Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-11-12
STILL ROCKEFELLER.
Mr.. 0'Day Denies That He Is President
of the Standard Trust.
MORE TANKAGE TO BE ERECTED.
Interesting Statements in Regard to the
Production.
FEATURES OF THE FIELD YESTERDAY

stated Daniel O'Day last evening at the
Monongahela House. For several days re-
ports have been published to the effect that
MI Rockefeller, on account of i'll health,
had been forced to give up his
position, and that Mr.. O'Day had sue
eeeded him. The words of Mr.. O'Day were:
''It is all pure fiction, and do not know
what gave rise to the report. Mr.. Rookie
feller is in good health, and will hold his
present position for many years to come. "
There was meeting of the leading officials
of the different branches of the Standard Oil
Company in the Office of the South Penn
Oil Company on Fourth avenue yesterday.
As is invariably the case, this conference
gave rise TO all kinds of fairy tales One of
these was that they had been in consulta-
ton with Andrew Carnegie with the in
tention of inducing him to keep out
of anv seaboard pipe line scheme
that may be on foot. Another was that
they were going to buy the Allegheny Val
lev Railroad for several vague and indefin-
ite reasons The last one heard was that
they were negotiating with w. L. Mellon
for the purchase of his pipe lines Several
others were limited at, but nothing certain
shown.
Statement by Mr.. Payne.
The gentlemen who were at the meeting
were Daniel O'Day, of Buffalo; c. n.
Payne and Joseph Seep, of Titusville; E.
Strong and William Fleming, of Oil City,
and n. L. Clark, president of the South
Penn Oil Company. They were in session
the greater part of the day, and did not ad-
iourn until late in the evening.
Mr.. Payne was called upon by THE DIS
PATCH oil representative to learn something
in regard to the business of the meeting.
When asked in regard to the rumors he re-
piled: There is not one iota of truth in any
of them. We did not see Mr.. Carnegie: we
do not want the Allegheny Valley Railroad
as our business is in oil; and we did
not see or communicate with Mr..
Mellon. The whole object of the meeting
was to provide means for taking care of the
oil from the Mcdonald field after January
l. As it is we have tankage completed at
Mcdonald and Meadow Lands for l ,250, 600
barrels We have now 2,000,0 900 barrels of
tankaCe under contract, which will make
total of 3.250 900 barrels tankage to run us
to the first of the year. We will visit the
field tomorrow and arrange for more tank
age and better facilities, if possible for saw
ing the oil, such as loops, for instance"
"Have vou seen the reports published
that the production of the Mcdonald field
was being doomed by the Standard to in
tImidate Russian producers"
Larger Than Reported.
'sThe fact is the production of this field
is greater than is reported at any time. For
instance the estimated production this
morning was 70,30O barrels. This represents
onfv 90 per cent of what the actual
gauges show, for this reason: at nearly
every producing well in the field are tanks
standing full of oil. The tankage at each of
these wells represents from 500 TO 10000
barrels. Every morning the South Penn
Oil Company's gauger visits the wells
at a certain hour, and ascertains
how much oil the well produced since
he was there the previous morning.
The reports of all these gauges are added
together and 4 per cent taken off, the bal
ance representing only % per cent of the
actual production. This, of course, does
not include the oil which has escaped The
operators in the field do not blame
u.s. 1t is only persons who know moth
ing of the field who are complaining
We are doing remarkably well. as we were
asked to take care of 40, 900 barrels, while
we are now handling twice that amount
We are also preparing to pump some of this
oil to our tanks at Parker There is a
great deal of empty tankage around Brad
ford and Olean, but they are 200
miles away which is farther than we care to
60. There are two lines, part of the way
three lines. and for some distance five lines.
The people who judge the production by
the runs do not take into consideration the
increase in the stocks in the field
The Mcdonald Fire.
For the second time in its brief history
the borough of Mcdonald. which is now at
tracing the attention of the oil
trade of the world. stood in danger
h.
time the Cook lot well, of the Wheel
ing Gas Company took fire in
the night and threatened destruc-
tion to the place, and being close
TO the railroad station it impeded the pass
ing of trains on the Panhandle Railroad
This well, which was producing over 100
barrels an hour, burned for a week. Shortly
after l. o'clock Yesterday morning, as told
in The DISPATCH with almost complete
details, the tauks at the well of Clark
& Bannister, on the Butler lot, were
ignited, and in minute the derrick was a
pyramid of flames. Running past the well
and directly into the center of the town is a
small stream containing more oil than water.
Down this the maelstrom of fire rolled and
a moment to devour the well rig
of the Peoples Natural Gas Company on |
the Johns lot. Completing its task in a |
few moments it rolled quickly on and four
dwellings and a stable fell victims to its |
wrath. Two of the houses belonged to S !
s. Johns, one to Mrs Bailey, and the other |
to Samuel George. The stable was on the |
Butler lot. The George house was occu-
pied by Constable Shay. The flames by |
this time were nearing the center of the |
borough.
The People Were Aroused.
Couriers were dispatched to arouse the |
nd paf Ii In le
excitement few knew which way to turn as
cool headed fire fighter had early |
gathered gang of men and |
put them to work just above the Ont
look Office, throwing up an earthen dam
across the stream. They labored hard, and |
were able to stop the fire from going
further down the stream, and the town was |
saved. Not until nearly 6 o'clock did |
the oil in the creek stop
burning, and throwing up heavy black col
umns Of densest smoke. The danger was
then past.
The Butler lot well was the first |
big we'll struck in the southwestern
barrels an hour, which was then considered |
a phenomenon 1t gradually declined until
it was turned into pumper The damage |
done by the flames was about as tollows:s
Clark & Bannister's Butler lot well. So, 900;
Peoples Gas Company's we'll, $1,000; 5. s.
Johns dwellings, 81, 500: Samuel George,
81 900; Butler stable, S4O0; Mrs. Bailey's
residence, $500. Insurance unknown.
Features of the Field.
The only feature of the operations in the
Mcdonald field yesterday was the bringing
in of a 20-barrel-an- hour well by the Peo-
pies Natural Gas Company on the McDon-