Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1864-12-20
TAe gutelIfge1lt:r.
ABOUT Oh.

| ABOUT OILS
Captain John Smith, shortly after the
settlement of Virginia, wrote back to Eng
land that the only thought of the oolonists
seemed to be to "dig gold, wash gold, aud
load goId." Every glitteriug thing they
saw was gold in their eyes. Hence, they
washed and shipped all sorts of valueless
ores and stones, mistaking them for gold.
As It was with John Smiths Colouists
about gold, so it has been, at successive
periods, through later times, about other
temporary Jurors. Since then we have
had the "South Sea bubble" and the
':Mississtppt bubble" and the "MoFus
Multieaulis," and many other such In
Nominations, illusions and delusious. No
ope knows, and therefore no one can say,
that the present Petroleum Oil excitement
is one of the list just quoted. At this
date it is hard to tell. Time proves all
things. Men made fortunes, immense for
tunes-out of the bubbles ofthe past-that
its some men did-while other men (and they
were the vast majority lost immense for
tunes. In faro the rule of the game is
said to be that ''the more you put down the
less you take up" 10 boring for oil this
may or may not be the case. A great ma.
ny people have put down that have not
yet taken up. Some few have taken up
largely. But you can count the names of
such in little while. In the oil regions
their names are in everybody's mouth,
just as the names of the "big nugget" men
were in the mouths of all the diggers in
California in I849.
Wheeling people who go East report
when they come home the multitudinous
questions that are at once put to them on
landing in Philadelphia and New York
about West Va. oil lands. Being from .
point within the State, it is naturally pre-
sumed that they are East on oil busi-
ness ind that they come loaded down with
leases and fee simples in any quantity to suit
purchases. The disgust is said to be ex-
tPeme when man from Wheeling tells such
inquirers that he is not in the business, new
err has been and never expects to be. They
have no more use for him.
In most all the New York and Philadel.
phia papers the advertisements of the Oil
Companies monopolize large space. Aud
every few days the Herald and one or TWO
other such sheets, have articles about the
Petroleum Aristocracy. There is said to
be the Anthraoite (ooal) Artstooraoy;f the
Bituminous (CoaI) Aristocraey; the 0annel
(OootI Aristoosacy. tha pafroIauun 10 ana.
'ctes of ooaly AristOcracyi and all these in
addition to the regular "shoddy AristOc.
racy" of three years standing
Besides the organization of Petro-
leum Aristocracy in New York, they
have also organized Petroleum EK-
change, place where they buy and
sell oil stocks, oil lands, and oil indica.
tions. The Exchange is crowded by a
vast herd who have oil on the brain. They
below aud halloo like the gamblers at Gill
pins gold room or atGallagher's Evening
Exchange One man buys at an eighth
and sells at quarter, and on the turn of
greater and lesser fractions they make and
lose their money. No body sees any oil,
of course. But they see vast maps show
ing the exact locality of Cow Creek, and
Calf Greek, and Bull Greek. and Snake
Greek; and the exact topography of all the
sheep tracks and hen tracks that lead
thereto and therefrOm, We are told that
:hey have located on their maps, tho spot
out near Triadelphia, 10 this eouaty, where
an experiment was made some three or
four years ago, including picture of the
derrick still standing, aud a representation
of the gas blowing off as it actually does
out there yet. Then they have ell of Ty-
Ter and Pleasants counties down in
large size and glowing colors. Mononga-
liza county, and especially the Dunkard re-
gion, is beautifully laid out. Pleassuts
county figures consPicuOusly, aud is con-
sidered bigh up 10 the pictures. But Wood
aud Writ counties are the Paradises to
which all eyes are turned, aad over which
the happy owner of a lease of foot of
land in either county, loves to liuger.-
"Horse Neck" and "Burning Springs" /"
names not classical in Themselves, are
invested with more interest and inspiration
than Helicon or Parnassus. Washington
county, Ohio, the county in which Mari
eta is located, is one of the great maps at
the Petroleum Exchange. More particu-
larly as it is the land of the Cow Greeks and
Duck Cresks, to say nothing Of.the Paw
paws. Any number of men are busy tell-
ing the listening groups their experiences
at Marietta on their way out to these
creeks: as, for instance, how Eve and six
of them had to sleep in one bed'a the ho-
tel, and eat of one plate at the table, and
drink out of one tumbler at the bar and,
next, what fabulous price they paid for
annh accommodations espeeially the