The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1909-10-01
THE Man OF ONE IDEA
By 3. wlNrHRoP JONES.

tall man with black beard. his head
bent In thought sauntered along the
bank of creek in Pennsylvania. An
idea had got into his brain. and he
could not get it out.
There have been many men similarly
infected. but there have been few-a
very few-who have worked out their
idea successfully.
The man of one idea stopped beside
a trench and watched people placing
blankets on the water it contained.
then taking them up and wringing
them over tubs. This was the early
method used ia gathering petroleum.
The oil exuded from the soil and when
collected in the trenches, Being lighter
than water rose to the surface. from
which it was either absorbed by the
blankets or skinned in dippers. The
process had been borrowed from the
Indians, who used petroleum for. lini-
ment
The man watching the work had
seen it often before. Whence came
this oil? A vision of a great oil lake
lying below the stratum Of rock COW
cred by the soil from which the petro-
leum exuded filed his mind. And why
did 1t come up through the soil? Be
cause of pressure. There was not
room for the oil lake in its rock prison,
and 1t was striving to get out.
Then came the thought, IL he could
bore a hole in the rock the oil would
burst forth as water from hydrant.
One morning in the spring Of 1857
the man of one idea started from New
Haven, Conn. for the banks OF OIL
creek, Pennsylvania. with thousand
dollars i'm his pocket. furnished by
hackers, to be used in drilling that
hole. With it he bought an engine
and hired an experienced driller. The
engine was long in coming, and the
driller, convinced that his employer
was a crank. finally refused to stand
by him. The summer wore away, the
money was expended, and the enthu-
siast's hackers, losing faith in him. de-
clined to furnish more funds.
Those who were collecting oil In
blankets and skmming 1t from the
surface of water went on with their
work regardless of the man of one
idea. The people living on Oil creek.
passing day after day his uncompIetrd
preparations, considered him mono.
maniac-a man who wished TO bore
down into the earth TO find Il lake 81
oil. What more absurd idea had ever
got into the brain of man? The sto-
ries Of Munchausen were no more inn
probable. The children I'm the streets
jeered him, and their parents tapped
their foreheads as he passed.
The winter came on. and the man of
one idea found himself facing poverty
His. funds both for the purposes OF
working out his dream and for sup
porting his family were exhausted
His children needed food and clothing,
but shopkeepers declined to give cred
it TO one who was looking for Il pc
troleum lake in the bowels of the
earth.
A year passed. during which not a
ray of hope came TO the man of one
idea. Then in the spring of 1859 he
succeeded in injecting two others
with his delusion. and they provided
him with new capital with which to
continue his boring. He secured the
services of a practical salt driller and
his two SOUS. who possessed com.
plete outfit OF tools to be used in the
work.
No sooner had they begun TO drill
than through the porous soil water
poured into their well, filling 1t with
mud and interfering with their work.
The drill ceased to bore, but the brair
Of the man of one idea worked on. lie
must invent some method of preserv
ing his well. Various experiments he
tried failed. Then. securing some cas-
iron piping, he drove it into the ground |
that he might bore within It, That IL |
was of cast rather than wrought iron |
indicates the mans pinched resources |
1t would not stand the blows neces |
sary to drive 1t into the soil. After |
more delay better piping was secured |
and a section driven in. 1t stood the |
hammering, and. another section hav |
ing been welded to it. this was also |
pounded down successfully. Thus some |
sixty feet Of piping was introduced |
and bedrock reached.
The obstacle having been removed |
the drill was set TO work. The man |
was nearing the attainment of bis
idea. He drilled but two days when
the bit struck n crevice. and. being |
withdrawn, 1t was found to be smear
ed with oil. This was on Saturday
night, and operations were suspended
TO be recommended the following Mon.
day.
The chief driller. who lived i'm a
shanty near the well. early Sunday |
morning went on an errand 10 the der.
rick house There he saw n sight that
told the story of his employers sue.
cess. The oil was bubbling over the
piping. running over the floor of the
derrick and thence into the ground.
The first idea that entered the mind
OF the discoverer was that fluid then
worth dollar gallon was running
TO waste. Having arranged for catch