Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-04-16
BIG JOB OF PIPE-LAYING.
A FEW FACTS ABOUT AN ENTERPRISE
IN PETROLEUM.


The Work of Piping oil from the Lima.
Ohio. Field to the Western Metropolis
Outline of the Difficulties To lie over
come and How II WIN Be Done Pre-
partitions TO Commence Work.
HUNTINGTON, Ind, April l6.-The Stand
ard Oil company has completed all its ar
rangements for building u pipe line from
Lima, O., TO Chicago for the cheap and rapid
transportation of the crude oil, which is de
stined TO take the place of coal in the great
manufacturing establishments in Chicago,
A short time ago the negotiations for the
right of way along the line of the Chicago *
Atlantic railway were concluded in New
York, and since the beginning of last week
every west-bound freight-train on the road
has contained from two to six cars of
wrought-iron pipe These cars have already
been side-tracked as far west as Crown Point
Gangs of men are working westward from
Lima and from this city distributing the pipe
preparatory to digging along the north side
of the track the trench in which II will
be laid, Machinery will be used in the eXca-
walton of the trench, and as soon AS all the
pi pc is distributed the work of laying il in
the ground Will he conducted as fast as the
weather will permit. The pipe is eight inches
in diameter, and each section is twenty-five
feet along. To lay one mile requires $40 sec
lions. As "A carload contains only forty
eight, X necessities five car. loads for each
mile, or about $50 carloads for the whole
line The joints are similar TO those used in
gas and stcam-fitting, and will be equally
tight The estimated cost of the line without
the pumping machinery and reservoirs is
about 5000 per mile.
In the transportation of the oil through the
pipes from the wells around Lima to the
terminus near Chicago, both pow or and gray
ity will H. used At Lima, the initial point,
the track of the Chicago IL Atlantic railroad
is 3il feet above the datum of Lake Erie.
The general trond of tine country westward
to Huntington is to lower level, and that
point falls to 1856 feot--a decline of la5 feet
in seventy five miles OF course there is any
amount Of ups and downs between the two
points, and the friction for 50 great dis
tance would practically overcome the gray
ity, hence exists the necessity of pumping
works at Lima. At Huntington similar ma
chinery will be required to force the oil over
the divide at West Point, eight miles west.
which is III feet higher Thence west TO
Lakcton, fifteen miles, the average fall is
ninety eight feet. At I.aketon pumps will
he necessary to carry the oil over the Akron
hill, which is 40 feet higher than Laketon.
At Wilders, iiity-nne miles nearer Chicago,
and which is 23lla feet lower than Akron,
machinery will be used to cross the ridge at
Palner's, twenty miles west of Wilder's and
l05 feet higher Thence the descent to Ham
mond, twenty -four miles from Chicago is
about $50 feet i'll twenty miles 1t is under
stood that large tract of land including
Round lake, a beautiful little sheet of water,
4. / At.
of the oil company At Hammond negotia-
tions for the purchase of some 800 acres have
been completed 1t is said by those who
claim to have good sources of information
that the company will erect thereon large
refining plant and make it the distributing
point for the refined oil i'm the west The
Belt Line will afford all the railway facilities
The arrangements that have been
made for distributing the oil from Ham
mond to the establishments in Chicago are yet
here There is some talk Of erect
ing "A reservoir near Englewood for supply
ing the factories on the south branch But
this is mere conjecture
The total length Of the pipe will be about
2lO miles, and the entire investment will ag
gregate about SO $50 900 The STANDARD Oil
company practically controls all the oil ter
ritory around Lima and it is intimated that
for three months it has had its agents out
and leasing all oil-indicating
property in the vicinity of Montpelier, about
thirty miles south of this city Southeast of
here about twenty miles few borings have
been made, but no outsiders have been per-
mitted to learn the results. The greatest
reticenee is observed by everybody in the ena-
ploy of the oil monopoly and nothing is
spoken of by them except what the public
help seeing. The superintendent of
on this division is J. c. Mellow
ell, of Bradford, Pa, ard what he knows
about pipe-laying and the oil business gener-
ally no one kno ws but his employers. He
will never tell