The Centre reporter. [volume] (Centre Hall, Pa.) 1871-1940, 1877-03-15
MEN pLSCorERIE> uF0IL


PENNSYLVANIA,
Bradford. Mexican County, ra, Mmrh
a.-Thc recent discovery OF petroleum
as FAR north as this town, in opposition
to the stuhbornly maintained theory Of
biologists and experts has been followed
hy an excitement exceeding that of the
early days of petroleum discovery in this
State. Mexican County borders on the
counties ofAllcghcny and tattarauErsiu in
New York State and lies northeast ~ the
great original oil territory That portion
uf Ii In which the new on belt has been
plrrcuA lies in the valley of tho Tuning
want Creek, q tributary afthc Allegheny
River 10 is about two miles Wide and
extends uorthrastyr'y into tatarJugus
County, and the Indications are that 10
continues as far as Cuba. 90 Allegheny
County, then follows thc Allegheny
Valley for miles westward The Tuna
Valley, as they call il. has now nearly
four hundred producing wells, ana hun.
drrls Of wells are in course ui drilling
Gco,ori>ts have always insisted that tile
strata uf ui. bearing sand rock could not
hc found ln NcA York State, bat that
theory has a most effective rylulUAun .u
the fact that at Limestone, taiyarAurus
County. the riches, Of veins have been
struck" ="
Fourteen years ago job Moses who
bad made fortune Iu patent medicines
came trum Rochester into the valley.
aud amer prospecting along lis streams
I became satisfied that they flowed
/ through a rich on district llc settled ut
( Limestone. anA obtaining control az
/ large tracts of land. put down several
wells lie found Indications ut oil, buy
uo OIL la spite OF the deuslon of his
ueighbors, aud thr positive declarations
( Of biologists and experts that hc Was
wasting his money he continued las
l tests until his means were exhausted.
/ His great faith in the existence uf ull ln
/ the region. however. had induced other
capitalists 90 investigate and two years
\ ago the sand was found, and ul flowed
I In abundance Within !hc past sixteen
/ months not less than Sluouuuu have
( been invested within q Clr,uituftwcnty.
miles. Land that two years ago would
have been dear az any price now sells al
/ 81 600 al acre, Within 4 distance OF
four miles three flour.Shlng towns have
sprung into existence, aud the town OF
! Bradford, formerly consisting OF lum,
berman's tavern and u few scattered
/ Lrm-houses, now has $500 inhabi
tants
I;is singular hu.that while the early
/ operator in the Bradford region could
no. strike anything bat dry holes" III,
present drilling is followed by The rc.
/ verse. Out of The hundreds Of wells pat
/ down not half GoEen have proved
/ failures. Al Olean and other points IN
/ Catiarausus County, and As iarinto Ale
I sany rs Cuba, wells are being sunk. The
1 oil OF the Bradford district Is found 10 a
greater depth than in the old region
/ Some wells are IS deep as 400 feet, but
/ the average depth is 100 The second
sandn Of Bradford is the third, or oil
4 bearing sand, Of tho lower districts
/ Wells thai were drilled by the first OPP
/ orators in the valley 10 the depth OF the
/ holes in the original territory, and
then abandoned, have been drilled
deeper and the oil-rook found. Another
popularity Of the Bradford wells Is that
/ nouo OF them are what they call large
producing, the average being about ten
/ barrels q day This fact, ip,,ead of be-
/ ing dc,rmeut, as the people in the
1 lower regions affirm, is claimed 20 De an
advantage by the Bradford operators,
\ They argue that the territory being large
and the wells small the danger Of eN-
! haus.ilG is much less than il is is in The
/ lower territory where tho oil areas are
small and the wells largc producers.