Fair play., 1883-07-14
Inh MnSrS' Reward.

Bradford rcui,n. and 10 his persistence
in man testing hi, faith by his works
led - the development of the territory
and transforming Il wilderness into one
of the most populou> and wealthy com
munitirs in Pennsylvania. has sold hli
| vast possessions in the region and rc
moved 10 New York City. Twent,
wears AFRO the oil excitement in Oh
Creek. in the lower field, was at IL
| height. and Moses. having made large
fortune in patent medicines. with head
quarters in Rochester, was attacked ny
the oil fever The symptoms IN his case
took the form of a mania to develop
! new petroleum field, and investigations
led him To Bradford. in the valley otthc
Tununcawant Greek. He advanced the
theory AT one. that there was vast
lake of petroleum underlying the whole
| rerion. and he set about securing terri
| tory upon which to test his theory.
| Bradford was then a mere hamlet Of
scor. or so oi scattered families, de-
pending on numbering and farming for
support When Moses began his opera
,ions the business OF the Bradford
branch amounted to about 5000 4
month. and when he made the prophecy
that the day was not distant when that
amount would be increased ten-toid
through the oil that would be found on
all sides of il. the belief that he was
crazy was strengthened i'll the COM
munity.
For thirteen years Job Moses pros
pectcd among the mountains and
through the valley. his faith never wa
vcriny Then his fortune was exhaust
! ed. and he had thousands of acres of
unproductiye rocks and forest on his
hands. At that time oil wells were
/ drilled to depth of not over nine hun
drel feet, at which depth the deposit
was found in the lower field. When
Moses had spent all his money. the ear
nestncss and enthusiasm with which he
clung to the theory that there was oil
in the region led outside capitalists
t. come to his aid. In 1919 the
| idea occurred IL some one
it is not known exactly to
whom now that it would be a reason
able risk to drill awell deeper than the
lower region depth. This was done.
and at the depth vi LOO feet the oil
sand was found and 4 iifty-barrel flow
ing well was struck. Ii was discovered
then that the Bradford oil was in a
third sand. whiic-thc Oil Greek deposit
WIS in second sand, below the sur
face. -
The strike created much excitement
in the valley. but outsiders had no faith
in the extent uf the field or the ''laSt-
ing" qualities Of the sand. Job Moses
ha.l. however, and, he was content tn
await events. He held on 10 his land,
and well aftcr--weu was put down.
every one proving to bc 4 good pro-
duccr But it was~not until 1877 thai
the persistence and pluck of the pioneer
oil-opera:or in the Mexican field were
crowned with full success. The wells
in tn. lower field had long ceased To
low. and the supply of oil depended on
the pu:up, Tne .si;s.s.liorsiz z,vetls-
not only all fnwin. wells. but they
flowed month aft.r month without any
perceptiblc decrease in their yield.
The new field could no longer bc
rilicued nor ignored. and in IS76-'
that remarkable exodus OF operators
from all other oil-iieldS to Bradford
commenced.
In the first three months of 1877 the
population OF Bradford increased from
800 to $500 actual inhabitants while
the transient population operators
coming and goins-was at Least 10000.
In March. iST, the monthly receipts
of tn. bradford branch of the Erie
railway had grown to $4,000. then
more than fulfilling the prophecy OF
4 II, l..f f.,,, hnfnr..
Over SlO0. .0UO UJD came into the Brad
ford field in four years. and all other
fields were nearly deserted. And
Moses had his reward. The forum,
he had spent in demonstrating to the
incre,iulous and scuiling community
tina, there was oil in the Tunungawani
valley and all the hills about it was re-
turned tt him hundred fold. Ii ;:
week, satisfied with the results of hi,
twenty wears labors in the region. .he
sold the seven thousand acres of land
he still held, and all his other propert.
at or about Limestone, which place he
selected as his residence early in the
history of the field: and. rs stated. will
take up his residence in New York.
The great oil-tield to the development
of which his efforts directly led has
been rapidly declining for year and
more past. There is no more new ter
ritory to drill. and the old wells are
not averaging more than four barrels
a dav. and most Of them are pumped
at that. Many of them have failed en-
tircly. and the production Of the whole
district can not he more than $500,
barrels day. But there are stored in
the tanks of the oil regions over 81
00o. 900 barrels Of petroleum surplu'
production. of which probably eigh'
tenths came from the west. Of In,
northern field. Bradford, howevet
will continue TO be a prosperous cit.
even after the oil supply is entirel,,
exhausted, for industries and busines,
enterprises have been founded there
which do not depend on oil traffic ant
operations for their existence. aHt
there are vast coal and lumber dis
tricts vet TO he developed. The pcrse
y.rencc of Job Moses anticipated Iii,
growth and prosperity of the cntir,
northwestern boundary of Penn>yl
vania a, least twenty years.-N. =
Times.
4 False Impression.