Tombstone epitaph., 1888-04-28
i THE SCOTCH OIL MINES.
A PETROLEUM FIELD THAT IS WATT ING FOR A CHANCE.

Whom American Wells Run Dry tho shals Mines Can He Worked at Profit. i The Lubricant, the Ammonia and the
 Wax the Most Valuable Products.
 William Findlay, of West Calder, Scot- land, which is in the ancient oil shale re- zion of that country, has been making a tour of the Pennsylvania petroleum fields, and was in New York recently.
 ' "I am more than amazed, '" said he, lat what have seen. The petroleum of Scotland is mined like coal, and although I had read of the oil wells of America, was not prepared for such vast differ ence in the methods of oil production. The Scotch petroleum is not in the fluid state, but in shale formation. The ex- tracting of the products of this shale was for many years most important in- dustry, and is quite an extensive one yet; but the American oil, both Illuminating and lubricating, is now set down in our markets cheaper than the Scotch oil can be produced, and how long our oil pro- duction will last is only question of how long national pride will resist considera- tions of economy.
 'The Scotch oil shale is black, and lies at a depth of about 400 feet beneath the surface. The shale producing regions are ali between Edinburgh and Glasgow, and are known us the oil fields of West Calder. They are very extensive, and literally in. exhaustible That is one hope we have. The fluid oil of this country wilhundoubt- edly become exhausted or greatly cur tailed in production some time in the future. When your fields cease to pour out quantity of oil that enables you to refine 1t, export it, and sell it in Scotland at a less figure than it cost us to extract the oil from the shales at the very thresh- old of Scotch markets, we will come to the front with our oil mines again, and know that whatever happens they can't be exhausted.
 'sWhen the oil fields of West Calder were being operated to full capacity the shale refinery there, known as the Addis- we'll Oil works, and which cover seventy i've acres of ground, gave employment to over 2,000 men. In various parts of the field there were shale crushing works, not unlike your coal breakers, where the shale is run on being taken from the mines. It is broken up into small pieces and the crude oil extracted at the crushers. What we call crude oil you would call tar over here. The re- liners take it and from it extract illumin- ating and lubricating oil, ammonia and wax. The latter is called paraffine in the oil trade of this country. The tar from ton of shale will yield fourteen gallons of Illuminating oil. This is subjected to four different acid distillations, each one much heavier than any the American fluid pe-' troleum requires. The result is clear, white high flash illuminant, as good as American kerosene, but four times as ex- {. pensive If the American product simply came in competition with our illuminat- ing oil, the effect on our trade would not be of much consequence, as in that branch of the Scotch oil business is not where the profit lies. The lubricant, the ammonia, and the wax are the products which make the shale mines valuable. The American lubricating oil is cheaper, and those who use 1t say better than any. The latter altogether can't agree with. Of course the American oil does not interfere with our ammonia products nor with our wax trade, but we can't afford to produce kerosene aud lubricating oil to throw away in order that we may get at the ammonia and wax that the shale contains am forced to say, therefore, to use an Americanism, that the Scotch oil business is not booming at the present time."- New York Sun.