The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1865-08-16
WHOLE NO. 46l.

" AVXl1I ANOs 1Oxs
Petrolia, Psnnsylvania. n. i.r -..a.
Under this caption the gifted prose
poet of the Chicago Journal writes As fol.
lows:
AMONG TIE DEnrrcKs-NowHERE,)
August Sd, 1865.
Curious are the freaks of fortune. On
Oil Creek-the stream they used to blanket
as if it were q thorough, bred, aud wiring
out from the wooden what they called
Seneca Oil,"-four miles from the where.
abouts of the writer, is the farm Of the
Widow McClintock. But the widow has
gone, let US pray If We may, where, il there
be no petroleum, at least there is ''the oil
of joy for mourning" She had an adop.
ted son bearing the well-tempered name of
Steele Johnny Steele among his families.
They tugged and grumbled, they two, and
lived from hand to mouth, as people are
given to doing in tough countries. By and
by it was well with the widow, and the boy
grew ambitious, and wanted an oil ladle to
do his own dipping, but the old woman's
knuckles were so rusty with hard work
that her hand would not open at his bid.
ding. So the boy, clothed with mud as
with garment, fell to driving an old team,
the nearest approach he could make to the
ladle he coveted. Wells went down on the
McClintock farm and fortunes went up,-
But there is = place de<per than q well
and the widow found it. She did not give
her son q we'll when living, and so she left
him will when dead. The other morning
| saw . young man, not far from twenty.
one, galloping by on spanking bay
Behind him was his shadow, and the sun
was not shining. He was dressed in grey,
all but his boots, and so was his double
he galloped on spanking bay, and so did
his orderly. This alter ego, this other sell,
is named Slocum, and the Robinson Crusoe
of this "man Friday is Johnny Steele; the
driver Of oil wagons, . while ago, to whom
his mother left money in bank, and prop.
erty that brought him twelve hundred and
| fifty thousand dollars besides. And no
gusty November ever scattered leaves as
this man strows money. Unable to secure
the rooms he wanted at first class hotel
in Philadelphia, he turned upon his heel
indignant, then faced about defiant: II
can buy your house." said he; "what will
you take for its' And it all ended in his
purchasing the half Of it and having all the
rooms he wished. He bought carriage
and pair in New York, dashed about for .
few hours, leaped down from the elegant
turn out, gave it all to the driver and went
magnificently to bed. So "they say.'-
Without either fitting education, or worthy
purpose, he gave good promise Of turning
fortunes favorite into fortunes fool. Al.
together this young man is companion
picture done in oil Of the "prodisal Son"
He is eating the calf first, but death is
hardly more inevitable than that he yill,
by and by, be eating the husks. The un.
slightly neighbo,hcods Of many wells have
curious histories.
| Soms men have grown rich here, much
as Byron won fame: II woke, one morn.
ing" said the poet, land found mysey ia
NOUS" The wave Of wealth has rolled in
aud carried them Oft their feet, but only
left them with ampler means to be them
selces after all. 1t sets their defects in gold
franes and puts pearls above the swine of
their propensities. The story is told of 4
man here, grown suddenly rich, who, on
being told by teacher that his daughter
lacked capacity. promptly replied: ga.
pacity? Capacity I'll bsy her one. I've
money enoughI' Badly as it sounds, it is
after all only the utterance of the thoughts
Of thousands OF men breath too prudent
to put it into words. ... .,...
Scenes In cildom are strange mingling
of California and the Front the horsemen %
in military saddles you meet everywhere
the heavy wagons, the yet heavier roads,
the rocky walls Of mountain, the dark ra.
vine, the dense thicket, the huttering tent,
the rude encampment, the rush and hurry,
the dull explosion Of the blasts among tho
hills, the blankets you lie upon, the sort of
mahogany you put your feet under, the
ookyou-in.the-eyes fashion Of everybody
you see-all these suggest life on the From.
tier. There is and have had the amplest
opportunities to know-a general healthy
look to petroleum prospects. Speculation
is less rampant than three months ago, but
the steady work advances there is appar-
ent every where, a quiet energy and per-
severance that will never say "die - towns
are going up, wells arc going down, rail
roads are creeping where never railroad
crept before; every branch Of business is
wonderfully. Aourishing. and prices touch
the top round all foated upon the dark.
green, feverish tide of petroleum.
| Living is an exquisite luxury in these
regions, and If you have nothing important
to do hereaway and you are unable to
strike tent and depart, the most economi.
cal thing to be done is to die. It will cost
less and last longer. If"one swallow will
not make 3 summer" anywhere, one swal-
low will make sum here, if you take it,
that will quite astonish you. The world
has gone to keeping tavern. Plunge into
the heart of the hills and the country, and
you shall find log cabins. whose stick
chimneys are in fume with the unsavory
smokes Of perpetual fryings; gray cabins
that swarm like wasps' nests with boarders,
who devour amid the warm hospitalities
of August weather and kitchen fire, and 90
up ladders to bed, like the angels in Jacob s
dream. Board at that hotel amid the in
noccnt. savsgery of the wilderness, will
cost you eight dollars week. But If you
effect metropolitan life at Oil City, Titus
vile. Pit Hole City, Petroleum Centre and
all the rest Of them, you can get rations
for four dollars by day. and DO packed like
sardines, two or three in one place, by
night. But don't pocket that cloth upon
the bed it is not q handkerchief, as you
might think. but the chalk line you slept
by; it is = sheet. That bit of steak cost
thirty cents pound; that bread was made
from -four at fourteen dollars barrel that
potato dated "a. D. '64." is one Of small
family that cost about two cents member.
You can play Arab At sixty cents pound
for coffee, and you swallow dime when
you eat q tomato. Your horse, If you have
one, costs you Eve dollars day under the
saddle; your horse if yon board one, will
cost you ten dollars week. In 4 country
where, yesterday, you saw meadows all