The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1868-09-26

NN 0bhs
In view Of the fact that nearly all the oil
springs In the country are showing signs OF
exhaustion, the question whether the ma
tural supply Of rock oil wiiI be still further
diminished, OF entirely cnt OF in the future,
u an important and interesting one, not
only to great number Of manufacturers and
dealers here but 20 the publ, atlarge.
trade worth millions Of dollars and viy
ing employment 70 $1,000 men. in an article
which contributes 50 largely to the comfort
and welfare Of the civilized world. beng
used as nm Illuminating agent, as fuel a.
medicine, &C., and catering largely into
various manufacture, cannot be interrupted
without innicting injury ON many other ia
tefests. The natural supply Of coal oil hns
rendsred its manufacture from coal &c..
needless. but leaves the refining machinery
stu st work, and mlltiplies the stills and
vats. The quantities Of crude oil produced
oy nature are astonishing. Prof. Lesley, Of
the University OF Pennsylvania, SAYS that
the Fmpl-e Spring sent up its oil TO A re-
servolr three hundred feet above the level cf
its mouth The Phillippi we'll yielded at
1rst three Thousand barrels Of oil daily.
The Excelsior WI flowed Eve hundred bar
reis per day for Sc, srsl months. The wells
on Oll Creek alone. It their best, produce,l
at The rate Of over folr thousand batrels
daily, or moro than Que and half million
barrels per amman. In estimating TIE
magnitude Of the supply il il well to take
into consideration the fact that the entire
production Of the whale fishery Of the world.
10 one of It's most prolific years, was not
quite four hundred and thirty thousand har-
reis o. sperm and whale oil together.
Ihe force with which new borings ofte,
permit the deep set reservoirs Of Oil and eas
70 evacaate themselves, would seen itself TO
Indicate the physical impossibilIsy Of IL
continuance, md experience has shown that
ali the Older wells slowly but surely dimin-
Ian their supply. A writer in describing
tne Old Freedom spring in Cattarah gus. New
fork, says that well was dug fourteen feet
deep, within eighteen feet Of il, which
afforded at first large supply of oil, but
soon tne Old and the new springs died away
together. This is the case ia other local
tues none of the old salt wells OF the
sandy, the kanawha, the Monong ahela
Ionenaugh, Allegheny, Beaver, and Musk
lngum valleys have been retained in full
working condition except by being deepen
% ron time 70 time. The boring beino
carried further down every few wears. new
sapplIes of brine and oil and gas have been
the consequence. The uRceFtainty Of the
supply is, howeyer, better illustrated n tbe
history Of ;he famous Oil City, with which
our readers are familiar, some of them. n
doubt, to their cost The 6erces, Epontinc
wells of few years ago have become com
paratively quiet, and 30 has the blosjDo ~
their owners. When = comparison win
other regions OF the world is instrruthd nv
came conclusion 10 arrived At. The ORIGINAL
I'VE hnn1Fed spvIDgs on to- lr-axaddy y,
In liza now yield less than one hundred tbon-
sand gs.lous PER annln. Cases * snddan
exhaustion sometimes 0scgr where wills be-
ginning 20 blow of gas, become entirely nm
productive IN day OK tw0, aud il 4 asssrt-
Cd that in nsarly every case Of conf agrnrion.
the burning well, as IL internally Injured
has ssased as yield Il oil. On the Other
hand, old wells exhausted and abaDdoued
have sometimes been seeminz.T refreshed ~
rest, and again become prehtsble. This re-,
operative power, however, II, We are In-
clined 50 tL;nk, poor dependance, and not
worth ~ much as the probability rr new
wells beng discovered 70 replace the oId
Experience teaches that the ru-ourcas Of ma
tore are lnexhaustibie, and we have M doubt
Ie'roie1n o. some equivalent Tor /. will be
forthcoming 30 long az man requires fre
to warm him and oil OK gas to give hiui
light.