The Hawaiian gazette., 1881-06-01
Ar.ls q ,he De. q srsenlatien.
How Thy =. srnrcx OIL I" y SUMMIT c1Tr-
RArlp FINANCIAL cHANeEs-srEeV LAT No
oSA SNAIL cArrrA1-A CITY IN Runs

nov rrsrv sSrrrcx OIL ~ SUMMIT CITY
RArrp FINANCIAL cHANeEs-srEeV l-AT No
oSA SNAIL cAPrrAI-A CITY IN RUNS
rrrc-, . eo--s.yo-sert ofthe Ne~ T0-k rsis1ne2
Sr,tNIr CRY. Penn, April A Visit 70
this once Gro Esed ard prosperous place SHOWS
that Il las suffered the fate that has over
thrown nsny oil towns, ard threatens, sooner
or later, to rest upon then all ms st'o'' =
The sumner e 1875, was n fertile farm, On
which ths grain was Just riPening. a viz,
go oil well was sunk, and the venture pFeNsu
10 be : god one. The fsuces that tncioSeo 1Is
farms were thrown down and dsrrleks eEsete0
-, sverv SIDE. many Of them IN wheat nelGS
that were almost ready fer the reaper. IN
few -.eeks r,c-e tie yellow gram would have
bss, rathsred into tie barns. but now L was
.-sr,rie-i beneath buSy feet and ground down
into he earth bensath the Wheels OF heavily
laden waEuus tia. sunk far into the mellow
soil The farmer had leased the iand io5
twsutv-one years fer ore-slxtesnth O All 1nS
oil list should be produced But he Siiii hSe
10 nav the taxes, and the difference oelNeea
the taxes. on farra valued at S-,VeV ana ols
ralre.i a. StQo,eQ amounted 70 about as 13ue1
As his oue-sixteenth royalty, while his iSoa
was rendered utterly useless Tor farming AHs
word went forth tlyat = new oil territory eaa
been discovered. and the rush from other oil
towns and all parts Of the oil region Nneie
ths n-ossuction had commenced 20 decline, was
,-e-sral In one short wear from the striking
n the first well. there bad arisen IN this co1u-
try township. that bad scarcely ever before
witnessed a gathering q over one hundred
persons. = b1stliug. busy, crowded, wicked
civ Of twelve thousand inhabitants II was
IN this first wear that parties who invested n
rial estate after the sumner q 1877 were
losers.
Daring the first excitement, young uan
cane 70 the place. with bot SIS; but he wore
good clothes, bad good education, ana plenty
Ct " cheek After surveying the situation
for dav O. two be concluded 70 speculate,
and fndiuE = farmer who had not YET leased
or sold bis land. be represented himself as an
aseut for wealthy company, with lustrue-
lions 70 buy up land The farmer was rather
reluctant about selling, bat finally terms were
azreed upon and the papers were drawn up
aud sizued Twenty dollars were paid down
70 bind the bargain: Eve Thousand dollars
we're 70 be paid y thirty days: and I'VE thou
sand more IN six months. he had bat - 10
meet an Obligation Of SIO. 900, bat not despair
inc. be quietly awaited the completion OF
vel that was being drilled near his new pur-
chase. The well was finished in i've days
after the sale ard proved 70 be good one.
He was offered Ss0,0Q0 for the farm; but
$4,000 clear gain in five days did not tempt
him 10 sell. for another well was beng drilled
on an adjoining farm, and should It prove 10
be q big producer, his land would Dc very
valuable. On the other hand, should It oe >
4" duster." be could not even get as much Tor
the faru as be had agreed to pay for II Sui
be did not sell, and the time passed rapidly
away. Ouly few days remained, betoEe he
would have to pay IS ,0OO. or the sale would
be cancelled Twenty-eight days had passed
and the well was not down yet, although they
expected 70 reach the oil rock every hour.
On tie night Of the twenty-ninth day be sat
I'd in the derrick with the duIlers, for they
knew they were within few feet OF the SAND.
Midnight came. and the hands were relieved
b. another force. His last day had come, and
was wearing away, ard be knew that the
farmer would not wait ore uirute longer than
the law required him, for he bad several times
been offered larger amount for the land. At
: o'clock the sand was reached, ard tie well
proved to be the largest producer yet struck
in the new field. The news Of the new well
rapidly spread and by noon the next day
number Of wealthy oil men were on the ground
anxious to secure adjacent territory. That
DAY the young nan sold his farm Of ITO acres
for 81 900 per acre, clearing IN thirty days
SlV0, Q00, with 4 capital Of only SIS to startou-
With the Increase Of the production Of petr0-
leum the Populati0u increased, and laborers OF
every class found plenty Of employment. What
had been lane leading to pasture held, was
changed in 4 fortnight into a street, lined on
both sides by rows of houses Land that
few weeks before would not have brought $40
ger acre, was now marked Of in building lots
and sold for s. foot front, 100 feet deep. In
the spring Of ISL, there vas not licensed
house in the town, yet almost every other
door was an opening &c gun Uill, where
'stanzle-fovt" was dealt OUT 10 the thirsty, and
where tie sullied charms Of the dance-hall
lured the sensual.
II June, ISL, the Bullion excitement was
1t its height. In this month, John H Lee and
the Hon ". R. Crawford, Of Frznklin,
struck the 8 Big Iujun well which pro-
duce6 over four thousand barrels Of
oil in the first tveufy-foUr hours, the
largest quantity Of oil ever got out
Of any one well IN that leagth Of time This
famous ''gusher" now pumps about eight bar
rsls daily, which Is a good Indication Of the
decline Of tie place Itself. Immediately after
the striking the big Injun-" most extr1va-
CANT prices were paid for land. Lots just
large enough TO place we'll on le0x50 feet
we're marked oS and sold as high As $1,000
apiece The sane land had been bought but
few months before for $50 per acre. The
projection Of the BulIi0n field at one time
reached nearly z5o,O00 barrels per month It
! now little ever q, 600 barrels per month.
The site Of all this former greatness presents
an appearances Of utter desolatiOH. Where
few years ago stood edi6ces, nothing remains
bat q multitude Of cellars and piles Of rubbish,
showing the haste with which their owners
had sspGIIed up stakes" and LETT for other
places, uoss Of themSfor Bradford, the Mecca
Of 0ildou; and the history Of Summit City's
dazzliux rise and sudden fall sounds even now
ike 4 weird rorance Of. ancient fable