Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-08-05

XYTITHIN few weeks DR.. David 7.
wv Day of the United States Bu-
w reau OF Mines, Will announce
that another riddle of science has been
manufacturing crude oil.
The perfection of this process Is the
nal answer to ii the e. oil supply up 9uesFit1hm; 81 th
United States has been calculated by
the, biologists, and a few generations
will suffice to exhaust the supply.
manufactured oil to run it's innumerable q
motors and engines, And 1t Is probable
that all of them will be kept running.
for scientists believe that oil may be
manufactured cheaply enough to COM
pete with the product of the oil wells.
The details of this process have not
however. that the oil will be extracted
from vegetable substances by methoo
which will simply hasten the age-long
distillation by which the oil within the
earth was extracted from rotting for
ests that grew millions of years. ago.
This forecast of a new chapter in
the oil romance of the present gener-
alton, follows on the heels of investi-
cations that have revealed great lat
ent sources of oil that will replace the
wells of the present when they run
So a discovery of method of oil
manufacture promises to be stupendous-
~ important, Likewise does the locat-
crust of the earth. For oil wells go
dry. and the fields that produce them
are limited.
Samuel KIers Idea
Basic discoveries that affect this in
dustry are still to be expected, vecause
oil is comparatively new commodity
in he world. The CIVIL War was just
came down from the hills of Pennsyl-
vania with a new idea. There was oil
in the region where Kier lived and his
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gathering a few gallons of it, and.
upon occasion, taking it to Pittsburgh,
where II might be sold for a pittance.
This oil had limited usefulness in
the manufacture of medicines.
Kier had been trying to burn the oil
for purposes of illumination, but his
wicks smoked odorouslX and very little
some panes of glass about his flame,
and much to his surprise it burned diff
fere1tly.. The smoke disappeared, and
From this discovery grew the lamp
chimney and from the lamp chimney
grew the commercial importance of
oil.
First OIL Well
1t was at about the same time that
a Colonel Drake who lived near Titus
VILE, Pa, sunk the first oil well, ant
demonstrated the theory that this fluid
mi ght be found in quantity in the bow
els of the earth. on August u, next,
there is TO be a celeDratlon at NUS
Vile in commemoration of this event.
The old Drake well is still capable of
yielding one-third of barrel Of oil
day. This means that 1t is still a
pretty good producer, for there are
wells in New York yielding but one
fortieth of a barrel, from which profit
is made. These New York wells, are in
decided contrast to the Lakeview
gusher in California, which produced
400, 900 barrels a day and still failed to
yield a profit to its owners because 1t
ran uncontrolled.
Our Great supply
The United States to-day produces
two thirds of tht oil of the world. OF
all the oil that has ever been produced,
two thirds has come from the wells of
Uncle Sam Russia supplies the ma
remains, and Mexico ranks third. Aside
from these nations, the oil produced is
of little importance. But the boastful
American may make the eagle scream
to his. hearts content upon. the sub
in the oil markets of the world.
The increase OF the use of oil has
been steady since the Civil War. In
1870 there were five million barrels of
it, in 1880 thirty million barrels, in
were $50 millions. in 1910 there were
] 327 millions and in 1914 the worlds
| production was about 400 millions So
| has this commodity grown within the
life of the present generation
How Long VIII 1t Lastt
With the increase in the uses To
which oil is put, there has come alarm
as to sources of permanent supply
Many of the industries of the world
were developing themselves upon the
i oil supply as a basis What, for iTl
u ~Aa xrrn ho 10 4