Sketches in crude-oil; some accidents and incidents of the petroleum development in all parts of the globe ..

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Introduction

IFE is too short to compile a book that would cover the subject fully, hence this work is not a detailed history of the great petroleum development. Nor is it a mere collection of dry facts and figures, set forth to show that the oil business is a pretty big enterprise. But it is a sincere endeavor to print something regarding petroleum, based largely upon personal observation, which may be worth saving from oblivion. The purpose is to give the busy outside world, by anecdote and incident and brief narration, a glimpse of the grandest industry of the ages and of the men chiefly responsible for its origin and growth. Many of the portraits and illustrations, nearly all of them now presented for the first time, will be valuable mementoes of individuals and localities that have passed from mortal sight forever. If the reader shall find that ** within is more of relish than of cost" the writer of these "Sketches" will be amply satisfied.

SECOND EDITION, 1898

The first edition of five-thousand copies having been exhausted, the second is now issued. The oil-development is progressive, hence numerous illustrations and much new matter are added. Hearty thanks are returned hosts of friends and the public generally for kindly appreciation of the work. Perhaps something not thanks may be due the lonely few who "care for none of these things."

THIRD EDITION, 1902

The third edition consists of the second, with slight changes, and an appendix devoted mainly to recent operations. This will likely end the pleasant task of reviewing petroleum's wide field and "living the old days over again," so it is fitting to pray, with Tiny Tim, "God bless us every one."

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•* hfo man likes mustard by itself. *'— BEN JONSOS.

** He bas carried every point tobo bos mixed the useful with the agreeable" — HORACE.

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CONTENTS. .

Pages

Chapter I. The Star In The East 1-14

Petroleum in Ancient Times — Known from an Early Period in the World's History — ^Mentioned in the Scriptures and by Primitive Writers — Solomon Sustained — Stumbling Upon the Greasy Staple in Various Lands — Incidents and Anecdotes of Different Sorts and Sizes — Over Asia, Africa and Europe.

Chapter II. A Glimmer In The West 15-24

Numerous Indications of Oil on this Continent — Lake of Asphaltum — Petroleum Springs in New York and Pennsylvania — How History is Manufactured — Pioneers Dipping and Utilizmg the Precious Fluid — Tombstone Literature — Patnetic Episode^-Sing^lar Strike — Geology Tries to Explain a Knotty Point.

Chapter III. Nearing The Dawn 27-40

Salt-Water Helping Solve the Problem — Kier's Important Experiments — Remarkable Shaft at Tarentum — West Virginia and Ohio to the Front — The Lantern Fiend — WTiat an Old IVfap Showed — Kentucky Plavs Trumps — The Father of Flowing Wells — Sundry Experiences ana Observations at Various Points.

Chapter IV. Where The Blue-grass Grows 43-58

Interesting Petroleum Developments in Kentucky and Tennessee — The Famous American Well — A Boston Companv Takes Hold — Providential E^ape — Regular Mountain Vendetta — A Sunday Lynching Party — Peculiar Phases of Piety — An Old Woman's Welcome — Warm Reception — Stories of Rustic Simplicity.

Chapter V. A Hole In The Ground 61-80

The First Well Drilled for Petroleum— The Men Who Started Oil on Its Triumphant March — Colonel Drake's Operations — Setting History Right — How Titusville was Boomed ana a Giant Industry Originated — Modest Beginning of the Greatest Enterprise on Earth — Side Droppings that Throw Light on an Important Subject.

Chapter VI. The World's Lubricant 83-114

A Glance at a Pretty Settlement— Evans and His Wonderful Well — Heavy Oil at Franklin to Grease all the Wheels in Creation — Origin of a Popular Phrase — Operations on French Creek — Excitement at Fever Heat — Galena and Signal Oil-Works — Rise and Progress of a Great Industry — Crumbs Swept Up.

Chapter VII. The Valley Of Petroleum 117-154

Wonderful Scenes on Oil Creek — Mud and Grease Galore — Rise and Fall of Phenomenal Tov^tis — Shaffer, Pioneer and Petroleum Centre — Fortune's Queer Vagaries — ^Wells Flowing Thousands of Barrels — Sherman, Delamater and ** Coal-Oil Johnnie" — From Penury to -^ Riches and Back — Recitals that Discount Fairy-Tales.

Chapter VIII. Picking Ripe Cherries 157-170

Juicy Streaks Bordering Oil Creek— Famous Benninghoff Robbery — Close Call for a Fortune-City Set Upon a Hill — ^Allemagooselum to the Front— Cherry Run's Wliirligig— Romance of the Reed Well— Smith and McFate Farms — Pleasantville, Shamburg and Red Hot — Experiences Not Unworthy of the Arabian Nights.

Chapter IX. A Gourd In The Night 173-188

The Meteoric City that Dazzled Mankind — From Nothing to Sixteen- Thousand Population in Three Months — First Wells and Fabulous Prices — Noted Organizations at Pithole — ^A Foretaste of Hades — Excitement and Collapse — Speculation Run Wild — Duplicity and Disappointment^The Wild Scramble for the Almighty Dollar.

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X CONTENTS.

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Chapter X. Up The Winding River 191-210

Along the Allegheny from Oil Creek — The First Petroleum Company's Big Strike — Ruler of President — Fagundas, Tidioute and Triumph Hul — The Economites — Warren and Forest — Cherry Grove's Bombshell — Scouts and Mjrstery Wells — Exciting Experiences in the Middle Field — Draining a Juicy Section of Oildom.

Chapter XI. A Bee-line For The North 213-230

The Great Bradford Region Looms Up — Miles of First-Class Territory — Leading Operators— John McKeown's Millions — Many Lively Towns — Over the New-York Border — All Aboard for Richburg-KTrossing into Canada — Shaw's Strike — The Polar Region Plays a Strong Hand in the Game of Tapping Nature's Laboratory.

Chapter XII. Down The Zig-zagged Stream 233-256

Wliere the Allegheny Flows — Reno Contributes a Generous Mite — Scrubgrass Has a Short Inning — Bullion Looms Up with Dusters and Gushers — A Peep Around Emlenton — Foxburg Falls into Line — Through the Clarion District — St. Petersbui^g, Antwerp, Turkey City and E^?town — Edenburg Has a Hot Time — Parker on Deck.

Chapter XIII. On The Southern Trail 259-290

Butler's Rich Pastures Unfold Their Oleaginous Treasures — The Cross- Belt Deals Trumps — Petrolia, Karns City and Millerstown — Thorn Creek Knocks the Persimmons for a Time — McDonald Mammoths Break All Records — Invasion of Washington — Green County Has Some Surprises — Gleanings of More or Less Interest.

Chapter XIV. More Oysters In The Stew 293-308

Ohio Calls the Turn at Mecca — Macksburg, Marietta, Lima and Findlay Heard From — West Virginia Not Left Out — Volcano's Early Risers — Sistersville and Parkersburg Drop In — Hoosiers Come Out of Their Shell — Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming, Texas and California Help Flavor the Petroleum Tureen.

Chapter XV. From The Well To The Lamp 311-342

Transporting Crude-Oil by Wagons and Boats — Unfathomable Mud and Swearing Teamsters — Pond Freshets — Establishment of Pipe- Lines— ■ National-Transit Company and Some of Its Officers — Speculation in Certificates — Exchanges at Prominent Points — The Product That Illumines the World at Various Stages of Progress.

Chapter XVI. The Literary Guild 345-380

Clever Journalists Who Have Catered to People of the Oil-Regions — Newspapers and the Men Who Made Them — Cultured Writers, Poets and Authors — Notable Characters Portrayed Briefly — Short Extracts from Many Sources — A Bright Galaxy of Talented Thinkers — Words and Phrases that Will Enrich the Language for all Time.

Chapter XVII. Nitroglycerine In This 383-406

Explosives as Aids to the Production of Oil — The Roberts Torpedo Monopoly and Its Leaders — Unprecedented Litigation — Moonlighters at Work — Fatalities from the Deadly Compound — Portraits and Sketches of Victims— Men Blown to Fragments — Strange E^apes — The Loaded Porker— Stories to Accept or Reject.

Chapter XVIII. The Standard Oil-company 409-426

Growth of a Great Corporation — Misunderstood and Misrepresented — Improvements in Treating and Transporting Petroleum — Why Many Refineries Collapsed — Real Meaning of the Trust — What a Combination of Brains and Capital has Accomplished — Men Who Built Up a Vast Enterprise that has no Ex^ual in the World.