New-York tribune., 1884-11-29
ALSATIAN OIL MINES.
FEATURES OF AN ANCIENT INDUSTRY

FEATURES OF AN ANCIENT INDUSTRY.
,rpox AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT THE rRlBUSE.l
BRADFORD, Penn, Nov. 1O.-State Senator
Lewis Emery OF this city during recent tour OF lnves
tgation among European oil fields, found territory
where oil operations begun nearly $50 years ago.
This ancient region is In Asacc it's centrc being the
town OF Peohelbronn, about fifty miles north OF Stras-
burg Mr. Emery the first American who ever visited
the REGION and the first outsider the owner ever Ier
mitted examine the wells and the manner OF sinking
and operating them. railroad runs to within three
miles OF district the nearest station being sutz-
unter m -Wad. The OIL territory is nine miles long,
and Is owned by Frenchman named Jacques A. Le Bel
whose ancestor, Dr. Antoine Le BEL discovered the oil
in 1888.
SDr Antoine lie Bel" says Senator Emery. was
naturalist and while making investigations In Aisace
in the year 1873 he upon small stream or a thick
oily substance eKuding from the earth BY experiment.
Ing with 1t he found that 1t excellent lubricator
He ut once began digging into the earth. believing
that the oil existed in quantities beneath the surface
He sank shaft, rather pit, to the depth OF nfy
feet whore he struck a sand rock rich with the OIL
Dr. I,e Bel was wealthy and he purchased from the
French Government which then owned the land, $1,000
square in the region The property has continued
in possession OF Bel family from that day to this,
and oil operations have ceased. During the early
years business the rock was quarre1 at depth
OF fifty feet taken out In blocks and tho oil extracted
from 1t by boiling process. That stratum OF rock
depth of feet The system Of operating adopted by
the pioneer operator In 1875 Is the one still used no
having suggested itself to the owners Of
the property century and half Of Its history,
except tho substitution OF for that OF Asa
tian peasants IN hosting buckets from the wells
"The sinking OF Alsatian oil well is moro like the
operaton OF opening coal mine than OF tapping the oil
vein s understood and practised In the Pennsylvania
and other fields When the oil operator in Asace sets
put TO rut down oil well. he first erects building
eighty by thirty feet for his engine and boiler Near by
an excavation twenty feet deep and fourteen feet square
is made in the ground This Is filled with solid stone
Masonry Upon this foundation Is erected chimney
100 feet high oetagona in shape fourteen feet In
diameter. The work OF sinking the we'll Is begun
beneath engine house As the.we Is to consist OF
shaft and numerous drifts and galleries. its plan Is first
carefully LAID out by mn experienced engineer The
shaft IA excavated entirely by wOrknen with pick and
shovel The work goes night and day. there being
three sets of hands three In who work eight hours
each The shaft Is fourteen feet In length aud six feet
gde when it reaches depth from which 1t Is inpos-
sble % throw the dirt out with shovel wlidass with
buckets attached IL put In position c0nnected with the
engine and the dirt Ia then raised by them These
buckets have bottoms hung on hinges. Wnen onc Ia
hosted no n "a swung aruund'ove q small car and
,lrmpei The ear Il tundled away by labOrers anl IN
turn dumped Un the uutsile Uf the building From
the time the engine starts seventeen nte engaged IN
the snhins ~ the we'll. Tie shatnpi ~ nl depths
trppifp % ppnta laF lhe thelnftfi nftNfh tn''Nn
anh rafnph tpptlte 80 p-nts tlutl anh ubh twelve
h0is fip nat fuil ~ thpse setrhreh nirh % go "
ahifi q sniA tNp rrtbn,pn ~ We fphnstltai,a ot
ig4Ans wHili ihihh sHaii phureh fi Nitilp ttiNppr
ihnn los llai's MIX az vel "A iir shal 70 shhs
lhu Nill2 go hiili Nl'N ~ sens ,i,n1 s ~ slH slH
When ~ fpaphps 'ilp n aa,ie sfhl 70 'l lpr ~ i'p
ept ui thirtf iael drlh 10 pat iF'n lnh sHal ~ a
angln that vii huns iis uppe' ninnis 10 no asp 90
the stauk, Or rhmhpii lphniml ga l,tuNnh !" NH'rhi
the nI p air 0 the shalt the ifhli hhlhs auniuht ~
exhaust all ihe osonos sassns lhn stll 70 u. h'ou
ma threa comp armeuts wnon are numberod =, ANA
B. No Is ! ny feet ani Is the well No Is . ny
feet aud is made alr,light at the top rus Is we
,nent up which the impure air Is drawn by the
drift aud Tn, chimney. No Is also by ieet ANA
Is tue shaft that gives to the "orkme below Tue fesa
The ventilation by this arrangement Is sad To De so
egec tina, there IS oonSred mo- r'0J 0 the s'" Wor %
mem. Indeed. Tor a period of thirty years tho
yeIolsy low only having been killed In that
time Every one OF these met his death by falling from
the long ladders by which the miners 20 ana come from
when the we'll has reached the of sand. and peno-
trated it to sufficient depth galleries are oponeh n
These galleries extend long distances In tho surronnng
stratum and drain an area OF several acres ol s Yt ~
The oil drps tile galleries, by which Is connected TO
tho bottom of the main shaft There IL Is dipped P ny
the miners. poured into buckets tn9 she @ u't M y
the dirt aud debris from the shaft-whch wneh l' io
ho,ed to the surface and taken TO Tue resy ntn
mners-for they can be called nothing ese,e nSntVr
al tn work by Dlvy Lamps, whcn lhe stl1p W % %ol
breasts Fortunately for these worhinen ana ior lncl
employers. this Asatian OH prouuce' no gas nno ,9 2
American petroleum or an en- rely diierent system o,
sl to the depth of 800 feet occupcs seven months
and costs including machinery. Sli,OO0-aDout hve
f,mes The cost OF hole IN Pennsylvania No water Is
ncontere depth. bat In attempting to sInk ono
G tn. Old shafts another supposed stratum OF OIL
ne ,tin rock the struck vein OF salt water
when drove them from the we'll Having no pumping
onnoraus the water being taken out by means ol
Lnck.t. when I visited the well, AMI IL wis expectod
fhat it would all be taken ont III Weeka twenty -lOur
bnurs' Job with American machinery. NJ lie BEL was
tnceuous when told how the American wells were Oper
tcd although believe that the Alsatian oil l. TOO thlcK
aud the rock close to be WORKED by the PennyNhna
n~,ress The refinery primitive and rude. but lie Bel
succeeds in getting go per cent OF good lnbrcatng 0
no Illuminating oil being obtained. The oil ls sObI by
the pouud rather In packages of 200 pounds called
tilot The prIco received Is from 50 to 80 kilo
according to grade equal to what wOd De from @o 10
- barrel In this country. =, ~
rwo wells that were in operation when Mr. Emery
,vos I'm Alsace were producing twelve tons OF oil day
hc deposit OF petroleum In this region i evidently very
,,xensive. but the field Is one Ia which the Amercah
vegon will never hnd formidable rival. the a ha-
tians know nothing Of any other oil region. ana inc
stements OF Mr. Emery In relation to the Importance
of the American oil territory he says were received
there with great astonishment