The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-04-20

to that Of their former owners. The own.
ers were poor before the oil deveionr,e,,t
made them rich, and i'm most Instances he
Sane poor again before they died The
e. ri3 were OF little value before oil was
aOuilI on them, and are of little value now
Inc MeChntock, Familiarity known as ma
WASH AlcChntock farm could have been
pposunsnt nave understood, previous to
uelns leased, for $1,000. IL was sold a few
years ago for 5000. In Twenty-Five wears
mat elapsed between the two perfods
rom So.VQOOO 10 $60O000O worth OF oil was
obtained from IL, and many persons were
made wealthy, a few to be permanentiv
prosperous and others only to lose their
wealth. Equally as much oil was Obtain
gu rom the story farm and about two
years ago II was sold for $1,000 Its life
as an OIL producer was about twenty-
nVe years. There are perhaps still a few
httle old wells In operation on 1t, but they
are hardly worth mentioning"
Former big spectators do not like to
speak OF their experiences on the ex-
changes, for the reason that most of them
are now poor. The number of men is nor
by any means small who have won or loss
from 100000 to 100000 in a single day, and
nnally quit the business because they
exceptions to this are Capt. j. ii Wander
grit OF this city and George b. Fore
man OF Buffalo, N. Y. Both are estimated
TO be several times millionaires. Another
exception often mentioned is Daniel Goet-
Tie, now of Oil City, who is said to have
made or lost sums above the hundred
thousand-dollar line in a single day on
the exchange al least fifty times He quit
specializing when at the top Of one OF his
waves of success. became a banker, ana
has prospered ever since.
1t Is said that Capt. Nandergrift, though
he was long terror to the Spectators
on the exchange, did not make his money
in speculation. He was among the early
producers, and was later interested in
a number OF pipe lines and oil country
railroads. At the time of the famous Pit
Hole excitement he is understood to have
lost considerable money, and to have re-
covered in later developments. on Pit
Hole creek few 1,000-barrel wells caused
a town OF 10000 people TO grow up in a
Few months. 1t went down almost as rap
ldly, ana now there are only a few old
houses whore II once stood. Capt. Van
dergrift did not lose so heavily there as
some others, but he had other reverses.
and at one time, II is said, contemplated
resuming the occupation of captain Of a
river steamboat, which he had previous
ly pursued.
A. this juneture. it is related. and he is
said 10 tell the story with a great deal OF
pride himself, his wife proved the savior
Of his fortunes and set him, or rather
Kept him, In the way of becoming the
millionaire he now is. He made a trip 20
PittsoIrg, and ascertaining that he could
get the command of a packet which he
once held, went to his home in Oil City
and told his wife to prepare to move 10
Plttsburg. She objected, saying that IL
was in the oil country he had lost money
ana there was the place 10 make IL again
AiS ACbh iti duNlCe anu stayed until he
was IN shape to come back to Pittsburg
ana ranks as king among oil men.
Among the stories which oil men appear
to take special delight In telling are
some showing how people with immense
sums OF money started into the business
and speedily lost all they had. The disas-
trous effort OF the Penn Bank syndicate
TO corner the market, the ruin of the
members and the failure Of the bank is
a noticeable case in point Another no.
SO generally spoken OF was the building
Of refinery in the COS by firm of New
Workers. headed by a German named
Brontz. They had plenty of money and
built the Humboldt refinery at Piummer-
vile, some miles above oil City. In those
DAYS II often cost 81 or s. barrel to get
OIL transported a few miles The teams
had to be brought into the country from
a distance. as most of the farmers were
too poor to own teams other than a yoke
OF oxen. The money of the New Workers
was soon all gone, and they were out of
the refining business. Most of tha
money" said the former magnate who
told the story, for at least the second
time was made by people who started
with nothing"