The Indianapolis journal., 1895-09-08

ings persisted In his attempts 70 eetab-
lish a pipeline system until he was over
whelmed by debt. and he died a penni-
less and disappointed man.
Another Jerseyman. sam Van Syckle,
who died only a short time ago at Buff
falo. had come 10 the oil country with
HutchinEs. and he took up the pipeline
idea. When the pifhoIe boom struck the
region I'm 1s6S. Van Syckle. seeing
wherein Hutchings had failed in the con-
struction Of his pies. hif upon plan TO
remedy the defect. Hutchings %
Joined his pipes together with lead sock
cts. the joints being closed by hammer
Ing them together with a mallet. The
pipes were laid In shallow bitches. and
had immovable angles The slightest
twist or wrench would make IA leak in
the lead joints. and the oil would run 10
waste But Van Syckle had his pipes
made OF wrought iron and fastened them
at the joints by thread and screw.
and he buried them I'm. the ground. He
laid line from Pithole TO Miller farm.
i've miles. and the line was a success.
But the teamsters were still running
things about the way they wanted to.
and they tore up the line as fast as IL
could be put down. A snappy and de-
termined chap named Henry Harley
Pipeline Harley he was known ever
afferward-was interested in this line.
and he didn't intend TO abandon IL 20
the fury and opposition of a horde OF
rapacious teamsters, so he called on the
authorities 10 protect the property. The
sheriff and a big posse took charge Of
the matter. and after lodging some OF
the head rioters I'm jail and breaking
the heads Of a few more. the opposition
TO the line ceased. and that was the be-
ginning OF the present great system OF
oil transportation that requires the use
OF something like 5000 miles Of iron
pipes. the aid OF gigantic pumps. thou
1n - 81
ployes- II was the first blow to- the
teamster tyranny and led TO its speedy
downfall.
well. as TO Heman James and the
Tarr farm. Some time after he had
bought the farm. and after he had made
a big fortune out OF royalties alone from
its wells, he had visit from Jim Tarr.
Jim had awakened TO the fact that he
could make some more money as we'll as
not, and was sorry he had sold his
farm. even for 100000. SO he offered
James $4,000 for half OF the farm back
James sold two-thirds OF the remaining
half to Clark & Sumner, OF Boston, for
$4,000 This gave him the amount he
paid for the whole farm, and he still
owned nice slice Of IL, and retained
all the leases for the wells already
down and producing. He made a good
many millions out OF the deal with Tarr,
and folks made up their minds that he
wasn't quite so crazy as they had
thought he was. Jim Tarr made
couple OF millions from his possessions,
and then retired to a life OF ease and
luxury In Meadville. He was one OF
the characters Of the oil field. and his
quaint speech originated many of the
strange terms and phrases which are
to-day In recognized technical use In
the petroleum trade.
"One OF the fayorite and popular hui
.h, hot ha ND
OF the newspapers a generation ago orig
mated with Jim Tarr. When he became
wealthy he sent his daughter away TO
be educated. After she had been TO
school some time. as the story went,
word was sent to her father from the
school that he had better send for her.
as she wasn't getting along In her stud
les. In fact ran the letter. she has
no capacity Jim Immediately sent
word back and instructed the school TO
purchase his daughter capacity at
once. and send the bill TO him. Jim Tarf
didn't fool his fortune away. He died
In 1871.
The Phillips well kept up its great
flow OF 1900 barrels day for more than
a year. and gradually decreased In its
yield month by month after that. but
continued producer for twenty years.
II is one of the legends of the oil coun-
try that one day the we'll refused TO
give up any more oil. even TO the pumps.
and that was the very day that Jim
Tarr died. 1t never yielded after that
The we'll made a millionaire or every
person interested in IL.
FIRST BIG LAWSUIT
The first big lawsuit ever brought in
the oil country arose from dispute
between Heman James and William Phil
lips. Under the Tarr lease James was
to receive one-quarter of the oil the well
produced. In the summer OF 1862 James
demanded his share of the oil in bar
rels. Barrels were then worth a great
deal more than the oil they held, and
were very scarce. Phillips refused to
furnish barrels. and James brought suit
to recover what he claimed was his due
In barrels. s125.000. He employed as his
counsel Edwin NJ. Stanton. later Lin
coins great War Secretary. Through
Stanton's efforts the suit was compro-
missed. Phillips agreeing To allow James,
In lieu OF barrels, one-half the oil instead
OF one-quarter. James paid stanton
fee OF 5000 for his services Phillips
had some trouble. too. with Woodford.
whose we'll was between the Phillips
gusher and the Crescent we'll Woodford
had struck the same crevice that the
Phillips drill had tapped. and thus In
terfered greatly with the yield OF the
ok kucntF- II dt~t itt III iAidtt SUI Ao~t
water 20 the Phillips. which was great
annoyance. Finally Phillips got rid OF
the trouble by paying Woodford 100000
for his we'll Woodford had come 10
the oil regions from the little backwoods
village OF Towerville. Crawford county.
He had Just money enough 10 put down
his well. He left the Tarr farm with a
million dollars. He retired with IL TO
Towerville and never bothered his head
about oil or anything else. He made his
fortune in two years
Orange Noble. the cooper. and lawyer
Delamater. the men who spent all the
money they had I'm putting down the
pioneer well on the Tarr farm. made
money enough out OF IL TO go into opera
ton more extensively. They took leases
further down the creek. and on the
Farrell farm struck a $500 barrel now
ing well. This we'll yielded Noble and
Delamater 8. 100000 They made a great
deal OF money after that In operations.
and about 1865 retired from the field
Deiamater returned TO Meadville. where
he became a banker. Noble went 10
Erie and became a banker Both men
became political leaders. Noble a Demo.
crat. Delamater Republican Noble
was subsequently elected treasurer OF
Pennsylvania In 1890 Wallace Della
mater was the Republican candidate for
Governor or Pennsylvania. He was
son Of the banker who had made his
money on OIL creek. He was defeated
by Governor Pattison. Up TO that time
IL was supposed that the Delamaters