Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1883-07-12
OIL AND GAS.
oil Wells in Penns jlvania Gas az Fuel
to Generate Steam A Hundred
Derrioks in Sight

OclIlOhs III o4SHF
Did YOU ever see the Oil rigs at |
work Let us visit them. The tall der /
rick, about sixty feet in height. catches |
your eye long before YOU are near the |
well, Next the walking-beam, moving |
slow or fast, generally with melan- |
choly squeak, attracts Your attention. |
Some of the rigs are pumping away at |
n lively rate, with a sort of youthful. !
careless disregard of appearance, send
ing forth a merry sound. Others per
form their duties slowly, solemnly, ST.
lently, as though they We're ashamed of
the degradation of pumping oil that Is
worth only dollara barrel.
Here is boiler house, and here is the
engine which furnishes power TO several
wells. Ii is in charge of a young man
with pipe He seems TO lead an easy,
though somewhat lonely, life. 1t costs
mo labor to keep up the fires, for natur-
al gas is conducted by means of pipes
under the boiler, and the operator has
only to regulate its flow. The room of
the engineer is coy and comfortable
a winter retreat both snug and warm
THE derricks are everywhere. In the
woods, in the open fields, on the hill
tops and in the valleys. There are 100
in SIGHT from this hillside. When You
consider that each well in running order
costs from 81 ,00G to $4,000, and that
about rs many dry holes" as produc-
inc wells are bored in given territory,
YOU begin to have faint idea that it
takes capital to run the business be-
Sieve that the average cost of boring
and starting n well is about 81, 600. Oil
L. H. st,,.s f,.,,ta to
to 1,500 feet. Some wells start with
production of few barrels per day and
continue thus for years. Others,
KNOWN As "GUsHERs,
start with squirt, 700 or 1000 barrels,
and flow only during the first day. AT
ter flowing ceases, pumping IS begun.
One we'll yields largely for Il time and
then stops altogether; another. though
it may have been n gusher at first, be-
comes n valuable producer and holds
oirt for years. Some of the Oldest
wells IN this territory are still produc-
ing.
Gas is struck quite as often as oil and
the volume yielded is enormous. There
was well at st. Joe, Butler County, n
few wears ago. which was a wonder
even to oil men. When the gas began
issuing from the earth it made such n
ripping and tearing among things i'll its
vicinity that people were glad to get at
safe distance Dirt and mud, sticks
and stones were thrown high into the
air. After its first angry symptoms had
subsidized the gas was lighted, and it fur
nished heat and illumination for all the
country round. The snow melted away
from several acres of ground and calves
and sheep fattcned on the grass which
sprang up; crickets and grasshoppers
and little birds fingered lovingly around
that well, singing its praises all the
winter long remember reading about
it at the time and thinking the whole
story Il lie-but it wasn't.
Ii is fine to see the oil wells at night.
All around are the blazing Jets of gas,
some big and some little. Five miles
from the wells YOU can see the lurid
illumination Of the gas reflected upon
the clouds.
Pines carving oil run from the wells
through the country in all directions.
They extend to Pittsburg, to Cleveland
and TO New York. At the pump sta
,ions are engines which send the fluid
through the land. Huge iron tanks vii
be noticed at intervals all through thC
oil country. These tanks generally
have a capacity of 10000 barrels each
The oil is stored in them until it Is re
quired for shipment One of the tanks
situated opposite Parker,
WAS STRUCK Bf LIGHTNING
in 1879 and the contents took fire. 1h'
flames were communicated to two othe
tanks near by, the oil boiled up ant
overflowed and the burning iitui'
rushed down the bank into the Alleghe
nv River. The petroleum continued Z
burn for nearly two days, and during
this time the entire surface of the river
Tor over nan n mile OF Its course, was
sheet of flames, affording one OF til
grandest sights ever witnessed.
The price of crude petroleum yarie
greatly. When the fields in the ylcinit
of Parker began TO be developed, $50
was the figure, and fortunes were mad
very rapidly. Over production cause
speedy decline but in 1874 the pric
rose to 81 and so continued for som
time. During the past year the prize
has been below fifty cents. The fluctt
ations are often most damaging !
their effects upon the spectators
margins.
The farmers who owned the lana O
which the oil developments were mad
should have received most bench
Many of them did become rich so quicl
ly that it turned their heads and the
lost their fortunes rs soon as they ha
them. Others were cheated out of a
income by swindling spectators.
few managed wisely and reaped sui
stantial rewards. The Robinson farm
near Parker, is said TO have produce
about 81, 200, 900 worth of oil from lSt
to the present time, and $50, 600 to $40
600 per month was the income of /
owner for considerable period, he +
ceiving one-eighth of the value OF Il
y oil produced. The farm contains !, II
= acres The McClymonds farm, {
which Harms City is built, contains q
acres. and is said to have produce
100000 worth of oil in ten years
Parker city, Pa, Letter.
. -
4 2