Daily inter mountain., 1899-10-16
OIL DISCOVERIES.

Between the rising and the setting OF
every sun 49, 900 barrels of oil squirt up out
OF CALIFORNIA; soil. and for the mills. fac
tories and workshops the great fuel prob
lena problem that has stood like a lion
in the path of the manufacturing en-
largement of the Golden state for many
years-is being effectually and prOfitably
solved. Hundreds of thousands of dol
lars are being invested in the new indus
try, and every train brings fresh cohorts
of skilled labor from the east to enter this
new and rapidly growing field of enter
prise that California, the land of sur
prises offers to the world, says the San
Francisco Call
Hardly decade has passed since Cali
fornla OIL became a factor in the COM
mercial utilities of the state. yet in that
! time California has produced 10.60Q,OOO
barrels of petroleum.. valued at ST., 100000.
In 1889 the production only amounted to
100000 barrels: this year it will not, fail
far short of 5000. 600 barrels. 1t was i'll
southern California that the first deyel-
opments We're made. While the Spanish
fathers were well aware of oil seepages in
various sections of the state. and the old
maps show ''oil'' and tar springs, and
what We're called deposits of brea, were
utilized by the early settlers for various
purposes. nothing was done in a practical
way until the Lacys of Los Angeles be-
Los Angeles county. The wells there
nave yielded a golden harvest for many
years. Then came the development OF
the on fields of Ventura county, and they
have been equally profitable. A few
years ago Mr. Doheney and other gentle
men familiar with oil interests sank Il
test we'll in the heart of the city of Los
Angeles. They struck oil at about 500
feet. and it was not long until the Second
ward Of that city was covered with der
ricks. Oil was found everywhere along a
; strip of territory running northeasterly
through the city, and in short time
there were nearly 1000 wells. Oftentimes
| there were two and three wells on lot
90 by 100 feet. and what had been a quiet
q typical oil field
In the first stages of the development of
the oil industry in the south there was
much f1uctuation and variation in the
price of the product 1t was generally
known that oil fuel was much cheaper
; than coal at SO per ton. but the appl
ances for using the liquid fuel at first
We're crude and unsatisfactory. AS a
consequence many who started in to use
! the oil abandoned it. as they were un-
able to get full equivalent in heat units.
, AS matter of fact the Santa F'e which
now operates 6O engines on the southern
division at net saving of so per cent
in fuel bills, at one time was ready to
give up the use Of oil and go back to coal.
But through the instrumentality of r.
H. Heron, a veteran PENNSYLVANIA oil
man who made Los Angeles his home. the
attention of large fuel consumers was
called to the most advanced appliances
used in the east for burning the new fuel,
and fresh start was made. The manu-
featuring interests of San Francisco, ever
alive to such advantages, investigated
the liquid fuel question, and many of
them began to use 1t. =
Then came the wonderful oil discoveries
down in Fresno and Kings counties-dis-
coveries that held out absolute assur-
ances of the permanency of the California
Oil supply in the development of wells
producing 1000 barrels per day; wells
that did not require pumping, but poured
out their oleaginOus treasures spontane-
ously like the great gushers Of the Ohio,
western Pennsylvania and West Virginia
Oil fields, and the industry received a
most remarSa Bile impetus. Out of a tract
of ground barely impetus Out of tract
is now being produced 4.5OO barrels of
good fuel every day. All of this oil finds
! its way to the mills and factories of San
Francisco, and the cry is still for more
oil. But a small percentage of the indus
trial establishments of this city are yet
using oil fuel, but all are rapidly begin
ming to realize it's tremendous utilities,
and it will be long time, even with a
rapidly increasing production, before the
manufacturing concerns here will be full
ly supplied. The enormous advantage
that saving of over 50 per cent in fuel
bills will give to our manufacturers over
eastern competitors can hardly be real
lied. With the advantage of over 5000
miles in distance the day is not far dis
tant when it will be a commercial i'm
possibility for the east to compete for the