62

IDEA SLOWLY DEVELOPED.

merable channels, cut through the living rock by the Creator's hand, and by "paths which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen," is that treasure brought to the earth's surface, just in our time of need. When other supplies are failing, and other resources giving way, we see God's wisdom manifested in opening up new channels. The great Benefactor would teach us that however straitened we may be, he is never confined, that his resources are unlimited, that for every emergency in our history there is provision made, and that our time of need is but the beginning of his overflowing bounty.

CHAPTER VI.

FIRST IMPORTANT DISCOVERY.

Ir is really strange how slow men were to discover the abundance of this supply, and to trace it to its luxuriant deposit amid the rocks. While it was literally forcing itself upon their observation, it was only by a roundabout process they discovered its richness and importance. It had been hitherto used almost exclusively as a medicinal agent, but gradually necessity was forcing it into use as an illuminator under certain circumstances. Above and around the oil valley the lumber business occupied the attention of many. In the saw mills work was often carried on at night, rendering artificial light necessary. Some practical sawyer re

VENANGO PHYSICIAN-BOLD THEORY.

63

solved to try the experiment of burning Seneca Oil, as it was still called, in the mill. The mill being an open. structure, the huge volume of smoke, that arose from the flame was no particular objection, and the light was tolerably satisfactory. Thus the pressure began to be applied to the idea, and the stimulus was having its effect.

Perhaps the first real conception of the modern petroleum business, had its origin in the mind of a young physician in the Venango region. It was certainly a natural one, yet withal original. Yet it was but a dream, and, like many another dream of the past, it was in advance of the age, and resulted in nothing but speculation. From boyhood he had been familiar with oil developments, as they have been described in these chapters, and now that a demand was increasing above the supply, his mind was attracted anew to the subject. In looking at the numerous slight veins of oil that oozed up along the bed of Oil creek and the Allegheny river, the thought occurred to him, that by tracing these little veins to their source the main artery might be reached. And as this tracing must be through the rock, the proper plan would be to bore down through it, until a large vein or perhaps the main artery was reached. Here was the whole modern oil business in a nutshell-the bud nicely rolled up in its folds that has developed into such a luxuriant flower. The process of reasoning was certainly professional, and, now that it has been tested, seems a very plain, simple idea. But it was like the theory of Columbus in regard to a new continententirely too bold for the times, and was rejected as pure speculation. There was in this physician's theory but one link lacking in order to have anticipated the entire

64

FAILURE TO PROFIT.

scheme of oil production, as it was afterwards generally carried on. The idea did not suggest itself to him that the lands along the valley of Oil creek might be leased for oil purposes, and thus his embryo idea be carried out to his profit; he thought only of purchase. And as physicians in the oil valley at that time could not command the capital that some of them can at the present, the scheme was abandoned, and the idea was lost as far as the bold originator was concerned. The idea, however, was a brilliant one, and entitles its author to be classed among the long line of those who have dreamed without realizing the vision, and who have sown valuable seed without reaping the harvest. Nor is this the only instance in which the bold thinker and the enterprising theorist have failed of entering upon the enjoyment of the substantial benefits. Those who have reaped the golden harvest, and gathered most freely the luxuriant sheaves now so thickly strewn throughout the oil valley, have generally been those who have entered secondhand upon the work, and taken the places of earlier but less fortunate laborers. Many an old well, whose derrick is now falling to decay, and underneath which lies buried, worthlessly to him, all the available means of many an honest, industrious farmer or mechanic throughout the land, will yet yield a golden harvest, when some person of capital shall have undertaken its thorough development. Many an honest, enterprising man, in traveling over the oil region, may say with the old Bard of Mantua, "Sic vos non vobis nidificatis aves.

As early as the year 1835, the presence of petroleum amid the rocks was made known on the Allegheny river, a short distance above Pittsburgh, by its interference with the salt wells, but no dream of its future impor

tance seems to have forced itself upon either the miner or the capitalist until within the last few years. There is one notable instance of this fact. A salt well had been pumped for salt water for years, without the presence of petroleum. With the intention of securing a greater supply of water, a larger tube was inserted and a more powerful engine applied, when, to the astonishment of the proprietor, in a day or two, petroleum in considerable quantity made its appearance. Perhaps many an operator in the oil region at the present time may take a hint from this idea that will be of practical importance.

In the meantime, artificial oil had begun to be produced in large quantities from different minerals, principally, however, from cannel coal, by the process of destructive distillation. This oil was refined and deodorized, and found to be a valuable illuminator. Cannel coal is found largely in Beaver county, in the western part of Pennsylvania; also in Butler and Venango counties. It is peculiarly rich in oil, a single ton yielding by distillation forty gallons of oil. The process was carried on by placing the coal in huge iron retorts, inclined at a small angle to the horizon, and applying heat. About the year 1858, this business began to assume a vast and growing importance, and capital began to seek it out with great avidity. Cannel coal was inquired for, and lands on which it was found rose rapidly in price. In Venango, near to the oil valley, it came to the recollection of a farmer, that, in digging a well for water, the workmen had come upon a singular stratum of laminated black rock. Its value was unknown, and the only purpose to which it had been applied was in the manufacture of covers for the good housewife's milk

66

MORE SPECULATIONS.

crocks. The new inquiries brought to light the fact that the strange substance was cannel coal, and the land was sold at a good price.

A spirit of inquiry and investigation was excited. It was ascertained that this artificial oil, the product of distillation, was almost identical with the natural oil of the valleys-that the latter might be distilled and deodorized by the same processes as the other, and if found in sufficient quantities, be produced at less expense, and become a source of comfort and wealth to the country. The manner of collecting the natural oil was thought over and discussed. The mode adopted in bygone ages was considered by many-that of excavating numerous oil pits and collecting with blankets; but the process seemed tedious and expensive, and hardly remunerative; in addition to this, the finer portion of the oil was in danger of passing away by evaporation, owing to so large an extent of surface being exposed to the action of the atmosphere. As the earlier inhabitants had collected it this did not so much matter, the heavier portions of the oil being most desirable for their purposes; but as an illuminator, it was of the highest importance that the finer portions should be preserved as far as possible.

The grand idea, however, was struggling towards the light. It could not be retarded. If oil, now so greatly desired, bubbled up through concealed clefts in the rocks, why might it not be found in large quantities by boring, in favorable localities, deep into the very rock that was conjectured to be its home? Why not storm the rock-bound castle, and at once seize upon the prize? And if discovered in some localities while boring for salt water, where there had been no outside manifesta