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


The petroleum OF, as we shall hereafter
callit oil-yielding region Of Western Penn
sylYania, has so recently and so suddenly
been developed into Importance, that public
attention is largely directed to it, not only
for The wealth which its product is yielding
butno less for the nature and the quantity
Of the yield, ITSELF For the benefit of persO-
nal observation in the premises, we have
spent a week among the springs, drillers
wells, and pumped Of oil, in the region in
question, from which highly interesting and
instructive jaunt We have just returned.
The chief oil-yielding regions, so far as yet
developed, are situated within the limits of
Warren, Crawford and Venango Counties
These counties are all situated IN the Valley
Of the Allegheny River, and all deliver their
running waters into that stream. No def
mite boundariesOf the Oil-yielding region are
fixed, or known; and we here mean to assert
no more than this, namely, that the present
| chief supplies are obtained, within the limits
named. The country Is exceedingly rough
and mountainous, with large proportion Of
waste land. Two deep, and in some parts very
narrow valleys traverse the region, from north
to south, nearly PARALLEL, and some twenty
/ FIVE miles apart One OF these is occupied by
the Broken Straw, and the other by Oil Greek
two streams that empty into the Allegheny
River. The most easterlyo Of these valleys is
/ traversed, in its entire length, by the Erie
and Sunbury Railroad, now completed to
| Warren. In this valley various borings have
been commenced, and many of these are still
persisted in. At Moorland Gar, some fifty
miles from Erie, Mr.. Geo. !. Stow and his
associates are steadily prosecuting their bor-
| ing, but have yet reached no farther down
than I47 feet and near this, Messrs. Ward
weH, Webster, and their associates, have in
like manner reached the depth of 225 feet
and are sill at work. AT both Of these wells
the indications are frequent and good; but,
as the proprietors suppose they are not to e1-
pect success at less depth than about 300
feet IN TACT an parts of this valley is many
miles from any present freeiyielding locality;
and although success may be attained
there, yet up to this time, no paying well
has been opened in the valley of the Broken
Straw. ....-.. --
On the contrary, the chief supply foil that
has vet been taken from the earth has been
drawn from wells in the valley of Oil Creek.
The point of this valley about which the
public have heard most, in connection with
the production Of oil, is Ttusyille post vii
lage upon this creek, and some Is or 20
miles from its mouth. This is certainly a
wonderful locality, and is now yielding a
prodigious quantity of oil, although as we
shall see, it has not vet furnished the greatest
supply.
TimsviIle, from the suddeness Of this oil
outbreak, is certainly an anomaly, as a town
It was a small village, hidden among the
hills, and little known, save to umbermen,
before this oil advent. But the first oil-wel
diverted all action into new and unknown
channels. From sober discourse about
bundles Of shingles, and cribs and RATS Of
lumber, all, as if by magic, was changed to
excited dialogue upon oil, interspersed with
the technics pertaining TO the business of
obtaining il And this has so continued, and
now so prevails, that stranger is, for time,
obliged 10 observe silence, until he can arrive
at an understanding Of the language he hears.
The simple word i" oiT' he may before have
known, here means Petrolean; and so that
will give him no trouble but then he hears,
also, amid details of the processes of procur-
ing this, of pipes, bedrock, rams, seek-bags,
pockets, sand-pumps, &C.; and then ofindica-
tiOns, more OF less you are told Of good
smell, in such well, and at only so many
feet; while at another drilling, a slight show
of oil was reached at a given distance, which
was followed by Others, better or worse, for
so many days when all these disappeared,
or a full flow was struck, as the case may
have been.
But all this IS soon compreheuded, through
questioning and listening, and from that
moment you become an instructed listener
But in every group the themes are the same,
namely: claims, size, terms, localities, pro-
portioRal division, &c.--bht all eventually
ending in oil, of course. To this is added
the news Of the day-and this, toO begins
and ends as before. The luck Of the drillers,
good or bad, is the only news sought and
when any ole is announced as having
struck lie" the event is duly celebrated by
the party and their friends. The rude erec-
tions of poles over every well, to facilitate
the raising and lowering the drill, and which
must remain until the drilling is finished,
readily guide the eve to the various operations
that are within the range Of vision. Often
dozens of these may be seen from a single
stand point. They are very numerous in
and about Titusville; and they are more or
less plenty all the way to the mouth Of the
creek.
There is one Iwen here, whose history is
| too singular to be omitted. 1t is known as
the Williams well, although there are several
owners. Mr.. Williams, who seems to have
been the live man Of the Company, after hay-
ing driven one hole 2s2 feet, without success
abandoned that and tried again. This time,
on reaching l42 feet the pure oil, without
water, flowed steadily over the top, and was
conducted, through pipe, into barrels. The
/ supply was constant and uniform, yielding,
| quite regularly, ttcelUe barrels per day. The
/ flow was not that Of an undisturbed stream,
/ but issued in constant and uniform series
/ of pulsations. This state of things continued
! tor some time, when it was disturbed by an
/ attempt to drill the well still deeper. Some
| thirty days since this process of deepening
had been carried the distance of a fraction
| over two feet, when new fountain of oil and
gas was penetrated, which instantly rose in a
/ let from the top of the we'll This column of
/ oil continued to food the adjacent ground,
until the quantity thrown out was estimated
| at two hundred barrels. One hundred and
fifty barrels of this was actually secured
The flow then subsided but twenty-four
hours after, the stream again rose, and after
about twenty-five barrels of oil had been
elected, the eruption ceased; and so far as
we know, it has not been again resumed
When we visited this well, the food was over,
but the marks of it were visible, on every
side. After these scenes a pump was inserted
in the well, which was worked by a steam
engine. This pump had only been driven
FIVE or six days when we were there but we
were assured that in one twenty-four hours,
it had brought up one hundred and eight bar
rels, and in another similar period, one hun
dred and thirty barrels of pure oil
We may here observe that a similar erup-
ton to this one of the Williams well, has
Stree taken place at n well twelve miles
below Titusvine, on Oil Greek. It was, we
believe, on Thursday of last week that the
drillers penetrated the orevice Of the rock
which gave out oil, in jet assumed to be
equal to the flow from the Williams WE'LL
The flow was such that ten barrels per hour
| were dipDed up and Secured. while il lasted,