The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1874-06-12
Petroleum.

Probably no one article has caused
insurance men SO much uneasiness, OF
subjected them to such great loss, as
the +" nOn-explOsive kind" sold so ex-
tenslvely both in Europe and the United
States, as by far the most popular cheap
llIuminator now known. It is presum-
able that they, as q class, should feel
more or less interested in the produc-
ton, handling manufacture anh use of
petroleum; we shall therefore endeavOr
to gratlfy this curiosity, in a measure at
least, in the following brief sketch
upon this important subject.
Petroleum has been known from the
earliest ages, and all so-called dis
cOver1es are mere repetitions Of various
efforts made by different individuals to
bring the qualities of this natural sub
stance to the notice of the public. The
Seneca Indians knew of the oil deposits
| OF pennsylvania, and were accustomed
to use petroleum for various purposes.
both before and after the country was
first occupied by the whites. On one
occasion In particular, after the French
mad established military posts through
out tnat territory, a large amount of
OIL, which had been forced to the sur
face by the pressure of gas from below,
was collected in shallow pits along
Oil creek, little above it's confluence
Win the Allegheny river; and, after
inviting the commanding officer of the
nearest military post, the Indians pre-
pared for a grand religious celebration.
In the midst of the proceedings of the
| festivities, after nightfall, when there
was no moon, the designated elders of
the tribe proceeded to the Oil-pits with
great solem1nity, and set fire to the
crude petroleum that had been careful
" collected for this purpose. The
torked flames shot high into the heav-
ems, with lurld glare that illuminated
the deep valley fol. long distance with
a wild, weird and fantastic spIendor
that left a lasting impression upon the
minds of all who beheld it. The French
officer has left us vivid description of
| the proceedings of the savages on that
extraordinary occasion. The oil was
| also used to mix the war-paints with
which the aborigines were accustomed
to ornament their persons. This doing
up process in oil doubtless added
materially to the extraordinary effect
produced by these original American
artists, who probably were accustomed
to bull and bear the crude market for
dangerous purpose.
The early settlers along Oil creek
found many shallow pits which had
evidently been dug by the aborigines
for the purpose Of collecting Oil, and
continued to obtain all that they re-
quired by the same simple process prac-
ticed by the Indians before them. This
consisted OF skimming the oil from the
surface of the water by skimmers, or
by laying Woolen blanket upon the
pool, This blanket would absorb the
oil before it would absorb any water
whatever, and by watching until the
blanket began to sink the collector
could tell when to remove it and ring
out the oil. Several barrels a year were
obtained in this manner for many years
in succession. A gentleman named
Kerr had also obtained more or less oil
from a salt well on the banks of the
Allegheny river above Pittsburg, which
he sold for medicinal purposes through
out the country by travelling agents.
This oil was put in bottles, and wrapped
in a neatly printed bill of directions
after the then approved patent medi-
cine pattern, with an engraving of a
derrick and a salt well in operation as
a vignette.
At late period quantity of this
natural oil was sent to Prof. Silliman
for analysis. The professor analyzed
the oil, discovered the easiest method
for refining it, and demonstrated the
fact that it possessed qualities of use
fulness, but did not seem to think the
discovery OF any pecuniary advantage.
OF course q stock company was Or
ganized, and the fortunate professor
made president of the company Ito give
it prestige, of course; J but the affairs
of the company did not prosper under
his management. A young lawyer by
the name OF Bissel, living in New York, |
became interested in the scheme early |
in it's inception, and it was owing en-
tirely to his energy, perseverance and |
lnbultlve perceptions that the petro-
leum business has been deveioped to |
the enormous proportions which it has |
attained. One day, while waiting for a |
Broadway stage, Bisse1 chanced to see |
one OF keffs engraved labels lying in |
the show window OF q store. I'm an in t
slant the thought occurred to him that |
the proper way to develop his oil proper
TN. was by means of boring artesian
wells for the express purpose. He I
therefore went diligently to work to
perfect plans for this purpose but he
met unforeseen obstacles at eyerv turn,
many of which were the result of the
excessive learning of the Hartford /
But finally Bissel's ideas
and the company dispatched
Drake to Titusville, as its agent, to
carry out the instructions prescribed |
by the. New Y Ork disciple of Blackstone.
Drake at once proceeded to Titusyille,
nm daftef o good deal of unnecessary
delay, in consequence of his want of
q well was finally sunk,
which proved to be suceess. The
fact having been established that oil
could be obtained by drilling for it, q
host OF advent1Ters hurried to the
front to engage in this new-f0und pro-
ductfve industry at once. In the course
Of week after the discovery was made
three other rigs were put up in the i'm
mediate vicinity of brakes operations
by different parties who had managed
10 secure territory on the Watson
Flats, as near the first well as possible.
Others who had a more comprehensive
dea of the importance of the discovery,
md of the probable extent of produc-
i've territory, started out at once TO OBJ II
ain leases or to purchase land that
night in a short time prove to he of
yreat value. Bissel, who had been
sharp enough to keep an eye on the
OF his agent, made haste to
seaeh TitusvllIe as soon as he heard the
news from the front; and when there
lie made the most of his time to secure |
favorable leases, in every direction,
niles away from the first well, but
generally near the shallow pits that
lad been dug by the Indians for the n
purpose of obtaining oil at various
,laces in the Oil Creek valley. His
'orethonght and sagacity on this occa-
Gion secured him princely fortune
rrhsIr, The original nntnraanv and its