Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1865-01-14

DOWN Immediately, as he had discovered
.EIe,ldfd ope5tia0 for the oil business. The
next day he telegraphed the old gentleman
a. follows: "Father, don't come. I'm badly
sucked in. Plenty of oil, but no market ]"
This is the first Of fsls-al account that profane
historians give US of the oil business. In
stead of prospecting for oil in the crop of the
wbaIe, Jonah would have done better to have
penetrated the bowels of VenangO county,
PENNSYLVANIA Probably he found better ho-
tel accommodations where he was than he
could on Oil creek, but the quality of his oil
vas nothing like this, and here there is ready
market for the entire product. If an avari-
eious man, he would not have turned his
house inside out, as he did in three days, and
zone ashore He could have laid up his
treasures on earth at the rate of two-forty.
Poor fellow the whale ordered him up, and
vent it alone, and Jonah couldn't help il.
Let them pass.
Since the Jonah speculation, the whales
have been followed up more or less vigorous
Is for their hide and tallOw," and their num-
Der was becoming rapidly diminished. But
since the invention and use OF vulcanlzed
gutta percha as a substitute for whale bone,
aud of petroleum oil as a substitute for the
extract of blubber, that monarch of the fin
- .-;L~s. the whale. suns himself in safety,
and enjoys a comfortable repose, inspiring
the poet with these magic lines:
Yemonsters of the boiling deep,
Your Makers praises spout
Up from the sands ye whale calves peep,
And wag your tails about!
Let 'em wag
So much by way of depression. have just
been through the length and pretty much
Through the breadth of the oil regions of
PENNSYLVANIA, called thereto partly by bust
ness and partly by curiosity; and took up
nv pen to give your readers a few items in
regard to the great developments here found.
asa field for investment of labor or capital,
with a promise of even fair profits, our West
.rp neople have been accustomed, until very
lately. to regard these oil fields as an absur
div. humbug-a bubble that would soon
burst At the first view, digging in the earth
for oil does appear ridiculous. This fact, and
the imposition practieed upon the people by
ce.taIn Eastern STOCK companies, organized
f,r the sole purpose If fleeing the unwary
ont of their money, and with no idea of pros
n4.tiug or boring for oil, have hitherto mis-
I'd me. and think the public too, as to the
rrue merits of the oil enterprise. No doubt
there is much excitement, oily CANNON
td kiting speculation connected more or
I-ss with the business, as there always is
about any new sensation; but no man in his
senses can spend ten days in the dark valleys
and shadows of Oil Creek, and see mother
a,rtb disembowel her millions of treasure
from the wells, without being brought ire
sistably to the conclusion that that vicinity
PRODUCES more wealth in the same length of
time than the world ever saw before, and
that labor bestowed or capital invested there
in GOOD faith will yield a most bOuntiful
profit. The California gold fields do not
compare with il in their palmiest days. Don't
I haze oil on tho brain " havn't
got it
This oil has been known for long years, as
gathered from the surface of the creek by the
Indians and others, and sold for medicinal
purDOses under the name of Seneca Oh"
Rock Oil" &c, but its first discovery in
large quantities was made about four years
since, by a party who was boring for salt,
when suddenly he came upon a vel. of oil,
which flowed to the surface with astonishing
force, and filed the air with a gaseous and
horrible stencil never before known to the
nostrils of men. It was thought by some that
the cesspOOl of the lower regions had been
opened, sure. Chemists gathered up this
crude oil and experimental upon it. They
found it could be distilled, refined and made
use of for nearly all purposes where other
oils had before been used, and that its pro-
duetiOn was much cheaper than any other.
ThereupOn other wells were sunk, ana thou
sands of barrels per day poured forth, to such
an extent, in fact, that no sale could be found
for it. It had not yet been introduced to
common use. Wells we're plugged up or al
lowed to flow their oil into the creek as
yalueIess. Meantime people began to learn
the excellence of the oil, and to use 1t for a
hundred purposes not at first known. Its
export to foreign countries soon commenced,
and has gone on to such an extent that il
l. ~ s,E E.r-
several millions King Cotton himself in the
"piping times of peace" Already, in her
mOurnfuI moods, Britannia's Queen HES her
from the gas-lit palace to her quiet room and
bewails her Albert by the light of a kerosene
lamp. Napoleon feasts on empire and the
Car of Russia cooks his bear meat with the
same. Its rays beam voluptuOusly through
the harem of the Turkish Emperor. John
Chinaman and the Japanese Tycoon wag their
tails and learn wisdom by kindred illumina-
ton. Old Abe's gunbOat for Liberia is lit
with the same light. The Brazilian Cover
nor turns up the wick to throw light upon IN
ternational law, but turns il down again when
he sees smoke. The fur-clad Esquimaux, /
suppose, drink the crude oil, when they have
cold and can't smell it, In truth, all civil
lied and many semi-barbarous nations are
now studying their spelling-bOoks and tesla
ments by the light of kerosene. Only JEFF.
Davis and the Southern Confederacy cling to
COW grease and candle wicking. Orders
from foreign countries, l am told, are already
millions of barrels ahead of the supply, and
the demand cannot but double annually for
many years TO come. So, you see, the "gal'
whose daddy had "struck iie," as the story
goes, might well give the cut direct to the
poor devil who hadn't yet been so fortunate.
The use of oil and the demand for it being
50 great, present and prOspectively, the wells
producing it and the territory for miles ada
cent to them, have become and are immense
" valuable, for, in this immediate region, a
we'll sunk in one spot is just as likely to pro-
duce oil as in another, so much so that geolo-
gists and the disciples of switch hazel" have
ceased to prognosticate. A very large pro-
portion of the wells sunk are productive and
profitable, some immensely so. The oil sells
now at the wells, casks and transportation
furnished by the buyer, at twelve dollars and
6lty cents per barrel. Some wells are pump
Cd others flow of their own accord. The
jumping wells produce from ten to a hundred
and fifty barrels per day, and are valued and
sell readily at four thousand dollars per bar
rel Flowing wells are valued higher and
produce from fifty to one thousand barrels
Der day. Let the curious take their slate
and pencil and from the above statement hg-
ure up the value of the daily and yearly pro-
ductiOn Of an average well, how long 1t would
take TO paw for itself, what it would be worth
to hold, to sell, &c. The figures will astonish
YOU, and NAV give you the oil fever bad. 1t
50 take a little kerosene before going TO