The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-09-21
PENNSYLVANIA OIL WELLS.
The Story of How Petroleum Dropped
From SO a Gallon in 1862 to .o3 l-2
in 1899.
From the New YORK Sun.

From the New York Sun.
Harrisburg, Sept 16.-In part third OF
Secretary Stewards annual report will be
the annual report of Prof Albert s.
Bolles, chief of the Bureau of Industrial
Statistics. which will contain an elaborate
historical and statistical account of the
production Of petroleum in Pennsylvania,
its consumption and expectation. Scarcely
thirty years have passed since the first
barrel of refined oil was offered for sale.
Notwithstanding this, the exports rank
fourth in the list for value and are sur
passed only by cotton, breadstuffs and
provisions. For the year ending June 30,
1864 the total exports were $4,000, 600
gallons. Five years later they had in
creased to 100, 100000 gallons, in 1874 TO
200, 000, 900 gallons, aud in 1891 to 700. 600, =
600 gallons. A larger percentage of the
oil product Of the country is sent abroad
than of any other except cotton.
The reduction in the price of petroleum
is quite as noteworthy as the increase in
production, quantity and expectation. A
gallon of oil in bulk cost i'll 1861 not less
than 90 cents; in 1892 not more than 80
cents. or hardly One-seventeenth of the
old price. Pipe lines aggregating %, 600
miles in length have been laid and 5000
tank cars have been built, which, if form
miles Besides these cars, and number
of bulk sailing and other vessels fifty
nine bulk steamers are now employed in
transporting the oil to foreign countries
The value of the Pennsylvania oil wells
and lands is estimatedat more than So
100000. Sixty-hve million dollars more
must be added to cover the value of the
plant employed in producing crude petro-
leum. This valuation does not include
the pipe lines, tank cars, the great fields
of tankage, the costly retineries docks for
exporta ton, nor the feet of bulk vessels
carrying the product to foreign shores.
The estimate of total capital required for
the production, manufacture and trans
pOrtatiOn of petroleum and its product is
not far from $500, 000, 0O0.
Prof. Bolles gives numerous incidents
connected with the discovery and devel-
opment of the petroleum industry from
the drilling of brakes famous well in
1858 to the later gushers. brakes sue
cess ushered in period of almost unpar-
alleled excitement, surpassed only by the
California gold fever The president of
the company was notified by telegraph Of
the discovery, ana, not forgetting his
pocket before spreading the intelligence,
he quietly bought the most Of the stock.
Western Pennsylvania in the next few
years was the scene of indesCribable
activity and speculation Numerous
wells were sunk along Oil creek, French
creek and the Allegheny river. Advent
urers fiocked from all parts of the coun-
try, and what was once an UNI
broken forest was soon transformed
into camps and towns. Many of
the wells yielded nothing. Others lasted
but short time, while some produced
enormous quantities of oil. AS the pro-
ducing fields changed the population
shifted with the fields, and the towns
that had sprung from the wilderness
vanished as quickly Pithole City in 1865
was the largest postoffice except Phila-
delphia in the state. 1t has now entirely
disa peared, and the site of the city has
become farm. During the first two
years after brakes success the search for
oil was restricted to the territory around
Titusville. The drills We're then tried on
the Allegheny river, and its shores yielded
an abundant quantity. Until this time
all the oil had been raised from the wells
by pumps.
The first flowing well was struck in
February, 1861, and yielded 800 barrels
day 1t flowed for fifteen months. This
surprise had not spent itself when the
Phillips well was struck, shooting forth
ten times as much oil per day as the first
we'll This was soon followed by the
Funk well, which matched the Phillips
in productiveness, yielding 5000 barrels
per day. The Noble well yielded as
much, while the Sheridan yielded 1000
Noble produced So co., 900 worth Of oil,
and that the average flow of the Sheri-
dan for two years was 800 barrels per
day. One Of the consequences of these
new discoveries was a rapid decline in
the price Of petroleum.