The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1920-09-19
Some Early History Of
Petroleum and its Uses

/ 10y the state ~ Nirginia In his w
/ ihis burning Spring" together with
a squire acre OF ground around n
was wi'lcd fo the public forever and
the following reference to It's acqui-
| sitlcu is recorded. The tract uf
which tho l22 acres rs % moicty wa
'ukcn up by G,norBl Andrew lewis
and myself. for and ON account ot.
/ a bitumi1ous sprug witch, 1t con
/ aimed VI ao uilutblo Il nature
az 10 burst form A. freely as spirits
I pnd {, is nearly as difficult TO cN.
! inguish
in lS2S the following letter was
| published iu tho Pittsburgh Go.
2cttc. ~ SOC that the corporation
| has ~ last determined to llrht tho
| titv II is worry sensible dctCrmi-
nation. for indeed few places uccd
! q more. { fNnr that lighting with
4 gas viii be found troublesome and
. expensive I'm suitc OF tho vast sun.
I ply and chc1puoss of coal. but | Will
l'oll YOU what is IN cheapest, best
and most economical light YOU can
use. IL Is what Is called I'm tho wcst
seneca OIL. which Is petroleum, This
/ substance were there \ ready mar
! l,ct for n migNt ho supplied nt your
very doors 20 an almost Uulimltcd
cV',nt Al present n is almost usc-
]
/ O. NJ IN what is called "nritish VII, %
and ass a Morse medicine dreAyhich.
| 10y 'ho way 10 ~ very us,tul) Th"
/ uricc u II tx very low, because a
! scw barrels glut tho demands ot tho
Iupoih'clrios hut N tho city would
jakc nalarge quantity or if " were
] brought into use Otherwise I think
~ coult 10 supplied at 20 cents per
gallon The salt wells may b."
cleared ~ what floats hy letting a
/ blanket down every quarter ~ an
! hour and this will also apply to
the springs whore Il Is discovered
a perfectly good oil FOR lamps, send
10 the apoihccarys FOR half-a-pint
ana burn II ono night iu "a lamp Of
! any klud, precisely AZ fish OF spcr-
macci oils are burned, observing
only that to avoid smoke, it is ne
cossary the length OF the wick
should bc diminished have tried
Il and found Il TO succeed perfect
| ~. and thcrc is no reason why it
should not hc clarified ns well ~ any
other oi! (and thCn II win burn as
/ free from smokc) by rltcriug or
| proCipita'ing the gross particles con
/ tanned in what is now brought TO
market II Seneca oil will supply
more ras than animal oils, which !
| do not doubt and II II can bo pro-
! cured nj 81 cents per gallon, a fair
| trial ~ II iu this way would assur
cdly be demanded by common pru-
| dcncc "
General washington did not know
! what thig natural gas was. hut he an
! ticipAtod its usefulness as servant
10 humanity ns he evidenced by tho
provision in his will The unknown
] a ~ ha Ia hsI la 1ts
! PITTSBURGH Gazette was a man Or
vision VINO put his thoughts 70 ac-
| ton This has been a characteristic
Cf oil men since the beginning Of the
Industry. No other industry In all
the world hns grown so fast
Used fer Medicine.
This oil was first used as mcdi-
cine for both man and horses. It,
medicinal qualities were hcrn'det
throughout the lan1. Circulars ad'
vertisng it's merits contained tn,
following verse
"Thc hcalthful balm. from nature
secret spring
Tho bloom OF health ana ,ifc to man
win bring;
As from her depths the magic LIQUID
flows.
To calm our sufforings, and assuage
our woes"
II was thcn used I'm lamps bu'
; made SO much smoke that It's use wa
not popular one man operating .
cotton mill mixed portion OF SEN
/ oca oil with some spcrn eli ana
/ found that tho mixture vas "A much
! better lubricant than the rurc sperm
OIL ana that the mixture cost only
about one-hnlf ~ much. This f1c-
,ory used two barrels n week. This
was In 1S45. \ bottle OF this oil
! was sent 20 Philadelphia In 1850
whore II was refined by n chemist
/ WHO discovered that II could be
used for lighting purposes IN II lamp
without the annoyance OF smoke.
| The demand increased beyond the
supply Its fame as medicine, as
a lubricant and a. an illuminant
spread throughout tho land. II was
called Seneca "a fossil oil, carbon
oil. bituminous ~ and other names
but its value was determined before
the discovery Of the original Drake
we'll so that when this well was com
plotcd n caused an excitement
| throughout tho country equal to that
caused by the opening up OF now
pool I'm new territory AZ the pies
Cnt time.
tThc ncxt article VIII tell tho
minute dotallg Of tho drilling OF
The first OH we'll as gathered from a
living wltnrss)