The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1888-02-06
AGE OF GLYCERINE.
TONS USED IN THE NEW YORK AND
PENNSYLVANIA OIL FIELDS.
The Invention of Olive Torpedoes-
manufacturers of Nitro GIycerine
Shooting an Oil
Well
bradford CPa( Letter ]


This is emphatically the age of glycer-
Inc, remarked an oil man, as he pen
slVely contemplated the evershifting
hgures in the electric indicator in the
hallway of the Petroleum exchange.
Less than two years ago DR.. Roberts,
who invented oil-well torpedoes, had a
monopoly Of the business He raked in
several million dollars before his patents
expired, but he spent more than million
In bringing lawsuits against INSCRIPTIONS
persons who infringed MS rights
There was always competition, though,
and all of the doctors money could not
crush the daring men who secretly manu-
featured and covertly exploded the glycer-
inc in the wells after nightfall. Then
they were called mOonlighters Now the
business is free to all. Many moonlight
ers were blown to pieces while engaged
in their unholy work. The profits, how
ever, were so large that men were found
at all times who were anxious to risk
their lives
GLYCERINE COMPANIES EVERYWHERE.
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 manufacturers appeared
in the oil country papers. The era OF
high prices came to an end at the same
time In Bradford alone there are nc
less than nine large firms who manu-
facture and explode about thrteeI
tons of glycerine per month.
"Never before in the history of the re.
gion has the use of glycerine been so ex
tensive For years the producer in the
Bradford field was content to use fifteen
or twenty quart shots 1t was feared thai
heavier doses would ultimately destroy
the sand formation and ruin the wells
The enormous prices charged for large
torpedOes in those days so had bearing
on the situation. TOrpedoes were quoted
as high as 81, 200. or $500 a wealthy
oil man could give his we'll a good shak
ing up. Then glycerine was sold by the
quart Now oil men buy the stuff by the
barrel. A barrel contains forty two gal
Ions, and costs about $50
"BradfOrds nine firms employ fifty
shooters. They are kept on the go both
day and night asst month over twelve
tons of glycerine were burned in the Brad,
ford field alone. In july at least ten tons
of the explosive were lowered into the |
wells. and, from all accounts, Septem |
ber's record will surpass that.
PHENOMENAL SHOTS.
Eighty quarts, or nearly half barrel, |
now represents the average shot Dyna-
mite squibs have. in a large measure. sue |
ceeded the go devil The go devil |
is a weight which was dropped at the
CRITICAL moment on the nrlQg lodQ OF the |
torpedo, exploding it. The constant en-
largement of the cavity in the oil bearing
rock neCessitated something better, and
that was the dynamite squib. While the
average shot is eighty quarts, there are
many firms who think nothing of explod-
ing from two to i've barrels of glycerine
in well. The shO k tears out the rock
and opens up the clogged veins of oil
The cans in which the deadly explosive is
transported about the field have been en-
larged from six to eight quarts capacity,
and each shooters wagon carries ten cans,
or eighty quarts, of the stu !.
"Some wells are treated to phenomenal
shots The owners of a test well in War
rem county wanted to make a big show.
ing. They used over a ton of glycerine
The earth around the we'll trembled and
the spectators were Frustrated on the
ground. 1t was the largest shot on record
A well which produces from one to two
barrels per day naturally, has it's capacity
to eight or ten barrels after
shooting. Wells do not hold out long
after such an experience. They gradually
decline 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 During the past six
months over fifty tons of the explosive
have been consumed in the New Ork and
Pennsylvania oil fields If oil ever touches
81 barrel it will pay producers to man
fracture their own glycerine. "