A LAMPFUL OF OIL.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume II, Issue 208, 13 October 1888, Page 3

A LAMPFUL OF OIL.

From Harpers Magazine (Continued.) It will course*. be understoo ' that these wells, by their extent if large, or their failure if dry, exercised a potent m » immedia'e influence upon th** market for oil, as well as the valneof the contiguous land. The scouts, in their haste to advise their principals of important events had some exciting races to the neares' telegraph office. The telegraph companies themselves had some exciting races to see which should first reach the wells. One company ran a wire into aamdl coal bin belonging to a country school-hon*e, and there receive d ad despatched as many as f hree hundred messages per day. A few days later < rival company opened an office in a portable canvas tent about twenty feet from an important well that was nearing completion. The climax of this competition of telegraph companies “at the front” was reached when the P< stal Company impro vised a perambulating office in an omn bus, and a little later strung a wire to a frontier we'l in Thorn Creek district, place i their initrume its on a stump, and opened an out door office. In tne ear’y days trading was largely confined to those who really wanted the article for shipment, refining, and exportation. The acc mutated s ock was then very light, and there were stxrt ing fluctuations in prices The first product of the Drake well sold for $2O per barrel of 42 gallons. In 1830 it via sold down to $2 or ®3 per barrel. The extremes in 1861 were $lO early iu the year, and 10 cents in the autumn, when the prothe big fljwing wells w<s running toVKite In March, 1862, prices ranged between 25 and 50 cents per barrel, but eight months later, owing to declining production, inceasing consumption, and im proved facilities for handling the oil, the price advanced to $4. In June, 1864, oil was sold at 812 per barrel, but the average for the decade 1863-73 was somewhere between $3 and $5. In January, 1873, the highest price was 62 90, but by the next December it had lost the two dollars and was selling for 90 cents per barrel. In December, 1876, it reached $-1 23| but by September 27. 1878, it was off to 78| cents. When the magnitude of the Bradford field fairly dawned upon the oil trade, a permanent redaction in values occurred. This downward tendency was accelerated by the added production of the Allegany field, but the greatest depression in prices since the glutted markets of 1861 62 was occas oned by Che ry Grove But when it was dis covered that Cherry Grove was doomed to a rapid exhaustion, oil mounted npward from 49} cents, to which it had declined July 6. 1882, to $1 37 on November 6 following.

The bubble of high prices burst, and the market which c’osed at £1 08£ on the evening of December 12, sold as low as 89+ cents the next day and within a few days declined ■till further to 75 cents. This panic was due to the opening of a “ gusher ” at four o'clock , the preceding evening in a new district called Balltown. The Wall Street panic in the spring and early summer of 1884 involved relatively heavier losses to the oil trade than to traders In the markets for railway stocks, cotton, or grain. Oil which sold at 81 o*2} on the 6th of May. the day the Marine Bank failed, touched 50} on June 21. Thus the value in the open market of a great staple commercial product was cut in two within six weeks On those perilous, exciting days when the petroleum exchanges were converted into slaughterhouses, terror was depicted on every countenance, and the stoutes* hearts were paralyzed with the overwhelming disaster that swept autay margins, capital, and credit. Within the past few mo--ths the strength of th** static ical positi n hss made c-ude petroleum firm in price at 81 per barrel and upward. In the early da.* s trading was done wherever men congregated in the oil regions— at the wells, on railway trains, in telegraph offices, hotels, streets, and public places. As ks November. 1863, an exchange was organised at Petro’eum Centre. In 1869-70 there were no common marketplaces, though not regularly organised exchanges, in Oil City and Pittsturg. In 1871 an exchange was established at Titusville The first successful Petroleum Exchange was created in Oil City on February 7, 1874, New York followed in 1877, Pittsburg in 1878, and Bradford iu 1879 Until within two years Oil C’ty exercised an autocratic influence in fixing the price of oil, and its quotations were the standard of value. It is a singular and unique fact that an interior town, with a small popu'a ion, moderate banking facilities, and no ’onger the centre of any important producing interests, should so long have held its commanding position. As a rural speculative centre it is positively withon parallel. Virginia Hty, Nevada, located immediately above the colossal silver mines pf the Comstock lode, and four or five imes as large as Oil City, never aspired to an pretensions a- a m rket place fnr shares Up to the winter of 1882-83 the o<iginal New York Petroleum Exchange was of no influence in the oil trade. It then moved to enlfrge quarters, and trebled its membership t 600. At thb time the National Petroleum Ex« hang was organised, with 500 members, and simultaneously the New York ML ing St' ck Exchange, with nearly 500 members, began trading in petroleum. In April, 1883, the two latter exchanges were consolidated, and on May 1. 1885, the old Petroleum Exchange was merged with the consolidated board, forming the Consolidated Stock and Petroleum Exchange. The present organ - sation has 2117 members, pays 68000 upon the death of each as life insurance, has cash reserves of over half a million dollars, and now establishes the market price for petroleum. The clearances in the New York market in 1884 aggregated over 5,500,000,000 barrels about 150 times the total product above ground Having b iefly reviewed the growth of tho industry and its accompanying speculation, we may now glance at the methods employed in producing, transporting, and refining oil. Prospectors in selecting a promising spot to test new territory are often influenced by a “ belt theory ” first advanced by a man named Angell. In a general way his idea has been verified upen the hypothesis that oil lies in belts or pools having & northeast and sooth west trend, sometimes called the 0 forty-five degree lire.” In districts known to be oil-bearing the wells are frequently located near the boundary of the owner's properly. The object is to (irain as much of his neighbour's oil as possible, for there are no partitions in the subterranean chambers corresponding to the lines of surface owner: ■hip. The driller’s motto is “first come, first served,” hence there is generally a race to see who shall first tap nature's till. When the exact spot for the well has been determined upon, a wel’-hole is dug about fifteen in depth, and If solid rock is not

leached, a wrought iron p’pe e ? ght to twelve Inches in diameter is driven down to it. Above this is erected the ‘‘derrick.” a pyramidal structure of heavy timbers, generally seventy-two feet in height. At each ■ide is located a fifteen to 1 wen y horse power engine, which operates a walking beam, to Which is attached a heavy cable and the drilling apparatus. This consists of four parts. The upper one is called the “ sinker bar,” about eighteen feet in length ; then the •• auger stem.” about thirty feet long, of 3} inch cold rolled steel; and finally, at the end of this is a “ bit ” three feet in length. Thus equipped, steam is turned on, and the ponderous weight of 2000 toBooo pounds, alternately raised and dropped, $9 in a pile-driver, drives the bit into the rock at the average rate of ■ilty to one hundred feet daily. After drilling for some time the tools are hoisted and a fresh bit inserted. Meanwhile a “ ►and pump,” or “ bailer,” a cylindrical tube with valves opening inward, H dropped down the hole to remove detritus or water. A “ casing” is fitted snugly to the walls of the well to keep out the water; and when it is necessary to pump the oil, the well is tubed. The tube is about two inches in diameter, around which a rubber packer is inserted just above the oil and gas bearing rock, fbis cuts off the escape of the gas, forcing it up through the tube, and causing the well to flow. The bore of the well varies from eight to six inches, and its depth varies with the geological formation, averaging perhaps 1200 to 1500 feet, and sometimes reaching 2500 • The cost of a well naturally depends up -n ita location, depth, and character of rock. The owner generally erects the derrick, engine, and tank, at an average expense of and tbeh contracts with a driller to luraUh the tools tnd sink the Well. Thji

charge will proba ly average sixty cents per foot. It is perhaps safe to say that wells in the larger fields average in cost fr m $2,500 to $3OOO

Torpedoes, which were first introduced about 1865, were received with disk ust but are now in general use, and have become a necessary part of the cquipm- nr of a well. They are ciyindrical tubes, varying in size, but generally eight inches in length and four in diameter, cout iuing fluid nitro glycerine. These torpedoes are carefully lowered into the wells and exploded by dropping . 20-pound cast-iron weight upon them from above. The explosion shatter? the wails, giving a greater exposure of surface to draw oil from, thus stimulating the wells and increasing their production. Though this treatment hastens the exhaustion of a well, it is believed by many that the amount of oil obtained exceeds what would otherwise be procured. At first only five or six quarts of nitro glycerine were introduced, but now it is no unusual thing to employ 120 to 200 quarts of glycerine, equal to 3,210 to 5,400 pounds of gunpowder. This explosive has often been used with tartliug results, notably in the autumn of 1884. The Armstrong well No. 2at Thorn Creek, in the vicinity of several “gushers,” was drilled through to the pay sand, and find'Dg no oil, ou October 25 it was pronounced dry The result of this annnouncetneoc was elt in the oil market which advanced from 73 to 81| cents. On the eveni*»g of the 27th a large charge of nitro-gly-e vine was exploded in it, and instantly a tremend< us stream of oil gushtd forth, putting five hundr d barrels in the tank duri g the fir.it hour. This was the largest well ever opened in this country, and has since been surpassed by only one of its neighbors. The effect of this torpedo was almost as instantaneous in the market as in the well, and early the next morning ihe price dropped like a plummet to 64g cents. TO BE CONTINUED.