The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1865-08-17


under the above caption, by MR.. VIII
LIAM WRIGHT contains some valuable
suggestions and statistics. After descri
bing ,au oil well, the author considers th'
process of striking oil:
THE sand pump occasionally bring
ND, from the first sand rock below thu
| surface. small quantities of oil; hHt this
| is apt to receive no attention, operator:
| knowing that it will soon exhaust it, If
More frequently good vein ma. 6'
struck i'm the second rock; bur on INT
lower part of Oil Creek and Oh It's trlbu
taries this is usually allowed to pass un
needed. On the Allegheny and nn frencl
aud Sugar Creeks they selt.,m drill
further than through this stratum
Elsewhere on. entering and passing
through the third layer, good show Is
most eagerly looked for as the sand-pumr
comes up, filed with the gray, sloppy
mass from beneath. If this begins to
turn darker in color separating into
thick, heavy sediment, which settles on
the ground, and green, sliny liqnld
which floats away toward the iearcSt
hollow; great indeed is the rejoicing; for
the prospect of one hundred Thousand
dollars is in view Indeed, the vein
struck may, in an instant, anticipate
reamer, sand-pump, tubing and every
thing else, sending mp IL spirit OF petroie-
um which shall smite the top OF the der
rick and drive away the workmen, it's
rage only cooling sufficient to permit
them, after the lapse of = day or Two, to
return, insert the tubes, and guide the
generous overflow into the ciStern."
The cost of sinking and tnbing well
of five hundred feet, which is The ordina-
ry depth of those lately pnt on Oil Creek
but is less than the average Of wells "n
Cherry Run Or Pitholc, is between seven
thousand aud seven thousand hve hun
dire dollars, nnless the proprict"'s own
the steam engine III other part ol the ap
peratus required, in which case IL Will
amount to between lonr thousand aud
five thousand dollars. As an evidence oi
the contingencies affecting oil wells, the
author states that if IN oil spring inSurs
ance company existed, II would not is
sue a policy upon The first discharge OF
a well, that it would hold ont longer
than twelve months; at any rate II
would be unsafe to accept the risk of ITS
continuing to yield more than tea per
cent. of the average IT rs ifs' months
production Indeed experts have set
down une months as the ordinary pc
riod
There is in the work chapter devo-
ted to the statistics of oil production,
from which we learn that there are mp
wards of three hundred oil wells now in
operation in Pennsylvania, yielding at
the rate of three million barrels annu-
ally.
An interesting feature of this work is
the exposition OF the frauds perpetrated
by spurious oil copanies and mere srecu.
lators. One mode of operation is cited
which may not exactly be classified with
the catalogue of downright frauds y
C, rtain individual and his associates bad
purchased considerable tract of land
at the head of - Run. on which the
sum of FIVE hundred dollars only had to
be paid down-the residue to be paid at
a date sufficiently far distant tn allow
them for making experiments. AT the
same time, the associates had made ar
with another person to sinka
we'll on an acrelo they contributing with
the real estate one tenth of the capital,
for which they were to receive one-tenth
of the oil obtained The locality being
at some miles distance from any paying
well, il is easy to see that this bargain
was perfectly satisfactory to the purchas-
er, as the risk of sinking was nearly all
to the wolldigger. If he
succeeded in getting oil. one acre of the
property would sell for rs
much a. the whole tract had c0Si "
not, ths, had only to throw up tho COP
tract ,nd forfeit the five hundred dol
lars Hence il was with smile of tri.
umtph that he made the remark IF
we succeed, we shall make half
IA million by the operation. Upon which
Mr.. WRIGHT remarks:
BY transactions somewhat similar.
miles of Oil Greek has passed into the
hands of speculaters, who are operating
for rise by arts and appliances known
ONLY to the initiated. Some of those are
not dishonorable, in the ordinary sense
of terms others are bold swindles which
call for exposure" We have not space
to enumerate the various /, trickeries
which are exposed in this work, bnt will
close with some reference to certain in-
teresting calculations made by the VIII
ter. They may lie summed up as follows:
He regards the average period OF good
wells production at eighteen months
He warns not to accept the first day or
two's yield as an evidence of the produc'
tiveness of the we'll He says that only
one in five wells which are sunk is prof.
liable. He estimates the profits OfOil
refineries in this fashion: " If the yield
for 1865 be three million five hundred
thousand barrels, the excise duty will
amount to precisely three millions and
half of dollars" We are now in posi-
ton to cast up the account as follows:
Value of the crude oil at the wells
oSerstine & expense. .s2 500. go
Cost of replacing works. -5,Oo0,oo0
excise ....... ,, 500 900 II, ,0G0. COO
Net profit (say) y)..-....-........ .sl3,0o,cn
This weuld pay seven per cent. per
annum on a bona fde capital of one hun
dred and eighty-five million seven hun
and and fourteen thousand dollars FL
nally the estimate is made that if We add