South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1868-02-14
WIDOW BROWNS OIL WELL.
a TAtE or rEraorr-x.

small farm OF ten acres I'm little Pennsyl-
Z yania town. The humble homestead cor
responded in size TO the farm. being 4 one
F story cottage, comprising but three rooms.
The land was not very productive, but Mrs
! Brown had only herself to p Divide for, aud
+ though her income would hardly warrant
I Ter III living luxuriously, on the other hand
: there was no danger IF the alms-hOuse On
/ the whole the widow might be considered
! comfortably provided for, though her farm
/ and house together would have been dear
/ at thousand dollars.
/ But Mrs. Auaastasia was cot contented
{ She was an ambitious woman and bent on
| lettering herself If the opportunity ever pre-
! scnted i.self. To lady under heI ercum
stances second marriage with an eligible
( party seemed to be the readiest road to high
er station. But the widows personal adj
yantages were hardly IF character to in-
spire very lively hopes in that direction.
I She was tall and gauut, and her share Of
the perishaLle but rather desirable gift o.
/ beauty had been below the average. Be
sides, she was now foriy-fvc, and therefore
of very doubtful juvenili;y.
1t CHANGED that the wealthiest man in
town was certain Squire EbeBezcr Pogram,
wE", IN addition 10 an excellent farm OF
three hundred acres, bad Il comfortable sum
invested in stocks and bonds. lie was n
widower, aud in the market. Ills wife
would be the foremost lady in the village
For this position there was more than OLc
aSpirant, but among them all none appar-
( emily stood so poor a chance as Mrs Anas-
tasIa Brown. But none the less the widow
laid her plans to capture the citadel, and
circumstances, aided by her own sLrewl-
ness, assisted her to accomplish it.
About this time the petroleum fever was
at It's height. There was a Wild exciteme Mt
general not only in the districts where pc
troleum had been discovered, but spccula-
( ton was rife in the commercial ca pital, and
companies with flaming prosFcctuses were
daily springing into existence. Farms
I which would have been considered dear at
twenty dollars an acre, all at once eLhanc-
ed IN value fifty, or even an hundred fold
and the owners, who had hitherto found II
ilE!cuit To earn scanty subsistence, all at
once found themselves rich beyond their
widest dreams.
Among those who cherished hopes Of
wealth from this source was Squire Pogram
he saw no reason why his own acres nj .ht
A.. not prove to be flowing with oil, aud he had
instituted some preliminary Investigations
+ which had only resulted in disappointment
Though already a man vf abundant means,
he Was iucliued to be graspng, and had no
objection to doubling OF trebling his pres
cDt property In fact the love Of money
vas the ruling passion with the Squire, and
.his was Dot unknown to his townsmeu.
Nirs. Brown, aware of this fact deter
mined UIan c,gp Fctoi. five may so
cali il, vi'h = '.,w of taking By assault
Toe baud Of ia. >gG.l--for lis heart she
cared little
One morning tue exrrcssman brought to
Mrs. browns cottage 4 kes =, which va. ey-
identity full Of some liluii
Fifty cents widder.' he sail, a. he lug
Fed it iDto the back-room, and deposited it
in the corner. It's rather hefty'
Yes, said the widow, 'molasses is heay.
fern most anything else.
.Moiassos, j, it? Wall, now, reckon
Itil take you a mighty long time to use up
key full # uulasscs
I'm fond IF it, said the widow, shortly.
Yes, but there aiut but orc on We
i don't know bat shall tlkc board
er or two, if ! can get them said Mrs
Brown, iuiproyising flo on the spur Of the
moment
Then you'll have to piece out your house.
I reckon
The widow was glad when the express
man with his intrusive curiosity was gone
Ia the country it is very common % COM
ueut with the utmost freedom upon the
plans and proceedings # ones neighb0rs.
and this sometimes has IS Disadvantages
The widow did not open the key until
the next day. Then, instead Of m0'as,es
sue found the comforts % be petroleum OIL
IL might have been supposed that the sub
stitutipn would have proved yexatious but
The widow took il very cooliy. she man
aged Co ct ihc key down the cellar stairs.
where shc locked il up ia a closet. First.
however. sic filled common watcr.rsil
with Che precious liquid. and going % the
well deliberately poured il down After
tbs rather singular proceeding. she looked
carefully up The rcai until she saw horse
aud buggy approaching. which size we'll
knew belonged 90 squire Pogram. who aI-
ways came over ,hc road about thattira. ta
visit small house which 30 was building
for tenants a mile beyond
The squire was just abreast Of the cot
tage, when the widow ran out aud iail led him
%. Squire Pogram, she said. won voa
just drive into the yard minute Thew.
ter in my we'll tastes so strangely. l DO be-
heve its petroleum
Petroleum The Squire pricksd M his
ears. and made all haste 90 10 as rsoues.ed
You don't say 50, wilder " be cxclaim-
Ct s,rhcn did won notire a. Ca. %