Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-12-08
HE MADE HIS PILEIN AMINUTE.
The Almost instantaneous Manner in
which Man Became Rich in Pithole

city.
lTrom the Se,1 York Sun.
BRADFORD, PA, Dec. 4-Scores of good
stories have been told OF men who by a
successful stroke of luck or business
policy have become suddenly rich. Some
nave made their bundle in six days, while
others, by cornering certain stocks or
food products, have jumped from COM
paratiye poverty to princely afauence be-
/ tween the coming and the going OF the
/ sun. The list Of men who have made So
/ called fortunes in day or week might
! possibly fill a small book, but there is no
known record Of some Of the peculiarly
/ lNcky dogs OF creation who have toyed
with coy fortune and grown wealthy in
less than an hour. Speculation in petro-
leum has given birth 10 several instances
Of this kind.
But the man who grew rich in an hour
is not for an instant TO be compared with
| the Western chap who accumulated
| handsome fortune in the short and feet
ing period OF sixty seconds. Two hours
after he struck the oil country ne was
hurrying out Of 1t as fast as the lumber
ing stage would carry him, and be never
came back again, either. He was not at
all piggish. He simply knew when ne
had enough.
1t was in the early days, when the
| great petroleum industry was still in It's
| long dresses, that the incident in ques-
! tiOn happened. The year was 1860. and
the theatre OF operations the then red hot
city OF Pithole. With the simple aid OF a
twig OF witch hazel, Thomas II. Brown,
whose ancestors were among the early
settlers of New York city, located the
we'll which ushered into its brief but eX-
citing career OF oleaginous existence the
phenomenal Pithole oil district. Mr..
Browns rod of witch hazel made Thomas
Holmden, the owner Of bleak and sterile
farm, one Of the richest men in the State.
The Frazier well, which was the Pithole
pioneer, was finished on Jan. s, 1865. The
$50 barrels of oil it poured into tanks
during the first and subsequent days OF
its existence was worth So a barrel at the
we'll but in those days it cost the con-
sumner only s. IS a barrel to place the
stuff in the New York market.
Every commercial traveller who has
ever visited Erie, Pa, knows the sneeze
and the patriarchal white beard and bald
head and suave manners of Col. +. H.
Ellsworth, for years proprietor of the
Ellsworth house, and later OF the Reed
house. The Colonel was not always a
hotel man. He was one OF the earliest
operators IN the region, and at several Pc
RODS in his career was worth great deal
of money.
1t happened that the Colonel, who was
was one OF the early birds, came into pos
session Of a snug slice Of the famous
Holmden farm. Several wells had been
drilled on the track, and all came in as
money makers. The ColonePs patch was
not considered as choice as the rest. A
well was started, and the drill began its
search for oil. At this time hundreds of
strangers, with fat pocketbooks or big
bank accounts, rOamed over the field in
quest of desirable locations. Thus the
land, once valueless, became immensely
valuable. Land owners eXacted
fearful big bonus, and, besides, got one
eighth of all the oil the wells produced.
The average bonus on leases was $4,000
an acre, although the price in several in
stances ran up TO $1,000. Among the ad-
venturers who flooded the country was a
tall, lean, lank and hungry looking chap
from Illinois. He had heard that fortunes
could be made in day, but the thought
never for a moment entered his NOODLE
that he was destined to grow rich in a
minute. While looking around he ran
across Col. Ellsworth, who was watching
the drillers at his well, which was about
400 feet deep. The stranger entered into
an animated conversation with him.
When he went away he carried slip of
book paper upon which the Colonel had
written IN pencil this:
l hereby agree to sell three-fourths of well
Ne. --, HOlmden Farm, for $lS,000 payable
within three days. r. II. ELLSWORTH.
The tall Westerner was not yet out OF
the ColonePs hearing when he was &C
costed by a well-dressed stranger, upon
whose spotless piece of linen flashed
diamond as big as q horse chestnut.
"Do you know where l can buy a good
piece OF oil propertyy" eagerly inquired
the man of the diamond.
"Pm your huckleberry, stranger" said
the Westerner, adjusting his SLOUGH hat
rakishly on the side of his head. "Pve
got an immense bargain here for the right
kind of man. You see that well over
theref Well, l own a three-fourths in
terest in il and also in the land surround
ing it. The well is 400 feet deep, and is
within few rods Of all the gushers. 1t
will be big well, no doubt"
"What will you sell out for"
Seventy-fve thousand dollars will buy
me out slick and clean and put you in
possession"
''It's bargain" said the stranger, and
he pulled out a long pocketbook, which
was nearly bursting with its load of
| greenbacks.
A neighboring stump served as a desk.
There you are, now give me the
papers," he remarked, as he handed over
a stack Of bills. The Westerner counted
I the money and found that there were sew
enty-hve $1,000 bills.
All this time Col. Ellsworth stood not
ten PAGES away. Had he strained his
ears he could have heard the shrewd
Westerner drive his bargain. but he did
not know what was happening, and the
chances are that he was not enlightened
until several years afterward.
The Colonel was somewhat surprised
when the man fr'm the West placed in
his hands the purchase money. This
done, the stranger was introduced and
the bargain was settled. The well turned
out only a moderate producer, and the
| stranger lost money.
/ In one minute the Western adventurer
/ had cleared $4,000 in hard cash. The
/ next stage carried him out OF the country.
| He was never seen again in Pithole or
any other oil town. lie had made his
/ pile and was satisfied.