The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1865-08-16

to tour dollars day, and engineers five,
all with the rations thrown in. A driver
and his team are good for fifteen or twenty
dollars every twenty.four hours: thu, now
he can draw Ave barrels at three dollars .
barrel from the "United States'', W slLr to
Titusvills, eleven miles; or the same num-
bcr At two dollars barrel to Plumsr, sir
miles. and 60 twice. A rough carpsntsr
who knows the whistle of jack plane
from the whistle Of . quail, can command
five dollars day, and that girl yonder,
wringing out dish cloth at the front door,
is worth all the way from three 70 ave dol.
lars week. Vulcan has it oil his sown way
here. The family Of Smith the smiter "a
more tLan proverbially numerous. A few
loose boards knocked up any where. and .
wheezy old bellows with it's nose in the
ashes, = chimney of the fashion and size Of
. pepper. r.box, hammer, bit Of iron, aud
. handful of coal, and nv lord of tho lsath-
er apron is ready for business. You can
hear the clink of his hammer all over the
country; you can see the sparks 6y out
from his open door like chaff from the
threshing foor," in the dark mouths Of
ravines and among the rocks Of the noun
tains. He has the "philosopher's stone"
set in the face of his hammer; for he can
beat black iron into bright gold at the rate
Of sixteen dollars day. And this scale Of
prices is significant; it means oil. II the
grass is safe from the scy the and the berries
are unplucked by the roadside, it is be-
cause labor is worth more than either. and,
because it will buy both. To find oil. to-
raise oil, to freight oil, are the beginning
Of the Venango catechism and "the chief
end Of the Venango man. Prices Of food
and labor constitute the thermometer Of
petroleum. When they fall, you will hear
Of failing wells, dry holes and derricks As
empty as fools cap. fsa" s-'.f " oE
The restless spirit Of enterprise has,
reached the children. There is a lad Of
thirteen here who is the owner Of team.
hauls out oil to the railroads, "a manfully
as the best Of them, and has fifteen hun.
dred dollars Of his earnings in bank fairly
stepped into his majority without waiting
for time. 1t is estimated, yop know, that
hundred barrels of wasted oil float down
Oil Creek every day. This morning, a. 3
stood upon the bridge that spans the creek
just above its confluence with the Allegheny.
wondering at the splendid coloring of the
film, as If whole summer Of rainbows had,
fallen into it and were drifting in glittcring
wrecks upon its surface; watching, too:
the horses splashing through the stream.
rainbows and all, drawing after them the
silent barges, and making me fancy q span
Of mice towing q bread tray. A friend.
pointed out to me barge propelled by four
boy power, the quartette being owners.
'skippers" and all hands of the craft, and
engaged in the navigation Of the creek and
the transportation Of oil. A human being;
thus never to have any childhood seems to
me pitiful sight; the rounded and plastic
! outlines of boyish faces hardened and sbar.
pened into little tomahawks; tho pocket
that used TO be rich in string, jack.
chews of gum, ''nubbins'' Of slate. pencla
an alder whistle, and q rusty wallet with =
fish hook and . cent in it, emptied Of them
all, to make room for pocket.book big
with green. n.backs. 1t is robbing the nur..
sery ii it is not cheating paradise, Tor "us
sucA as they are is the kingdom Of
heaven" - af'i
Petroleum has its humo-s. I crossed \
door. r.yard, yesterday, containing a couple
OF wells that have ceased to afford any
revenue, and it looked lonely and dismal
enough. But there are .'surface indica-
tons" of oil for all that, and the sweetest.
| dare to say, ever discovered Flowers
had been sowed in letters and came up'
'o-I 1" and near it was little derrick not
much bigger than a canary. birds cage
Altogether 1t might have been frolic when
those two wells were flowing, or . delicate
bit Of satire after they ran dry. Whatever
it was it was An oleagincus forgery by a
wonan's hand, and for which she can be
easily forgiven. 2aia Hbs =
Did you ever see an ''cil smeller," and.
eau you tell to which of the three kingdoms
it belongs? And would you think FROM its
| name, that it has a soul to be saved, An.
oil smeller is fellow who goes about, like
the old water finders, with fork of which.
hazel in hahd, that obligingly points to six
O'Clock whenever there is oil beneath it,
There are, perhaps, dozen Of these greasy,
wizards perambulating Venango county,
; and locating wells after this fashion, in. con.
sid GRAFTON Of ten-dollar bill; and what
is stranger, there are plenty Of people with
the ten-dollar bill. Th:re is vein Of su!
perstition running through all human,
nature, whether in Salem and Bedam or
out of them, and good old DR.. Mather was
only little honcster than most men; and
| confessed it. ........... ~. :
am writing you fiom = wilderness and
yet it is curious fact that within four
miles of spot where the lonely crv Of tbs
| wild cat Is about Is much at holn "a in
British America, they maintain relics Of
an age almost as far back as the time Of
Richard Wilmington, Lord Mayor of Lon:
don. Thus, at Oil City, a place that four
years ago last March had an old mill, .
farm house and stors,-''only that aud
nothing more'-thcy now have an organ.
| lied and efficient police that would do no
discredit to the grandest city in tho land.
There is bell that strikes the hours. and
all through the night, when tho bell has
done ringing, the nearest policemen lifts up
his voice with IN n o'clock and alrs
we'll !-"tw.e,lv-e O'clock and alls well!'s
and SO the word is passed along the valley
from ~atchman to watchman, as if the ech.
oes were answering back again. And then,
up into the small hours quivers the CRY,
It h rec o'clock and cloudy morning r.
and then there is glimmer Of gold upon
the pines, and the grey clouds are mantles
of glory, and tho Allegheny is unshesthed
like sabre, aud the dark crests Of
the mountains are crimsoncd like an
altar Of accepted sacrifice. So may it be
with reader and writer when the night ID
over and gone. r ~s. yr.n.
A man in this city had cat, and the cat
at times had kittens. One Of the litter was
always kept--the rest drowned. He has IA
little five year old girl. A few days sine.
hic Sp ifa al h,,,, nth thr.o ,h;ll.>~f