The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1909-10-01

by him. The summer wore away, the
money was expended, and the enthu-
siast's hackers. losing faith IN him, de-
clined 10 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 mono
maniae-a man who wished to bore
down into the earth to end lake OF
oil. What more absurd idea had ever
got into the brain az man2 The sto-
ries Of Munchausen were no more i'm
probable The children In the streets
jeered him, and their parents tapped
their foreheads as he passed.
The winter cane 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 a pc
troIeum lake in the bowels Of the
earth
A year passed. during which not a
ray Of hope came 10 the man OF one
idea. Then in the spring Of 1859 be
succeeded In injecting two others
with his deusion. and they provided
him with new capital with which to
continue his boring He secured the
services of practical salt driller an y
his two sons. who possessed a com
plete OUTFIT Of tools TO be used in the
work.
No sooner had they begun TO dtiIl
than through the porous sou water
poured into their we'll, Filing II with
mud and interfering with their work
The drill ceased to bore. but the brain
OF the man Of one idea worked on. He
must invent some method Of preserv-
ing bis we'll Various experiments he
tried failed. Then. securAsg some cast
iron piping. he drove It into the ground
that be might bore within it. That It
was of cast rather than wrought iron
indicates the mans pinched resources.
1t would not stand the blows neces-
sary to drive It into the soil After
more delay better piping was secured
and a section driven In. 1t stood the
bammering. aud. another section hav-
ing been welded TO 1t. 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 creyice, and. being
withdrawn, It was found TO be smear.
ed with oil. This was on Saturday
night, and operations we're suspended
to be recommended the following Mon
day.
The chief driller, who lived In a
shanty near the well early Sunday
morning went on an errand to the der
rick house. There he saw a 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 a fluid then
worth a dollar a gallon was running
to waste Having arranged for catch.
Ing the flow, he went and announced
his discovery to the man Of one idea
And what did this oozing Of oil
through an iron pipe inserted beneath
the rock mean? 1t meant that new
source Of wealth had been opened to
the people OF the earth destined to
produce thousands Of millions Of dol
lars, to give light and heat to myriads
Of people. to be manufactured into I'm.
limited products.
This man Of one idea, who drilled
the first oil well In Pennsylvania. was
Edward r. Drake A handsome tomb
in Woodlawn cemetery, in Titusville,
marks bis last resting place.