Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1909-01-13


equal the wonderful story of the mar
velous development of the petroleum
industry in this country Perhaps the
nearest one might come to it would
be found in Scheherzade's tale of
Aladdin's lamp, the magic power that
produced wealth and luxury beyond
computation. ThS lamp of Aladdin
was no more marvellous than that
which burns STANDARD, water white,
$50 degrees test
1t is not yet half century since
this industry began. To be accurate,
it will be so years on August 10, 1909,
since Col. Edwin A. F. Drake COM
pleted that famous first oil well near
the banks of Oil creek, a short dis
lance below the present city of Titus
vile. The 40 years since that event
have been of the busiest in oil devel-
opment. The history of the industry
is an aggregation of romances unpar-
alleled; it is one great romance of
vital and intense interest
Progressive Pennsylvania" has been
accused of lack of civic pride Its
monuments are few, though its notable
achievements >have been many and
its great men legion. Oildom promises
a better record. A magnificent monu-
ment to Col. E. A. T. Drake stands in
Woodlawn cemetery, Titusville.
Now, beautiful monument, com
memorating the foundation of the in
dustry, is planned by Canadota chap
ter, Daughters of the American Revo-
luton, to be erected at the site of the
Drake well. 1t is desired to have this
monument unveiled on the fiftieth an
niVersary of the discovery that gave
70 the world a new industry-an in
dustry that has done much-or more
to advance civilization as the appli
cation of steam. The design of this
monument is shown in our illustra-
lion and it is to be provided by the
Voluntary contributions of the crate
full "sons, and daughters of the oil
country"
The browning feature of the monu-
ment is to be flaming torch, illumin-
ating the globe. What a wealth of
suggestion! 1t tells the story of how
the cheap mineral oil from the earth
carried the light of intelligence into
the dark corners of earth Since
brakes discovery the obscure Lin
coins of the world have not been com
PEELED to read by the light of blazing
pine knots on the hearth; our Frank
Inns have not been forced to study
philosophy by the, feeble flicker of
suffering tallow candles
whole story of this industry. From
crude oil more than 800 porducts are
extracted. The parafine wax, familiar
| to every household, the equally uni
versal vaseline, the gasoline that has
introduced new era of power; the
lubricants that make the machinery
run smoothly; the naphtha that en-
riches to brilliancy, all manufactured
gas. Brilliant color dyes, Photographic
| developments, many medical drugs,
come from the compounded fluid call
| ed petroleum.
Natural gas, the perfect fuel, it's
/ supply now an industry in itself, is but
branch of the new world opened by
/ brakes discovery; world of effort
! and wealth developed by other gent
uses, who followed after. This monu-
ment will pay tribute to every one of
them, because it will be dedicated to
the vast and marvellous mining and
, manufacturing industries of which the
Drake well was the foundation 1t will
be monument to the race of men
1 who have solved more gigantic prob
lens and met more emergencies in so
s years than were ever given in the
same space of time to any other race
i of men to solve.
In this short time the men of "oil-
dom" have discovered a new product,
dissolved it into its constituent ele-
ments, devised means for storage. ere
ated vast systems of TRANSFORMATION.
delivered the product to the uttermost
ends of the earth, devised new ma.
chinery, conquered physical obstacles
and read the book of the rocky strata
as no other men have done.
From that little beginning of Col
Drake on Oil creek, small hole of
$50 feet deep, and few barrels of
greasy fluid. has grown a worldwide
industry. 1t employs million men:
walking beams creak in every CLINE:
oil flows from the Gulf of Mexico TO
the Caspian and back again; the
driller is at work in the cradle of the
Aryan race, in Japan, in the haunt of
the wild man of Borneo This indus
try has added billions of dollars Of
new, clean wealth to the worlds store
in this marvellous half century-within
the life span of men whose hearts are
1 yet young.
II well deserves monument and
one built by the men who have helped