St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1886-11-25
RUSSIAN OIL WELLS.
Eleven Thousand Tons "a Day.
Pail MAI Gazette.


The Russian newspapers received
to-day contain a telegram from Baku
announcing the greatest Outburst of
oil ever known. 1t runs thus:
Baku, October 5. At Tagieff's wells
a fountain has begun playing at the
rate of 10000 pools of petroleum an
hour. Its height is 224 feet. In spite
of it's being five versts from the town,
the petroleum sand is pouring upon
the buildings and street.
Tagieff's ''gusher" beats out and out
every previous record in the oil re-
gions of the two hemispheres. The
champion petroleum fountain up to
now has been the t'DrOojba," which in
1888 spOuted to the height of 200 or
300 feet, at the rate of nearly $500 tons
of oil day. This single well spouted
at one time more oil than all the 25,-
600 wells in America yield together.
Tagieff's we'll is spOuting 500 tons
an hour, or more than IL 900 tons of
oil day. During the birth throes of
Baku oil fountain, stones are hurled
a terrific distance, and high wind
will carry the fine sand spOuting up
with oil miles away. The roar of the
gas preceding the oil-f1ow is terrific,
and the atmosphere for a time is rem
dered almost unbearable.
How long Tagieff's "spouter" will
last, and what it's ultimate yield will
be will depend upon circumstances.
The Droojba lasted lis days, flowing
for 43 days at the average rate of near
ly 3400 tons a day, 81 days at 1000
tons, 30 days at about 900 tons, and IL
Al
managed to fix a "cap" over the Orifice
and placed the well under control. The
total amount of oil spouted, at the
very lowest estimate, was 220, 900 tons
or $4,000 gallOns-the highest es
innate put it at 100000 tons. At a
rough estimate had the oil spOuted in
America it would have realized about
million sterling, and made its owner
IA millionaire, instead of which the
fate of the fountain at Baku was to
render it's owner a bankrupt, for the
shoals of sand engulfing neighboring
buildings led to claims for damage
surprising what he got for the small
quantity of oil he was able to catch
and store, while the rest, flowing be-
yond on to other peoples property,
was in most cases "annexed" and not
paid for. 1t is to be hoped that Tagi-
eff & Co. will not be so unlucky; but
in any case most of it is sure to be
wasted.
During the autumn there has been
whole succession of fountains, and in
consequence there is such a glut that
1agieff's will hardly be able to obtain
for ton (25O gallOns) of their oil the
price that the London importer pays
America for single gallon of the re-
fined article. For want of a pipe line
to run it to the Black sea most of the
% million gallons of oil spouted daily
by the fountains of Tagieff's will sink
into the soil, deteriorate in the lakes
or mingle with the waters of the Cas-
plan. Such barbarous waste of the
worlds resources will be as keenly re-
gretted by the Russian government as
by any indignant scientist in Europe.
If the resources of Tagieff & Co. prove
inadequate to quell the fountain (that
is cap over the well and keep the oil
below the surface until wanted) the
minister of crown domains will doubt
less put into effect policy agreed up
on on the occasion of the DrOOjba out
burst, and send engineers with full
power to utilize all available means to
plug the Orifice. Whether they will
succeed is another matter.