The state herald., 1890-04-04
OIL AND GAS.
FACTS ABOUT PETROLEUM AND
,xA NATURAL GAS FIELDS.
No Economy Requird in Gas for Fuel
and Lighting

It was many years ago that the In
dians, living on the government reser
vation in the lower tier of counties OF
New York, used to collect from tn,
top of standing water of pools and
ponds, an oily substance which they
used for liniment for bruises ant
rheumatism. 1t was known In the
market as "Sencca OIL" and small
bottle Of the substance sold for dol
lar. This substance then collected In
such small quantities, and introduced
so sparingy into the markets of com.
merce is now known to have been the
petroleum, or kerosene, with which we
all have become familiar.
Colonel Drake, man living near I'll.
tusville, Pa, came to the conclusion
that the earth held reservoir of oil
and that the greasy substance found In
New York and on the waters of Oh
Creek, n small stream in Pennsylvania
also found oozing out of the creviccs
of rocks in tie same locality, came
from this subterrancan reservoir. Sc
firm was he In his convictions, that he
sank well, which after four months
drilling, rewarded him by spouting
forth two thousand barrels of oil. The
whole nation was aroused, and In al
incredibly short time large district
was tested by drilling other wells, and
oil production became one of the great
commercial interests of the country
1t is thoroughly all American enter.
prise, and has assumed immense pro.
portions.
Manufactures were already in ex.
istence for the distilling of coal oil ou,
of coal, and at first the resemblance
was SO great, that petroleum wa,
thought TO be the same substance, dis.
titled by nature in her underground
workshop; but the idea was not cor.
rect, though coal and petroleum are
both the product of plant-life Of the
past, changed by the process of nature
into these ,wO substances.
Science tells us that "thc great coal
beds are formed by great swamp
forests which, under fresh water, and
by great heat and pressure, were turn
cd into coal.' Oil, il is now thought,
is formed by the softer plants, sea-
weed and water plants, which have
been under salt water, and ut lesser
heat, distilled beneath the surface. II
is always found in connection with
salt water, and forming on top, iias
soaked into porous sandstone, some
times running into holes and crcvices
and rocks; with the oil and salt water
in the underground veins, there is
found quantity of gas, and 1t is this
heavy pressure of gas that makes a
spouting well when oil is first struck /;
when the power of expanding gas is
gone, the well has to be dumped by
engines, fed by gas, or the oil of the
well that is pumped. Manufactures
that used TO distill oil from coal are
now used for refining the crude petro-
lcum.
Oil production is each year dccrcas-
ing in the old original territory, and
small wells that were once thought to
be of very little value, arc again MI
object of Interest, and man is fortu-
nate who owns number Of small pro-
ducing wells, the cost of pumping
being comparatively small and the
profits large. Abandoned wells .s-c
also being again worked and territory
Of weak production is once more being
tested with moderate success, the Lesser
production, resulting in higher prices
for the commodity.
Oil from the wells is pumped into
large tanks, through pipes lying on the
surface of the ground. These tanks
are located ut convenient points all
over the oil district. They are circular
shape, with low, dome shaped roof,
and built of boiler iron painted dull,
dark red, and hold from twenty-five
to thirty thousand barrels of oil. AT
Olean, n. y, there are about five hun
drcd of these storage tanks, forming
qaitc city of tanks; they are ar
ranged something likc'cily blocks and
squares with streets between them,
and present n singular appearance.
From these and other storage tanks
u double line of six-inch pipes con-
duets the oil east, west, north and
south, hundreds of miles TO the great
cities, great pumping stations being
stationed about sixty miles apart along
the way.
Our lamp oil. as we buy 1t, bears
little resemblance TO the green, black
or dark brown petroleum, before II is
refined. When petroleum is distilled
by being subject to heat. the lighter
oils are given OF first, and pass under
the names of bcnzinc, gasoline and
naphtlia. After the kerosene has come
oil there remains u dark residue from
which is obtained machine oil, and va
rious preparations known rs yasolinc,
cosmoinc. and paraillnc, and some
sorts Of chewing gum and candy are
made from this substance.
rw Tsr Ydrh or hrfaieIs afs Isco of and
the oil supply for illuminating pur-
poses used throughout the entire
world. These regions cover II stretch
Of land about two hundred miles IN
lcngil, and under twenty miles In
width, while only about onc-tcnih OF
this il oil producing. This T. divided
into about oighty-Gvc oil producing
districts. clearly defined from the non
producing. by the dcrricks from the
wells scattered over the ground. Only
two counties IN New York. Cattnran-
gus and Allegheny, have been found
10 he productive; the rest of the fa-
nous district lies Utmost entirely In
Pennsylvania. reaching n short dis
tance into Ohio aud West Virginia.
Natural gas Is used entirely for fuel
IN aud near the oil regions. a large
rus well. II near large town, is more
valuable than oil. Gns wells Of various
capacities are found In nil oil regions.
and Western pcnnsylvanin ia heated
aud lighted almost entirely by this gas.
Around Pittsburgh, there ARE gas wells
Of great extent and Il has quite sup
planted conl for NIL manufacturing
purposes, and II can no longer be con-
eidcrcd dirty city from smoke. Me-