The times., 1901-05-26
FUEL OIL IN TEXAS.
DR.. Forward Thinks 1t VIII Eventu-
nIIN nianInrn CnnI

NEW YORK. May 25.-Dr. c. B. For
: ward. a prominent oil refner of Cleve-
land. predicts that Texas oil will, on ac-
count of its Cheapuess and superiority.
within five years displace coal as a fuel
in all the Atlantic seaboard cities. DR..
Forward has just returned from an eX-
tended investigation of the oil fields in
Texas.
1t is merely a matter of time needed
for demonstration that the supply Of
fuel oil in Texas is inexhaustible.' said
Dr. Forward. "and then fuel users from
the Gulf to Labrador will begin to recog-
nize its utility. 1t can be sold as cheapiy
as the producers care to make the price.
1t viii be delivered in New York at a
small first cost. BY January l there will
be millions of barrels Of oil ready for
shipment The two gushing wells there
have been closed until tankage accommo-
datcns can be built. The quantity of oil
available can better be understood, per-
hars. when il is stated that the two wells
already running oil have a flow equal to
the entire oil production Of Pennsylvania,
Ohio. and Indiana combined.
This petroleum is heavy fuel oil, and
the erdinary. processes of refining it have
not been successful. 1t remains to be
seen whether the ingenuity of our oil ex-
perts viii meet the eXigency and turn this
new production to more valuable uses
than for mere fuel. Fer fuel alone ii is
sure to be an important factor in the
commercial and domestic life of cur At
lantc seaboard cities and towns. The sur
face evidences OF oil-bearing ground in
dicate that almost unlimited supplies Of
this oil viii be found close to tidewater
THE speculative fever is even more
rampant than the correspondents have
described I personally visited spots
where land which six months ago sold at
from S6 to SO an acre for rice growing
sold this winter and spring at from 500
to Sl25,0o9 an acre. Twenty-Five dollars an
acre was good price for some of these
rice marshes Now, land so much under
water that a four-footed beast could not
be driven within three miles Of it is sold
al high prices. 1t is like every new thing.
lot Of wildcat spectators have rushed
in and are booming things Gradually
these fellows will be wiped out by the
operation OF the law governing the sur
vival of the httest, and then more con-
servatiye men will go in and build up
legitimate enterprises.
IN southwestern louisiana at village
called Sulphur, land which went begging
few days ago at $15 an acre is now sell
ing at $3.50 an acre. 1t Is common sight
all through the promising oil district to
see man with map in one hand and a
contract in the other Offering for sale land
somewhere out in the woods or on the
prairie, miles distant A purchaser with
ready money comes along and buys the
land without visiting it-taking it almost
absolutely on faith
Drilling is going on all over southeas-
tern Texas Where oil is struck the pros
peCtOrs conceal the extent of their good
fortune. in the hope. no doubt, of secur-
ing adjoining land at the minimum of
cost. The wells in Texas are the largest
ones ever opened Up in this country. Rus
sia has the nearest approach to them
Everyone is Interested in what the Stand
ard Oil Company viii do in Texas. Their
representatives were carly on the ground.
The extent of the strike nonDlussed the
Standard people. as il did everyone else
No one seems to know what the Standard
viii do but of course everyone knows il
viii show its hand at the necessary time.