The Democratic advocate., 1883-10-06
History of Petroleum.


Perhaps never in the worlds history has
there occurred Il case in which an article
known from time immemorial, and counted
as being of too small value to have any in
fuence whatever, has all at once become
one of the forces which sway the commerce,
and almost the destinies of nations, to All
extent so wonderful as is actually true in
regard to petroleum.. Forty years ago the
word petroleum had no existence in current
language. 1t is a compound term meaning
simply rock oil; it was in the dictionaries,
but it was not known to people In general.
And vet the article at that time was on
sale in the large cities, and occasionally in
smaller places. But it was in very small
quantities, and was disposed of by the
ounce. Those who are old enough to re-
member as far back as 1910 can possibly
recall a very bad smelling medicine to which
they were perhaps subjected. Itwas called
Seneca Oil, and was dreadful good for the
rheumatic, being fortunately, in most in
stances, used externally, though not al
ways 1t was understood to be brought
from the "Seneca Nation, in the south
western part of the State of New York;
hence its name. Seneca oil was simply
crude petroleum, and it is ON the instant
recognized that it came from the immediate
vicinity, the very border of the region
which has within these later years revolu-
tionizcd the world with its oil wells.
But in going back to Seneca oil do we
touch the early days of petroleum? Not
at all; and we, shall never touch them. No
elimmering lights shines back so far. When
the fires fell on the Cities Of the Plain, in
the circuit of Jordan, at the north end of
the Dead Sea, the eombustible material
which insured the destruction of Sodom
and Gomorrah was crude petroleum, the
asIime pits" of the Vale of Siddim. Later
still petroleum, in its viscid form, served to
make watertight the cradle of the baby
Moses. But both these instances are rela-
lively of modern date; for perfectly untold
ages before that time petroleum had served
to aid in preserving the Egyptian dead
from decomposition, for the very Oldest of
all the mummies yet brought to light re-
veal its presence. And how early in the
experience of the human race its remarka-
BILE properties were brought into play we
can only conjecture, for nothing remains to
tell us
Petroleum, therefore, has two histories,
and they may be said to be as distinct from
each other as though they were of two
separate articles. The old reaches back, so
we have seen, to the days of shadow and
fable; the new begins August 6, 1859, only
twenty-four years ago And it begins at
Titusville, on Oil Greek, branch of the
Alleghany River, in Crawford county,
Pennsylvania To such narrow limits in
both time and space are we able to concen-
trate our attention, and yet we are looking
at that which has become one of the
mighty factors in modern civilization.
Now once more we will see what we can
do in the work of bringing our ideas to a
focus, and this time we will look at the
subject geographically. Petroleum is found
in various parts of the world; in fact, almost
in every country, to some extent There
are, however, certain points of concentra-
ton, and they are not many. The island
of Zante, the mainland opposite in Hun
gary; Gallicia, and MoIdayia; then, again,
away off on the Irawaddy, but most of all
on the Eastern Continent-the shores of
the Caspian, especially near Baku; all Of
these produce petroleum, and the springs
of Baku yield more than all the others
combined But we may fairly set all Of
them-the entire Eastern Continent aside
as being of no great moment. 1t is no
mere figure of speech, it is not rank boast
ing, to say that petroleum, SO far as the
markets of the world are concerned, is an
American product Our regular daily and
monthly yield so far surpasses all others
that they cannot be counted as rivals in the
trade and its results.
The springs of Baku yield about 100000
barrels annually; we turn out that amount
in the space of few weeks at any time.
The records of 1879, not to speak Of any
thing later, give the exports only from the
three ports of Philadelphia, Baltimore and
New York at 8,50O,O00 barrels. Surely
we may call petroleum, in all Its bearings,
an American product.
And does it come from all parts Of
America? Perhaps few persons are aware
how very much restricted really is the re-
zion which yields such incredible results.
The fact is that the "oil centre, that from
which petroleum has been produced in
paying quantities, can all be comprised
within a space of hi1ty-nine and a halt
square miles 1t is wonderful.--Scient!ttc
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