Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1881-10-12
TOPRDOING,
now OIL WELLS ARE STARTED,

wv H'H'H"'H
Our destination is Aiken, "a, which
Is At tbs "frOnl" Of developments, The
scenery Is grand As Aiken is 800 feet
above iimdipri, y0n must imagine that
We are constantly climbing UP the
mountain side by eiFcniiOns routes, As
we leaye bradford tho sun is shining IN
tho windows NJ our lelt hand, aud after
We get out mile aud q half II is shining
Vt our right hand sidei how IL thisY
We commence an Investigation, when
here Vt our very feet lies bradford,
which VIZ loft not ten minutes ago, with
It's briek blocks and churches, street
ears and railroads coming IN all diree-
tiOns, The entire valley IL covered with
huge iron tanks holding $4,000 barrels
each, aud ~ there arc between eighty
aud ninety II representa- holding capae'
ity 81 over 1000, 900 barrels Of oil,
From Aiken II IL hut q short distance
out among the oil wells 10 where the
we'll Is to he "slot," ~ they say here,
Instead Oi beins tOrled0ed, On the
llOOr arc three long tin cylinders, called
shells, about eight feet long and hold
ing twenty quarts each, A. we step into
tho derrick We arc greeted with u cheer
fnl "hellO," and We know wo afe with
good nainred folks ut any rate, They
are filling the hole with oil 30 ~ TO give
the explosive chance 10 knock down
rock IN iliG side walls IT tho we'll instead
Ut upwards ~ tho weight Of the oil
serves ~ tamping 10 hold II down, by
tho sido oi the derrick II u iine span Gi
black horses, and q harmless looking
buggy, hut that harmless looking yehi'
clio has under it, seats sixty quarts Of
tho most terrible explosive known on
earth, one quart Of which would make
u ruin on solid u brick block ~ stands
In any city, After filling the hole to
within iOO feet Of the top the well II
zoos feet deep they take u reel Of
strong hempen line and iasten II ont
side Of the derrick, and taking tho line
into tho derrick pass II over pulley III,
rectly over the hole aud hook ono Gee
ton Of the torpedo on tho line, and
let II hang suspended over the hole and
down IN tho we'll with the top only above
tho surface. Then they turn over the
seat aud here, packed IN square com.
parlmcnts, were nine square cans, hold
Ink about nix or seven quarts each,
bringing tlicm into the derrick, they
were ompticl into the shell till the
shell was filled, They thCn lowered
this To the bottom, whom n curious ias
tcning HOOK on the line unhooks II aud
tho line ~ drawn ont again only 10 go
through the same operations with soc,
tons No. 2 and .. There IN u fiat iron
plate on the top Of the last or third
section, with u cap exploding arrange
mcnt connected No that when thoy drop
the weight il cSplodos,
We stand around while the weight IL
dropped aud then In moment we can
feel u slight trembling Of III ground
under our feet, u noise ~ loud IN the
cracking Of II cap, and We wait for the
well to diSgorgc, They drop small
stone down the well and by the second
hand Of u watch note the timo IL takes
to reach tho fluid flor you can hear il
when II strikes, and in this way tell
how far down tho oil is, We wait and
soon We arc told We can nee il. We
look down into the hole only five and
ono.lmif inches in diameter and can see
n frotling mass coming just last enough |
so We can say il is really coming. How
soon will il boil ovcrY Seven minutes,
says the torpedo agent.
So We wait and talk till the "cry there
IL H." and sure enough the oil comes M
md boils over the top of the hole, aud
il is just the color of cold gold" The
men wash their hands in il, when all ut
once IL commences to rise inch by inch
This golden fountain rises until il is
twenty or thirty feet in the air, when n
rush Of oil, and away il goes through
The top of the derrick to u hight Of not
less than 100 lcet-a solid stream of oil,
ill the wind catches the oil and dashcs
i in spray upon the tree tops, and if
anyone happens to be on this side the
lerrick he beats hasty retreat. This
low continues in this way for few
minutes when lull occurs. Another
rush of oil, AID this time it is the
black, dirty oil which was burned when
in contact with tie explosion, then n
heavy flow of gas and the well is empty
md will not flow again till tubcd, and
then it will be left to flow into tanks
Tor months.