Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1884-11-07

.to,,t,. ;,,.,,....i A.. ,..,.i 49,, ..,.. 81
,,,',,S, ,i III - o". ,,i' "','
H,,it r,,,, ' I " I'..'i',,l 's 81,
Cuu'o o','' Pan W ho'neS u'""i''S WI
tnP,I M'E.an 1'uI' N',oN ~ 'nr n,"u ~, ~
iiJii'I W, ','v' UNI "oulucr "pouD u'l."
l T., ,i. ",' ~ ''v' "'.n iopoI "" p"'iSS
- a', VI "'''e'' i'''' was "'V' u
'N ~, "'9, ~
Nv 80 80 ''o''0. ~ l''' ,'''"''c E''"o" III
,''.. wv" "' H,,o o., W ", ' ,
~ -. VI i''o,o''' ~ - "'' , ,,'n
%'' ~, - , , ' cue,
,,ta,, ,{.i Az -. -
- Nn,y VIZ cit,, T,a D,,,ta L,.,,l, rn,,,o1
" no,,tn ,',.,,'i ,,.., I,,i,, atn
,4 ~ n ANY, ,l',r '"'', -, "
,,i -, ,,' .i' '' ,',,', %"1' ''' ,1H't
ro.t 4 n nonrnrth ,,o non AMI tln Nar,,,,
Farm butaI 81 mo,,itir,rt Iuillino wort,
e-n nnn a. r,r, .,,,,,,,.., ,l.s,,I ,l'o.,. ,,,,,,
aI,,,,t tift,. bot,I. in tl, town oycI,.i,.. -,
bo.rlin.,.b,usn. on1 ro.to,.r,nts For 10,
hotter nrotortion Of life nnd rronn,tv -
bnroes. and - L,rou,,h ,,,pcjl ,ynro alectod
ON Dec If The rurf tb,t soma Of tbe con
dilo+as ,lnctod ware mot r,.i,,nte If ,ho ,tnt.
was NOT rcr,nlttrd to intorfrra win Tho onn.
ar,l result
T., t.,,,.,. ,oce A. .,,.,. ........ a..
" '' ''.o WV" '"N a. VIC
helNHC "l us prosperity 1t n'd nal'hS,
churcncS' daliN newspapers Wa'ei~"pIkS'
several theatres, good opera house, large
hotels, two TELEGRAPH Offices pipe lines
plank roads to hciahLuring towns and a
narrow-guagc railroad from Pit Hole to Oloop-
oils and Oil City The Reno, Oil City * Pit
Hole Railroad company had a road-bcd
graded and ties laid from Reno TO Pit Hole,
but the work was never finished Tie Pit
Hole Daily Recorl-the first daily news
paper published in Nenargn Cuuuty-was
started 10y COL Lee NJ. Morton, Sept -,
1865. II was printed on a Washington hand
press and had a circulation of I .5OO--thc
limit of tie preesmans working capacity.
The paper dill a good bust ness and was pros
porous so long as the town had II paying
existence.
The town held up well for nearly a wear.
and then bean TO fade. Ii went vcl.,, sud.
denly. \ few weeks before its decline the
Ieople were confident that the big wells
could never c,a,c To- produce oil III immense
quantities. The general confidence in tie
town WIS so stronL that on Feb. r. 1865 The
Daily Record printed this:
The Dali, Record is now a fixed fact: and
as long as a single hole shows signs of oil, or
a derrick is visible. IT Will continue to make
Us appearances me vi 'Ily, Petroleum
.,nIi .T,ou't' ",," o'npr o"'o' alu H"-
Il,!t,s
y dailv rar'nl, md is li,.ly To- i"so fdr year.
to come"
What Il vain boast that was | never real.
lied fully until visited the ruins of Pit Hole
IA few weeks ago had known, Of course,
that the oil wells had suddenly ease to pour
out their floods of petroleum: that the peo-
pie had gone elseW here to speculate and that
the erratic city had fallen into decay. But
was not prepared for what | saw when, in
an endeavor to live the old DAYS over again.
| hirel u sad1lc-horse at Titusville and
pushed my way through the almost forgotten
country that leads to the Pit Hole valley.
On the edge of a blue. eleven miles from
Titu>ville | came upon an old man, shabby,
decrepit and weathel-beatcn. who sat upon a
log at tho upper edge of the field. with
bearlel chin in his hands, looking vacantly
down tho still valley. He glanced up little
to speak us approached, and then resume.
his doubed-up attitude
"IOokin for Pit Hole, strangerf" he asked.
"If y'ale Jest tie your gray to that saplin',
there. an come an sit down here on this
stick o timbar III look till you're tired
| had ridden eleven miles through mud
and water, over rocks and logs, up hill and
down, to sec this-an Old log cabin, the dis.
PAINTED wing Of an old hotel. and Il lonely
field upon which neither tree nor shrub would
grow. And this was Pit Holcl | had left il
tecming with busy people, bustlimg with bust.
ness and half mad with the excitement of
wild speculation. Now, even nature had for.
saken it, leaving only the half-crazed old man
to guard its dust and ashes Tie harmless,
old man had lived in peace and coutrntlnpnt
ON "A little clearing on the site of Pit Hole all
his life. The OIL fever had found him poor. it
made him fabulousv rich, and when it sub.
sided it left him poorer than before. for il
had wrenched his poor old mind of its bear.
ings.
What do you see:" | asked, seating my.
self beside the old man, and not letting him
know that the Landscape was by degree, be-
coming strangely familiar to me.
WHAT do | see!" said he slowly, without
moving his ewes from the bare. brown valley.
Il see a city full of people; | see a valley
swarming with life and business. the smoke
of countless furnaces, the steam from COMMIT
less engines. hear the clam Of hammer
and anvil. the roar of swift wheels. me rattle
of crauks and bolts. the voices of L,,s1- man