Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1895-04-17
OIL CLOSED II ..55i'.
Is Predicted in 5lSter YeSter-
day mining,
The Speculative Price Of O1Passed
the Half Way Mark Towards So.
All Grades Of Refined Oh Has
Advanced-Nows from the Local
Fields.

AS predicted in the Register yester-
day morning the price of oil was still
on the advance yesterday and the price
passed the half way mark towards
$500 oil. The following special from
Pittsburg explains the actions of the
market there:
another day of excitement was wit
messed in the oil market to-day. Long
before the hour of opening, the lobby
of tbs exchange was crowded with all
sorts Of men. The market opened with
the announcement that the Standard
had advanced its price 25 cents to
S2.25, and the exchange promptly ele-
waited its price to $3.50.
The fluctuations during the first half
hour were very wild. The opening bid
was $2.40. the first sale was at $3.50,
and from that point there was a tre-
mendous slump to $2.3S. The rally TO
$2.47 was just as sudden, and then the
changes became less erratic. Every
drop and every jump was greeted with
a wild cheer by the brokers and lobby.
The cause Of the quick movements
was the reports of sales by some OF the
large Independent companies. The
HazelwOOd Oil Company is said to have
unloaded a block of oil at $2.35, and
the Bridgewater Gas Company sold its
acCUmul8tiOns, which It mas been car
rying for months at $3.50. The fact
that these producers were willing to
take profits already accrued, made the
Spectators hesitate.
The trading was much smaller than
during the last few days, the sales at
Oil City during the morning aSgregat-
ing about 10000 barrels, while those
on the Pittsburg exchange were about
10000.
The Atlantic Refining Company an
nOunced an advance of , cents q gallon
on all grades Of refined oil early in the
day. and this had a strengthening ef-
feet on the market for crude. This is
almost an unprecedented advance in
refined OIL Ordinarily the market is
marked up five-hundredths of a cent
at a time, but there was no making
two bites of a cherry in the present
instance. On the 1st inst. the price of
the export grade of refined oil was 40
cents per gallon. To-day it is 1215
cents.
AN important feature Of the contest
for control of the market was the offer
made by a broker on the exchange to
buy credit balances in lots of 100 bar
rels or mulUples thereof. Heretofore
the producer who had less than 1,O00
barrels of oil in the pipe line was un-
able TO take advantage of the diner
ence in price and sell on the exchange.
There are no certificates for oil issued
for less than 1000 barrels, and hereto
fore nothing but these certificates have
been traded on the exchange. If brok-
ers continue to make these offers, it
will be possible for small producers to
get the exchange price for their pro-
duct.
Sufficient time has not yet elapsed
for the advance to have any decided
effect upon production, but an increase
is almost certain. 1t is astonishing
the number of people who have caught
the fever for speculation, from the ad-
vance in oil. The seekers after quick
ly-made fortunes are not confined to
what are known in the street as shoe
string traders. The discretionary
pools cleaned out ,--y majority Of the
latter. although occasionally a man
strolls into the exchange with few
dollars which ne wants to put on oil. -"