The Continental Monthly, Vol. 5, No. 2, February, 1864: Devoted To Literature And National PolicyVarious
History
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 5, No. 2, February, 1864: Devoted To Literature And National Policy
Various
Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; United States -- Politics and government -- 19th century -- Periodicals
As to the abundance of the supply in this region, there can be but
little doubt. Wells seem at times to become exhausted, but it is from
local causes. At times a cavity may be tapped that has been supplied
from a very small avenue, and may be readily exhausted, but exhausted
only to be refilled again. The fact that wells do not interfere with
each other, even when but fifty feet apart, is evidence that the supply
is not confined to a limited stratum, but is drawn from the great deeps
beneath. The existence of the ancient oil pits, before alluded to,
assures us that the supply has been continued for centuries; and
observation confirms this, as we have noticed the hitherto unused
treasure bubbling up silently through the crevices in the rocks and
gradually evaporating amid the sands, or arising in the beds of the
streams and floating down upon their surface. The history of the
petroleum trade in other lands encourages us as to the abundance of the
supply in our own. In the northern part of Italy, petroleum has been
collected for more than two hundred years, without any intimation that
the supply is being exhausted. In Burmah a supply has been drawn from
the earth for an unknown period, and so far are these wells from
exhaustion that they yield at the present time over twenty-five millions
of gallons per annum. We may well suppose, then, that the treasure
brought to light in such abundance in our day will not be readily
exhausted--that as the coals are found in illimitable abundance for fuel
as the forests fail, petroleum for illuminating purposes will be found
in like profusion.
We have said that the petroleum trade has known no infancy, but has
sprung at once into maturity. The oil wells of Venango County alone
produced, during the first year of their operation, more oil than the
entire product of the whale fisheries during the most favorable and
prosperous year in their history. At the present time, after a lapse of
little more than two years, the daily product of the wells on Oil Creek
alone is computed to be over six thousand barrels. And in this
neighborhood the quantity might be wellnigh doubled, were it not for the
low price the product commands.
Petroleum differs in its characteristics in different localities. It is
usually heavier in the shallow wells than in those that are deeper.
Ordinarily it is of a greenish hue, that changes to a reddish as the oil
becomes lighter and more evaporative. It is all characterized by a
strong and pungent odor peculiar to itself. The gravity of the various
kinds of oil is ascertained by the oleometer. The lighter oils are found
on Oil Creek, and are about 40 deg. to 46 deg. Baume; at Franklin, from 30 deg. to
32 deg..
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