Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1889-09-27
THE TORPEDO KING.
VAST FORTUNE WON FROM A SIM
Pile INVENTION
Strange Freaks of the Explosive-Men
Who Were Literally Obliterated-
Recklessness on the Part of
the Torpedo Handlers.

spicuous career Roberts was the great
Torpedo King" of the oil country, and,
after the Standard Oil people, the
best known man connected in any way
with the oil trade. The strange industry
which he and his brother built up was
peculiar only to the oil regions. His
brother, Colonel A. +. Roberts, is also
dead. For years they enjoyed a close
monopoly of the torpedo business, and
both the brothers made millions of dollars
out it. When their patents expired by
limitation the business of exploding tor
pedoes in oil wells was taken up by who
soever chose to engage in the hazardous
undertaking, and now scores of firms are
supplying the trade which formerly de-
pended ulson Torpedo Roberts," as the
Doctor was known.
Roberts was originally'a dentist in New
York, but coming to the oil country in
the e.srly days of the petroleum ex-
cttemen.t he and his brother engaged in
the oil bu 81 ness and soon secured patent
on device FOR exploding nitro-g -glycerine
In the bottom of oil wells to increase the
flow, The a evice was simple, but it
nroved neof tn most valuable inventions
of the age. and 'ertainly far exceeded the
widest dreams "a the young inventors.
The device was sii uply tube made of
tin to hold the, explosive, supplied
with cap for exploding the sub
stance. This was low. red into the well
to the depth of 1000 fe> 1t, II necessary,
by means of cord, and when at the de
sired depth a small iron wel, sht' called a
''go-devil, was dropped down on the
cord, and this striking the,tnbe conwn-
ing the nitroglycerine terrific explosion
followed. These explosions shattereo the
oil bearing rock, and the result in near ly
ve,'v case was an increase in the produc-
t;on ot the wall. The demand for these
tornedoes was enormous. There were
anywhere from fifteen thousand TO
twenty-five thousa.1 1d wells in the regiou,'
and nearly all Of them were torpedoed ae
regular intervals. The Roberts brothers
got their own prices, and their fortunes
were quickly made. In few years their
several fortunes were esthn ated at from
So 900, 900 to "a, ,Ooo,ooo- Every oil
producer had to pay tribute 'to'them, and
finally the oil men sougls to break the
monopoly by attacking the validity OF
the patents The producers org anlzed to
fight the patents in the courts, no long
and bitter litigation was the resan Inc
fight went on in every court for years.
and finally the Supreme Court OF the
United States decided IN favor of the
Robert brothers, and they Continued tp
have the exclusive right to manufacture
and use the torpedo for seventeen years
the life of the patent.
The torpedo kings, as they are' now
called, had scores of agents in all parts
of the oil regions, exploding these torle-
does in wells for producers. Each tor.
pedo was from ten to two hundred quarts
capacity, and the dangerin carrying them
over the country was very great. The
agents were called "shooters." They
carried the nitro-glycerine in wagons
drawn by one and often two horses. They
often carried as much as fifteen hundred
pounds of the deadly stuff and yet these
men would become so reckless that they
gave little heed to the manner of their
driving.
sTorpedo accidents" were therefore
common occurrence. In dozens of cases
man, team and vehicle were blown al
most out of existence. 1t was rarely that
O cigar box would not hold all of the
driver that could be found. In one case,
that of ''Doc" Haggerty, no vestige of
human being was ever found and only q
few pounds of flesh, identified by the
hair as being all that was left of two
horses. This was the strangest case of
the many torpedo explosions" in the oil
country. 1t occurred early in December
last, near Pleasantville, seven miles from
Titusville. This was after the expiration
of the Roberts patents, and Others were
engaged in the business. Haggerty was
employed by George W. Van Veill in
hauling nitro-g -glycerine with two-horse
team and storing it in magazine near
Pleasantville. On this occasion the
wagon contained fourteen hundred
pounds. The explosion occurred at the
magazine probably when he was in the
act of unloading it, and horses, wagon
magazine and man were blown to atoms
The force of the explosion made holt
in the ground like an excavation for Gel