Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-05-02

been known in the Caucasus mountains
and the Russian oil fields are world
famous.
The first mention of oil in the Unit
ed States was made by a franciscan
missionary who found it in Allegany
County, n. T., before 1852. This oil.
which came to the surface in springs.
was used by the Indians for medicinal
purposes. 1t was not until 1859 that
the petroleum business of the United
States reached any great height. Pre-
vious to that year. kerosene had, to 8
limited extent. been manufactured out
of coal. The first well was brought
in at the place where Titusville, Pa.
now stands. on Aug. 80. 1859. Oil was
struck at depth of but 50 feet.
The scenes enacted there at that time
have been duplicated at the opening of
every new field since. Spectators
flocked in from every part of the Unit
ed States and Oil Creek became fam
Gus. Within a very few years, hum
dreds of wells were drilled along the
tributaries of the Allegany river.
From Pennsylvania. the oil excite
ment extended westward until hun
dreds of wells had been sunk east of
the Mississippi river in any and all
places where for any reason the dis
covery of oil might be expected. Most
of these wells were failures, but the
excitement had the result of opening
up many new fields, notably in western
Pennsylvania, in parts of Ohio and in
sections of West Virginia, Kentucky
and Indiana. In Ohio and Indiana,
natural gas came as a secondary dis
covery and this product is now piped
in great quantities to many cities, no.
tably Chicago and Buffalo. In the lat
ter city, the use of natural gas for
heating and cooking purposes is gen.
eral. In Chicago but limited part of
the city is served, though the pipes
of the company supplying the gas are
being extended rapidly.
The Pacific coast oil fields We're first
worked in 1865, though the early wells
were improperly located and failed to
produce oil in paying quantities. Be-
tween 1880 and 1887 these fields fell
into the hands of Eastern oil men of
experience, who, after much expert
menting and many unsuccessful at
tempts, struck oil in several counties
of California. Wells in Ventura and
Los Angeles Counties, some of the lat
ter being right in the city of Los An
geles, have been profitable producers
ever since. Other oil regions of COM
paratively large value were uncovered
in Wyoming and Colorado.
Commercial petroleum is found in
Russia in large quantities, as we'll as
in Austria. Oil fields in Peru produce
the fluid to limited extent, but the
output is steadily increasing under
proper management.
Oil wells in the Pennsylvania fields
are almost invariably shot with nj
tro-glycerin, contrary to the bailing
method of Texas.
Tests for Petroleum..
The tests of Kerosene, the common
burning fluid which is the most import
ant product of petroleum, are made for
the purpose of ascertaining at what
temperature it will take fire and also
to find what proportion of naphtha, if
any, is held in the oil. At ordinary
temperatures, kerosene should extin-
guish a match as readily as water; it
should not produce an ipfammab BILE va
por under 11O degrees F., and should
not take fire below 125 degrees F. In
making tests, it is always remembered
that even a very small proportion of
naphtha is exceedingly dangerous. The
first, OF flashing test, is made for the
purpose of determining the lowest tenn
perature at which an infiammable gas
is given off; the second, or burning test,
shows the lowest point at which the oil
itself is infiammable.