The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1860-11-03

cd to hotel, and gave them every attention
and paid all damages and expenses, although
as usual, no one was to blame. Nearly all
were more or less bruised, and it was three
or four days before we felt ike travelling
again by railroad.
We then took the Fit. Wayne Railroad to
"Enon Valley forty-fve miles, and thence
by what is called hack" vehicle in-
tended to carry six, but forced to carry nine
with only two horses. In this way we
proceeded through Newcastle and Mercer, to
Franklin, at the junction of French Creek
and the Allegheny Rivera distance Of
sixty miles from the railroad--over an aw-
full road indeed, it was no road at all most
OF the way, AMI reminded me very much of
that one towards " Jordan In fact all
through this region the roads are quilted
out, or full of rocks and mud holes, and the
only wonder is horse flesh and wheels can
get over them at all two or three miles
an hour is fast travelling. Franklin is the
county seat of FenangO county, and has
population of 900 or 800 inhabitants,
from hicn place we went gia Oil Greek, to
Titusville, and thence to this place, dis
tance of forty or fifty miles This whole
region was formerly supported by the lum-
Der business and a few iron furnaces but
lumber is getting scarce and charcoal fur
naces cannot compete with coal in other
sections of the State. The land is poor and
rocky, and the crops have failed for two or
three years past by frost in June or heavy
rains in harvest time, and year ago the
inhabitants were in very needy circumsta tan
ces, and poor as rats About this time a
New Haven Yankee Col. Drake, came out
here, and went to boring for oil on Oil
Greek, near Titusville. The people laughed
at him and called him crazy, and wo1ld not
trust him dime but sure enough, after
drilling hole three or four inches in diam
eter and about 90 feet deep, up came the
OIL and he soon pumped twenty or thirty
barrels of it up per day. He and his assc-
ciates had quietly leased and bought all tie
land they deemed desirable in the vicinity
for a song, and when the natives saw the
oil coming up by the barrel they were
dumbfonnded but a few days only were
necessary to set them all crazy, and such a
stampede and rush as took place through
the country for fifty or hundred miles
around, was a caution to " old foges.'
People who could not pay their debts or
earn living, suddenly became millionaires
in their own and other peoples estimation !;
farms which before would not bring $1,000
were now held at 500, 900, or even a mil
lion, and everybody went to leasing coil
territory mot sLape), and boring for oil
At first the landlords only demanded one
eighth of the product, but soon as Oil was
found in certain districts adventures and
Spectators would rush in and bid one quar-
ter or one-h halls in some cases -eiehths
has been promised and a bonus Of 81 to
$500 for lheright TO bore in an acre or two Of
territory. An old blacksmith named Evans
! down At Franklin, owned an acre or two Of
land on which his house was located his
/ I.r.l II, 81.
and spoit the water when the well was low.
He dug or bored dow his we'll some sixty
/ or seventy feet ard up came the oil, and be
/ is pumping twenty barrels a day. He has
/ been offered 500. 600 to 100000 for his
/ place, or y Ia, 900 "a 81 :, 900 rent per annum
| but the old fellow said no, he had lot of
/ boys and girls to help him work it, and if
! he had the money somebody would cheat
! him out OF it or get 1t away from him.
| There has always been oil springs through
! this region, from which the Indians collect
! ed Seneca oil, which was sold by druggists
| soon after the settlement of this country
and at one spot on Oil Greek Mr.. McClin-
took has collected thirty or forty barrels OF
! oil every summer when the creek was low.
| 1t is not found III the coal regions as many
suppose, there being no coal in the vicinity
of the wells or springs, except some veins II
/
! GeOlogists are at fault there are various
! theories 1t is, however, generally found
near ripple or rapids the banks of a
river or creek, oy boring 100 to 300 feet
although wells have been bored nearly 500
feet within a stOue's throw OF wells pump
ing oil at depth OF 100 or 200 feet, and
shown no signs Of oil.
I am inclined to think it is found i'll crew
ices, or upheavings of the earth caused by
/ volcanic action at some remote period Of
the world, and that coal is this oil soidi6ed
| by the action OF air or chemical action
The proof of this is that a substance re-
! sembhng coal in a simplifed form is found
in this country and in England The Tor
bay and bog head Goals of England are diff
! feTent entirely from anthracite or bitnmi-
nous Goals, and Courts oflaw in England, re-
Gently, think decided that the Torbay was
/ not coal on scientific evidence. However
there is no doubt that oil is to be found, or
| Petroleum, as il is called, in large quantit es
in various parts of the L nited States, in Can
ada, and in the East Indies near Bomaby,
where 100000 hhds. are obtained annually
it is said. In Canada and Ohio, recently,
it has been found in many localities, but the
quality is very different from the Pennsyl-
vania oil which is said to be much the best.
The excitement, of course, through all W est
eru fennSy wanna, Is intense, ana should
think not less than 1000 or 25u0 wells are
now being bored are pumping oil, al
though OF the latter the number does not
exceed fifty in the whole region of Penn
sylvania, and they will not average, proba-
bly,, over 400 or 500 barrels per day some
of them are getting from 20 TO 90 barrels
a day and others from I to 0 barrels--hut
no well that has ever struck oil has given
out entirely, although many vary according
to the manner they are worked aud the
Interruptions caused by gas, water, sc. The
Hoover well, two miles below Franklin, |
saw and all admit, pumps 90 barrels ofpure
oil in "a hours, and is, think, the most
productive we'll in the country oil now
netsl5 to 90 cts. per gal, so il is a very Valua-
bic mich COW, as IS per day will pay all the