New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-02-12
WEST VIRGINIA..
GETTING READY FOR A GREAT BOOM IN
OIL AND GAS
MANY DERRICKs GOING UP-PEcULIAMTIEs OF
wCIIs-GREAT PoTTEMEs SUPPLIED

rcpressed by the skilful treatment of few long
headed investors, who quietly pre-empted the
reputcd oil fields while other people were talking
about IT, and are preparing to get rich at their
leisure The hillsides are already dotted with
derricks: business men neglect their customers TO
calculate profits that are still guTglin9 half mile
Underground the Standard Oil Company has been
called a "hydra-hcaded octopus" and there is
excited talk about the biggest gasser yet" The
small towns in the region are " on BOOM New
streams of gas have been bridled and brought into
the corporation limits and Mayors and Aldermen
are inviting manufacturers TO come and enjoy the
b.essingSof cheap fuel. Nobody knows how many
millions OF barrels OF oil will be taken out during
the next five Years But the new wells are as
productive as the rock that Moses struck in the
desert. and few dry spots" have 50 far been re-
Vcaled The cost of drilling is not excessive, and
the prophets who are fond of pointing to West
Virginia Pennsylvania future rival in coal are
extending their prediction to include petroleum.
1her is no doubt to the senuireness of the
new find" Oil and gas, it is true, are no new
things in this lucky State. which seems to possess
a store of every kind of wealth Eeedful to com
hIeTcial pre- eminence. Near Charleston, the cap
ital natural gas first used for fuel in America
al the beginning of this century. For thirty years
1at-boats have been bringing oil down the Little
NdnaNna hlNcT 10 OnlO livery county Ntot
Of the Alleghanics has at some time or another
tempted Oil-SeeIers TO try their luck, and wells
have been sunk for generation in spasmodo
fashion at different places, with more Or less en-
couraging results The oil-belt is even more
elusive than gold-vein. Every geologst has his
own pet theory of its extent and origin. Some
say that the West Virginia belt does not reach
cast of Monnington, and others declare that
whole Atlantic underlies all parts of the State.
Some insist that the oil is produced by cOndensa-
ton of the gass, and others that the gas is mere
rxhalation from the OIL These theories have all
been endesSly discussed. But experience shows
that the belt follows the general trend Of the
lacl, bone Of the Alleghanies, and that the strip
which was first discovered IL Pennsylvania and
nftcrword traced northwald TO Clean in New
York. extends through the whole length of this
State and into Kentucky inst as though the OIL
were sort of fluid essence drained by compression
from the huge slices of coal wedged in between
the rocky strata in the higher levels.
Shrewd oil men and corporation agents have
shown their confidence in this theory by leasing
from farmers the right to honcycomb their terri
tory with holes as deep they choose to drive
them. In these days a landowner rarely finds
ii profitable to prospect on his own account If
all the oil lay only fifty feet below the surface,
if the mere sinking of shaft would make 1t
gush forth in ineXhaustible stream, If there
were no danger of caving in, of saltwater
ilcrustation, if the supply from good well were
steady and easily regulated. and buyers stood at
the mouth outbidding each other for the product,
anybody might put up derrick, boiler and engine
and plan new stables and trips TO Europe. But
wel-drilling means skill and expense infinite
risk and unlimited worry and annoyance, 50
the large operators" obligingly assume all
haf nd
covers probably the most unpromisng field Ill
the country, but generously offer bonus and
q small yearly rental for the privilege of demon
strating the fact. Then, when they are quite
ready, they begin to pound hole into the earth
with long and heavy iron bar, fastened 10 the
end of q walking-beam Two men are required
10 attend it, "driller" and "tool-dresser,
who work in day and night towers" or shifts,
SO as not TO give the hole chance TO :" fill up on
item AS the depth increases an iron pipe is
thrust into the excavation, and the bar Is hung
on end from the beam by a cable and keeps
dropping with crushing force on the bottom, in
several feet of water. Within this pipe. smaller
ones are sent down to still greater depths until
a pay streak is reached or the quest abandoned
The first indication of oil is frequently gas, though
zach is found without the other If flow should
result from the boring the operators are ready
with tanks TO receive it. and with barrels or
pipe lines to ship it 10 market. For your share
in the enterprise, small proportion of the
oil is run TO your credit is, the operators
give YOU the choice between a check for the
amount at rates fixed by themselves, possession
of the fluid to dispose Of, If you can. If the
grade exceeds certain standard. you are iurtner
entitled to premium, which IS also hAcd by
Your patrons. During the winter the snow inter
fcres somewhat with transportation from remote
indian a nnt Tntl mon ia
already exist along the Ohio ana others Will
Soon be built
No two wells are ever alike. They differ as
much as children i'll the same family. Some
Weld their treasures without cOaXing, others
rcouilc coercion with ntro-g lycerlne Some "uSh
80 proflscly that thousands of gallons are wasted
for want of tahkage, Others suddenly dIy up
without warning. There are WeHS that' IL
checked for one day, will work double tdcs
tie next, and there are wells that refuse to make
up for a holiday. spoiled altogether by
irregular attention. 1t is this womanly coynesS,
pcrhaps, that refers wells. like ships, to the
feminine gender. Their delicious caprlces lend a
fascination the enterprise, and spectators Smile
when they hear Susan NOst' called dandy,
or frown when somebody says that the Shot
in the Swamp Angel didn't fetch her, so she IL
lee put under the pump just they might at
praise or blame of their wives catalogue Oh
tie articles into whose composition rock oil enters
would explain the importance OF this new de-
Nelopmcnt. In Massachusetts, furnaces are led
with il, in other places it is manu-
facturcd into SOAP vaseline, candles,
sin remedies and chewing gum, 10 say
nothing OF lts an illumlnant and lubricant
the world over The Ohio RIVER IS Undoubtedly
destined to become great highway for It's snip
ment u the south ana West, and the limit Oh us
u, s,Dlties is incalculabie. In PENNSYLVANIA.
,,.nIls ~inl alN- aufV "A
well in a neighboring county started with l,2OO
barrels.
Yet III building up the State and attracting new
blood and new capital, question whether natural
gas will not play ain even more conspicuous part
You have only visit the factories that use IL 10
appreciate its enormous superiority as fueI In
tie potteries at Wheeling, you can see huge kIlnS
fed from hlty mouths by pipes in the ground
that emit flame hotter and more steady than the