Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1861-04-01


soils of other tropical regions. When MAI.
teEs s-shall have reached. .tLis.stage, towards
which they aTe inevitably tending, slavery
will not only he on the High road to rx
tInc;ion, hutwill have lnearly accomplished
the journey.
a VISIT TO THE OIL REGION.
A GRAPHITE Description, OF sights ana
Experiences PIrIF4 IN and about the
"Eternnl Center"
Macdounell, the local. Of the Fairmont
Etrgi"iun, has been to see the oil region.
He graphically details his experience in
that delectatle country. We quote:
We left Grafton about three O'Clock in
the Northwestern train, and arrived at Pc
troleum, without any accident. about seven
O'Clock in the morning. Petroleum is Il
mighty fine town consisting of four dwell
ings, and is situated in Richie County:
these dwellings, might be classified, to wit:
two frame houses and two cabins One
OF the frames is storehonse, all the 9TH
ers are hotels. On landinga at Petroleum.
we found our company to number twenty
persons, IL grotesque and motley crowd. ali
strangers to US, and all of whom presented
wild, varied and vagabond. appearutc tce
We were recommended to a tavern kept hv
a person named Camp. Soon as we started
from the cars towards the tavern, Mr.
Camp. the landlord, rushed out and told
us we could not be accommodated there
but must &c, to the lower hotel. Tnither
we accordingly went: this institution was
formerly a schoOlhOWse, and had been IN
Irish shanty. The landlords name is Bar
rackman, a good. clever fellow;.Le gave us
an excellent breakfast, which we much
needed, and to which we did ample Justice.
This is a Withholding country, not a road
to be fOnnd in the ighborhood,fit to trnv-
el, and the wretched state of the weather
rendered everything dismal, gloomy and
miserable. Not being able to find any
conveyances, horse or mule, tve started
from Petroleum on foot-the whole partv.
Previous to starting, we held Consuita.
ton about the road not one of ,us had
the least idea of the geography of the
country; we were all bound for Burning
Spring run, in Writ County, the "eternai
centre" as it is called In the crowd was
"a real live Yankee, named Hezekiah Some
thing. He was the beau ideal of Yam
kee, long, gaunt, bony, and cadaycrons,
indeed the skin on his face was so tight he
oOutd-uOr Sluile 10 sIvCHiS7Ilfr. rus same
Yankee was the life and soul of our party
No one, it appeared, could give MS any
satisfactory information ms to our route,
the distance to Burning Springs being
about twenty miles. The Yankee made
various enquiries on the subject, add ut
length he asked a boy about eleven years
old, who was looking out of u window. if
there were any tinger-boards on the road
to guide the traveller, to which he replied
with great gravity, but withal a curious
twinkle in his eye, that if he, the Yam
kee, would give him one dollar bonus, he
would go to the store and buy him fin
ger-bOard. Atglength we started on our
journey, the road, if road it could be call
ed, was knee-deep in mud, the wind was
high, bowling, and cold; nevertheless,
what with whisky, good health, good hu-
NOR. aud good fellowship, We got along
mighty fine, the Yankee cnlivening the
route by his strange remarks aud quaint
prOnunciations indeed he couldn't say
c0w for any money, twas always kiosc
with Htzekinh. Well, onward we travel
ed over hill land over valley, across water
courses, rams, young creeks, swamps, &c;
desolation was written legibly all around
scarcely Il hahitatiOu was to lie seen. and
such as were visible, were so far off
and looked so like rude and miserable
shanties, that we never paused for
moment, but onward we went, laughing
Joking, whistling and drinking, till at
last We got on the top of a ridge, and
found we had lost our way, and did not
know which route to take, all traces of Il
road having disappeared. On the top of
the ridge we halted, and after holding
council OF inquiry, we proposed the Yam
kce and Oursclf to toss uD n copper for
choice of routes, which was accordingly
done, the Yankee being the loser We
then selected Il ronte, which all hands fol-
nd V-hS - 6.,, 4
out to be the right track for the eternal
ceuhe.! After travelling brief space
further, we parted company. audftook over
the little Kannwha, and soon found, to our
great delight. our friend Henry Pride of
Fairmont, who procured compile of hor-
ses, and off we started nfresh. and shortly
after snndOwn reached the eternal centre
Where is the "eternal centreY' urread-
ers will ask. Well. this region of country
is contained in II circle, the circumference
of which is nearly three miles, and is dis
tant about eight miles, on the Little Ka-
nawhn river, above Elizabeth, the county
seat of Writ county, In aud about this
favored spot, are the waters called Bum
ing Spring run, Chesnut run, Nettle RUN,
and their tributaries. Within this seen
tre,n rs it is called, are situated the va
riouS oil wells, some in full blast some in
process of boring, and some as yet un-
Here is situated the land of the
celebrated Rathbun. who, it is represented,
has made a large fortune by leasing out
half acre and quarter acre lots Here
QbOuts lis located the celebrated Camden
WELL and various other wells. right on the
bank of the Little Kanawha, that river
forming the base of tile circuit of two or
three miles, before spoken Of
On arriving that evening at the"centEA ;, |
we put up at a sharsruUi Uur horses were
hltched Mt the inside fence corner, while
Pride aud ourself weptin to make arrange
ment for the night. Here, however, we
could not stay, there being no stable for
our horses. and we left soon, lint had ito