Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-05-31
THOUGHT HE'D STRUCK OIL.
Joke on New Jersey Nabob Who Drove a
Well in His Back Yard.

Joke on New Jersey Nabob Who Drove a
Well in His Back Yard.
New York world.l
A New York business man who lives in
Elizabeth, N. J., started last fall to sink an
artesian well on his premises, and thought
that, for the sake of exercise, he would do
the job himself Accordingly every night,
after returning home from the city, he would
repair to his yard with a big sledge and
there pound vigorously on the iron pipe for
half an hour, screwing on section after Sec
tion &C the work progressed, and putting on
pump occasionally to See if he had struck
water.
A few weeks after neighbor whose yard
adioins the well-borer's premises was sur
prised to notice heap Of earth among his
plants, and he noticed that every time his
neighbor in the next yard would strike a
blow with his sledge on the pipe he was
driving the pile of dust was visibly agi-
tated.
Procuring spade he dug down into the
heap of earth, and the spade soon struck a
metallic substance which, when uncovered,
was found to be the end of an iron pipe with
the pointed boring tool attached that is used
in driving well. The point of the pipe
had evidently encountered rock, sheered
off in another direction, and finally, as the
driving progressed, it came out in the ad-
Joining yard. The man who made this dis
coyery took friend into his confidence, and
together they made up their minds to have
some sport with the well-driver.
They unscrewed the pointed cap on the
end of the pipe, and procuring gallon of
kerosene poured it into the hollow tube.
The well digger attached his little pump
that evening, as usual, to ascertain if he
had struck water, and to his establishment
found he had struck oil. He could scarcely
believe it at first and the conspirators, who
had been watching his movements through
knothole in the board fence, poured in an
other gallon, which fully convinced their
dupe that he had a bonanza.
He rushed into the house and acquainted
his family with the joyful news. The fol-
lowing evening the conspirators saw him
come home from New York with three we'll
dressed men, apparently brokers. He took
them into his yard and, rigging up his
pump, proceeded to show them his remark
able discovery of an oil well in Elizabeth.
The pair who put up the joke on him at
once poured in an extra gallon, and as the
oil in its passage through the pipe became
discolored it strongly resembled petroleum.
The strangers smelled the stuff, and, after
examining closely, became satisfied that it
was the genuine article and informed the
owner of the well that his fortune was made.
When the succeeding night they saw their
victim bringing more men from New York
to inspect his big find they thought the
joke had gone nearly far enough. The man
who suggested the joke put his mouth to
the end of the pipe and shouted through the
hollow tube: "You're lot of blankety
blank fools!' The sound of a voice pro-
ceeding, as it were, from the bowels of the
earth, startled the group around the well SO
much that they stood rooted to the spot in
terror for couple of moments When they
recovered from their fright they looked at
each other in amazement until the shrieks
of merriment proceeding from the next yard
convinced them that they were the victims
of hoax