The Brookhaven leader., 1884-08-14


~ The a regions bekAn on Oh Creeh,
rat oan not recall she Interest excited
D. tAs eccentsicities (as they were sup
70 ed 20 be theu), Of . well on the
j. v Aanan farm, Ct Housewife. Il was
Sire first iowiag we'll ever struck In the
~ regions, and Il developed . pecali-
erity Of c,asing 20 low at twelve
o'clock Saturday night and starting
pga,n on Monday morning, that gave
Il the name Of the Sunday well.
\ was located on lease ten rods
square, and the post-oiiice building 1t
Housewife was afterwards put up ON
Sic lease whore the well was. Drilling
Wss done with . spring pole. Drive
pspes were used to reach the rock, for
sx.sich twenty-five dollars . point was
paid. On January Il, 1861, the well
bed reached . depth Of 19l feet aud
was on top Of the first sand. BY this
time there was . dozen producing wells
" the vicinity, all pumping. and all
drilled wet as was Mr.. Curtis also. A
bard shell was struck on the top of the
hrst sand, on which they drilled for B
long time, the light tools Of those. days
making very little impression on 1t. Al.
last & waa broken, when the OH sud-
denly began 70 flow. Not expecting q
flowing veil, there was no tank mp, but
Size planks were on the ground for II.
The welf dowsd strongly and . large
stream OF oil ran down tho creek.
Ei0rts were at once made to obtain
barrels, and the tank was pushed 10
completion - rapidly as possible.
To cave the oil until the tank was
mp large hogshead was obtained and
placed ia the derrick. A plug was made
ont Of . scantling and driven into the
top Of the drive pipe. A hole was bored
through the center Of the plug and q
lead pipe inserted in It, and bent over
jnto the h0gshead. Men were then en-
Ployed TO dip tho oil out of the hogs
head with pals and pour it into barrels
through the old-fashioned broad cider
tunnels. No ono suggested that the
surface water be shut OF, and In those
days II was not thought of. The nov
city Of Towing well drew largo crowds
70 the spot, and for many weeks it was
the topic Of conversation among oil
men.
The wen flowed into the hogshead
through the lead pipe without tubing in
: u, for several weeks, or until o tank
could be built After the tank was up
one joint Of two and ono half inch
tubing was put into the drive pipe, and
extended up into the derrick through
the bottom OF . common oil barrel
which was fastened there on q scafold-
ing. The single joint Of tubing was all
1shat was ever put into tbs we'll. Old
clothes and waste were packed around
the tubing inside the drive pipe, and
braces put on them and against the
sides OF the derrick. to prevent their be-
ing blown out. The owner estimated
tho best days production Of the we'll
81 dxty barrels or possibly seventy five
barrels, though others put it as high
- 100 barrels. Oil was sold from this
well In the month Of January ut ten
dollars barrel. ..-, .--.e
After the well began flowing Into the
barrel at the end Of the tubing, pebbles
could frequently be heard rattling in it,
and one dow forced the head Of the
!brrrel out, When this was being mend
I'd, Il was discovered that the bottom of
the barrel was filed with pebbles which
had been thrown out to the depth of
nearly foot. t.@
After beng turned into the tank for
four or i've days, the well began flow
dog with. the greatest regularity. It
flowed four times day, and SO regular
that Tor number of days the flows did
not vary Q minute. Its time Of flowing
sheoAme 90 well known that men would
'eome with their watches to time It and
amuse themselves by regulating the
time OF day by It. On the second or
third Sabbath after being turned into
the tank 1t made no oil This was re.
;aorted 70 Mr.. Curtis, the owner, and
lels0 the fact that on the next Sabbath
II made no How. On the following
Monday morning. finding that the same
thing had occurred, Mr.. Curtis Or
'dDred . guage 70 be taken the next Sat-
.prdey night at twelve o'clock, and an
other on Monday morning. This was
kd0ne and the guages showed that not q
drop Of oil had been put in the tank.
gEhis occurred each Sunday for q long
ifime causing great interest and much
mystery in the minds Of the people.
AT that time there was considerable dis
,cuasion concerning the breaking OF the
Eabbath on oil wells, and this well
eerved ~ good text against Sabbath
breaking. After some study Mr.. Curtis
hisc0yered that this eccentricity was
due to. . natural cause; There were
pnany pumping wells surrounding the
Sunday well, oil Of which were shut
down each Saturday night at midnight.
The surface water was not shut Of and
this flooded the producing sand. On
Monday morning the pumping wells
lwere started again, and as soon as the
lsvatcr was exhausted the Sunday well
hogan flowing again with it's accustomed
regularity, only to close when Saturday
afight came around.
When the oil was exhausted in the
Hirst sand, after the well had produced
ithree or four months, it was drilled by
steam power through the third sand
y depth Of 500 feet. No oil was found
ia either tho second or third sand, and
il was ABANDONED. Meanwhile the
price Of oil bad declined from the $40
point in January TO twenty-five cents
barTol. oil CIsy Derrick.
The shark does business on large
Hcsle. NeWnan Independent So does
4ha coal merchant and hay dealer. But
ne do not wish to be understood Is
calling these respectable gentlemen
sharks. CITY Derrick.
.Merciful goodness exclaimed an
old bachsioF. a. besy of beautiful
girls swooped down upon him one even
{nr and fuSuisfss<l ,YuS,rs aa<.orx;un, h;,,, "a