Evening star., 1934-08-19
MEMORIAL TOE. /. DRAKE
TELLS FASCINATING TALE
The Story of Oil, Americas Great In.
dustry, Is Immortalized by
Statue to Its Pioneer.
BY IDA M. TARBELL,
Famous American Author.

AN 1ndlScr1minate in the way
of monuments to our he
roes and their deeds that
Is is surprising that we have done so
little in that field of achievement
which, since the Civil War, has chiefly
preoccupied us. We have practically
no public monuments to great indus
tries.
Busts and statues to inventors and
engineers we have in numbers-Eli
Whitney, Robert Fulton, Robert Morse,
Thomas Edison and long procession
of names only a little less familiar.
We have museums, like the admirable
Museum of Science and Industry in
New York City; private museums such
as the fine Wire and Steel Museum at
Worcester, Mass; Henry Ford's wholly
original, all-inclusive Edison Institute
of Technology at Dearborn. Mich.
But until now nothing, so far as
know, to the origin and growth of a
specific industry. During a celebra-
tion beginning next Friday and con-
tinuing over the week end, however,
such specialized memorial will be
dedicated by the State of Pennsylvania
and its charming and interesting town
of Titusville-a park with monument
and a museum in honor of E. l..
Drake the man who drilled the first
well for petroleum-and got it.
Story Is Human.
What story of human curiosity,
love of gamble, pioneer courage, dis
covery and development, of immense
and varied social and material serv-
ices, is this story of petroleum, started
rs years ago, in August, 1859!
Rock oil - petroleum - had been
known and used long before Drake
came to Titusville. Mainly, it had
been a nuisance to drillers of salt
wells, to boatmen on streams. What
Is it good for?''-who could see the
stuff without asking? Men used it
locally to grease the wheels of
wagons and mills. 1t had been roughly
distilled and burned in lamps, but its
only extended use had been as a med
icine: Seneca ola warranted cure
all. the advertisements said-a hum
bug, the skeptical declared.
Research i'm 1855.
- Rock oil had to go to the laboratory
to prove itself. The first scientific re-
port of which I know was made early
In 1855 by a distinguished chemist,
Prof. Benjamin Silliman, jr, of Yale
College. Prof. Silliman had been
asked by certain gentlemen who had
become sufficiently interested in rock
oil to take lease on tract OF land
near Titusville, Pa, for development
to give them an opinion on its value
for economical purposes.
Now Prof. Silliman knew a great
deal about oils of all kinds. He
eagerly and thoroughly examined the
specimens and gave to the inquirers
a report well calculated to excite
them. The gist of it was that if the
substance could be obtained in
quantity 1t had vast commercial pos
sibilities. From it could be made
a luminant better than any in use,
one that was more economical, gave
more uniform light, burned longer.
There were other possibilities. You
could make beautiful candle from
the paraffin in the oil. 1t had i'm
portant qualities for lubricator,"
since it did not gum or become acid
by exposure. 1t resisted extreme cold.
Process Cheap.
Most important was Prof. Silliman's
conclusion that these valuable prod
ucts could be manufactured by simple,
inexpensive and well known processes.
Moreover, nearly the whole of the
raw product could be used without
waste. (Today more than 500 differ
Of arPiQ1
on the market)
But how to get enough rock oil
to light the lamps of the world, to
make its candles and grease its ma
chimes? Certainly 1t could not be
done dipping it from the top Of oil
springs.
Could oil be obtained in quantity?
That was the problem that confronted
the gentlemen.
Oil Well Conceived.
The story goes that one day one
of them, George H. Bissell by name,
walking down Broadway stopped be-
fore a display of bottles of Seneca
oil. On them was a picture of a
salt well. Why not drill for oil as
well as for salt water? After a
good deal of skirmishing over stock
companies, group of New Haven
gentlemen in 1858 succeeded in
launching the Seneca Oil Co.
The story of the stock skirmishing
that took place between Prof. Silli-
mans report in 1855 and the dis
covery" is told in an important and
entertaining pamphlet which has just
come from the Yale press. This
pamphlet was written by Henry H.
Townshend, whose father and uncle
were both active in the Seneca Oil
Co. which sent Drake to Pennsyl-
vania to see If he could find a way
of producing oil in commercial guam
titles.
Willing TO Gamble.
The New Haven gentlemen appar-
emily we're the kind who were willing
to take gamble-wen known names
Pierrepont, NoyeS, Townshend, Bow
ditch, Ives. They all took stock in
the Seneca Oil Co. elected a presi-
dent. VlIc Z. L. Drake. whose chief
occupation hitherto seems to have
been that of a railroad conductor, and
off they sent him out to Northwestern
Pennsylvania to see what he could
do about producing oil in sufficient
quantity to make it worth while to
apply the processes by which Prof.
Silliman declared so many valuable
products could be turned out.
Then followed for President Drake
familiar pioneer story, months of
prospecting and planning; months of
waiting for engines and tools, break
downs, growing impatience and doubt
back in New Haven where the gentle
men backing him, living their safe
and orderly lives had their gamble
In Titusville. people talked lightly of
brakes folly-Save for man or two,
notably one r. D. Fletcher, the lead
ing merchant of the town, who did
think it was worth carrying on; when
New Haven no longer put up money
he himself helped back Drake.
New Industry Found.
And finally there was the oil and
tremendous excitement; a town over
run, men coming from far and awav