The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1888-06-28
BAKC'S FOUNTAINS.
The Persian Rival of Pennsylvania : fetr"-
leum FieIds-Twelve Thousand square
Miles of Oil Region.
New ork Star.

Inc great loNu oi btthu li>19 nv" q
coast line Of about six miles, sweeping
around a we'll protected harbor crowded
with shipping-ships of all tonnage, all
fitted with tanks 10 store the OH that
Dours from a hundred fountains. From
time immemorial this spot has been
deemed sacred by the Ghchrcs ofPcrsia,
who recognize in the flame ofthc native
naphtha sacred fire symbol. Here for
at least 1000 years the sacred earth fed
flame has burned increasingly, and the
r temple of Surukhani has been 4 centre
of reverent pilgrimage. This native
naphtha flows from the soil III 50 pure Il
form as to burn without rectiticatlon,
and is, indeed, so inhammable that the
naptha gas occasionally ignites spoll-
taneously and plays in pale flames
above fissures in the rock. On stormy
nights these flames have been seen to
blaze uD with al awful spirit light,
which, to the eyes of the Ghebres,
invested the spot with special sanctlty
"a sanctity intensified by the fact that
here, according to Arabian chroniclers,
great volcanic mountain was IN full
action till 800 years ago. Since then
the thermal forces have expended their
energies Oh spouting oil and thereWlih
saturating the desert plain OF the AS
pheros peninsula; and truly Il more
repulSivc site for Il great city could not
we'll be found.
1t is plain about fifteen miles in
and projecting thirty miles into
the Caspian from the point where the
. Caucasus terminates on its shores. The
whole surface of the ground is black
with waste petroleum, which in cold
weather hardens to the consistency OF
asphalt, whereas beneath the blazing
midsummer sun the foot sinks III to
the depth Of two or three inches Every
breath Of wind raises binding cloudsof
black, bituminous dust, formed by the
coarse black naphtha with which the
streets are periodically ''watered," true
water being too precious to be thus
wasted. This dust, combined with the
dense smoke poured from the chimneys
of somewhere about 800 refining facto-
ries, does nothing to improve the at
mosphere And here, day and night,
the oil fountains pour forth their hid
eous black streams. They yield 2n
average of from p to 33 per cent. OF
rur. oil, and from 20 to so per cent. of
refuse. which makes excellent fuel for
the great fleets of oil steamers and loco
motives. The supply may well be
deemed ineXhaustible, inasmuch as
l2,OJO square miles in this region are
found to be oleiferous, and of this vast
surface only six miles have as yet been
developed. The oil bearing stratum
extends beneath the Caspian, where it
crops up in Tehelikan, a true isle of oil.
Here the oil literally streams into the
sea from hills and cliffs, which may be
saidto be formed of ozokerite-in other
words, Of crude paraffine. On the east
ern shore of the Caspian it reappears at
various points, as, for instance, at the
Neft OF Naphtha hill, where the de-
posits are officially valued at 4e35, ,000,-
600.
THE FIRE GIANTS SPORT.
Now, the fire giant who tends the
great laboratory beneath the Caspian
seems to emulate the example of his
brethren in New Zealand and Tonga.
Hitherto he has been satisfied with
such sport as turning on such an Oil
stream as that which gushed forth three
years ago from one of the Baku springs,
spouting with such force as to break to
pieces three inch cast iron pipe which
had been fastened over the we'll in order
to divert the flow to a different direc-
ton. \ neighboring oil spring, on
being tapped, threw up column of
petroleum to twice the height of the
Great Geyser in Iceland, forming a
huge black fountain POO feet in height
a fountain, however, attributed solely
to the removal of the pressure OH the
confined gas, as there is no preceptible
heat in these geysers. 1t WAS visible for
many miles around, and on the first
day it poured forth about $4,000 bar
rels, and, with gradually diminishing
volume, continued to play for five
months, when it finally subsidized, leav
ing its unfortunate owners, an Ameri-
can company, we'll nigh ruined, by the
claims brought against it by neighbors
whose lands were destroyed by the oil
flood.
On the night Of the 18th of january
the inhabitants of Baku were awakened
by a violent shock, which caused all the
windows to rattle, and suddenly the
darkness Of the night was Illuminated
by an intense light, as though the city
We're aflame. 1t proved, however, to be
the reflection on the heavens Of Il great
fire at 4 distance; but no one dreamt
that its locality lay within the earth.
Nor was this realized till the following
night, when the same awful glare
became visible; and shortly before mid
night a terrible explosion was heard,
followed by 4 vast column of flame,
apparently $50 feet in height, which
shot up from the summit Of Lok Batan.
close to the Ponta railway station. 1t
was q calm night, with scarcely L breath
of wind, 50 the flames continued to
ascend quite vertically, carrying large
masses Of dark matter, which fell back
into the crater. Considerable heat was
felt at the distance Of fullya mile, and