The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1883-07-04
JOB MOSES REWARD.
How the Celebrated Bradford Oil Fields
Were Discovered and Developed.

ia manifesting his faith by his works,
led to the development Of the territory
and Transforming wilderness into one
OF the most populous and wealthy com
munities in Pennsylvania, has sold his
vast possessions in the region and re-
moved to New York City. Twenty
years ago the oil excitement in Oil Creek
in the lower field, was at its height, and
Moses, having made "a large fortune in
patent medicines, with headquarters in
Rochester, was attacked by the oilfeyer
The symptoms in his case took the form
OF mania 10 develop new petroleum
field, and Investigations led him to Brad
ford, in the valley Of the Tunungawant
creek. He advanced the theory at once
that there was vast lake of petroleum
undertaking the whole region, and he
set about securing territory upon which
to test his theory. Bradford was then q
mere hamlet Of score or so Of scatter
ed families, depending on numbering and
farming for support When Moses be-
gan his operations the business of the
Bradford branch amounted to about 81
600 month, and when he made the
prophecy that the day was not distant
when that amount would be increased
ten-fold through the oil that would be
found on all sides Of it, the belief that
he was crazy was strengthened in the
community.
For thirteen years Job Moses pros
pected among the mountains and
through the valley, his faith never wav-
ering. Then his fortune was exhausted.
and he had thousands of unproductiye
rocks and forest on his hands At that
time oil wells were drilled to a depth
Of not over nine hundred feet at which
depth the deposit was found in the low
er field When Moses had spent all his
money, the earnestness and enthusiasm
with which he chung to the theory that
there was oil in the region led outside
capltalists to come to his aid, In 1875
the idea occurred to somcOne-it is not
known exactly to whom now--that it
would be reasonable risk TO drill
well deeper than the lower region depth.
This was done, and at the depth Of L.
100 feet the oil sand was found, and a
fifty barrel flowing well was struck 1t
was discovered then that the Bradford
oil was in third sand, while the Oil
Creek deposit was in second sand,
below the surface,
The strike created much excitement
in the valley, but outsiders had no faith
in the extent of the field or the "last-
ing qualities Of the sand. Job Moses
had, however, and he was content 10
await events He held on to his land,
and well after well was put down, every
one proving to be good producer. But
it was not until 1877 that the persistence
and pluck OF the pioneer oil-operator in
the Mexican field were crowned with
full success. The wells in the lower
field had long ceased to flow, and the
supply of oil depended on the pump.
The Bradford wells were not only flow
ing wells, but they flowed month after
month without any perceptible decrease
in their yield. The new field could no
longer be ridiculed nor ignored, and in
| 1857 that remarkable exodus of opera
tors from all the other oil-helds to Brad
ford 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 going-was at least 10000.
In March, 1877, the monthly receipts of
the Bradford branch of the Erie railway
had grown TO 1885, 900. then more than
fulfilling the prophecy Of Job Moses,
made fourteen years before. Over $780,
900, 900 came into the Bradford field in
four years, and all other fields were
! nearly deserted. And Moses had his re-
ward The fortune he had spent in de-
| monstrating to the incredulous and
scofiing community that there was oil
in the Tunungawant valley and all the
| hills about II was returned to him a
| hundred-fold. Last week, satisfied with
the results of his twenty years labors
in the region he sold out the seven
thousand acres of land he still held and
all his other property Mt and about
Limestone, which place he selected as
| his residence early in the history OF the
field; and, as stated, will take up his
residence in New York, The great oil
Htlu W lHt utNtlOpUlcHl VI NlINH MS
efforts directly led has been rapidly de-
clining for q year and more past. There
is no more new territory to drill, and
the old wells are not averaging more
than four barrels a day, and most of
them are pumped at that, Many of
them have failed entirely, and the pro-
duction of the whole district can not be
more than $4,000 barrels a day. But
there are stored in the tanks of the oil
regions over 34,0O0,00O barrels of pet
roleum, surplus production, OF which
probably eight-tenths came from the
west of the northern field Bradford
however, will continue to be prosper
Gus city even after the oil supply is en-
tirely exhausted, for industries and bus
mess enterprises have been founded
there which do not depend on oil traffic
and operations for their existence, and
there are vast coal and lumber districts
yet TO be developed The perseverance
of Job Moses anticipated the growth
and prosperity of the entire northwest
ern boundary Of Pennsylvania at least
twenty years, Correspondence ~ Y
| Times.