, 1865-03-13
The PETROLEUM QUESTION.
The OIL FeTer and Its Easie...Sornc OIL
As;iuncc ut Ihe Creek, Wells and OIL


EET tOEK+ IuEaday, M1fCd7 Z.
HDut how about those big fsures?" per
hans some Of your readers have heen asking
with reference to this correspondence from
the oil regions, for such vas my promise In
my initial letter. In fact discovered within
few hours after my arrival In franklin that
had been brought to deal with amounts and
quantities that cast in the shade the sober
fgutcs that belong to the quiet channels Of
trade in tho outside world. 4 few thousands,
u moderate competence, tho possessions Of
men accounted warm and well to'do reached
by the usual channels Of buying and selling
to get gnin, look small to the eager crowd
that nre hIled With the golden visions Of
wealth from petroleum wella.
And Jet in the unavoidable delay in contln-
uing my lctters, presume no one Of your
readers has suffered for the lack Of "bfg fig
ures." since every mans neighbor has them
at his tongues End, enforced in their applica-
ton bf oil the art OF the engrayer and the
draughtsman. Companies are springing up
tAickIy on. every hand. Everybody Is seeking
to be On ''the ground floor" Of some pronsts.
ing company. and thus there sra plenty Of
foundations laid, with superstructufes i1 all
stages OF, progress. Grand schemes thlcken
on every side. In Pennsylvania new farms
crowd thick}y, promising 10 reproduce the
wealth of other farms In the most famed re-
g1ons. New counties are out as rivals Of
those The first localities Of the discovery.
competitor for5spl epcculations. The fever
spreads and grows apace. Where Wilt erh?
What will be The result?
I'VE shall be set down as mad, or at least
a foolish people to have yielded to such Q
mania IN this fourth year Of the stern strug-
g!c for national existence, If no better reason
Is sent down into history than the conse-
scr7atisn. "And d hsnabug and deEusion sir ~
HuDbug it is not IN it's source and main
epr1pg, It Ia no delus,ou that the underlying
facts will stand permanently on the pages Of
the wealth of nations as without paral-
1cl in the past. The basis Of all
toa tes s he raes Ensstane 1su. as 81 5S
htaped wealth have ncrer exceeded the real
itics you End on every hnnd In the OIL regions.
To day few workmen are busy with boring
touls, pul suing a blind quest into the bowels
Of the carth. Ali is in doubt as to the result.
MuIutudcs Of others hare hiled in 4 similar
enterprise. Perhaps their own work has lag
as foot after foot the well is sunk,
and no return. This yesterday. To-
day wealth breaks forth, gushing
Ep,ing of pure oil is struck, that becomes q
STEADY Tow for months, and the operators
recently dtsheartened, are 0pu1ent almost to
the limit Of human aspiration outside the oil
regions. Within there Is no limit, Say that 1t
is well OF 2,5M barrels Of crude oil, and
1t maintains q. steady flow at that rate for
ten months. This can be computed as
yield Of sesen hundred and fl " thousand barrels
fiCm This little me-inch aperture In the
cartl, and This product is worth in cash say
lalf million dollars. But the well does not
- nit rfa$ta n nd m r..
rel daily Yield for eight months longer,
gradually falls oil to nothing, stops, is idle
Tor while, and is then reawakened, to the
wonder Of everybody, and now, in the fourth
year Of Its existence, is yfeldfn. 11om seven
hundred TO eight hundred dollars worth Of
oil daily. This is IN authentic instance Of
yield from TenanEo county oil well (the
Empire well on the Funk fntm.l Another
great well, the Noble and Dcamntcr, struck
oil in the carly part Of April, 1868. Its maxi
MUM yield was between nineteen hundred
and Two thousand barrels. It flowed ak
began to decrease. 1t Fms flowing until the
Isl Of February at the 1ate Of a hundred and
fifty to Two hundred barrels per day, when
M accident stopped 1t. This we'll Is said to
Eave uetted Its owners over three million
dollars.
The Bushnell we'll, On the Blood farm, was
completed In November, 1861, flowing about
four hana1ea barrels per day, from depth oi
i've hundred ard five feet.
The old Phillips well, Oh the Tarr farm,
opened vein Of oil at depth OF fon hun
died and ejghty-flya feet, in May, 1861, which
day. This flow continued, with occasianal
variations, for two and half years, when. 1t
decreased. The well gradually fell into dis:
use, hut has been partially resuscitated, and
now flows about fifty barrels per day.
Tho big Thliips WeA-or ''Ph'l,ips No. e''
| Ca JHne f,na nj
he H. c Geek Oil fnms,--the largest wei
oil in October, 1861, at depth Of four
4 hundred and eighty feet. The estimated
| quantity of the original dow Was from thfee
to four thousand barrels per day. The rush
of oil WIS 60 overwhelming That 1t WAS sev.
| esal days before the well could be tubcd
| forty or fifty thousand barrels Of oil were lost
| In tie creek before the Workrncn finally got
| control. The well waa subsequently Cikc
every other well yielding at this period,) not
I permitted to f'nw under thng like full
Roadway, the price Of oil being 50 low as
| not to pay. The faucet was turned
down, and the flow Of the Big Phillips re.
duced to a hundred and fifty to two hundred
| barrels per day. The flow began to decrease
abort tie lsttez part Of 1859. In this -yeat
another well, {the Woodford). was put down
near. which tapped the same vein Of oil, and
assisted in diminishing the QoW- The B1e
PHILIPPE is now running at the rate Of three
| bundled and twenty-five barrels per day. i
| Is believed to be the only we'll which begat
lowipg without having been psegiousl,
| 1ubed.
The Woodf,rd well, nllnaed to aboye, VA
originally fifteen hundred barrel well. #!
| yield began to decrease In 1868, and hnai},
ceased. Being resuscitated, It ts now pump
Ing fifty barrels per day.
The Brawley we'll, on the A. Buchanan farm
began to flow in the summer Of 1861, yielding
| SIX hundred barrels per day. After flowing {
| year and hall, the yield began to diminish
| It speedily zan down to nothing.
| The Van slyke well, on the Widow McClin
tock farm, Is struck oil in the fall Of 1861
at depth Of about five hundred feet, aoWing
six hundred barrels per day. It also gave ou
| in about q year and half.
But cannot attempt any exhaustive q
of the oil region. Those above given are
| lew taken at random from the most faunou
| in the Oil Greek vicinity, and are sufficient II
answer the points urged as to the reality
the basis on which this excitement has grown
California, Idaho, all the gold regions ere
opened by the eager miner, are cast utterly Il
| lie background BY these figures:
| lstt any wonder that colossal fortunes hay
grown from such teeming sources Of wealth
| Old Tar Is worth two and . half millions. I
! would take twenty-five millions to puFchas
bis little rough mountain farm Perhap
| III
Of lis wealth that he did not sc
the fu1l value Of such portion of hi
farm as be has parted with, though the cas-
is hardly one for very active sympathy Eoi
tunes OF from one to sl1 millions loom WltnG
reach in the visions Of the Eager oil hunters
It ,s not less fact that other such there M " "
be, than that such there hare been. The biz
tory Of petroleum remains to be set of Wit
numerous high lights Of this class. OF III
shadows am Jet to write.
A word as to the general results Of vel
sinking in the best developed oil region. L
this section there are from twelve to fiftee
noted oil far1ns, long ce1ebrated, and mp t
the other localities in Pennsylvania put tc
gether. The number of acres in these farm
Ii no key to the boring territory, fact n
public, haunted BY new schemes, would q
well to remember. The country is thlckl
set with hills, rising from four to eight hnt
tom land, skirting the bases Of these hill
where the oil wells are sunk This fact nj
| derstood will guard against misconc .ptto
of magnificent schemes on paper OF imnicns
farms in possession Of new companies, 1aIe
tracts Of which are as unavailable TOT on pu
poses us the top Of Chimborazo.
On the from Twelve to fifteen farms oho'
referred to, little less tlan four hundrt
and fifty wells are now sunk, OF these on
two~1ltbs are producing, and these give,
| average yield Of four thousand barrels PER ia
Tljs NAV be taken as the careful summary {
lie leat lit producing tract In VenanSo cou
II. We shnll have IN sixty days o new s
Of figures TO deal with even here, for t,
number Of wells are to be doubled and Il
new Developments with those carried forWa
trcm The existing state Of facts will give
data we do not now possess as to the Pf
mauence and the relative risks Of enterpris
based on petroleum wel1s.
. Such as they arc, these figures have lsa !. u
fever of speculation which Is bringing ~ ~