Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-05-10
FE URR1Es IN. OIL
How Prices Have Advanced in Years Gone
By
Quick Jumps In the Fluid-Just De.
fore the War There Were
Lively Times.

petroleum oil is creating almost as much
| excitement in oil circles as In the early
! days of oil exchanges. For years past the
rise and fall in prices was counted by l-S
| and IA cents, but in times spoken oe the
| fluctuations in the greasy fluid was IA, IL
and whole dollars at each bid. When Col.
| Drake first discovered petroleum by drilling
| down into the bowels Of the earth, on OH
| creek, Pa, by the use of the spring pole,
| or as 1t was then known, as kicking down
! a we'll 1t was only used as a medicine, and
sold as Seneca oil, and for some time was
used up in experimenting, SO that it could
| be utilized, but people had caught the
| craze, and it seemed every person who pos
| sessed a few dollars landed ON Oil creek to
| go into the business. Wells were kicked
| down by dozens, and over 100000 barrels
was produced during 1861. In 1889 1t was
worth even $40 per barrel, but in the end
| of 1861 it had dropped down to $3.50: The
world at large had not yet got to using 1t,
| and the market was overstocked. Up 10
| June, 1861, the wells were all pumped, put
| in that month the first flowing well was
| struck on the Funk farm, and spouted 800
| barrels daily, and scared the owners of the
pumps almost to death. The price went
down to 50 cents and stayed there until
September. Then the Great Phillips well,
! on the Tar farm, came to the front as a
| 1000 barrel spouter per day. All the OIL
| wanted could be purchased then for ~
cents per Darrell
SpOuters Mt Work.
| Then followed another spouter on the
| Funk farm, which threw the Phillips in
the shade This well vomited forth 1900
barrels every twenty-four hours. and down
went the price of the fluid to 10 cents per
barrel Up to this time for want of a mar
ket, and also want Of tankage. plenty of
| oil was going to waste, and with these two
| big spouters about six thousand barrels
was running into Oil creek and down the
| Allegheny river daily. Empty barrels of
| all kinds-vinegar, molasses, or in fact, any
| thing that could be made to hold oil. was
| bought up al eXtravagant prices. The gen
| eral price being paid per barrel was from
| $3.50 to $2.25 each. From October, 1861,
| until February, 1862, the market remained
| the same-1. 100000 barrels of oil was pro-
| duced during 1862, of which over one half
| went to waste In March, 1862, prices be-
| gan to improve, % cents, so cents. and still
| up she went. and the close of the year
| found $3.50 the market price. People were
| beginning to find out its use. and 1t was
| now being demanded. Pittsburg was the
| center of the oil market, and It was all
| foated down the Allegheny river in fiat
| boats known as guipers. holding from 500
| to 1000 barrels each. The distance is only
| 132 miles. but in early days as high ss s.
per barrel was paid to transport 1t. About
| 300 boats were then in the trade, and their
| owners reaped a harvest, but in December
| the river was frozen solid, and at Pitts
Durg dealers were OHerlnS SO per DaTTel 1Or
| oil, but there was no way to reach them.
| The guipers, when unloaded in Pittsburg,
| would reload either with coal or with
| empty barrels. Coal was the most profit
| able. as none was to be found in the upper
| country. and $1.25 per bushel was paid for
| 1t at OIL City. Steam tow boats, when there
| was good stage of water, would tow
| from to 10 of these loaded guipers up the
river, but in low water horses did the tow
| ing.
Better Transportation.
Bulk boats or compartment barges in
high water came into use about 1865, and
| the oil was run into the different compart-
| ments loose. One bulk boat would carry
| three times the quantity of Guiper. In
| 1896 the A. V. R. R. was extended to OIL
| City. and all oil was shipped in tank cars.
| but soon after the pipe lines did away with
| all other means of transportation. During
| 1863 oil kept advancing in price Over
100000 barrels were produced that year,
| and the price at it's close was 81 per barrel.
| The greater number of operators and pro-
| .ducers by this time had enlisted in the
army. But for the war it is hard to sur
mise what 1862 or the next three years that
| followed might have been in the Oil trade.
| The rebellion, without doubt, changed the
| entire history of the petroleum industry. In
| 1864 the greatest fluctuations ever known
| took place, and then 1t was that hundreds
of fortunes were made March l the price
| of oil had reached s.. and May ! had
| jumped to 81. New wells decreased the
| price so cents, but1at the end of that month
| had now taken hold, and greenhorns no
longer held sway in the oil market. June,
| "a, was the most remarkable month In the
petroleum history. June l oil was $3.50. on
| the 18th 1t was held at 50, and on the 90th
of the same month had gone up to s1150
| per BARREL an advance Of 81 within thirty
| days. The owners Of the big wells were
| piling up fortunes, as stated before. during
In T,lv Z rT1fn a
| was nothing for them to think of, and
| many of them made from s. to IS per min
| ute. Several of those same operators, whose
| check was good for 100000 to 100000 at
| that time, have not enough at present to
pay a weeks board. 1t all was lost in the
| oil exchanges afterward.
Rapid Fluctuations.
July opened at $11, but the well owners
| sent it up before the end of the month to
| 1915, and then was the time they made
| their money. The wells spouted the oil and
they pocketed the dollars. But the specu-
lators that paid them $13. IS were the broken
merchants. for oil in August dropped down
to 50. and many lost all they owned. The
price never got up to $13.75 again; but on
September 1t had reached Sill. In Sep
| TENDER 1t dropped to $3.50. owing to many
| big gushers coming in, but inside of the
month 1t had again got back to s11. Octo-
Der. "a. another tumble, and oil went down
| again reached $780, and through November
| gradually crept up to $11, and the year
! closed with the market at $11.50. This year
| decline in production of 100000 barrels
made the output 100000 barrels during
| 1864. Several 2,0O0-barrel wells flowed
steadily at the same rate. and every barrel
| of 1t was sold at an average of 1892. So
| that each one of these wells gave to their
| owners S. 100000 during the year, or some
| thing over $4,000 per day.
| The year 1865 opened in January at $3.50.
| but at the end of the month was selling at
| SO In February 1t declined to 81; then in
March to IS; in April it again advanced to
| 81; in May 1t reached sS.25: tumbled to s.
| In June held there until August, and fell
| to 81, but that month closed with 1925 the
| ruling price. September closed with oil at
| s9.25; October it again tumbled to $3.50.
| but at the end of the month had climbed
| back to $3.50; fell to $3.50. and advanced to
| IS, and held there during November, but
| in December fell back to S.. but closed the
year at So and strong market. Operators
| thought this ruinous. but now If 1t should
| ever reach one-half that price many of
| them would be driven insane. 1865 saw the
| end Of the Venango'B big gushers, and again
| the pump ruled.
Steady Declines.
| Pithole made a great deal of excitement,
but it only lasted few months, and was
1 Ill A~h