Morning journal and courier., 1890-09-27
AN INTERESTING CHAPrnn

New Haven Enterprise and Fore
sight Were Associated With TIA
Paper by Professor Newberry I'm
Harperss Monthly.
Professor ]. s. Newberry has in Har-
per's very interesting article, entitled,
ssThe First Oil Well, which, after correct
ing the current or popular impression that
petroleum is of recent discovery, it having |
been known in China and the Indies and
other distant parts of the globe 1900
years ago and in the United States as far |
back as the early part of the present |
century, speaks Of the invention Of Young
of Glasgow by which oil was obtained by |
the Installation of coal and good illumi-
nator thus produced at a cheap rate.
Quantities of vile smelling kerosene oil
were produced in this country by the
Young process, notably at Cloverport, KY.
Proceeding the article says: -
Some experiments made by Mr.. Young Of
Glasgow showed that the petroleum from springs
tillation an equally good illuminator as that pro
duced from camel; but the quantity was 60
that no was to the
sources of petroleum, and the material was prov
en- by experiment to furnish a good burning
oil dister na laughed at the idea that the oil
the springs would ever interfere with their bust
The problem Of obtaining an adequate supply
of natural oil was, however, triumphantly
solved by tae tM T aayen
M. Townsend and E. L. Drake TO them Is due
the credit Of having discovered a method OF
drawing oil from the rock so simple and erect
excess Of the demand, the doors Of the oil dis
augurated which has given new phase to civi.
ization, has largely revolutionized the habits OF
society has created commerce ere taaS a n
| own and other countries hundreds OF millions OF
dollars. This great result is however, not due
the tn end to be attained and the difficulties that
stood in the way, and pluck, and perseverance
step brought final success as logical sequence
| sylvania is briefly as follows: In 1854 two men
appeared in New Haven bringing specimens OF
fessor benjamin siliiman to be tested. One Of
| these men was a lawyer from Maine BY the name
| of Eveleth; the other was man by the name OF
| Bissell, who had been teaching school in New
Western Pennsyivania his attention was attract
| the pools along Oil Creek and was used to satur
ate cotton waste and burned on lumber RATS also
able mineral paint In the spring Of 1855 Profess
| sor Silliman made report Of the results OF his
experiments with the oil and showed that it
| an illumination and a lubricator. The result Of
| this report was the formation, under the laws of
HGTa ia Ro 9Rnto Which
pany purchased in fee simple, all the land on Oil
and that the Company might control ali valuable
nine years all the lands which were supposed to
lands formed a large level tract between high
hills, in kind of basin, where it is supposed ma
ture had deposited these minerals The lands were
| described in deeds as ''bonnded on one side by OF
Creek, and all other sides by s'no man.
land" as the territory was regarded as 50 val
| ueless that it was thought unnecessary to bount
| it otherwise. The parties owning the LEASED
lands reserved merely the surface for lumbe
RATS down Oil creek to the sawmill were con
, verified into lumber.
pany was organized, all the property which tn
company owned or had leased was sub-let to par
| ties in New York, who were to develop the sam
2 | vigorously, and to pay royalty upon all pro
auctions. The royalty for oil was II cents a gal
Ion.
2 veioping the resources, Of the land the har
3 times Of 1857 came on, which crippled them, an
o Searching for way. to be released, they disco,
y cred that the wife of one Of the parties fror
: sign the deed Taking advantage Of that techn
| ca1ty, they surrendered the land on the plea Q
| defective title" One of the stockholders Of tn
NJ Townsend of New Haven, conceived the ide
of examining the property, and, Il it was fonn
TIE New Y Se partes 'n soarding at the SAN
- hotel with Mr. Townsend was man by the nam
j. New York and New Haven railroad, and hs
been compelled to leave the road on account {
| i'll health. Mr.. Townsend informed Mr.. Drake
Pen R in b his p employment As he Was
of l railroad man he secured passes, and, furnishe
HIS were to the propert
S. to perfect the title, and report the result Of
ed fortune could be made by gathering and b
at thing the oil and selling it for medicinal purpos
the Name Of .sThe seneee OH Cempany,'' and
s1Mss Tss e act o 81 is agent a. sm
led | year and furnished him the necesss
gathered by digging trenches, into which oil
ne water ran. The oil was collected BY spread
and wringing them out The oil was then wor
as medicine, one dollar gallon; but the qua
tity collected was small, Other ways Of sec!
ars In these circumstances the managers Of the s,
eca Oil company determined to bore
nd haps justly, to Mr.. Drake, who had now, af
ats the custom on the frontier. been dignif
We Witnessed the methods Of boring for salt and
ct, | exclusion by seed bags of fresh water and
,eI from the brine bearing strata. man fsmii
ant with boring was brought from Syracuse, n.
ana work was begun at Iitnsv,lle In 1859 unt
65 bore a hole in the earth and suck oil out with
90 pump, as a boy sucks cider through o straw fr,
co barrel, excited universal ridicuie and Colo
% Drake was commonly thought to be insane.
Is | The work progressed but slowly with ma
aad
al. for getting oil, the stockholders, having expel
re-, ed in all something like $4,000 had become
money, all except Mr.. james Townsend, who h
been the leading spirit in the enterprise from
first, and who now sent to Colonel Drake IS
with instructions that should he not have ..stru
oil" by the time the money reached hi
and t t1en pack up ppa asse eom o .1m s aeD
the day before the reception Of the money, Il
g. is, on the 10Th of August, 1859, suddenly the
cavity, and up came flow of oil which filled
nj, well to within few feet of the surface. pun
at the rate % % gallons Of " oil per
ed The company then procured more power
sm $50 to 1900 gallons per day. AS this oil W
S Ss worth dollar gallon in the eastern marke
eetd days and weeks of pumping the yield Of the
~ continued to be constant, 1t was evident that
ON Senaca Oil company was making money w
u,- Colonel Drake were now loudest in his pra
No. The excitement of the community was fnten
q; the country to Titusville; land was leased
bought IN every directGn and all the pheno
many centers Of excitement, were here first in,
no gurated. Meanwhile brakes well pumped STE
lily on day and night. Large tanks were c.
Great embarrassment was, however, ex
rienced from the difficulty Of procur
w barrels in which to put the oil. q
>" nearest point where they could be Obtain
was at Erie, fifty miles distant, and reached b.
yo | road that was well nigh impossible. Howey
me the members of the oil company felt that gr
,nn fortune was in their grasp. and they were
ter envy of all the thousands who had no oil we
or But
on "The best lain plans of mice and men
the Aft gang agiey."
as Something being wrong about the pump
90, engineer descended with lighted candle L
ny the pit above the rock to remove q defect. WI
he entered the pit 1t was found to be full of e
% which, taking fire from the candle, produced
~ explosion that wrecked derrick, pu
! SO a fire that consumed everything c.
%S bustible. Here was a shattering most unexpt
AZ | ed of the hopes of the company, at least
~ months, for it was now autumn and it would
- impossible to replace the buildings and macl
10 10 cry before spring.
! oo When this had been done, however, the WI
3 9o aspect of the oil industry was changed. In
10 autumn as has been said, oil was worth Gig
cents gallon on Oil creek, but during the VIII
So many wells were put down, and some of tt
90 were fountain wells, yielding the oil spontanet
4 20 ly in large quantities.
! ~ The supply was soon far in excess Of the
10 mand; which was limited by the small mum
n % | OF ref1neries, the want Of good lamps in wi
% to burn the oil, the conservatism of railr
ted, companies and others who hesitated to use
re- new lubricator, and the opposition and misre
sensations of the manufacturers of other li
eating oils, whose business was threatened '
,r. destruction by this new competition. Hence,
the spring, when the Seneca Oil company
ready to resume operations, oil that had b
worth dollar gallon WAS