The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1876-08-31
An Oil Pipe Three Hundred Miles
Long.

The Pennsylvania Transportation Com
pany, of which Mr.. Henry Harley is
president, has been chartered by the State
of Pennsylvania for the purpose of trans
porting oil from the oil regions to the
principal Atlantic seaboard cities The
plan proposed is to run the oil through a
four inch pipe laid on the surface; the
forcing power will be 900 pounds to the
square inch; there are to be stations at
distances of fifteen miles, at each end of
which an engine of a 100 horse power will
be erected to work pump to continue the
flow from point to point. The Company
having decided upon the construction Of
the work, the president sought the
services of Gen. Herman Haupt. He pro-
nounced the scheme, after thorough eX-
animation, to be entirely practicable, and
is now acting as engineer-in-chief. In
view of the enormous product of oil in
this country-30,0 900 barrels per day-and
the rank it now holds among the leading
articles of export, coupled with the exor-
bitant charges for railroad carriage from
the wells to the seaboard, by the compile
ton of the enterprise and its successful
operation complete revolution will be
accomplished in the handling of this arti-
Gle. AS proof of how valuable this
traffic has been to the several railroads
over which the oil has been borne, it is
only necessary to say that up to the
present time the railroad charges aggre-
gate $40 100000 The minimum cost of
transporting oil by rail is fifty cents per
barrel, and the minimum cost by the pipe
process is sixteen cents. The average
charge by rail is $1.25.
The estimated cost of the entire work,
including fixtures, etc., is 81 $50 600; and
considering the difference in cost between
this method and that by rail, upon the
hypothesis that the Company will dis
count at least twenty five cents barrel on
rail rates, it will readily be seen that,
with all the expenses Of operating, the
first years earnings will pay the first cost
of the work. The Pennsylvania Company
is the parent company, but there is also
the Baltimore Transportation Company,
chartered by the State of Maryland, and
some five other companies are expecting
to unite. The first objective point or ter
minus will be Baltimore, as being the
most feasible and direct route for the
pipes. Following which other termini
will be established in Philadelphia, New
York, etc.
The pipes being laid on the surface,
and there being no obstacle in the way OF
forcing the oil to any height, the line will
literally be an air line, and the distance
from the Oil regions to Baltimore is 800
miles. The oil will be distributed from
the pipes into immense reservoirs, with
refining establishments adjacent. OF
course the whole railroad system willop
pose it, for it is taking from them traffic
from the very nature of which there
could be no competition; but the advan.
tage to the Oil producers, who will have
the entire control, will be immense, and
the advantages which will accrue from
such facilities to this important branch of
our export commerce will be incalcu-
liable. 80. ,,..; ,.--. .strs
| The feasibility of this enterprise, so far
as the passage Of the oil through pipes is
concerned, has been fully established by
the present system in operation in the oil
regions, where the aggregate length Of
the pipes conveying the oil from the sew.
eral wells to the reservoirs is nearly az
miles. ,Iraveller. Ar ,-,., 7cS