The Volcano lubricator., September 16, 1873, Image 2

About The Volcano lubricator. (Volcano, W. Va.) 1871-1879

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Volcano Lubricator.
T'JESDAY SEPT. 16, -S7j I
3203GB P. SARGENT,
PUBLISHER & PROPRIETOR.
Volcano ll'cst J 'a.
Oil Production o i West Virginia.
The Pnrkersburg Timet., in its Ism:"*
of t'?e 10th $nd :sth insts., has seen tit.
for some reason Jrnownjonly to the ed
itor of that paper, to step one side and
throw at our paper such epithets as,
"want of ?ood faith." "intemperate
wrath," and so on. a:t libiiicm. In re
gard to a", article which we published
in our issue of tiio relative to a j
communication from J. C. Nash, to
the Cincinnati Enquirer , we know not.
neither do we care, what spirits
prompt the redoubtable knight of the
Times, to thus a'rempt to provoke a
di<>cii.sion with us in regard tc this mat
ter; but this we do know, that our ar- I
tide on Mr. Na-h v.as r.ol too severe,
nor was our wrath intemperate, r.cr
can on we sec where there is any
faith in the matter, either good or bad
The Ti.itii savs the coiniiumic:iti'>n
of Mr. Nash was published in July
lust, and seems to intimate that we
*!ept over it a good while. We r.ever
noticed 'lie article until it w>s enclosed
to <?s by a gentleman in the o'l busi
ness, tvr.o was struck with the absurd
ity of the thing, and who thought we
ought to notice it. W*c did, in Ian
guag? that suited us, whether it suited
the Times or not, we don't know, nor
neither do we carc. If we did linger
long over that communiej.::^*; we have
ollered cur o:i!v excuse; but why the
7 /.???? should linger over seven issues
beside one weekly issue, before reply
ing, or attempting to reply, to our ar
ticle, we can only acco'ft for it in one
way, a.id thai we prefer not to do al
present. The Times calls upon us to
prove, b.v giving the actual production
of each well, that the production of
the West Virginia oil .regions is 1,200
barre?> per day. We would state for
the benefit of the Times that what oi!
evh .-in produces is a matter between
himself and the company t-j which he
pays his royalty, and we have neither
tin*? ncr the inclination to thus lay
hare to the eyes of the puhlic'the pri
vate affairs o; the oil operators. Some
times, for the benefit of our readers,
we give a list of the largest producers,
but we never did, nor do wc ever in
fend to, pubii.-h a production of each
well; but we shall endeavor to satisfy
the readers of this paper what the pro
duction oil in V?"e>t Virginia is, with
out resorting to any such plan as is
*u??e?ted by the writer of the two
editorials in the limes of the ioth and
nth insts. To get at this subject
properly we <rive to our readers that
part of the communication from the
Enquirer, written by J. C. Nash, to
wh:-h we took exceptions, in language
as best suited us at the time:
"With the cloce of the war and its
terible rear* the production of oil
in West. Virginia be^an a rapid de
cline, which has continued until the
whole Burning Springs region does
not vielJ one hundred barrel* per day,
an<l tiie White Oak region is doing but
little better. Two vears a^o the most
salient features of cur town presented
to visitors consisted of rows of empty
business houses and tenantlcss shan
t?>s. and great acres of silence where
in was not heard t;is sr.un-i . f at, ham
mer or any tool of iren. A neatly
whitewashed fence to enclose it seemed
all Parkersburg lacked of being fin
ished."
And now for the fac'.s. Fact No. i
? When the war closed there was no*
a producing well in what is known as
the Volcano ( White Oak) cil region
Fact No. 2 ? That since 1S69. the pro
duction of oil in the Volcano oil re
gion has never been less than i;o bar- 1
re!s per da;-, the \ olcanic Oil & Coal |
Co.'s tract alone producing over ia>
barrels per day. In June/71 the produc
tion of the Vc!cr.aic tract amounted
to 3.015 barrels of 40 g.dloas to the
barrel*.; and in th.it month the esti
ra '.ted production of the whole r?g?or- .
outside of Burning Springs, amounted
t<> barrels. So much for the
hundred barrels 0! oil per day in 1S7 1 .
Now we propose to give tbe estimated
production of the oil regions of Voi
cuuc at the present time, and then we
th:nk our readers will agree with u>
that the writer of the communication
to the Enquirer was a consummate
ass to write to that paper a letter on a
subject he knows no more about than
a child. V,"e pltice the estimated pro
duction of oil in West Virginia in the
month of Jul/ at i,coo barrels. We
shall give such figures as are furnished
to us-bv men who knows as much, at
least, about the oi! business as the
Times man knows about publishing a
paper. The average daily production
of the V. O. & C. Co. tract for the
month of July, 1873. amounted to 491
barrc!s per dry; the production of the
Gale & Glanz tract, 150 barrels per
day; the W. Va. O. & O. L. Co. tract,
15S barrels per day; the Jackson, Cow
Creek, Willow Island and Goose Neck
tr icts, 30 barrel* per day , Mount
Farm Oil Co., So barrels per tiny; the j
L. F. O. & C. Co. tract, about 30 bar
rels per day, and ?he Burning Springs j
oil regions, about 90 barrels per day.
To recapitulate:
V. O. & C..Co., ? ? 491 bbls.
Gale & Glanz, - ? - i;o "
W. Va. O. & O. L. Co., - 125 M
Jackson. etc.. - - - 30 "
Mount Farm, - - - So "
L. F. O. & C. Co., ? ? 3?
Burning Springs, - - 90 "
996
Thus we ?cc that the estimated pro
duo? ion 'or the month of July (the j
month the communication appeared)
was 995 barrels per da v. We cannot
see the sense of writing such trash to!
j tl e newspapers as was Nash's commit- ]
nication. We can only think how the oil
brokers in Cincinnati and Chicaso
must have laughed when they read the
statement of Prof. Nash, it they had
the courage to tackle the article. But!
perhaps Nash thought that he was do
ing the oil operators a favor bv thus
misrepresenting the facts. We are no
"bull" nor '"bear," and we know that
all our operators have no objection to
having the actual production of oi!
known It is for their benefit in the |
cr.d. We do not believe but that to
day the oil production in West Vir
ginia is 1.200 barrel*. We have had
several large strikes since July, but we
knve rnl v tnken the trouble to find oat
how much oil was produced in July.
In conclusion, wc would say that we
do not purpose to bother our readers
with this subject again. We shall
make just such strictures in the future I
as we have in the past, on any dolt
who endeavors to write upon a subject |
he knows nothing of; and it our neigh
bor ol" the Times don't like il, why he
can do the next best thing. We do
not publish our paper to please him.
but tor the purpose of making money,
and when we cease to make money,
why. or" course, the business will lose
all it interest to us"; but uulu th.v time
we propose to keep the flag flying.
A Costly Masonic Present.
At a meeting of the Baldwin Chap
ter, No. 17, Royal Arch Masons, of
Newton, New Jersev, the Chapter was
presented with a rich and costly High
Priest's breastplate, bv the organizer
of the Chapter, M. E. Israel Baldwin,
Past Grand High Priest of the Grand
Royal Chapter of Now Jersey, now ?
resident of Newark. Tl;e breastplate
cost $2,5000, and is of white corded
?ilk, ten inches square, embro'dered in
green and gold, rnd set with p.reciotis
stones, eniblematica! of the twf.lve
tribes of Israel. It is very handsome
ly decorated, and is suspended by a
hefcvv gold chain; the stones are set
in gold sockets. I:i the "Cyclopaedia
of Masonry" it is thus described: "A
spiendid pie?.c of ornamental em
broidered cloth, of the same material
of which the ephod was made, re:s
inches square, ar.d worn bv the Jewish
High Priest on his breast, when
dressed in full sacredotal vestments.
The front was set with twelve precious
stor.es. In golden sockets, arranged in
four rows, three in each row, on each
of which was engraved the name of
one of the t velve tiibes of Israel. On
the first row a sardius, red, for Judahr
a topaz, pale green, for Issachar; an
j emei aid, green, for Zebulon. On the
second row, a carbuncle, for Reuben;
a sapphire, deep blue, for Simeon; jas
per, green, clouded with v.hite, for
Gad. On the third row, a ligure, dull
red, for Ephraim; an agate, gray, s lot
ted with different colors, for* Manas
seh; an amethyst, purple, for Benjam
in. On the fourth row, a chrysolite,
pale green, for Dar. ; an onyx, bluish
white, for Asher; a beryl, bluish green.
I for Naphtali. The breastplate was
| double, or composed of two piece*,
forming a kind 01" purse or bag. in
which, according to the learned rabbis
the Urim and Thummin (Light of
Truth), were inclosed. It was fastened
at the four corners: those at the top to
the shoulder, and a golden ring at the
end of a wreathed chain; those below
to the girdle of 'he ephod, bv four blue
ribbons, two at cach corner. This or
nament was never to be severed from
the priestly garments, and it was called
the "Memorial," designed to remind
' the priest how dear those tribes should
be to him whose names he bore upon
his heart. It was also named the
'Breastplate of Judgment,' because it
was believed that by it was discovered
the judgment and the will of God, or
because the High Priest who wore ic
was revered as the fountain of justice,
and put it on when he exercised his
judicial authority in matters of great
importance which concerned the na
uuu
? Hro. Drahosh, of the Times, has
an article in Wednesday's paper about
our strictures on Prot. Nash's article
in the Cincinnati Enquirer, ."bout the*
West Virginia oil regions. We
endeavored to administer a dos<
to you, Bro. Drahosh, that will, we
think, satist y you that ;ve, at least,
have good reasons to believe that the
West Virginia oil regions are no',
quite played out.
Overestimating the Production. 1
It is ^rcneraiiy s?ippos?.ri, says the
Titusville Herald , tliat the constant
striking of large wells in the Lower
River Districts increases our daily pro
duction enormously. Those, however,
who have watched the production
claim that the large strikes of the past
two months have dwindled down to
comparatively insignificant figures.
Wells reported at five hundred and a
thousand barrels each are to-day not
doing one* fourth of that amount, while
a large number of the smaller wells, ol
which the great bulk of the product is
made up, are constantly being shut
down; as an illustration of this latter
fact we may state that Fuyundus Farm
Company have si.ut down twenty
seven wells. At Petroleum Centre
the following farms have entirely shut
down: Funk Flats, Egbert Farm, Body
Farm, Caxton Farm. Skinner Farm,
Phillips, Petroleum Company Farm.
Gillespy Farm. The balance of the
farms aronund Petroleum Centre are
doing about *85 barels, alt told, against
300 barrels two months ago.
A Vessei 109 Years Old.
The Philadelphia Evening Tele
graph of Thursday, says: The bark
True Love, Captain Thomas Wether
ill, has just arrived Irotn Greenland
with a cargo of kryolite, that will be
landed at Greenwich Point in a (lav or
two. This vessel was built in the year
1764, and is consequently one bundled
and nine years old. The sides batter
inward to the top of the gunwale, and
this makes the vessel much broader at
the water line than on deck. In nau
tical language the fides are known a>
"tumbling home," because they fall in
abnvc tiie bends.
This bark was built at Philadelphia,
but it cannot be ascertained with any
degree of certainty at what particular
point. The Custom House register
does not contain the record, because
the vessel was built twelve years be
fore the beginning of the American
Revolution. Ii is most likely that she
was built in Kensington, as it appears
from history that the tirst shipyards on
the Delaware were established in ti.at
locality, not far from the Penn treaty
ground. The bark was built for par
ties residing in Hull, England, and
still hails from that place, and tor for
ty-seven years was engaged in the
whaling business in the Northern seas,
and appeared to be at home among the
icebergsofthe Arctic region. It is un
derstood that the vessel has never re
quired any considerable repairs. The
bark registers 296 tons, but will carry
much more.
How tLe Production is Overes
timated.
Over two weeks ago Hi passing the
Asa Say well, one-half mile south-west
of Greece City. we found that ihc sand
had been penetrated some depth and
the well filled up to some extent with
oil. We telegraphed the news to the
Journal, setting forth that the sand
had been struck and the hole was full
of oi! ? we coulci not see through the
oil to the salt water under it. The well
after the boiler was moved, was drilled
dteper and oil occasionally flowed
t herefrom;. N'ot having occasion to
pass that wav before our last paper
was issued, we made inquiry of differ
ent persons and it was represented to
us as good for 150, 200 and 300 barrels
per day. With such representations
we considered it safe to plare its yield
at 100 barrels daily, and it was accord
ingly estimated and published thus in
our 'ast paper. On passiry by the
well on Th'ursdav last the walking
? . 0
beam was seen to be in motion, when
we rode up to the tank and found the
pump throwing out a stream of oil and
water of about 3'> barrel^ psr day, mak
ing a yield of six or seven barrels of
oil and 24 or 26 barrels of water.
Thus you will perceive that a well
which has been estimated from the
show which it makes at ti e starting
point frequently drops, when the facts
are fully revealed from 100 to six or
seven barrels per day. While this
well has thus far proved almost a fail ?
ure ? worse than a failure, in (act ? it
is an exception to the general rule ?
for a very lar^e majority of wells, yes,
nine out of ten well sunk in the vicin
ity ol Greece City. Modoc, Millers
town and elsewhere in Hutler county,
yield large quantities of oil and keep
up their production for a considerable
length of tin w. ? Oil MlI/i's Journal.
? Brick Pomeroy while making a
speech in Texas was asked by a listener
"What has the northern man done for
Texas?" To which he replied, "'Taken
the weeds out of you fence corners,
raised vegetables, planted fruit trees,
built your largest and best houses, im
ported your finest breed of horses and
cattle, erected nearly every machine
shop, foundry, and mill that you nave
among you. They hare minded their
own buMtiess, and have not disturbed
a large audience by asking foolish
questions. They have striven by hon
est industry to keep ouf of ihe sheriffs
hands and ate thirty feet ahead of the
tax collector."
A Complacent Sham.
| V.'c mo inclined to ni:ree v- it!i the
Wheeling Rcgisttr th.it immigration
will come, ? is already coming ? though
not rapidly ? into West Virginia; but
we set* no reason to assert, as it has
done once or twice, that the States
Legislature can be depended on to give
immigration adequate encouragement.
I The Legislature never lias done any
thin^ in that direction, and never will
till it is composed of different material
from that which has constituted the
majority r f that body thus far in the
history of the State. It has been the
misfortune of the State that it has
been controlled by a body of men who
have lu'd no conception of public en
terprise and who never rose to the
level of a statesmanlike thought of
their duty to legislate for great public
ends. Session after session has been
absorbed by petty schemes to promote
personal or factional objects; and
though ten years have passed, not the
first measure has ever been taken of
sufficient value lo even show that our
Legislatures attached the least impor
tance to the speedy settlement and
development of the State. Yet, in the
face of facts so notorious, the Register
complacently said the o'her day ? after
declaring that "immigration is the one
great ne^d of West Virginia to-day,"
? that"The Sta'e Legislature many be
relied upon to do its part in the work
of inducing immigrants to settle upon
West Virginia soil. Whatever policy
is deemed best will be eagerly adopted
by We?t Virginia." We would like
the Register to tell us what this Legis
lature has done ? what any Legislature
! has done since the formation of the
State; for we do not except Republi
can Legislatures; they showed about
as little appreciation of their duty in
this diieciion their political succes
i sors? to justify the supreme compla
cencv of this assumption. We judge
this Legislature bv what it has done; [
and so judging it see no reason to ex
pect that it will do anything at the |
next sitting that will 1>?: of real value in
hastening the settlement and develop
ment of the State. This State will be
settled and developed in time, in spite
of our own indifference and unwilling*
ness to aid the work, because it pos
sesses very great natural advantages, |
and in the superabundance of popula
tion steadily flowing from the over
crowded countries of the old vorld and
the eastern States of our own country,
some will be continually discovering
these advantages by accident and
crowding in and making their homes
in West Virginia in spite of us. But
this talk about the "eagerness" of our
Legislature, or of our population, as a
mar lis the iuter'or of the State, to
male any serious effort or incur any
adequate expense to bring in strangers
and disturb the present repose of West
Virginia solitudes, has no foundation
I in fact. West Viginia will be invad
ed in time by the steady march of the
great firmv looking for promised lands;
but the invaders will come rather of
jtluir own incsstibfe impulve than
from invitation. In time they will
overrun our hills and valleys, and take
possession of ihe State. The old fo
gyism of these times will be crowded
to the wall, and finally disappear; but
we see no evidence that this generation
of fogies, now in control of the govern
ment of the State, will ever do much
to hasten their own extinction. Per
haps it is their instinct that warns
th^m against their ultimate fate; and
where the higher intelligence is wait*
i ing in*t!:*ct is mighty and ail control
I ling. ? 1 ' ntetligrnrer.
? %
| ? A I! art lord gentleman who had
, tarried late at a wine supper, found
his wile waiting his return, in a high
I state of nervousness, she ? "Here I've
been waiting, and rocking in the chair
till my head spins round like a top!"
'?Je.-> so tvherc I've i>ei-n?' responded
he, "It's in the atmosphere*"
T T. DEVORE,
Z^. ur.ALEX IN'
WATCHES, CLOCKS
JEWELRY,
?SPECTACLES, NOTIONS, Si c.
Watches ^aiul Clocks repai.-ed and
varrantcJ. Every watch or clock
aid warranted lor one year..
Tobacco and Cigars of the finest
orands; Tips and Wheeling stogies.
Italian strings, Cartridges, &c.
Orders promptly attented to and
satisfaction guaranteed.
' Raymond s:, next door to Lubricator.
VOLCANO, WEST VA.
W. S. o'IJRIKK
M. J. O'Brien & Bro.,
MANUFACTURERS AND DEALRRS IN
PORTABLE AND STATIONARY
ENGINES,
Oil Well Tools, Fixtures, Working Barrels, Valves, Sucker
Hods, Gum and Leather Belting, New Bedford
Drilling Cables, and General Assortment
Hope, Packing Tarns, die., <?c.
Also, the largest and most complete Stock of Fittings in this section ol
the country.
Our facilities for Machine Work, style of finish, price, etc., are 6uch that we
defy competition in this line.
?3P We have recently added to our Blacksmith Shop a S TEA M HAM
MER, which enables us (on short notice) to fill all orders with promptness.
We solicit an examination of our stock before purchasing elsewhere.
M. J. O'BRIEN & BRO.,
Lock Box 10, VOLCANO, West Fa.
M.J. O'BRIEN & BRO.
AGENTS FOR WEST VA. FOR
TITUSVILLE MANUFACTURING CO
MANUFACTURERS OF
STEAM ENGINES, BOILERS, STEEL JARS,
OIL WELL TOOLS, RIG IRONS, & C
TITUSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.
W. C. ALLISON & SONS.
Junction Car Works and Flue Mill,
32 & WALNUT STS., PHILADELPHIA, PA.
TUBING AND CASING. '
We call especial attention to Oil operators to our Patent Socket Tub~
hlff which is now being used by operators throughout the country with great
satisfaction.
Best Manufacture of Well Fittings, etc., etc.*
M. J. O'BRIEN & BRO.,
Sole Agents for Ohio and West Va.
JAMES M'CONAHY,
C t )
V
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4->
0)
3
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Clocks and Musical Instruments.
COURT ST. PARKERSBURG, W. VA.
R. J. A. Boreman,
BOOKS,
STATIONERY,
CHROMOS,
MUSIC,
And Fancy Articles.
CORNER COURT SQUARE ? SI AltKET ST. "?
PARKERSBURG. WEST VA.