The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-11-22
THE OIL GEYSERS.
How Petroleum Wells Are Shot with Tor
pedoes.

pedoes.
Pittsburg Commercial Gazette.
An unclaimed earthquake turks in these
woods. Almost daily the iron hearted drillers
toy with it as though it were harmless. And yet
they realize full well its slumbering dangers
and only handle it when their hand is steady and
their footstep firm. l stood in the pathway to
one of the new wells, talking to two producers
The path was narrow, and on the other side lay
small log workman approached carrying
two cans of some sort of liquid He rubbed up
against me, and nearly caused us to fall over
the hill.
Better that than had him step over that
log, laughed one OF the producers. Had he
tripped there with those cans we four men
would have been blown to atoms"
1t was that deadly explosive material, nitro
glycorine, the was bearing Across the
way they were preparing to shoot a we'll
This is an interesting operation, providing one
can forget that the slightest slip of the hand of
yonder driller, the smallest mistep may cause
instant death to all A can holds gallon of the
diluted earthquake. When it is desired to
give we'll dose" anywhere from ten to
seventy-five quarts put in her. The cans
have all to be carried to the derrick with the
greatest care Then can by the thick
liquid, which resembles lard oil, is emptied
into Shells" A shell is a torpedo shaped tin
cylinder probably six feet long 1t is poured
into these shells slowly, and, after being closed
each torpedo is lowered cautiously down 1900
or 1000 feet into the bowels of the earth
Alltr i've OF SIX OF Cn6Sc nave De6n put QOWn
everybody steps to one side, and the cap"
is dropped down the hole 1t strikes the top
she'll and the shock sets off the explosion. So
deep down, but little is heard on the surface of
the earth. Sometimes it makes dull thud"
other times sounds like the sharp crack of a
rifle and now and then causes perceptible
quake in the ground
If the well be gusher it instantly responds
Like volcano, mighty volume of stones mud,
salt water and oil shoots into the air high above
the derrick. Then it falls back m spray. A mo-
ments pause, as if gathering strength, and an
other geyser-like column of oil and sand ascends
INTO the air with roaring, rushing sound. Then
the well settles down to a steady flow of petro-
leum, in a stream the size of which is immense
After the Fisher No. was shot the other day
she gushed out seventy five barrels the first ff-
teen minutes. Only the imagination can fur
nish an idea of what fearful rending and tear
ing asunder of strata takes place down deep in
the groins Of the earth when the nitro glycerine
explodes. 1t is known to create immense ifs
sures and crevices and start the oil flowing.
Old wells after having been exhausted have
been revived by these means.
Another interesting process is 'agitatng'
wells. This is done where the production has
diminished from the choking up of the hole or
decrease in volume of gas. 1t consists simply Of
running down the tools few times and twist
ing the rope 1t is done quite frequently. When
the tools are withdrawn a beautiful spectacle
may be seen. The agitation is clearly seen in
the way the volume of oil sDouts out of the well,
of pure amber At first the stream is forced up
by the gas irregularly, but gradually settles
down to pretty fountain some six feet high,
more or less according to the capacity of the
we'll The force is powerful, and if attempt
is made to shut off the oil by means of a board
or rags, it squirts fercey out to one side or the
other, completely drenching the workmen. AT
ter the sand and salt water is pretty well run
out, the pipe to the tanks is attached and the oil
saved. Seen in the sunlight, one of these amber
fountains is beautiful sight.
Even the drilling of well is full of interest to
those who have never seen the work. People who
theorize about natural gas having no odor should
visit Phillips City. There is plenty of natural
gas here, and its smell all over the woods is
easily detected. Like waves of heat, the gas
may be seen ascending from the oil wells with
the petroleum, but it would be worse than death
to apply torch to it: Consequently no gas is
burned here. The danger of fire is readily ap-
parent when it is remembered even the ground
is thickly coated with petroleum Should the
woods wells and tanks catch on fire scarcely
man would be able to escape out of the forest of
fire.
Although this wonderfully prolific oil field is
only thirty miles from Pittsburg the Smoky
City gets no share of the refining of the oil. 1t
requires two four inch lines and one three-inch
line running from Carbon Centre to take the oil
out of the field. From Carbon Centre the oil is
pumped to billiards, and from there to Cleve-
land