Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-03-04
THE SLY STANDARD
Said to be Refining TabOOed
Lima Crude, Sub-ROsa,
TO MIXWITH KEYSTONEOIL
J. A. Dubbs, a Pittsburg Expert, Back
From Ohio With a Story.
VANDERGRIFT AND GUFFEY BUY,
And Their Recent Sales to the Standard
Pave the Way to More.
TO MIXWITH KEYSTONEOIL
VANDERGRIFT AND GUFFEY BUY,
THE OIL FUEL PIPE LINE TO CHICAGO

Mr.. J. A. Dubbs, of Pennsylvania ave-
nue., Allegheny, one of the oil refinery ex-
perts of the Lima (O.) field, arrived home
Saturday evening from the district. He
was seen at his residence by 3 DISPATCH
reporter, and interrogsted in regard to the
field, and what he had been doing in it.
In reply to the reporters queries Mr.. Dubbs
said:
81 understand that Messrs. Gufey and
vandergrift, of this city, are going back to
the Lima field again to lease more property.
The latter recently sold large track to the
Standard Oil Company; but it seems he
cannot keep away from the territory. The
Standard will ultimately, of course, own
everything in the region, as they are making
heavy purchases almost every week. They
now control about half the production of the
field. and there are thousands of acres they
hold that have not been touched by drill.
Il have figured up that the Standard CON-
pany have about 100000 barrels of oil tanked
on the ground, and they are making successful
efforts to prevent competition in the business
of refining the oil. They Lave 34 tanks in the
whole field Many of them have just been
moved
FROM THE PENNSYLVANIA DISTRICT.
aThe largest of these tanks will hold about
4aOOO barrels The Standard Company has one
six-inch pipeline from the field to Chicago,
distance of 2OS miles. Through this they pump
about 600 barrels per day, to be used in Chi
cago as fuel. They have had great amount OF
trouble refining the crude article Oil has been
bought in this city, and, when placed under
chemical analysis. has been found to contain a
el,n %kaA to
STANDARD Company are adulterating their Penn
syIvania article with the despised and tabooed
Lima stuff The trouble in the Lima
country has been to refine the oil.
When burned as an illuminant 1t
makes cloudy smoke that is distinctive from
the fumes of any other oil. 1t looks to me as
if the Standard Company were mixing the oil
and educating the people to the point where
they won't object to the smoke. They refine
the oil on the ground and ship it TO Cleveland
or ot..er points east, where 1t is mixed with the
saleable article.
Their method of refining is the old Can
adian process which has been used in the
Dominion since 1852. 1t makes an imperfect oil,
though and they cannot eliminate the smell of
sulphur from it. The Eagle Company use
process by which they get rid of all sulphur,
and the oil, when burned for light, does not
cloud the chimney or emit any disagreeable
odor. The Eagle Company are rehnlng ABOUT
LOO barrels per day of this presumably unre-
finable article.
THE PRODUCTION AND METHODS.
"The production of the Lima field now Is
about from 30 OOO to 80, 900 barrels per day. A
great part of the territory is yet unworked.
''The methods of the various companies is to
lease five OF six farms and put a well down on
one of them to discover if there is any oil in
the tract. They pay a yearly rental on the
other leased ground and when they put down
wells and strike anything, they pay the owner
of the land a royalty of from one-tenth TO
quarter of what they get. The price has ad-
vanced this week from 10 to IL, and then to 20
cents.
mo, there is very little danger now of a tank
being struck by lightning. Formerly it was the
custom to run the pipes along the ground for
considerable distance and then up over the
edge of the tank. In nearly every case in the
Pennsylvania region. where lightning struck a
tank the electric fluid ran along the pipes and
jumped off the end of the conductor which
was always above the oil. The top of the tank
being filled with gas, when the electric spark
jumped off the end of the pipe itset fire to the
gas and caused an explosion. Now all the
pipes are run right into the oil instead of the
ends being exposed in a vapor."