------------------------------------------------------------------------ Transcriber’s Note: This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects. Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as _italic_. The columns employed in the list of Portraits and Illustrations have been reduced to a single column. The positions of most illustrations have been adjusted slightly to fall on paragraph breaks. In most cases, any text included in the illustrations has been presented as a caption. Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for details regarding the handling of any textual issues encountered during its preparation. [Illustration: John J. McLaurin.] SKETCHES IN RUDE-OIL _SOME ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OF THE PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT IN ALL PARTS OF THE GLOBE_ WITH PORTRAITS AND ILLUSTRATIONS ---------- BY JOHN J. MCLAURIN, _Author of “A Brief History of Petroleum,” “The Story of Johnstown,” Etc._ [Illustration: decoration] “Write the vision * * * that he may run that readeth it.”—_Habakkuk 11:2 “I heard a song, a mighty song.”—_Ibsen_ “Was it all a dream, some jugglery that daylight might expose?”—_N. A. Lindsey_ “I will a round unvarnish’d tale deliver.”—_Shakespeare_ [Illustration: decoration] _SECOND EDITION—REVISED AND ENLARGED_ ---------- HARRISBURG, PA. PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR 1898 COPYRIGHTED, 1896 COPYRIGHTED, 1898 BY JOHN J. MCLAURIN [Illustration: Dedication] To— my neighbor and friend for many years, a man of large heart and earnest purpose ——HON. CHARLES MILLER—— FRANKLIN. PA., whose sterling qualities have achieved the highest success in life and won the confidence and esteem of his fellows, this Volume is ——Respectfully Dedicated. “_He cometh unto you with a tale which holdeth children from play and old men from the chimney-corner._”—_SIR PHILIP SIDNEY._ “_What is writ is written, would it were better._”—_SHAKESPEARE._ INTRODUCTION