Evening journal., 1909-10-01
THE MAN OF ONE IDEA
By 8. WINTHROP JONES.
[copyright, 1908. by American Preas Assoc.
ciation.1


bank OF a creek IN Pennsylvania. An
idea had got into his brain, and be
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 in gathering petroleum.
The oil exuded from the soil and when
collected In the trenches, being lighter
than water. rose to the surface. from
which il was either absorbed by the {
blankets or skinned in dippers. The
process bad been borrowed from tho
Indians, who used petroleum for nni-
ment
The man watching the work had
seen il often before. Whence came
this oil? A vision of a great oil lake
lying below the stratum of rock Gov
cred by the sod from which the petro-
leum exuded filed his mind. And why
did It come up through the soil7 Be
cause OF pressure. There was not
room for the oil lake In its rock prison,
and It was striving to get out.
Then came the thought, II 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
Z creek. Pennsylvania, with a thousand
3 dollars in his pocket, furnished by
hackers, to be used In drilling that
hole. With 1t 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-
slast's backevz. losing faith in him, de-
clined to furnish more funds
Those who were collecting oil in
blankets and skimming It 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 uncompleted
preparations, considered him a mono
maniac--a man who wished to bore
down into the earth to find lake OF
oil. What more absurd idea had ever
got into the brain OF mang The sto-
ries OF Munchausen were no more i'm
probable. The children in the streets
1eered him, and their pareYIts tapped
their foreheads as he passed
The winter came on, and the man o
a. . g.. .t~.r~ u.a.~ aa1s4
His funds both for the purposes
working out HIS tFeam and for su
porting his f&mily were e1naussse s
His children needed foed end cloth q,
but shopkeepefs declined t Vlyeii crs
It to one who was looking ~. a I
troleum lake in the bowels Of Il
earth.
A year passed, during which not
ray or hope came to the man or on
idea. Then in the spring OF 1859 b'
succeeded in injecting two other
with his delusion and they provided
him with new capital with which 10
continue his boring. He secured the
services OF a practical salt dri1er and
his two sons. who possessed a com
plete outfit OF tools to be used In the
work
No sooner had they begun to drill
than through the porous soil water
y poured into their well, filing It with
: mud and interfering with stheir work.
The drill ceased to bore, but the brain
ar OF the man Of one idea worked on He
res must invent some method of preserv-
ns ing his well. Various experiments he
10y tried failed. Then, securing some cast
~, iron piping, he drove it into the ground
that he might bore within it. That !
~, was OF cast rather than wrought iroi
indicates the mans pinched resources
inn. II would not stand the blows neces
sary to drive 1t into tho soil. Afte
.oes more delay better piping was secures
ply and a section driven in. 1t stood tn
hat hammering. and, another section hay
,on- ing been welded TO it. this was ais
af- pounded down successfully. Thus som
sixty feet OF piping was introduced
the and bedrock reached.
the The obstacle having been removed
hat tie drill was set to work. The man
'me yss nearing the attainment Of bis
this idea. he drilled but two days when
to the bit struck a crevice, and, being
withdrawn, it was found to be smear
ave ed with oil. This was on Saturday
ngs night. and operations were suspended
es to be recommended the following Mon
day.
The chief driller, who lived in a
shanty near the well, early Sunday
, morning went on an errsnd to the der
rick house. There he saw a sight that
told the story Of his employers sue
les cess. The oil was bubbling over the
piping. running over the floor of the
sst derrick and thence into the ground.
IL The first idea that entered the MIND
so OF the discoverer was that a fluid theI
ms worth a dollar a gallon was running
~ to waste. Having arranged for catch
,es ing the flow, he went and announces
Oh his discovery to the man OF one ides.
a And what did this oozing Of O
igh through an iron pipe inserted beneat
the rock mean? 1t meant that a neS
of source Of wealth had been opened {
ana the people OF the earth destined {
.he produce thousands OF millions Of do
'Is ~ lars. TO give light and heat to myriad
] Of people. to be manufactured into un
,old limited products.
chs This man OF one idea, who drilies
eel the first oil well in Pennsylvania. wa'