The Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1859-1865, 1860-04-26
N&1SC0 C011any.

Oily ConREspoSpENcE.--T follow
ing, from q taeetious correspondent OF the
Sandusky Revisier. who writes to that pa
Der, from the oil region In Trnmball Co.,
Ohio, IL about a. slippery correspondence
AZ we have seen lately:
"DEAs EpITaR :--Evesything about
here is so greasy and oily, it IS with ex-
treme difficulty that eau write at ALL
Ny pen slips out Of my fingers; there is
an oily scum on the ink; tho paper is fair
ly Transparent, and slosh sround in my
chair in deueed unpleasant manner, Pa
tience and perseverance (sweet oil is un-
necessary here) will, however, overcome
many obstacles.
81 arrived here at q very late hour last
night, on au oil train, and might as we'll
have come on train oi2, as we were 10 hours
behind time. All trains are behind time
here, | learn, owing to the accumulation
of oil on the track al this end Of the road.
The oil fries out OF the ground and lubri-
Gates the rails for great distance. We
shouldn't have arrived here at all If the
passengers hadn't got out and sprinkled the
track with cigar ashes.
81 slipped out of bed (nobody arises
here: we all slip into bed and slip OUT at
an early hour this morning, and began in
vestigations. / found section embracing
fourteen thousand acres of land, chuck full
of oil springs.
Drilling is unnecessary here, as the oil
boils up in springs, sometimes to the height
of twenty-five feet, and is caught in tin
pals as it comes down. On hot day, |
am told, it is no unusual thing to see the
women frying doughnuts in these jets Of
oil. The balls of dough are dropped into
the Jets, where they are allowed to toss
about like corks in fountain, until they
are fried by the heat of the sun.
"The only species of tree which abounds
here is the slippery elm. These trees are
SO slippery, a squirrel can't climb them
without dipping his paws in Spauldings
Prepared Glue, a small bottle of which he
always carries suspended about his neck.
There are few maple trees here, but no
sugar is made, as nothing but oil runs
out when they are tapped.
"There is one considerable sized creek
running through Trumbull County, which
is all oil. 1t was discovered short time
ago in singular manner Three boys
went in bathing, and when they came out
were so greasy they couldn't stay in their
clothes As fast as they slipped them on
they would slip off again, and one of the
lads, in needless moment, narrowly es-
capped slipping out of his skin. On reach
ing home, their parents, being exceeding
ly frugal, wrung them out, and extracted
about fourteen gallons Of pure oil from the
three boys! Fact. A company are erec-
ting factory on the banks of this river,
preparing to dip candles in 1t.
"The principal amusements here are
climbing creased poles and catching oiled
pigs, the necessary appliances being con-
stantly on hand. Sliding down hill is
popular among all classes during the
summer months. This is effected with
out sleds, on hill of solid tallow, just
back of the tavern.
"There was thunderstorm this after
noon, and the electric fluid ran down one
of those slippery elms [ told you of; |
was treated to my first view of CREASED
lightning It's quite common here, they
say Thunder is Invested of all its harsh
intonations, by the minute PARTICLES of oil
which fill the air and grease the wheels OF
Jove's noisy chariot.
''If any of your readers think | have
'cut it fat in this letter, let them visit the
Oil Springs and see for themselves"
- II