West Virginia freeman. (Parkersburg, W. Va.) 1881-1886, 1881-03-09
VOLCANO.
Oil Matters and News-Standard
Frauds-AnOther Drop, &c.
VOLCANO. w. Va March :

val CtN VI weather, pre-
sentlng glimpses of all the seasons.
and all these weather elements
seem to be engaged in an active
strife for the mastery. At the
present time Winter holds domin-
lon-taking II siesta in the ''lap of
Spring." as it We're. Perhaps to-
morrow, his majesty sold Sol" will
shine him out and give the gentle
maiden an opportunity to progress
in her effort to clothe Mother Ma
ture in robes of beautiful green.
The week closes with matters
pertaining to the oil business in
about the same condition as they
were at its beginning. Our market
still holds at 81 .50per barrel fora"
and ''B" grade oils. For heavier
grades there are[no regular quota
lions, prices ranging from SO to 50
per barrel for oil of gravities from311
to 70 1t seems as ifthere should bea
difference in price for "A" and "B"
Crude oils thelatter ranging in gravi-
tyfrom 3210 to3610 while "a" grade
oils run from 3640 to. so or more.
Under the contract system of three
years ago, our oils of "B' grade
commanded a premium of 20 to 80
cents per barrel over "a" grade oils.
1t has been about two years now
since the system of punching these
two grades of oils together was in
augurated, but no good reason has
been assigned for this innovation.
Certainly OBJ grade ellis are more
profitable to the rehner than the
oils of "a" grade. fnot, then why
not2 VIII some 81 our practical
oil refners tell?
1t is unsafe at the present time
to prognosticate in regard to the
oil market for the next few months
to come. Various opinions are ex-
pressed, some believing that prices
will decline from presentquotations.
Possibly this belief is entertained
more on account Of past experience
than from any signs Of the future
outlook. The general depression
in the oil business has been so con
tinual for the past several years,
that oil men have got into the habit
Of thinking that it must continue
50. But the signs of the times for
the producing interests are much
more favorable now than they were
year ago, and must continue to
grow more favorable so long as the
search for new oil fields p'ove fruit
less Arrangements could he made
SO that it would be unnecessary for
the producers of oil of this region to
sell a barrel of their product at a
less figure than $50 per barrel, for
the experiences of the past winter
demonstrate that they can get
along for few months without sell
ing, should prices drop below $3.50
per barrel. 1t would pay them
handsomely to refuse even $1,50 per
barrel now and hold fer the better
prices which are sure to rule the
market next Autumn. Taking as a
basis the profits accruing to theStan-
dard Oil Co., Of which the ''Consoli-
dated" of Parkersburg, is a part,
from refined oil, as demonstrated by
the experiments Of Mr.. Geo. Rice,
of Marietta, with samples Of their
high test oils, our crude market
should command $3.50 per barrel to-
day. Mr.. Rice has gathered up and
tested samples of the Standards re-
fined oil from all sections Of the
country, sold by the Standards
agents, and these tests show that
every barrel Of oil put upon the
market by the Standard Co. bears a
lie upon its face, the profits accruing
to thembeing in accordance with the
magnitude Of the lie Oil branded
1859 fire test, headlight, and from
that degree on down to $1100 fire
test, showed difference under the
tests Of Mr.. Rice of from 10 to SO
degrees short One sample of the
oil sold by C. F. Good
man, of Omaha, Neb., branded
''Prime White, 1902" would not
stand any fire test at all. 1t igni-
ted at 500 and exploded at 1150 and