The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1865-02-10
FEBRUARY 10, 1865.

few barrels of the crude oil were exported to
England. where II was partially rchned, and its
commercial Importance began to be understood.
Yankee enterprise having been attracted to the
subject, the natural result followed. meth
cd Of refining was invented, the Illuminating
and lubricating uses Of petroleum were discov
cred, and the reign Of Petrolia commenced.
THE SELECTION or BORING PLACES.
The existence OF oil beds having been deter.
mined, and Yankee enterprise having been at
tracted thereto, the next question that natural
ly arose was, how to determine where to sink o
we'll for Il was soon discovered that there was
something Of lottery In striking oil. Geolo.
gsts and other scientific men, who embarked In
the oil trade, carried out their theories in this
respect, but were not always successful. The
larger class who Aocked to the Oil Dorado,
however, had no faith In geology, and accord
ingly "bored" at random The superstitious
class. who are generally the majority. relied,
and still rely upon the miraculous witch hn.
,el' men It may be remarked, however, that
propeces OF the Z" itch hazel" men fail when
they don't fnd oil. The moro sensible manner
Of choosing localities for oil wells Is to bore
where the geological formation Is like that
where good wells have been found. At hest,
sinking oil wells Is q lOttery-if q man stands
one chance in twenty Of drawing prize, he is
lucky.
HOW OIL WELLS ARE BORED.
The process OF boring m oil we'll Is very sim.
pie. A derrick, consisting Of four upright tim
bers placed ten or twelve feet apart and fasten.
ed together by cross-picces, Is erected directly
over the spot selected for boring. This derrick
Is usually from forty to sixty feet high, and Is
made very stable In order to support the boring
machinery A steam engine Of six or eight
horse power Is now used for the work OF drill.
ing, although many wells Of not very great
depth have been bored by hand. An iron pipe,
about six inches In diameter, Is first driven
down to the first stratum of rock. Where this
Is found ut considerable distance from the sur.
face, the pipe Is inserted in sections that Is,
piece Is 6rst driven down, then another section
Is fastened firmly to II at the top this Is In
turn driven down, and 30 on until the rock Is
reached. The drill Is then introduced into this
tube, reaching down to the rock-the iron rod
suspending Il being heightened by the fasten.
ing of additional pieces at the top M the drill
works Its way through the rock. The drill Is
about two and half inches inches In diameter,
and is worked pp and down by means Of the
engine above. Tho progress. Of drilling Is OF
course slow, and depends upon the hardness OF
the stratum. An average days work OF drill
ing Is from six to eight feet, but sometimes ten
or twelve feet is accomplished. The first stra-
tum through which the drill passes Is slate or
soapstone. then comes stratum Of sandstone,
which Is usually not more than ten or twelve
feet In thickness next Is another layer OF slate
Of blush appearance, about twenty feet In
thickness, after which the second stratum Of
sandstone Is reached. When this Is accomplish
ed-the depth reached ranging from two hum
dred TO six hundred, and In some instances n
thousand feet-the oil Is struck, propided the
borer Is lucky. A new process OF drilling has
lately been invented. however, which bids fair
To facilitate the sinking Of oil wells. II Is this:
The drill Is slender tube. the end Of which Is
set with n species Of diamond. The drill Is con.
nected with machinery At the surface, by means
OF which II revolve, with great velocity, cutting
out the rock in core, which is removed in pie
ces, by clamps let down In the hole. BY this
method we'll of Ave hundred feet in depth
may be bored In two weeks. which, by the old
process, would require two months. As soon
M the drill passes through the last stratum, and
reaches the reservoir below, there comes yush-
ing up to tho surface combustihle gas. follow
ed BY a mixture Of salt water and petroleum
the oil Is invariably accompanied by the salt
water, and they are separated as will be hcrcaf-
ter explained. This Is the realization Of great
expectations" the finding Of the FL Dorado,
the acme of petroleum ambition--f0r every
squirt from the we'll Is a greenback II the bor-
er has been lucky enough to strike flowing
we'll, he has nothing now to do but to stand still
and see himself grow fabulOusly rich that Is,
he has only to secure the oil and send II to mar
ket. But flowing wells are great rarity, and
the most sanguine Of the disciples OF Petrolis
does not expect such boundess good fortune.
Tho how of salt water aud petroleum to the sur
face, therefore, Is, excepting In flowing wells.
Of very short duration, and the next work to
be done Is the preparation tor pumping. The
bore of the we'll Is now enlarged by what Is
termed "rimmer," and IN iron tube, fastened
together In sections Of ten or twelve feet. Is run
down to the oil deposit. A fax seed bag, which
expands when wet, Is fixed at certain distance
from the surface within the tube. in order to
prevent the surface water from rushing down.
plunger or Waived piston Is next inserted In
the tube, and this being attached to tho engine,
the work Of pumping commences.
TIE PROCESS or PUMPING.
The old method Of pumping oil Is on the
same general principle as ordinary water pump
ing, aud requires no explanation but Yankee
ingenuity has lately invented new process,
which will probably soon be generally adopted.
Two tubes are inserted in the well, aud by o
powerful force-pump the air Is forced down one
Of them, and the oil, In consequence OF the
pressure Of the air, is forced up the other tube
Is much more steady and OF greater volume than
by the pumping process, and It has been sue:
cessfully applied to many wells that had failed
to yield oil In the old manner. The petroleum,
as before remarked, Is invariably accompanied
by salt water. As It reaches the surface, this
mixture is carried by conduits into large wood
en- tanks, in which the oil rises to the surface
of the water and Is drawn of into barrels, when
we have crude petroleum-the oil before UNDER
going the refining process.
nEsuscIrArioS OF OIL WELLS.
As has been said, there Is not one chance In
dozen that the borer will strike oil, and the
proportion Of wells that give permanent dow
even when successful for while. @ay safely be
estimated in a like manner. There are hun.
dreds OF wells along Oil Creek that ut 6rst gave
an abundant yield Of petroleum. yet to-day i
they are rs dry as q powder-horn. And yet In
the Mecca oil region Of Ohio, which three or
four years ago was the center OF attraction.
that Is much more than paying expenses, and
not one 10 hundred OF those that at one time
gave great promise, Is now pumping. Within
the last year, however, . number OF apparent.
" "played out" wslls-to use the expressive
term In use hereabouts-have been recuperated
by ingenious processes and patient labor, and
are now abundantly repaying the work expeu-
del upon them. As On instance OF what may
be accomplished In that way, rs well rs to show
the persistency and determination Of oil SEEK
ers, the following circumstance may be men.
toned: A Philadelphia oil firm obtained the
leases known o, the Comet Wells. on the Blu.
ohanan farm. This well had already been tried
anil abandoned by several practical oil.search-
ers, and was pronounced worthless. The Phil.
however, thought differently, and
went to work with will TO demonstrate their
theory. They labored six months In efforts to
rcsuscitate the Comet, but, like other comets,
~. und tr A. LAT