The daily gazette., 1878-03-02
The OIL Ercise.... ept.
eILLRsPIE's CELLAR THE CENTRE OF
ATrRAcTioN-rHE OIL STILL. FLOW

GILLRsPIE's CELLAR THE CENTRE Oh
ArrRAcTioN-rHE OIL STILL. FLOW
ING. ....H ... b.
The ''oil ex element" in the Eight
Ward continues unabaled, and the
cellar OF Alexander Glllespie's house, Al
the 5. Il. corner Of Taylor and Churcl
streets is still the centre of attraction.
Thousands of persons have visited the
premises, and hundreds Of bottles full OF
samples have been taken away by eager
and curious people.
The discovery was made by Mr.. GILES
pie while he was digging a we'll In his
'front.' cellar for the purpose Of draining
on the surface water, the well in the
Dack cellar not being sufficient for the
purpose. He dug his new we'll a depth
of about thirteen feet, through hard
clayey soil, with the intention of going
down until sand was reached, by which
means he expected 10 drain of the water.
AT this depth he encountered large
rock, and upon breaking Off a piece oi
the rock stream of what he supposed
TO be water gushed forth. This vas on
Thursday night, and after bailing out
several bucketsful he closed up the cellar
and retired TO bed.
While the supposed water was being
baied out 1t was noticed that it. emitted
strong coil oil smell, and the next
morning 1t was discovered that the
pavement and gutter where the buckets
had been emptied were covered with
grease. This caused an investigation,
and the bottom OF the well was found to
be coal oil, in a highly refined staie. 1t
was at once tried in several oil lamps,
and burned readily, giving a bright, clear
light. iThe news of this discovery spread
rapidly, and the house was soon visited
by large crowd of excited individuals,
who carried away the oil in kettles, bot
Ties, buckets, pans, and such other re-
ceptacles as they could conveniently lay
hands on. Ali afternoon and evening
the excitement continued until Mr.. Gil>
lespie closed up his house and retired to
bed, completely exhausted by the excite
ment Of the day.
This MORNING the we'll was still run
ming, but much more slowly Than during
yesterday, and the yield was considers
able mixed with water showing that the
oil supply was fast giving out. The, ex>
element, however, continued at fever
height,a persons flocked 10 the neigh
borhood from all parts of the city.
A sample of the oil taken from the
Well was tested bylMr. Charles Schoen,
City Coal Oil Inspector, who ascertained
that 1t would sustain a fire test of 1856
degrees1 Thi, is higher test than any
other oil sold in this city will stand, the
lest for ordinary coal oil being ITO de-
gress, for Astral oil 140, and for head
light oil $50.
How the oil got into the cellar is
complete mystery, but the general belief
is that several barrels must have been
spilled in this.neigbDorhood at some time
during the past. and percolated through
the ground until its progress was arrest>
ed by the water In. Gillespies, cellar. 1t
was this percolating process, doubtless,
thai refined 1t to such an extent. Had
the oil been In crude state. IL might
have been readily supposed that a gem
uine oil well;was discovered, but well
OF highly refined Oil is entirely out of
the question. IL is very probable that
the "yield" will run out before night
as the quantity of oil In the water is
gradually growing less.
absured rumors were circulated this
morning In regard to the discovery, one
Of which was that Mr. Gillespie had
en.offered $4,000 for his premises. IL
was also stated that numbers of people
In the neighberhood were eagerly dig
giDg wells In their cellars in hope of
linding more oil. Both these reports,
however, were unfounded.