The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1906-09-07

u.gS begun by the
& Interstate COM
merce commission
s6FTFTs7;T sS . E-55ss51 under the congress
si'nAl resolution or
JAMES II. GARFIELD. dering an inquiry
into the methods of
the Standard Oil trust. The report of
The commissioner of corporatfons
James K. Garfield. on which the mes.
sage of the president WAS based. states
that about 26.OO0.0O0 barrels of oil are
refined annually in the United States
ana that of This product the Standard
OIL company and its subsidiary corpo.
rahonS control about 23.OOG.OGO bar,
refs. and approximately the same pro-
portion of the other finished products
OF petroleum. The methods hy which
the STANDARD has @annd this practical
monopoly over the petroleum OUTPUT of
the United States are described in CON
siderable detail in NJ Garfcid's re-
port anl the abuses in the matter of
impropeF and unfair railway rates al
lA@2d to exist have been cited rs
among the reasons for the passage of
The railway rate measure now pending
in congress.
The growth of the petroleum industry
to its present = antic proportions in
this country is one of the marvels of
the past lalf century. and as an indus
try The oil business has had even
greater prominence than these proper
tons might naturally have won it on
account ri 'he fierce battle that has
been W; @el for years against the at
tempt OF the Standard to secure and
maintain monopoly in it.
II is not quite half century since
E. l.. brak" struck oil on Watsons
flats, ia?r TtuSvillc. Pa. The exact
date Of this event. 50 important in the
annals of American industry was Aug.
%, 1888. The scenes in the oil fields
which soon followed this discovery
We're almost as exciting aS those which
We're witnessed hut a few years pre-
viouS IN the gold fields of California.
Wells We're sunk in large numbers IN
western Pennsylvania along Oil creek.
French creek and the Allegheny river.
The scenes of industry and excitement
shifted as the oil wells of different To-
cailtioS became exhausted. One of the
famous oil towns of forty years ago
was Ithole City. which. neXt to Phila-
delphia had at one time the largest
postotlice of any city in the state of
Pennsylvania. To-day the place where
Pitholc city stood is farm land.
People had been gathering oil at Ger.
tain places in Pennsylvania in the
vicinity of streams for some years pre-
viouS 10 brakes experiment and had
been collecting it from tie water by
means of pits arranged like scparators,
the water flowing away below leaving
the oil floating OH the surface. whence
it WAS dipped up with blankets. Drake
sank an artesian well. When the bore
had penetrated thirty-three feet the
drill dropped into creyice about six
inches. This was on a Saturday night.
BY Sunday afternoon oil was found
near the top of the pipe. Afterward
the well produced ut the rate Of TWEEN
ty-tivc barrels Il day. This was small
in comparison with the output of the
big wells of today. hut Mt that time it
was considered remarkable. For some
two years the new petroleum industry
was restricted to the TtuSville terri
tory. Ii was not until 1874 that the
Bradford field was developed. and not
long after that oil in paying quantities
was found in some parts of western
New York and in other counties Of
Pennsylvania. About the time of the
Chicago Worlds fair Ohio cane into
notice for its oil fields, ana in the past
half dozen years Texas. Kansas. H.
diana, West Virginia California and
some other states in the west and
southwest have come to the FROM In the
industry.
The oil regions abound in pictur-
esque sights. An oil tank on fire makes
a brilliant display, and it does not take
long for Il tank with even such a ca
pacity as $4,000 barrels to 90 up in
flame and smoke. Shooting an oil well
is common though dangerous opera
ton in this industry, and its frequency
accuStOms those who work in the oil
fields to regard the performance with
as much complacency as if it We're an
incident attended with no peril what
ever. The operation consists in eXplod-
ing Il nitroglycerin torpedo ut the bot
tom of the drill hole to make the oil
flow. Often after the explosion the oil
comes ont Of the well with trem, adous
force and velocity.
Seeing Is Relieving.
A drastic and highly successful sur
gical Illusion recently carried out by
a French doctor has caused no end Of
talk in Paris \ woman suffering from
nervous troubles was convinced that
the symptoms were produced by liz
ard which she felt crawling about
in her stomach. She insisted that
she recalled perfectly having swat
lowed the animal when young in
shaking her thirst at a brook.
After drugs and dieting had failed to
work any relief DR.. Richelot had an
idea. lie remembered how the surgeon