Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-04-18
RUSSIA'S BIG BEAR.
An Eye-Witness Describes the
Monster Gusher at Baku.
PEOPLE SCARED BY THE SIGHT.
A Russian Woman Frustrated by Fear and
BegS to Be Rescued.
SOME POINTS ABOUT OIL FROM GOTHAM


EEw YORK, April 17.-The latest news
from the big Russian gusher, which started
off at 10000 barrels a day Enormously
cabled as 400, 900 barrels), is that it is de-
clining at about the same rate as the big
wells in America. Mr.. John Eaton s letter
to THE DISPATCH, of March 27, placed the
production of the new well at $4,000 barrels
a day. kilograms received in New York
this week give its present production at
about 5000
An Eye Witness Describes It
Walter L. Campbell, of New York, was
in the Baku field the day the big well was
struck, and in company with an oil man
there drove out TO see the new won
der. He describes it to me as something
terrible to behold. "The OIL" he said,
rolled out of the ground like a torrent
lifted by some stupendous force. When we
got within sight there was no sign OF derrick,
engine house or any part of the machinery.
i was told that the derrick had been bat
tered to pieces by the flow of oil. The en-
CINE house had been pulled down and
hauled away to save it from the flood. There
was something even more awe-inspiring in
the spectacle of this tremendous volume OF
oil rising out OF the ground" said Mr..
Campbell, "thau even in the sight of
Niagara. We stood off at a considerable
distance-indeed it was not safe to go near
it-and watched the strange picture.
"All around the we'll was lake of oil.
Efforts had been made to throw up dams to
hold it in check, but it soon broke over,
tore and swept down the valley. The air
was hazy with gas, and the odor of the oil
was everywhere. We smelled it when we
were a mile away. Thousands of people OF
every class came to see the wonderful sight.
Guards were sent out TO keep people from
approaching too close, but they had no
trouble to keep the crowd back.
Spectators Terrorized by the Sight.
''The sight had the effect to fill everybody
with fear and some with terror. As we
drove up in the direction of the we'll we
met women running away as if their lives
were in peril. One young woman cried out
to US in Russian to save her life and fell
PROSTATE on the ground. We took her in
our vehicle and drove her to house in the
neigh borhood, where we left her in the care
OF a Russian family who knew her. She
was overcome with fright, but was appa-
rently all right when we drove back from
the well a couple of hours later.
1.-THE sight of this oil geyser was most
fascinating spectacle to me and could have
looked at it uninterruptedly for a whole day.
1 never saw anything like it in my life be-
fore and never expect to see the like of it
again. 1 was told that it far surpassed any
well that had ever been opened up in the
Russian field before. 1t was a revelation to
the old oil men there and they watched it
with as much interest as any of US. L had
made all my arrangements to leave Baku
that evening on my way home or think
should have remained there several days
longer to have watched It. was told that
it would flow out in a short time and settle
down to an ordinary well, but it impressed
me and all other strangers, 1 think, as
Subterranean Niagara
that had suddenly burst through the earth
and would East for all time. All kinds of
estimates were made by the spectators as to
the Weld of the well. 1 heard men about
me say it was producing as much as 75, 900
barrels q day. Others said the rate was not
above 40, 600 barrels. Some placed it as
low as 30, ,0O0 but 1 heard more who esti- |
mated il lower than that 1 have not much |
idea as to the production of well-it would |
be more proper 10 call this a torrent, rather |
than a well-but was inclined to guess as
high as the highest. A few days later, |
when l got newspaper on the train, saw
dispatches quoting it as 40, 900 barrel well, |
and 1 suppose this was not far from its |
actual WELD. AS the oil was running to |
waste, the estimate must have been largely |
guess work. was not surprised TO hear
that the well had broken the price of oil at
the wells and refneries. Such a tremen-
dous bear as that on any of our American
markets would create a panic in short |
order"
Other Petroleum Points.
There never was a speculative market |
more completely fattened out than is the |
oil market in New York. ''There is abso- |
lutely no good in it." said William e. |
Lane to me the other day, ''and brokers pay
but little attention TO IL any more. They !
turn 10 the stock markets and pick OF busi- |
ness there. Day before yesterday there |
were !, coo barrels of oil sold IN this Ex- |
change (tEe Consolidated); yesterday there |
were 1000. To-day, for some reason, the |
sales have amounted to 80, 900 barrels, but |
tomorrow they may be back to 1000 |
again. don't bother my head much with |
the stuff. George Cornwall, of Oil City; |
John Reed, OF the same place, and myself |
have gone into the stock market, as a good |
many others have. and do but little in oil |
unless our customers want it. To-day our.
stock transactions represent 5000 shares and |
a considerable proportion of this comes from
the oil country and Pittsburg. People who
formerly traded In oil are now keeping out |
of it and going into stocks. 1t wouldn't |
surprise me if more exchanges pulled out of |
the conference"
1 saw Jim" Place, the newspaper man,
well-known all over the oil country, in |
town the other day on his Wav to Florida IN
recuperate. The Elmira people who have
leased his paper at Reading, Pa, have taken
hold and he is now tree for awhile to seek
rest. He needs it. He has many friends
all over the country who will be glad to
hear that his quest for health among the
orange groves has not been unsuccessful.
R. w, CRISWELL.