, 1865-03-01


They Xteld--.aosx ~ 1t A6ects tue FAR
mers---4tgh Prices and High Fover
fFron Our Own Correspondent
FRANKLIN, VESAAoo Co, Pa, Feb. a4.
Ihiuted in my opening letter Of some large
figures that would be necessary among the
data to be derived from my tour among The
~otl wells. lam not ready for them yet, no1
are your readers. For myself, hare not Jet
visited tho great wells f.the valley. am
still in the new GectioR on the Allegheny
river, along which the machinery for boring
wells Is sprfnging up with g'cat rapldity. In
the interim before reaching the great oil
fountains, already and for months, and Indeed
foE several years the actual sources Of mar
vclous wealth, It will be Interesting to give
q few scattered points Of informant bearin.
on the general subject. I told you IN my last
that the Gil itself Was no new thing in this
valley. It is its use, the use that the past
few years hus developed, that has given 1t
foremost and prominent value among the
products reached below the earth's surtace.
SingulaTly enough, the use Of these oils was
first discovered by inference from the process
Of disti1fing oils from coal. After this had
been pursued for q time, the suspicion rapid
II 1ipened into a knowledge that Natures
great laboratories had anticipated man's
chemistry IN this respect. For lack of this
knowledge the first prop.ietors Of oil wells in
natural psoductof little value. The period
was net long ago when it would not pa : for
barreing. Only little later, when the first pur-
chasers Of oils sent their barrels to the wells.
they were filled for twenty-five cents per bar.
rel: Thus much Of the past Of the oil regions.
The crude oils OF the valley are Of two
qualities, rated by the trade according to
EnpRtfc 0rAVkfT1f ~
Ssavy os 10 fsr se1s a5lcape dsedsF aas
light oils, thinner, Of straw color, more
highly iuf1alnmable and ready after parting
with some Of their more dangerous explosive
properties, for illuminating purposes. Ths
the market double the va1uc Of the latter.
Thus well yielding Its ten barrels of lub1i-
eating oil ut SIS per parrcl Ia worth more than
. tTenty barrel datly product Of well Of
An oil well is an Arteslan WE'LL generally Of
four or FIVE inches in diameter, bored to
depths varying from two to eight hundred
realization Of the intent to "strike le,"
When that is reached the parties arc more
than willing to find their work completed. It
is not usual, however, to stop ut light show
tngs Of Of, now that success has given opera
tors confidence, aud the example Of full wells
from great depths, invites the still further
deepening Of the bore I shall attempt to
condense In its place the rather scattering
scientific t"nets OF a subject yesy little under
stood, and only soy here that parties OF the
'fii at part" agree with their contractors to
60 down until oil is reached, the contract
STIMULATING what increased cost Of boring
sa be Psd 2sa9 for each successive three or four
The machinery for the work is
ycry simple, and familiar to the
til til famed 10 tower 'tS Of about b S'ossrn fSriT
feet in height is constructed with pulley at
the top within, over the well, for drawing up
the long heavy drill. This is made fast to
stout rope which passes around drum Of a
steam driven shaft, to which IN engine from
six to twelve horse power furnishes the pow
er. With this the work begins, and the bore
sinks until the well is done.
It is then either flowing we'll or a pump
Ing well, the former Of Light oils mixed with
the abundant gnses that furnish the expe1ling
fore, Or pumping well, to which Is lifted 5
strong stont iron pump, driven By the engine
as before, which night and day thcnccforth
during its history as well lifts the wealth Of
the fortunate possessor to the surface.
The expense OF well boring is 500 for the
first four hundred feet, aud one dollar nddl-
iona1 for each successive two hundred feet
thereafter to the. deepest points yet
IS, coo more. The cost Of q well sunk from
SIX hundred to eight hundred feet is thus
from 4, 900 to IS do.
Obviously, the value Of well depends up
on its daily yield, combined with the us yet
not definitely settled question Of its perlna-
ence to the greater wells developed IN the
valley above. Those shall describe In
detail, from which I will not now autlci-
pate, but from ,thosc I have visited, some
preparation nay be secured to appreciate the
others.
Take the case Of the Evans well, where
ago, and for which, on the same day, he was
oife.ed $4,000. he wisely refused Il, as the
event has shown, for 1t u steady income OF
$50, 600 per annum to Evans himself, who re-
ceiycs half its profits from the company who
are working it. It pumping well Of heavy
fine oil.
have visited numerous wells Of an average
daily prcduct Of from ten to forty barrels per
day Of oil, leadily sold at prices ranging from
nine to twenty five dollars. The oils are
caught in large tanks, at the wells, where tue
oil dealers draw 1t OF in their own barrels.
and forward it to market. One dealer ii
franklin has disbursed half million dollars
for oils, within few months, and some days
has paid two thousand dollars for hauling.
And this is but one tnd Of the ol-pEoducing
valley, and q single firms disbursements for a
limited period.
But lei Us deal with . few Eupposttitious
figures, derived, indeed, from abundant facts
which it will De best to give
with the wells to which they respectively
belong. But here a general key to the oil
fever. And one fnstinctirely turns to the
gold p!ace1s again IL furnishing the only ad-
eqrate parallel. OF course, every stark
well einEer has in view the possibility Of
burst firth With over two thousand barrels Of
oil per day, flooded It's whole vicinity, turned
an adjoining meadow into an oil swamp, aud
the creek to an oil riyer. That WAS placer
that, at present prices, would yield over
twenty Thousand dollars per day, Or, reduced
to gold, at sc per ounce, equals daily yield
Sna ,hs 1 day
months. Hns California among its auriterous
tales any thing to surpass that? Or the
well sInker keeps in mind his chances Of
equalIng another we'll that, flowed one
thousand barrels per day for nearly one year,
$4,000 per day. and for the next few
months five hundred barrels a day {85,00
daily. and has since subsidc I'd to sober eighty
barrel well $500 per day). Reduce that to
ounces for youreeff reader. Then, too. am
to describe hereafter, 9 we'll that main
tains steady dow Of sI1 hundred bar
rels per day @8 900 daily, and has maintained
it since the opening without dtminution.
These are the large nuggets already devel-
op.d in these valleys, and yet not all Of them.
There are several hundred wells In operation
ranging fr. m n product Of five barrels to fifty
barrels, ranging from yalue Of twcnty-fiy
dollars per barrel for the best to from eight
to ten for the lighter qualities. These fg-
mes, taken at random, but readily realized
in the actual list Of the wells are The help to
tie oil Ever- 1t is now In its second period,
and relapse is always more severe than tile
first attack The first period WAS one Of ig-
norance, as have shown you They
did not know what to do with
tic Oh. The second period vas
one Of incredu1ity. They did not believe in
oil wells. They were large, indeed, bat would
soon give out. They have not Jet given ont.
The best oilproducing section had been aoan-
doned as dry and worthless property. a gen.
tlemnn hero, Of large experience In the oil.
regions, was offered the whole fee simple OF
one Of the creek farms, on which was sunk
ito four bundled feet q non-producing well
for 5000. The parties disagreed as to the
price to be paid Tor the well, eome $500 more,
ard the transaction fell short. That farm,
to-day, could not be bought for t,oenty million
dollars. II the figures look large, wait for
the list Of its wells in operation aud their
product, and you will have the basis of the
f}{ure Dasned feE rood wcffH in q few