The Newport miner. [volume] (Newport, Wash.) 1899-current, 1910-01-13
THE MAN OF ONE IDEA /.
sv q. WINTHROP JONES.

CCopyriEht, 19OS, Dy American IresS AsSo
ciation.l
One morning about fifty years ago a
tall man with black beard, his neao
bent in thought. sauntered along the
bank Of creek in Pennsylvania. An
idea had got into his brain. and ne
could not get it out.
There have been many men similarly
infected, but there have been IeW-a
very few-who have worked out the'
idea successfully.
The man Of one idea stopped BESIDE
a trench and watched people placing
blankets on the water 1t contalneo'
then taking them up and wrlnshs
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 fgnter
than water, rose to the surface, from
which it was either absorbed by the
blankets or skinned in dippers. Inc
process had been borrowed from the
Indians, who used petroleum TOT iii
ment.
The man watching the work hao
seen it often before. Whence came
this oil? A vision OF a great oil lake
living below the stratum Of rock COW
cred by the soil from which the petro-
leum exuded filed his mind. Ana why
did it come up through the soil? 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, 1t he couio
bore q hole in the rock the Oil WouIu
burst forth as water from hydrant.
One morning In the spring OF 1891
the man Of one idea started from new
Haven. Conn, for the banks OF OA
creek. Pennsylvania. with thousand
dollars in his pocket, furnished by
hackers, to be used in drilling that.
hole. With it he bought an engine
and hired an experienced driller. Inc
engine was long in coming. ana 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 entnu-
sfast's hackers, losing faith in him. de-
clined to furnish more funds.
Those who were collecting Oil IN
blankets and rskimming 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
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 man? 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 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 Pc
troleum lake in the bowels of the
earth.
A year passed, during which not
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 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
poured into their well, filling it 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 his well. Various experiments he
tried failed. Then, securing some cast
iron piping, he drove it into the ground
that he 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 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 his
idea. He drilled but two days when
the bit struck crevice, and, being
withdrawn, it 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 in a
shanty near the we'll. early Sunday
morning went on an errand to the der
rick house. There he saw sight that
told the story of his employers sue
cess. The oil was bubbling over the