The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1885-10-21
AGE OF N~ITRO-GsYCERINE.
The Deadly Explosive in the
Bradford. Oil Fields.
Many Tons Used Annually in the Cease
less Search for Petroleum.

A Bradford (Penn.) letter to the
New York San says: This is en-
phatically the age of glycerine," re-
marked an oil man, as he pensively
contemplated the we shifting figures
In the electric indicator in the hall
way OF the Petroleum Exchange. "Less
than two years ago DR.. Roberts, who
invented oil we'll t%orpedoes, had a mon
opoly of the business. He raked in
several million dollars before his pat
ents expired, but he spent more than a
million in bringing lawsuits against
INSCRIPTIONS persons who infringed
bis rights. There was always compe-
tition, though, and all of the Doctors
money could not crush the daring
men who secretly manufactured and
covertly exploded the glycerine in the
wells after nightfall. Then they were
called moonlighters. Now the bust
ness is free to all. Many moonlight
ers were blown to pieces while engage
ed in their work. The profits, how
ever, were SO large that men were
found at all times who were anxious
to risk their lives.
after the Roberts patent expired
glycerine companies sprang up in
every direction. The day after the
monopoly expired the announcements
of a round dozen glycerine manufac-
turers appeared in the oil country
papers. The era of high prices came
to an end at the same time. In Brad
ford alone there are no less than nine
large firms who manufacture and ex-
plode about thirteen tons of glycer-
Inc per. month.
Never before in the history of the
region has the use of glYcerine been so
extensive. For years the producer in
the Bradford field was content to use
fifteen or twenty quart shots. It was
feared that heavier doses would ulti-
mately destroy the sand formation
and ruin the wells. The enormous
prices charged for large torpedoes in
those days also had a bearing on the
situation. Torpedoes were quoted as
high as $1,000. For $500 a wealthy
oil man could give his we'll a good
shaking up. Then glycerine was sold
by the quart. Now oil men buy the
stuff by the barrel. A barrel contains
forty-two gallons. and costs about
$50.
"Bradford's nine firms employ per-
haps fifty shooters. They are kept on
the go 10th day and night. Last
month yer twelve tons of glycerine
was burned in the Bradford field
alone. Eighty quarts, or nearly half
a barrel, now represents the average
shot. Dynamite squibs have in a
large measure succeeded the go devil
The go devip is a weight which was
dropped at the critical moment ON the
firing head of the torpedo. exploding
it. The constant enlargement of the
cavity in the oil bearing rock necessi-
tated the use Of something better. and
that was the dynamite squib. While
the average shot Is eighty quarts,
there are many firms who think moth
ing of exploding from two to five bar
rels of glycerine in a well. The shock
tears out the rock and opens up the
clogged veins of oil. The cans in
which the deadly explosive is trans
ported about the field have been en-
larged from six TO eight quarts capac-
ity, and each shooters wagon carries
ten cans, or eighty quarts, of the stuff.
Some wells are treated to pheno G.
email shots. The owners Of the test
well in Warren county wanted to
make a big showing. They used over
a ton of glycerine. The earth around
the well trembled and the spectators
were FRUSTRATED on the ground. It
was the largest shot on record. A
well which produces from one to two
barrels per day naturally, has its ca
pacity increased to eight or ten barrels
after shooting. They gradually de-
cline, and in the course of a few weeks
fall off to their original figures.
"Dollar oil in Bradford. and the
heavy premium paid for lower country.
or white sand oil. is the cause OF this
boom in the %glycerine market. Dur
ing the past six months w fifty tons