Daily Republican., 1882-09-30
PENNSYLVANIA LG<TER.

ADc6.
For the Republi an.
OIL CITY, VENANIGo Co., Pa, Sept. %.
Just twenty years ago the familiar
phrase of "Jii GU the brain" was heard
ou every passing breeza, Not General
McClellan's familiar March, not the
"frIbune's" cry Of ION to Richmond"
could turn the attention of the shrewd
capij alist away from the newly dis
covered commodity that under the
derrick and through the drilled rock
was spou'ing up in columns from
thirty to fifty feet high, as a new gift
from God 10 man without a name or
place in commerce, save what the
Seneca indians gathered by skimming
Oil Creek with their blankets and for
certaiA medicinal qualities, it was put
III the market and sold as Seneca Oil.
The sensation on tho public mind
Increased in proportion o the enormous
quantities coming tOIth, which when a
well commenCeu to dow there was no
means Of controlling i, it must be eth.
or gathered or lost, what barrels would
contain was mere drop in the bucket,
and fortunately tuey have fell upon the
plan iu the abseLCe of tanks or means
OF getting them, to spout the living oil
down into open sCow boats laying in
OIL Greek and ship 10 the near est mar
ket.
Like the discovery OF mine of gold
it drew men from every quarter to see
tho now born treasure. rhe absence of
railroads or stage lines did not quaran-
tine the spot, still they came, and men
.iuds became convinced that beneath
tie cky, sterile soil of Venango coun-
ty, where farmers could hardly keep
soul aud body together, there existed a
treasure Of untold value.
Companies soon formed and land
buyers were put out in disguise and
some of the old farmers sold their lands
for song, but soon the best conce rted
plans in this direction failed, and land
where oil was found advanced to five
hundred dollars an acre. In the mean
time samples sent away for chemical
anal ysis were reported on most favor
ab'y, villages were land off, railroads
surveyed, inventors, mechanics and
machinery were in great demand and
the demand was promptly met. Oil
was found TO exist in other counties
and now in the whole tier of counties
in Western Pennsylvania reaching
from Pittsburg 70 Lake Erie,
There is found to exist with the oil a
gas of very fine iuhamable quality and
1t is known to be the active elastic
agent whose confined pressure causes
the petroleum to flow whenever the
drill has penetrated through its rocky
confines. Some wells have given off
gas only, ard the pressure has been so
great that piping OF extraordinary
strength has been required to resist a
pressure of from three to five hundred
pounds to the square inch. Companies
nave been formed in numerous COun-
tries to control and carry the gas where
needed for heating and lighting pur-
poses.
From Butler county it was carried
to Pittsburg distance of forty miles
and is used at the present time in that
city for fuel in many important manu-
featuring Adjustments among which
Is iron and glass. 1t is astonishing
how many years some of the gas wells
have continued to furnish supply
without apparent diminution Uf pres
sure. In many towns 1t has been uti-
liZed.
At Bradford, Mexican Co., / saw for
my first time, Hotels, private residences
ami the large works Of the United Pipe
Line Co. running two batteries of boil
ers entirely by this gas whose pressure
was 80 lbs. the feed pipe a inch for two
40 horse Boilers. That Is within bounds
and it is brought a distance Of three
miles and has flowed perfectly reliabl q
for three years. Ia many wells the gas
is assimil0ted with the oil and if it is
of trouble to the valves of the pumps.
BradIoId at present is the great p"odu-
cling centre and In radius. of 30 miles
there are twelve thousand wells and
stock on, hand of the United Pipe Lines
alone printed monthly list | herein
enclose, showing a balance of 3,0l9, $780,
1854 bbls of AZ Gals. The Tide Water
Pipe Line Co, probably has not 80
much besides smaller companies of
local formation.
Bradford district has produced 30
900 barrels a day, but has fallen OFT
nearly half and now half of tie wells
have TO be pumped ard a days pump
ing may mean over d hundred barrels
to each. They manage the supply by
what they call head pumping, that is,
TO stop when it reaches certain mark.
The Garfield supply is the latest deVel-
opment, furnishing $4,000 barrels a
day. When that came in down went
the price, but now that has fallen off
and prices have advanced 80 cents a
barrel and the petroleum exchange has
been to fever heat for the last two
weeks.
The quantity in Bradford district
alone is very large, anu | shall not at
tempt to gather the quantity in Oil
City for your readers, because tie fig
ures are of such magnitude that they
become confusing. 1 will say that this
city is still the Capital of the state of
Petroleum"
Its discovery. On the 9th of August,
1889, John Drake was the first man re.
warded in the efforts of many to "strike
OIL" 1t was forlorn hope after the
company grew tired of the search, they
told Mr.. Drake he might continue to-
drill for it, and they would agree to pay
him one dollar gallon for every gallon
of oil he got. He accepted the offer in
good faiGh and in few weeks struck a
we'll flowing fifteen barrels day which
would soon have taken the wealth of
W. B. Astor to have settled with HIM.
The promise was not kept but the first
oil was bought by New York Drug
House at that price, after the report of
their chemist, Mr. Mowbray, on its
merits for medicinal purposes. The
two above gentlemen became prominent
in the petroleum interior, the first for
production and the last for refining and
reducing it to the four component
parts, viz: Gasoline, Benzine, Ker'
Osine and Paratfin.
To day to say that there are millions
in it, is fact patent to every one, for
there is not commercial city on the
globe where it is not on sale, and the
peasant in far off Russia whiles away |
his lorg and cheerless winter nights BY
+bo E0bt Of A N, ,arican KarOgene