The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1863-02-21
miscellaneous.
Boating Oil to Market-A "Pond
FreShet.o

by far the most exciting opera ion Of
our oil business is the spond fres het.'-
1t will richly repay journey cf many
hundred miles to see it. Imagine some
two hundred boa of all sizes, loaded
WI h oil, coming down on a rushing food
in a narrow creek, twelve rods wide,
where it requires all the skill and
strength Of some five hundred stalwart
boa men to avoid colidlng with other
boats or rocks and Instructions. and you
can form some idea of it. But our pur-
pose is o describe what pond frcshet
is, and how it is caused. The bulk of
oil comes from wells located from four
to six miles above this point. TO get
this oil to Oil. City, from whence it is
shipped to ali points, we have to haul it
in wagons or float it down Oil Creek in
boa ).
A great portion of the business season,
the roads along Oil Creek are impossible.
Besides this, teamiug is an expensive
aud slow mode of transportation. 1t
takes days and frequently weeks, to tran,
| sport u few thousand barrels few miles,
for the reason tina when shippers are in
the grca est haste, teams are scarce, and
prices rule accordingly. Upon the
fresaet the shipper can run his cargo of
oil to his port in a few hours. L, being
the cheapest and most expeditions mode
of getting he oil out from the wells, it
is Of course preferred by the shippers.
With this explanation we will cndeavor
to give he reader an idea of he mode
in which The frcShct is formed and finally
lie loose -
a pond treshet is a temporary rise of
water in the creek, for the purpose OF
running Oh. logs, RATS, boats, &c. The
water rises high enough to run gu boats.
containing sometimes five hundred, and,
IN some few cases, seven hundred barrels
of oil. There are usually from one hun
dred and fifty to two hundred and fifty
boats on each freshe. 1t lasts from one
to two hours, and is caused by letting
the water out of from seven to seventeen
dams on the principal branches of Oil
Creek, so that the water will all meet
together, making quite food, upon
which from seven thousand to thirty
thousand barrels of oil are run in boats
to the river.
The dams arc built with a solid abut-
mcnt at each end, and often one in the
middle. Between these abutments there
are timbers made very solid in the bot
tom of the creek, in which mor,iccs are
made every three or four feet. On The
top of the abu men s, which are usually
from ten to twelve feet high, other tim
bers are fastened, spanning from one to
he other. These timbers are directly
over or Il few inches below ,he row of
NOR ises in the lower timbcrs at the bot
tom of the creek. Scantling, from six
to eight inches square, and ten to twelve
fee long, wi h u tenor on one end, so as
easily to en- cr the mortises IN the timber
in the DO tom of the creek, are prepared
and stood up perpendicularly, the lower
end in the mortlse, and the upper lean
ing against The timbcrs which span the
abu ments. Then loose boards are
placed on the upper side of these studs
or posts, which are firmly held to their
place by the weight of the wa cr. Thus
the dam is compleed When we wish
to make pond freshet we go to the
upper dams on the different branches of
the creek, some of which are twelve
miles above Titusville, and commence
about midnight eli her to pull with IL
lever and chain, or cut away these studs,
and the water all rushes out of the dam
1T once. We then wait until this water
gets into or commences running over the
next dam, and then cut it away, and
keep repea ing this process until we come
to the lower dam hree miles below Fl
tusvlllc. When which is a very large
dam, is cut, we have let loose all in one
body, in some cases, the water of seven
teen dams, which makes rise of from
twenty-five to thirty inches above the
swiftest ripple. The studs are again
put in, water collects, and the mill-mcn
saw and grind until they are all stopped
from twelve to forty-eight hours by the
next pond freshc.
he shippers and boatmen, having
been notified of the day upon which the
treShet is o take place, begin to make
preparations several days previous to =.
Boats are ovcrhauld, put in order and
then ,towed, by men or Eorses, to the
pom on the creek from which they intend
to start. The boats are hcn loaded and
everything made ready for the coming
flood which is to watt them o that much
desired harbor, the mouth of the creek.
About the time the frcshet is expected,
the boatmen stand ready to let loose
their lines. A cool rushing breeze Is
the frs. sign of it, and soon after come
the swirling waters. inexperienced boat
u,an generally cut their boats loose upon
the first rush of wa err. AS matter Of
course, their boats run ahead of the
water, ami get aground upon the first
ripple or shoal. The creek being very
narrow, and the force of the current
generally swinging the boats across it, a
jam, and not unfrcquently great loss
of boats and oil cnsues, just from the
inconsiderate haste of few. The expe-
rienced boatman waits at his Earbor
until the water commences to recede,
then Gu his line loose, aud trusts him
self to the mercy of the swift current,
and comes into port upon the highest part
of the rise. The current of tirst-class
pond fIeshet will run at the rate of six