Connecticut western news., 1883-07-04
THE TWO PIPE LINES.
HOW THE CRUDE OIL IS TAKEN TO THE
 MARKET.

HOW THE CRUDE OIL IS TAKEN TO THE MARKET.
 A Simple System of Doing a Very Large Work by Two Corporations. Two pipeline companies supply the 1 whole oil country with storage and trans
 portation, says writer in the Century
 for July. One of these, the Tidewater
 Company, taps a portion of the wells in
 the Bradford field alone, and ends at
 Tamanend, in Eastern Pennsylvania, l where it transfers it's oils to tank cars on ! the Philadelphia and Reading Railway
 and the Central Railway of New Jersey.
 It is comparatively small concern, but
 is important as the only competitor to its gigantic rival, the United Pipe Lines, | 8 corporation running it's mains to every
 district, large or small, in the oil region,
 having it's termini at the sea-board and
 at the three principal refining cities of
 the interior, and possessing tankage
 capacity of over thirty millions of bar
 rels. The United Pipe Lines corpora
 tion is the great Standard Oil Company
 under 8 different name, the controlling
 interest in the stock of the two concerns
 being owned by the same men. The
 United States stores and transports; the
 Standard buys, refnes, sells, and ex-
 ports. This double headed corporate
 power is the monarch of the oil trade.
 Only the producing interest remains in
 multitude of hands; all else is virtually
 concentrated in the grasp of little
 group of men who manage the two con-
 panies.
 Let us look for 8 moment at the sys-
 tenn by which petroleum is handled. It
 is remarkably simple, inexpensive, and
 efficient. When the tank at a we'll is
 nearly full, notice is sent to the nearest
 agency of the Pipe Lines. A man comes
 promptly with measuring pole and
 little book of certificates. He. gauges
 the oil in the tank, unlocks the stop cock connecting with the outlet pipe,
 and lets as much oil run out as the we'll
 owners want to dispose of Then he shuts off the flow, measures what re- mains in the tank, and makes out trip licate certificate, showing depth of oil at the beginning and at the end of the run
 One he gives to the we'll manager who has signed with him, one he sends to the central office of the Pipe Lines at Oil City, and one he keeps. A telegram is then sent to the central office, giving no- tice that so many inches of oil have been run from the tank. Every tank has its number on the books of the company. and It's capacity IS recorded in inches. On receiving the certificate of tie run, the number of barrels and hundredths of barrel taken from the tank is ascer- tained by table, the credit is given to the we'll for that amount of oil less three per cent, which is deducted for sedi- ment and evaporation.
 The account is not only kept in gross with the well, but is divided so that each share-owner, if there be many (and there are usually from three to dozen), gets his separate credit for the amount of oil he is entitled to from the run, The United Pipe Lines is not only trans portatlon company, but also bank of deposit for oil and an insurance company. and it keeps the books of every well it serves.
 The oil from the we'll is now in pos- pession of the Pipe Company, and is in one of it's big storage tanks mixed with oil from scores of other wells. There is no separation and no distinction of oual- l lty. All crude petroleum, from what 1 ever well or district it comes, is classed together as of uniform value. When a | producer sells oil, he gives an order for 3 transfer to the purchaser of as many | barrels from his credit balance as he has disposed of; or, if he wants to use his | 0il in store as collateral to borrow | money upon or convert it into a negoti- able certificate, he gets what is called an acceptance, which is virtually certified check. These acceptances are issued in even amounts of one thousand barrels each. They are passed from hand to hand all over the world, but must, by a 'ule of the company, be sent in once in six months for renewal, or a double stor sge charge is made. Frequently they 'eturn covered on their backs with in- When the holder of an ac- ,eptance or credit balance wants the ol for use or shipment it is delivered at either of the main shipping points, he paying twenty cents per barrel as the 9ipage charge, and 8 storage charge of fifty cents per day per one thousand bar els. Storage for the first twenty days s free, however, to the producer, and a has ten days storage without charge.
 Insurance is 8 mutual affair. Losses Ire assessed on all the oil in the lines md on holders of acceptances and credit for oil in store. Last year the amounted to only eight ;enths of one per cent. A loss of less han twenty thousand barrels is consid- cred too small to assess, and is borne by he Pipe Company. Nearly all losses Ire caused by lightning striking the big storage tanks and firing the gas, which n turn ignites the oil In 1880 eight ;anks were burned in this way, but in 1882 only one tank was struck, although he number of tanks has been doubled turing the two years A method of pro- ectiOn was recently devised. which is believed to be effective. A lightning 'od, twenty-five feet high, is attached % four broad bands. of iron sboo+;no