Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1861-04-06
saturday Morning, April 6, 1851.
,sy-Ax on TRlr.-we yesterday made

land aud PittSbnrS rohui " 1NON ~ tHS S''
f,.p,.. aud derrieks, by means of which
me vasty deep is being sounded in search
- ,,..,s. OF course, from the time we
.,,,,pd until We returned we heard nothing
lm,o;l There a prevalent sense of oil
.,hout everybody and ever. thing all along
49, nnner Ohio. Other branches Of bust
-. ore abandoned for the time, and other
,on;cs Of CONVERSATION, not eveu excepting
.Es state of the nation, are entirely ignored.
NJ. conld almost fancy that the breezes
,,h;sner.d "oil' in at the car window
DO, The water in the rivulets laughed aud
,r;a,,ed about it-that the engine sobbed
and the heavy wheels elanked Of it So
saa,orous are the derricks that it is almost
;mnos.ibls to count them. They are near-
:, - numerous us the telegraph poles
The .ugurs are generally worked by small
.,,ioss- but in one or two instances We
noticed that horse power aud human pow
eewere made use OF. The first well We
saw was at Bridgeport, company having
recently organized there aud hOisted u
derrick. They are now s9me twenty-seven
feet down, aud those interested, like all
other oil borers, they are sanguine of
success. At Deep Run and Glenu's
Ran they are also digging. As you pro-
coed up the road you find yourselfina per-
feet city of derricks, but as many have not
bocrd more thana couple of hundred feet,
no oil has yet gladdened the hearts of the
eager searchers this side of Smiths Fer
nv. There it is astonishing to see the ac-
tivity and hustle which the oil interest
has occastOned. There they have, out Of
a dozen or more wells, three or four that
produce the genuine article-an article
said to be superior, for lubricating purpos-
cs to any yet discovered elsewhere. Great
piles of barrels were lying about, some
ready TO be filled, and some to be shipped.
At Smiths Ferry, aud AS far up AS Ro-
chester, where VIC stopped, more derricks
loom up By the roadside, aud in all man
uer of out of the places, little engines
'srape and CHATTER, soperannuated horses
go their melancholy and monotOnoas
rounds, the uugurs fall upon the 'hRrd
whin rock, aud all are inspired and en-
Outraged by the hope of striking oil. The
fields and gardens look neglected, the oil
excitement having absorbed tue catire
time and attention of the people.
In one town through which We passed,
they arc sinking well, upon which
all tho available labor of the village is
employed, aud ia which is invested the
combined aud entire capital Of its citizens.
The fate of the village depends upon this
hole in the ground If oil, prosperity.
good living and store clothes. No oil,
then comes adversely, starvation and rags.
The we'll is the borough barometer. It is
visited and watched like sick man in
whom the hopes aud fears OF nation
were centered. Morning, noon aud night
reports are made, and hearts become hea-
vy or light according as the well bids fair
or otherwise.
Everybody among these derricks has an
oily look aud an oily way with them, and
some of the men looked SO greasy and
sleek, that we were once or twice tempted
TO "leuse" some of the moro obese speci-
mems aud commence boring for lard ON our
own hook; but Instead of doing SO We snf-
ferei Ourself to be bored most intOlerably
aud remOrseIessly.
OF course, there are numerous oil stories
going the rounds, and among them none
are better than this: A darkey was super
Intending the boring of well one night,
the proprietor being anxious to complete
the work aud therefore laboriug night and
day. The weather was cold aud a fire was
burning near the mouth of the WE'LL
About midnight vein of gas was struck
and igniting from the FIRE, shot mp bril-
liNntaamcin the air, Illuminating the whole
scene. The darkey, who almost turned
white with fear, broke for his masters
house, yelling, "Get up, Massa Thompson,
get up. We've broke through into hell
Thin seems of coal, the gas fountains,
the Oil'scented slate, the olegeuous springs
along La Belle Rireric, are the "surlace
indications" upon which the excitement
rests, and nothing short of unsuccessful
digging will allay it. We have heard 1t
said, aud We believe it, that if all the oil
that has been pumped up or that has
blOwnup out of the bowels of the earth,
since this excitement commenced, were
offered for, sale to-dayrit would not bring
enough to pay for half OF the holes dug in
search OF it. In general, then, it is a losing
business. Whom a man strikes oil, weiall
hear OfiG bUt when a man bores and don't
strike oil there's nothing said about it
We hear it said that some person has
ANis'ed his derrick, sunk his shaft, gone
deep into the earth, spent his money, and
got no oil. But here's a man, over here,
say We, who has made n hundred thousand
dollars, Hes the man we're talking about.