The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-06-19
EARLY DRILLING FOR
 OIL IN KENTUCKY

To the Editor of The Age-Herald:
 I read with much interest the article in today's Herald by James A. Slater,
 headed Early Oil History Was Full of Business Romance"
 Mir. Slater says the first American oil we'll was drilled on the Cumberland river near Burkesville, Ky.
 I don't think he is right, because it has always been my understanding that the first oil ever discovered outside of Pennsylvania was near the mouth of Rock creek. on the south fork of Cumber- land river within few miles of where I was born.
 About the year he mentions-1820-a man by the name of Beatty. who operated salt wells in West Virginia, conceived the idea of drilling a well for salt water near the mouth of Rock creek in Wayne county Ky. He accordingly moved machinery over the rough mountain roads or trails to the place and began drilling and after going down several hundred feet he struck instead of salt water. petroleum, or devils tar'' as the natives called it. The black, slimy substance oozed out or ran out at the top of the hole and the well was abandoned.
 I can remember when, after people found that it was good for lubricating purposes, they came for miles and miles to SklIn the OH OFT the water, put IL Into barrels and haul it away.
 It is said that years ago the natives would skim up the oil, put it in vials and sell it for liniment. and that it was a sure cure for rheumatism.
 In the summertime when the water was low great pools would be covered with the oil and people in passing would set 1t on fire and it would burn for long time.
 Along in the sos the Standard Oil com pany drilled several holes in the neigh borhood, but after drilling them they were plugged and the mouth of the drller was sealed" so that we never knew what they found but 1t was be- ieved that there was oil in plenty in that country, so one ventureful spirit Capt John A. Geary formed a company and put down one hole and at a depth of about 1900 feet struck a gusher. Then the fun began in earnest.
 Within a few months there were thou sands of holes being drilled all over Wayne county and the famous "SlicS Ford" and "Sunnybrook'' fields were de- veloped.
 Men who had never had hundred dol lars in cash before found themselves rich overnight.
 One family who owned 70 acres, a little knob on which they could scarcely pay the IdXeS, ndu tHc ilCACSl VI e~-f and on this little spot half a dozen wells were drlled-all gushers, and as the own- CTS received one-tenth of what the wells pfoduced it was hard matter for them to spend the money. However. they built a fine house. paid thousand dol lars for piano. and various other things.
 The machinery for the oil wells anu supplies for the oil field was shipped by rail to Burnside. Ky. and taken to Mon ticello. 20 miles away, over the pike. At Burnside the Big South Fork river empties into the Cumberland and in going to Monticello this river had to be crossed and I have seen the ferry work back and forth almost 24 hours in the day get ting the heavily loaded wagons over. At first pipe line was laid to somer- set from the oil fields and the oil shipped in cars Later a four inch pipe lire was laid to Sistersville. W. Va. over 2oo miles away and the oil pumped to the refinery at that place. Later an eight inch line was laid alongside the four inch line The oil from this field was rated as just one grade below the Ty- rone. Pa, oil. the Tyrone price being the highest and the Somerset the next.
 H. H. SMITH. Collinsville, June IT. 1919.