The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1901-10-13
gallon. IN. vhol...,. pr,cc being 90 cent.

q gallon. the Wholesale price being 90 cents
The .,rsngest thing about the pr.ss
ever drilled In Pennsylvania. Other wells
drtiied aboat u wary from 100 TO vi ie.,.
~ . thousand wells had been drilled 70
liz depth along Oil Creek every one on ,hcin
would have been a. dry n q powder h3rn'
Col brakes closest friend. that IN drimhf
the Drake well. the drill forum steiy tappSnu
q crevice that led down Ia the oil fVch.
and that Il was through this crevice tha'
the oil spring was fed from the rocs.
N, Tier r z no question ~ my Tp, Drake was
guided by. Providence In making ,he q
cation of his we'll, for the striking oil OIL
In quantity at that depth Is nothing mo.e
or less than q miracle. Col. nfake w"
the instrument selected TO light ,he onsv
Col. Drake never made much MONEY
out Of the petroleum industry. other any
larger wells came in and the price OF Oh
dropped from go q barrel TO 10 cents, IN
1850 he vas elected Justice OF the feace n
ntusville. an ONCE that paid about 49,
n year then. He bought OIL on comnission
and dealt In real estate. With some si5!oo
he left TItusyille in isas and went 20 Ner
York, where he lost his money IN HPrCu,
lation. Then his health gave way anu
he lived In obscunty, poor and fneh" =
Titusviue people learned OF ms nns
fort unes and quickly subscribed several
thousand dollars. In 1873 the ifglsAl"Iv
az pennsylvania voted him an annuity 81
81 500. The family settled at bethIensnn
Pa. la 1870. and there. In November lel..
Col. Drake passed away. and thera n's H.,
lies buriei. Some Their" are VINO AlIsso
that he was not treated fairly by the o,hv.
member Of his first oil company, anu " !.
n strange trick Of fate that hone OF ,ho
stockholders in his historic wen CIV"
prohted 10y the oil " produced
= IT, - ~. ta.. NuIA xNATkNal on the
well, J. p. Smith and his brother sainuei
smith. live in Titusyille. Both are VIZ
men now. but well remember nearly sVtiy
detail about the well Their father, lhos'
Billy Smith, }ong aso PASSED 20 ms 800, 49,
j. p smith SAYS tina, they did nov R't =
for their work on the well until the follow,
ing summer When Col Drake struck on
he owed 81, 200, and II the well had been bar,
rem Of oil II IN not likely that they ""uIn
have received a cent. for money 70 pay
expens-s had ceascd coming from neN
Haven before the well was started Ihs
note endorsed and renewed by Fletcher anu
Wilson was not paid until two YEAR, ai'ef w"
we'll was finished.
Almost from the day Col. Drake came
to Titusville. saws his friend, Mr. Fletcher,
we beam. fast friends. He vas a most
genial man. a capital story teller. and my
store was n regular place oil rehue1NVus
for him every night He was a dre--y ihsh
aud delighted IN a long frock coat, a sun
hat and the NOill fHtEN'N N'NhN''' 800
wai-tcoai thar were In voguei n those days
VI. was So magnetic that he convinced mo
hat he wa COINS to~trike oil. and | readily
indorseh his note FOR $500. An uncle OF
mine happened 20 he In the bank AZ Mead
villa and learning that was ON Drak" :
nanar FOR syDO came To rtusville and roastei
me- 10 a turn assuring mo most emphAticaly
,haf | would lose every cent OF Il ana thAt
II served me- right 10 he taken ia Nv an
adventure from the East .
Col Drake wa not = money maker and
mo-, a ~inaurier. Money slipped from his
grasp very easily. Then he vaS optimistic
and made the mistake Of supposing that he
had a outner on the oil business when ms
we'll began To produce When u was too
ate he reatzed that he had made n mistake
and literally thrown away a colossal Tor
tune
Al that j. left to mark .he site OF the
historic Drake well to-day IL a piece OF
drive pipe sticking up through a PLANK
/ hooring that covers the original pat. The
original derrick burned down a Few week,
after the well a. completed. and the SECOND
rig WAS DESTROYED 10y fire at the Centennial
Imposition of 1879. where Il was on eShih-
ition. Years ago the well was abandoned
II stands to-day In a pasture tcld a lev
hundred feet from. the high~ ay that winds
down Oh Creek. surrounded 10y Willows
alder~. thisile- and milk with not even
a paih ,o the rusd 20 help the inqui-iuNo
-rsrcher to find ". The stiffness ot death
hroods over tho valley that once was claS-ed
as an Edoradu