, 1889-05-22

were sold at about I'D. per ton. When the
DrOoJba fountain "spOuted," the crude arti-
Gle, we are told, altogether lost its value for
the moment.
"Fedoroff filled his reservoirs with
1850, 900 GALLONS of oil for 300 roubles, or
&3O ..... Thousands of tons were burnt
outside the district to get rid of it; thou
sands were led towards the Caspiau; huge
lakes of oil were formed near the well, anil
on one occasion the liquid suddenly flowed
INTO a distant engine-hOuses and but for the
ptOmpCneSS or the engineer in eXtinEuiShing
MS petroleum furnace the whole locality
would have been ablaze. Houses were
completely buried by the sand cast up by
the OIL all efforts to stop the fountain OH
the part OF Baku experts were Ruthless"
Alter great exertions on the part IOf the we'll
owners OF the district, the fountain was
eventually gagged, but not before 100000
tons of oil had 'SpOnted," equal to a loss at
the current value of American petroleum OF
upwards of 81, 900, 700 sterling. But the re-
cord OF the DrOojba fountain was beaten in
1856, when a single we'll ''SpOuted' as much
as 1l,OOO tons of petroleum per diem
an amount equal to the aggregate daily
yleld OF the %, 900 wells of America, tho
thousands of wells in Galicia, Roumania,
and Burmah, and the shale oil distilleries
OF Scotland and New South Wales. AS u
result the market is now glutted, and the
crude oil has been selling ut times at the
rate OF fifty gallons for d penny!
we have not space to Indicate all the
many points of Mr.. Marvin's interesting
narrative, or to do justice to his account
OF the economic results which he thinks
must inevitably follow from the pr0digicus
source of wealth which Russia possesses
III this wonderful district. 1t must be
remembered that petroleum ton for ton
IS more potent that coal as u source of
power. Hundreds of immense floating cis'
terms driven by petroleum furnaces are
carrying this fuel across the Caspian and
up the NOlGa, TO be spread throughout
Russia and Germany, and along the Bal
TIC coasts. We learn from II recent Con
sular Report that pipe lines are being
lald from Baku to Batoum the Caspian
and Black Sea Naphtha Conduit Company
has now been formed, and the line is to be
laid within the next four years. The con-
dult is to have IA fOrked line on the Black
Sea, reaching Batoum and POti, aud the
capacity of the line is such as to admit Of
the daily passage Of l 200, 900 gallons OF
naphtha. In "a few years, therefore, this
petroleum fuel will be scattered along the
Mediterranean coasts and through South
ern Europe. Possibly we may have it
burning in our own Underground Bail
way before long. Indeed, as Mr.. Marvin
tells us, we shall surely sec the ParSee back
again at Baku, not to worship the Ever
lasting Fire, but for the purpose of buying
lamp oil for the bazaars of India. What
the effect of this intercOuIs Sc will be on
the future of India time will show. Mean
while Russia is steadily making her way
towards the gates of India, and Tchernay-
ehSs road to Central.Asia will be all accom-
pIlshed fact before many years are past;
and since the discovery of the new springs
near the Mervi Kultuk Bay. the railway
to Khiva will possess it's own supply OF
fuel. A few days ago Mr.. &. CurzOn read
an interesting paper to the Royal Ge0Gr@'
phical Society on the TranscaSpian Rail
way, which must have opened many peO-
pies eyes to the development of Russia'S
power in Central Asia. In the meantime
what are We doing with the sources of
wealth in petroleum which We possess in
Upper Burmah Along the valley of the
lrrawadi, and within 60 miles of the
RangOon.Prome railway, are enormous
deposits of petroleum, probably as copius
as those of America, if not so rich as those
OF Baku, and certainly capable Of supply
ing the whole of India with light and fuel!
Perhaps those capitalists who are SO eager
to rush into the ruby mines of BurmalI
might more prOftably devote their wealth
to exploiting the petroleum springs OF thai
noHNnkr fa-I ,,44l - &Io liza n ~