New-York tribune., 1868-08-08


n,,,so capsed me 10 stop. Then power outside
myself seemed to lit me up, as if in its arms and
toLa me out of the wagon. and carry me
to tbe fence. / know that | got over the fence
undcr the influence of this uncomfortable power but
what happened after that | cannot say They tell
me. however, that while was in the trance state
ran violently about the field" others say that he was
seen revolving like a wheel, heels over head Dul
possibly this is an exaggerationl, and when Ire
gained consciousness l found myself on the epo'
where the well now is. / never was surer oI any
thing in my life than of the existence OF oil III l"v
place but had no means to sink WELL anu ~ was
more than wear before could induce ahyDouy "
help me- We got TO work at last, however ana Oh
the 1st of February of this year we struck OH
Sucb is Mr. James's story. Nobody seems to be III
+bo SLIGHTEST degree impressed by it, or, indeed to
think about if in any way. The business is all lot
terv say the operators and if you get prize 1t IS
only your luck Don't you suppose hundred other
man have been lust as certain as Mr James that on
wonld be found in a particular spot, and nave tlleu
# and failedf We hear of the ten big strikes, DuJ
we don't hear of the thousand failures. The har-
monial Well No. /, as Mr.. Jamess venture was
called produced at first As or 80 barrels day. rose
after awhile to lOO and has now fallen 10 " OF W.
OF conrse he secured all the land he could i'll the
neighborhood and put down his drills again. His
second we'll (HarmOnial No p yields 100 barrels
day and third, not yet quite finished gives % or
co. He is sinking ten more, and he has leased - 10
other persons. Over a space of mile or more the
derricks are reared as thick as masts in barbor
There are IS wells in operation just about Pleasant
willie village, and as many more near by ana between
100 and $50 are now drilling. The most productyel ls
tbe Grant Well No l. only a few rods from the iirst
Harmonal. the yield of which is estimated all the
vay from $50 to 200 barrels day. has pump
ing four weeks On the opposite side of the road IS
the Beam Well No. !, remarkable for its tremendous
flow of gas the roar of which, as it escapes from
tube run up 20 feet into the air, is like the blowing
off of a steam engine. They light it sometimes at
night and then it illumes all the surrounding fields
This only the surplus gas that escapes the rest IS
used in the engine rooms, and heats three OF four
different boilers The flow of oil is not extraordinary
being only . or 80 barrels day. The most remark
able think about the Plcasantville district however
is not the productiveness of any particular WELL but
the fact that in instance yet has the drll pierced
the third sandstone without striking ola fact en-
tirely without precedent in the history OF the OIL
excitement. Two of the borings have produced
comparatively lttle-that is to say or 10 barrels
day Iut even at that rate there is profit in them If
they only last as long the average OF course there
must soon be a turn Of this prosperous tide. and at
the present reckless rate of boring it may come any
dav The store of petroleum Is not ineXhaustble,
and the flow of all wells gradually falls Off and gen
orally ceases entirely the course OF from nine TO
twelve months though there are remarkable eXcep-
tions to this rue-witness a well near Franklin
| which has been flowing seven years and still gives
| q barrels a day. The Pleasantville wells moreover
are crowded so close together that it seems almost
inevitable they should interfere with one another
| and some day the cessation of one may
I,o1c Ot1,a mo
lucky fellow may drain all his neighbOrs
! But meanwhile the crowd pours headlong
III; land has risen in price within four weeks from
500 to $3.50 acre; owners are parcelng out their
fields in quarter leases; and the excitement ap-
proaches close to that of former wears when PithOe
and OleOpos were in their glory At the one little
| tavern there is never bed to DO had, and they
charge so cents night to lay you out on the floor
Every house is per force boarding house. and many
of the wormen can find shelter but heap of shay
ings in some shed OF unfinished building The neat
little white houses which composed the place before
the rush set in this Summer scattered along the
roads at wide intervals in 1.-THE pretty New England
STYLE and now great of pasteboard shanies and
large frame tenements are rising between them, max
| ing a curious mixture of new and old. The people
| from Pthole and other dead towns are tearing down
their houses and rushing of with them to Pleasant
| Vile. left hotel and theater on the road from
| Pithole, and many other buildings were coming,
some of them having been moved once or twice be-
fore. 1t would be convenient to build the
houses on wheels, as believe folks do in Chicago
When all the world set out for Pleasantville. the
first thing the villagers did was to put up a Gala
boOse. They tell me it never had but prisoner,
and the town has been as orderly ever since as
Quaker meeting / doubt whether fear of the new
Jail has as much to do with this millennial state of
things as the facts that the old residents have thus
far succeeded in keeping groggeries and gambling
shops away and that new comers are too busy dig
ging to amuse themselves with fights. There are few
loafers in the population, and few spectators.
Leases are not taken they used TO be, to be sold
again at premium, and the days are passed when
man could travel through the oil regions with no
more capital than few blank agreements and a
handful of revenue stamps and make fortune buy
ing and selling refusas" of land. Lessees are now
legitimate operators and the population of places
such as Peasantville and Shambnrg is composed of
them and their employees, with shOp-keepers and
visitors interested in distant oil companies.
On the 1st of August the Peasantville wells were
discharging 1850 barrels a day, while Shamburg
lbetter known perhaps as Cherry Rum, three miles
distant yielded $3.50. Yet people are leaving Sham
burg in considerable numbers and going over to
Pleasantville, taking their houses with them This
is partly because boring at the latter place is looked
upon as certain to succeed and the wealth of the
dergrOund store not half developed, and partly,
suppose for the reason that we all after crowd
At the present moment Shamburg is certainly the
richest part of the Venango district, and has also
the most productive single wells. The Spear
Well pumps 800 barrels a day. and / have
heard of no other anywhere which does so
much. TheFee Well, No. @ at the same place, is set
down at 200 barrels having been much improved by
the repeated of tOrpedoes by which the horizon
tai oil VEINS opened whenever they become
clogged with sediment. There four or five wells