great difficulty in getting
them fast enough TO accommodate the OIL A
well that yields 40 barrels day is low lying
idle because the proprietors cannot procure bar
rels in which 10 put their oil.
For fear our readers will think US tedious,
even while writing on so oily subject we will
draw to close by relating an anecdote about the
discovery Of Oil in this village thirty years ago.
1t was told TO us by one OF the oldest inhabi
tants,' yesterday. He said that certain gen.
tieman, y ucge no" lsIng n tue Vlllage, Su'
ployed laboring man about thirty years ago
to dig him well for water. After getting
down nearly thirty feet the laborer struck vein
Of oil which flowed in so fast that he was com.
PEELED TO leave the we'll. The Judge and his
well-diger attempted by various means TO stop
the oil from flowing in, but everything proved
unsuccessful, the well was abandoned: not,
however, until the Judge had expressed his in
dgnation pretty freely. aad in no very choice
language, against the =" nasty, sinking Seneca
oil" as il was called. On the site Of this old
we'll there Is now al oil well worth anywhere
from thirty 70 forty thousand dollars. The
Judge having made dozen fortunes by the sale
Of oil lands since the excitement commenced.
is now great admirer Of the nasty, sinking
Seneca oil"
P. lett Franklin FOR Oh Greek yesterday,
bringing the above letter with me. will now
add to il Q fact that has astooshed me more
than all else have seen. In the town OF Ii.
tusville, Crawford county. there Is an OIL wen
that pumps ITSELF The oil actually dows
over the well. volutarily. at the rate OF nine
barrels Der day. 1t has done this for sixteen
days, netting its proprietor over 81, 400 profits
in that time. The oil comes up without any
mixture of water whatever. A lead tube is put
in at the TOD of the well and through this the
oil masses into barrels As often as barrel
=. IL .