West Virginia freeman. (Parkersburg, W. Va.) 1881-1886, 1881-03-02
The West Virginia Transportation
Compdny-As Capacity too .SmaA
to more a Limited Oil
Production.
Which Causes Great Loss to the
OIL Producers. The Deep
Well-Shall one be
Drilled?
The Public Library Association-Oi Devel-
opments, and Other Items
VOLCANO, w. VA.

Editor W. Va, Freeman:
If throughout its career your
journal maintains the indepen-
dence which it's name implies, and
with which it starts out in life, |
can safely predict its success. A
newspaper such as you propose to
make the FREEMAN, devoted to the
cause of temperance and the well
fare of humanity generally, sup
plies long felt want in this section
of our State.
Since the demise of the Walking
Beam, the oil regions have been
without channel through which
to express their oleaginous senti-
timents; the State Journal and the
Sentinel being on the other side
that is to say-like a majority of
our present legislature, they are in
favor of the "boss SYSTEM" by this
means managing to get a ''little
ahead" at the expense of honest
folk, and thus maintain an exis-
tence. 1t has been but few weeks
since Mr.. Camden was elected to a
seat in the United States Senate,
and during this brief period the
price of crude oil has dropped 20
cents per barrel. An overstocked
market could not have caused this
decline, the production during the
winter having been of limited
quantity, and the greater share of
this remains in the tanks of the
producer, the cdpacity Of the West
Va, Transportation Company being
too small to move it to market. The
refined market holds steady-the
Pennsylvania crude market is about
the same now, or perhaps a little
better than when we were getting
$1.70 per barrel and yet our market
has dropped from s1.70 to $3.50 per
barrel within the past three weeks,
and the producers are unable to ac-
COUNT for it only upon the hypothe-
sis that in the Senatorial contest
the consolidated" got a 'little be-
hind," and now it adopts this meth
cd to get '9ittle ahead" again.
To be sure the producers expect
ed to pay the expenses of the Sena-
tors election, but they hoped that
he would be modest enough to give
them 80 days, for it is fact that
whenever the consolidated" takes
a notion to get a '1ittle ahead" the
producers are bound to get 'little
behind"
The 20 cent decline in the oil
market, coming on the heels of the
hardest winter ever experienced by
the "oldest inhabitant," " would be a
little discouraging, if, as [ have re-
marked, the producer was not used
to such thing. The straw which
almost breaks the producers back,
is the inferior facilities provided for
the transportation Of his oil to mar
ket. The producers pay enough in
this direction for frst-class service,
but they have been SO poorly served
this winter that the greater part of
their limited production of oil still
remains in their tanks. This they
will have to sell at 81 so or less
per barrel, when 81 70 might have
been realized Prompt shipments
would have enabled them to have
put their oil in market while the
election of U. S. Senator was pend
ing, and before the price dropped.
It is likely the weather has had
a tendency to delay shipments in
some degree. We would not blame
the Transportation Co. with any
thing that Providence is response
bic for, but in former hard winters