Semi=weekly graphic., 1896-07-22
NEW LIFE FOR WELLS
AN ELECTRICAL CONVEYANCE FOR
 THAWlNG OUT PETROLEUM.

| A Washington Man Has Invented 8 Ma
 chine by Means of Which It Is Thought
 old Wells Will Be Given New Lease
 of Life-standara Oil Controls It.
 The result of a useful invention which is just about to be placed on the market will bs to create q new era in the history of oil and to start fresh life in the regions which have hourished in the past, but are now regarded as played out. 1t will turn the desert re- gions of the oil sections into bustling towns and will furnish an enormous supply of petroleum that would be sufa- cient of itself to do the work of tne greater part of the world. The dead wells will become as fountains, and the springs of the deep will give up their wealth in an inexhaustible quantity.
 This invention is the work of Wash ington gentleman, Mir. Tapley w. Young, and consists of an electric heater, which can be lowered into tho well. The electricity is generated in large quantities, and so powerful is the heat that the refuse matter, which clogs the pores of the stone, will be melted and run out, thus allowing the fresh upward flow of oil.
 To understand the principles upon which this invention is founded, it will be necessary to explain that the theories as to exhaustion of so many wells is that the oil in passing upward through the stone has clogged the porous stone I, h aY,ff hot further flow is stopped, and the we'll 1 ceases to produce. Some think that it is because the supply in the earth has given out, but the generally accepted idea is that the oil is still in abundance, and only ceases to flow when the exit is stopped.
 The stone through which the oil passes is of very porous nature, and as the liquid is in q crude state the thick mat ter becomes as dregs, settling in the rock near the edges of the bottom of the we'll It has been common to use tor pedoes to shatter the stone at the bottom of the well, thus breaking up the clogged matter, but this is an expensive process.
 By the Young method the machine, which is about three loet long and re- sembles an iron cartridge, is placed at the bottom of the well and the electric ity turned on so powerfully that it re- ceives just enough volts to produce an enormous heat without melting the metal. The current goes down the wires and by the peculiar construction of the carbon packed chambers the in tense heat is radiated about into the rock ill all directions. Thus the paraffin and other refuse Is softened and melted up so that it runs, and when the we'll is started fresh flow takes place just as strong as it did when the well was first sunk. This rejuveHating of the dry wells of the oil districts of the United States means great deal of money to the people of Pennsylvania, New York, Kentucky and Indiana. Many man who has lost his fortune in the drying up of his we'll will be again able to pump dozens of barrels. Hundreds of wells will spring into new life, thousands of dollars will be made from what is now worthless property, and millions of bar rels of oil will be added to the annual production of the country.
 The invention made by Mir. Young is in the hands of the Standard Oil com pany and will be thoroughly tested As that company owns so much oil land, the machine will be source of the say ing of great wealth to them as we'll as to the many hundreds of people all over the districts in New York and Pennsyl- vania -Philadelphia Times.