Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1879-08-28
Petroleum.

When we arc told that at tho present
time over 100000 GALLONS of petroleum
or earth oil arc brought to the surface every
day in tho oil regions of Pennsylvania
alone, the mind is staggered by tho contcm.
plation of tho magnitude Of this compare
lively new industry, So lavish is Mother
Earth OF her hidden stores Of Gil that it is
sent to the surface much faster than it can
DO takon caro- Of, or stored, and at tho
present time 100000 gallons, at tho lowost
estimate, run to waste cvory day Tho
great United Pipo Line, and other methods
Of conveyance, utterly fail to convey tho oil
to markets, and the enormous tanks for
storage arc full to over flowing. There arc
tanks owned by companies which hold
100000 barrels of oil, and all Of them
ore full. The wooden tanks owncd by
individuals upd private concerns amount in
their aggregate capacity to as large num-
Der of barrels, and these aIso arc full.
Thus it will bo understood that there arc
great leaks Of oil above ground, es we'll as
below; but there is good reason to believe
that tho eubtcrroneun deposits may With
greater propricty be called oceaus rather
than lakes. The oil workers arc evidently
pumping from iucxhaustible supplies in the
rock chambers below, and what arc called
tho "spoutng wells" deliver their vast cur
rents with tho salno impotposity as when
tho drills first tapped the pcnt-up stores.
An interesting inquiry arises as records
what becomes OF the oil that caunot be
secured; into what docs it flow, and where
is its final resting place? Any one who
has visited the oil regions will know Of tho
nature Of tho country, md readily under
stand that much of the oil flows into brooks
or email rivers, and in time finds its way
into large rivers, and is lost ultimately in
tho Gulf of Mexico or tho Atlantic Ocean.
Still larger quantities are absorbed By tho
earth in ravnes and marshy places, and
thus it is lost to view. In tho famous dis
trict one is led to cxcluin, "Oil, oil every-
where, aud no untanted water to drink.
There is oil in the soil, oil in tho springs;
oil on the bushes and trees; oil in the atulo.
sphere, apparently; oil on tho clothing, and
in the mouth, eyes and hair of the work
men; the bread and coffee of the region
have the cdor Of oil, and the beds arc sa,u
rated with it.
fell into our hands. 1t was called "Seneca
huu ~ Nub CIulluCu 10 W u most cluCu-
cious remedy for variety of ills to which
tho human body is subject. Tho statement
that it flowed spontaneously fron spring
in Penney lvania was received at FIRST with
much incrcdulity, as that was regarded as
impossible; but in q short space of time
tho truth was known, and the oil was no
longer regarded as o mixture devised by
human hands.
American petroleum oil is now used as
source Of artificial illumination ia nearly
all parts Of the world. 1t goes along with
rum, powder, and muskets to the savage
tribes Of Africa, anil the mud houses on the
banks of the rivers of the interior are illumi.
natod by its combustion; i, is found in the in.
tcrior Of the Turkish Empire, Persia, Egypt,
Palestine, in China, in Japan, and in tho
remote islands of tho sea. For tho pultry
sum Of fifteen cents We can purchase a
gallon Of the cloar refined oil, and Tho cost
of tho Eight afforded, in comparison with
gas as furnished at tho lowest cost in cities,
is as one to twenty in its favor. It is just
now tho most formidable antagonist of gas.
and we can scarcely hopo in tho utilization
Of electrical forco in tho future, to secure
light at lower expense.
Boston Journal Of Chemistry.