The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-05-06
1 PETROIEIN FISH STORi.


Authentic History OF the Discovery Of the
Petroleum Fields Of the Big Sandy River.
These pleasant spring days remarked
q laHk, long-legged man whose face looked
H. # 1t might belong to tn" individual who
sold the famous little hatchel to George Wash
~ins,on's father. remind me of fishing. one
of the delights Of my existence when ! have
the time TO indulge in il, and | never think
OF fishing that 1t does not recall n peculiar
experience had ears ago with a fish. There are
some persons, scientific and plain ordi-
nari who deny that fish have any intelligence.
but that in NJ! mind, is merely a matter of opin-
ion. You may not b" awere of it, hut | am
the man who Discovered he yet undsvcloped
oil fields of the Biz sand Valley Wing in Ken
lucky and West Virginia. the Biz SANDY being
the dividing line between those States for
some distance from the Ohio River. | FIRST
went into the valley - a timber buyer
and during my trips heard stories
Of oil springs and gas springs and thar
sort Of thing IN various localities, hut
timber was wha, I was after, and timber
claimed ell my time and attention. How
ever. the time came when oil became promi-
nent and | was employed by u syndicate of
Cincinnati capitalists To prospect the valley
for oil | found signs of plenty along the
main branch of thu riv"r. but nothing ont of
tho ordinary until | got over onto Tug Fork.
which i pra, tically The West Virginia half
OF the Big SANDY. Joining ii at Louisa. twenty
five miles or 20 from the mouth Here the
indications were much moro numerous and
more marked. but | could not hit on any thing
in the shape of a bonanza. wandered around
the banks Of Tug TIL ! was lull of dried az Pies
"na "e' ~ - ,u"'''
araaI,s aroa, oo,,n,r, ~, ,ho na, us,
aa,n' a., ,Lina 49,, Ltn a, -, 49, A..
- aL 49,, -
!, 81. ~ ~, a'.
,an. in ~. can ,m.. .a y.
,ha r .hu, .I,.a. rna L a,ah.
~ -. g." :. "..a nj 80 .."
-, h,aLan. ,La, a. na,
-, 49,. 49,, a., 80, :, ,,aaaIa, IaaI
~. An
,ha, anar :, .,ro,nar r,s ,o.m noro n,hna
anH ,Ta ,aa,ors Ls 49,.
So. 49,. -, wan 49, ua.ir 49,.
49,, 80 a.. ta' =
t,,, :, ,o hars 49,, ~, 80
Nv "'' " Az, '.La
:, 81, ri..aa,i ..a. ~
"' 49,. ." -. ~
go, &C. So. 49,
w., - b. Iii. htn
,.h , ~, hi,, 80. ri, rlooa :, 4,
at.,' hs .,n .nor Me r,,l. rnr .,n ana ,ho
-, ,,,, btr, sac,r, ,,.r r,o
eaa, n,,n, ,ro,s,,d .onirros a, ,ro
,ua ~ sd pi,aru - Moor, tho Rro,Ls
u'hr I'eS''S 7''u' "'c' y" y IVA, Nv "''""'
Dried apples grow rsht on the trees ready
- 49, 800, ,aBz l,.,.r a ,,,r la
M .A ,r vu ,r, alor,alir, ro,rd
a s''o->'"" Hn' WI, ,''"' H"""'," 'o""r
aud ask ,"u II NouH nav" son" frui'' and
Won tell her Won will, expecting oranges or
- sc,,o,hi,c lLo ,bo, and ho-
e''N',''"r ~ NV '""', "''
hold' she brings YOU dried arpIcs. We OFTEN
wondered why some of the evarorator men
don,, -, mn Ri, Sordv and ,lan, dried annie
doh :" w, pS 'u"uH an" ''''' "'u "il''
orchards lherrd be money IN ~ Nice
reoylc they have up there. too, but kind Of
''''-I'"i' " N"' '"' w. "'V'u ""'
telegraph about twenty years ago, ana II vas
niro. ,o.s throuuh ,beir rloco. their con,en-
VIC, l"' mus" NV" - Wv" ''"e'
ton being that they would be in constant dam
ger while at work in their fields from boots.
ana aA'' ""u ',"""oIH ".,. ''U"sn' ~ "-aN,
bundles ISL ing through the air and slipping
or III" wire They've got over that now.
nm, +, uos q lonv time comm, The, slent
pn, II wa " ''nH ,"' '"'"'nS M .eP'
with one sh"et on q bed, too, and the first time
asked FOR n double quantity | had 10 slecp
ii ru..or ,aoa ,o,r ra ,
WI" d 'N"N" "'' "''"u :" :" "'''"'
dIsi!rt aGCo.
"poweycr I'm wandering from nv subject.
- ! wa, ''l'ms ! u'u' ! nav -, ,u'N WIN
my looking I'LL one day IN Aprli ! thought !
would give nv mind A rest By going fishing
Fish were nearly az scarce M oil but a fisher
man gets n good deal of comfort ont OF IL tvcn
# he doc-nT catch an, thing, and / fixed nv
self M with a pole and line and wont after The
ann must have been fshin M Tor three or four
and hooked a mud cat about two feet long lie
wasn't a 'spoCElpd baaut, b, a long was for
i, there il any thing a mud ont doesn't rriJo
himself ON us his rood looks lie roots
around in the mud ike n hog and has n roCe on
him thai viii give ven the nightmare tn
one was oven rglier than his Lind because In,
ras covered With a nnsi, coating nj preost
sNcIt mud Thai sroIlcd an, h,nmt, he r,ichi
have been born with. Al first / was So dis
rIIs,ed with his appcarance TINT / WINS roing 10
t,ed Mn, 10 thn hogs but a great Thought ror,n
IN no MI Of a qndden inst ms il docs 10 genius
over, where and iumrpd at The conclusion n u
his fsh lived somewhere In the nplchborhond
OF an oil string which accounted for his con-
anon That's the way scme of thrsc Ci
SnTi1ps were you know They lust oozpd nm
mo the mud Of The bottom of creeks md
,a,.ar u,rL.d on enourh IN show on tho w,Ia,
" o"ro 40, On Tho Corcl,sion I roII,Nnd i, a.
,ocdi,t%T and rosie.inp m, catch in Ibo
VAR 10 n root I hurried hack To- the bo,,.a
"harc stor,od and cot some silk thraod ov,
W ., Lecb,iIr n"niIn Lodi n,L n c,rt ,us,
hi. nIuough TO ta ken, In .ivLt These I oi.
,ached I" n hook which fastened I'm tho tsh'.
,n -, a +" lat him laos" hal an idaa hs ms
n ,6rouinp vhan I caught him and tbot no