Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1881-02-10
yENEZUELA'S OIL FOUNTAINS.
rhe MINERAL hes OF n South Ameri.
can state

rhe Mineral hes OF Il South Amerj.
can state.
There Is in Venezuela a sand honl,
iul. Of holes, out of which gush streams
Of petroleum, mixed with boiling water
Z. II. Plumacher, Commercial Agent
of the United States at Maracaibo has
described this phenomenon in a report
TO the State Department, adding to this
description an account of the petro-
leum resources of that country. The
asphalt mines and petroleum fountains
are most abundant in that part of the
country lying between the River Zulia
and the River Catatumbo. and the
Cordilleras. The wonderful sand is
about seven kllometers from the con-
tuence of the Rivers Tara and Sard-
inarte. 1t is ten meters high and
thirty meters long. On its surface can
be seen several round holes, out of
which rises the petroleum and water
with a noise like that made with steam
vessels when blowing off steam, and
above there ascends a column of vapor.
There Is a dense forest around this
sand bank, and the place has been
called III Inferno" DR.. Edward Nc
Gregor visited the sand bank and re
port to the Government that by exoeri-
ment he had ascertained that one of
the fountains spurted petroleum and
water at the rate Of 240 gallons per
hour. mir. Plumacher says that the
petroleum is of very good quality, its
density being that which the British
market requires in petroleum import
ed from the United States. The river.
up to the junction of the Tara and
Sardinarte, Is navigable during the en-
tire year for flat bottomed craft of forty
to fifty tons.
Mr.. Plumacher has been unable to
discover that there are any deposits of
asphalt or petroleum in the upper part
Of the Department of Colon, beyond
the Zulia, but he has been told that the
valleys of Cucuta and the territories of
the State of Tachira abound in coal
mines. There are coal mines near
San Antonio, in ravine called la
Carbonera,' aud these supply coal for
the smiths FORCES in that place. Coal
and asphalt are also found in large
quantities in the Department Of Sucre.
Mr.. Plumacher has seen, while resid-
ing in the State Of Sulia, but one true
specimen of" Ignite" which was
given to him by a rich land owner, who
81 Spanish subject In the section
where it was found there are several
fountains of a peculiar substance. 1t
is black liquid of little density strong
Iy impregnated with carbonic acid,
which it transmits to the water which
invariably accompanies it Deposits of
this substance are found at the foot of
the spurs of the Cordilleras, and are
believed to indicate the presence of
great deposits of anthracite.
There are many petroleum wells of
Inferior quality between Escuque and
Bettiloque, il the town of Columbia.
Laborers gather the petroleum in
landkerchiefs. After these become
saturated the oil is pressed out by
wringing. 1t is burned in the houses
ofthe poor. The people thought, in
1924 that it was a substance unknown
elsewhere, and they called it the " oil
Of Columbia" At that time they hop
ed to establish valuable industry by
working it, and they sent to England,
France and this country samples which
attracted much attention. But in
those days no method of refining the
crude oil had been discovered, and
therefore these efforts to introduce pet
roeum to the world soon failed
The plains of Ceniza abound i'll as
phalt and petroleum. There is a large
lake of these substances about twelve
klIometerS east of St. Timoteo, and
from it some asphalt Is taken to Mara
caibo. Many deposits of asphalt are
found between these plains and the
River Meme. The largest is that of
Cienega dr. Meme, which is shallow. At
the bottom lies compact bed of as
phalt which is not used at present
except for painting the bottoms of
vessels to keep off the barnacles. There
are wells of petroleum in the State of
Falcon.
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