The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1868-08-08
MlsoELLAM US.
WJDOW BROWN's OIL WE'LL.
a TALE ~ PETROLEUM.

TALE ~ PETROLEUM.
Mrs Annstasia Brown, better known rs the
Widow Brown, owned aud cultivated u small
iarm of ten aerss In little Pcnns, lvnnia town.
The humble homestead corr,spoudcd IN sizr "
ihr farm, heing "A Ore.sioFy cottage, comprising
but ihne iooms The land was not very pro-
duc,ivc but though her income would hardly
wartan, her in living hxuriously, on the other
hand there was no danger of the aimshouse. On
the whole the widow iGsh, hc considered COM
infiaby provided for though her iarn aud house
together would have h,en dear NJ a ihousand
dollars
But Mrs. Anasiasia was not cuntrn,,d She
was an ambitious woman, and bent on bctiering
herself II the opportunity ever presented. To -
lady under her circumstances u second marriage
with an eligible party. seemed TO be the rcadits,
road 20 higher station. liui tiie winow's personal
advantages were hardly of a character 10 Inspire
very lively hopes in that direction She Wa tall
aud gauni. aud her share Of the pcrishablc hut
rather desirable gift Of beauty had been below
tho average. Besides, she Was now fart five
and therefore Of rather doubtful juveuiiiiy
II chaucrd that the wealihirsi man in town
was "a certain Squire Ebenczsr Pogram, who in
addition to an excellent farm Of three hundred
acres, had q comfortable sun invested Ia stocks
aud bonds lie was widOwer, and In the market
His wife would he the foremost lady Ia the VII
agc. For this position there was more than one
aspiran, he, among them al. none apparently
stood So pouF q chsrer az Mrs Anasiasia Brown
llu, none the l,ss the widow laid her plans 10
catiufr the citadel. aud circumstance, aid,d by
her own shfc~dness, assisted her TO accomplish
u.
Abou, this time the petroleum lever wa. ia
its height. There WAS wild excitement ia gen
eral, no, only in the districts where petroleum
hnd becn discovered, bat speculation Was rife la
commercial capitals, aud companies with flaming
pfospec,uscs were daily springing into existence
Farms which would have been considered dear
.: ;=ss;y dollars an acrr. all az once enhanced
in value hiiy OF even an hundred fold, and the
Owners who had hitherto found il difficult 10
earn n scaniy subsistence, all a, once found them
selves rich bcyond their wildcs, dreams
Among those who cherished hopes of wealth
from this source, was Squire Pogram. lie saw
no reason Why his own acres should not prove to
be flowing with oil, and he Instituted some pre-
hminary Investigations which had only resulted
in disappointment. Though already n man Of
abundant means, he was inclined to be grasping.
and had no objection TO doubling or ,rebling his
present property. In fact the love Of money was
the ruling passion with the squire and this was
not unknown TO his ioWnsmen.
Mrs. Brown, aware Of this fact, determined
upon a eglP eiai, IL we may 80 call Il, with
view Of taking by assault the hand OF the Squire
-ior his heart she cared little.
One morning the exprcssman brought 60 Mrs.
Browns cottage keg, which was evidently full
of some liquid
"Fifiy cents, Widder, be said as he Jagged il
into the bach Toom and deposited 1t In the cor
nef. Its rather heavy
YES, said the widow, uioasses Is hcAvief'n
nius; ans thing else.
'Moasses, Is ~ Wall, now, reckon t'll
take YOU mighty long time 10 usc up key full
o molasscs
I'm foud Of 1t, said the widow, shortly.
Yea, but there amt but one on ye'
! don't know but shall take bOaFdcr OF
two, II can get them, said Mrs Brown, i'm.
provising 60 on the spur Of the moment.
Then yoa'll have TO piece out your house
reckon.
The widow was glad when the cxpressman
with his intrusive caFiosity was gone. In the
country IL Is very common 10 comment with the
utmost frcciom upon the plans and proceedings
Of ones ncighboFs, and this sometimes has its
Disadvantages.
The widow did no, open the kcg til next day.
Then, instead of molasses, she found the con.
tents 20 be petroleum. II might have been sup
posed that the substitution would have proved
vcxatious, bot the widow took II very coolly.
She managed 10 get the keg down the cellar
stairs, where she locked Il up In a closet First.
however, she hlled common water pail with
the precious liquid, and going 10 the well deli
beratcy poured u down. After this singular pro-
eecding, she looked carefully up the road until
she saw q horse and buggy approaching, which
she well knew belonged TO Squire Pogram, who
always came over the road about that time 10
visit n small house which he was building for
tenants, a mile beyond.
Tue Squire was just ABREAST Of the cottage,
when the widow ran out and hailed him.
%, Squire Pogram,' she said, won't you Just
drive into the yard a minute The water In my
well tastes 50 strongely do believe It's pctrole-
um.'
Petroleum = The squire prieked up his ears
and made all haste to do as requested.
You don't say 30, widder Y he exclaimed
when did you notice Il fast 2
I didn't really notice Il much Ill to-day,
said Mrs. Brown. II might have tasted little
queor, maybe, but to-day is very strong
let mo taste, said the squire. Z eau tell u
il's that, or aomething else. II may BE- some dead
e,il,sr that's 90, drowned 10 the well aud poison
alarm, .lwOuldn'i have my well spilled for
good deal
Except by petroleum" suggested the squire.
~ s'pooe you'd be rcconellcd 10 that
well, yes, owned the widow, ~ wouldn't
mind that
Dy this ,Ime they had reached the we'll, and
the squire had already commenced lowering the
uucAft.
The widow was quite confident Of The rsull,
the oil having 30 recently betn poured In Stlll
she fsli momeninry alarm lest q had become 90
dllIascd that the portion Of the water drawn up
would show ncani traces of ofadmixturc. But when
the bucket came again 10 the Top, she was Fcas.
tnrcd On the surface OF the water was q coat
ing Of oil That was clear enough.
The squire looked at Il eagerly. Ills recent
experiments qualified him 10 judge In the matter.
Ile was silent a moment.
We'll, Squire rogram, what do you think 2
asked The widow eagerly.
4 do beleso you're right, widder,' said tho
squire. I'm inclined 10 the opinion that lie
genuine peiroleum.'
'YOu don', Say %, Squire Well. I'min luck
for once, any way
I AIM, certain: suppO'e you give m'a dIppsr
The dlprer was brought, aud Squire pogram
ala taste. The taste produced some contorlons
Of The fare, FOR petroleum 90 beverage can
scarcely Be regardel ns plcasantevcn when large
" diluted with ifesh wcll.waler.
Well, Squire 2
Mrs. Brown, there aln't doubt oft. There's
a peiorloum spring on your farm, and u has hrok-
en- oul IN your WELL
Land sAkes, Squire, Who would have shoaeht
lti And there aIn't another petroleum well In
town Y
'Nc, the, d, none has appeared JET, though
have reason 10 think some may be found on my
larm.'
Il's % unsxpsclsd, Squire sald shs widow,
modliallvoly. 7 really don't know what 70 do
aooat y. Whal soald yoa aavlse loa.se ~