ii8 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



200,000 acres. Ohio and "West Virginia also contribute something 

 to the general oil-supply. 



To whatever cause the formation of petroleum is due (and it is gen- 

 erally attributed to the decomposition under enormous pressure of vast 

 deposits of animal and vegetable matter), it is now ascertained that it 

 exists in rocks of nearly all geological ages. Upper and Lower Devo- 

 nian, Silurian, and Tertiary, have all been proved to be oleif erous. One 

 thing worthy of note is, that the springs are generally found near the 

 base of great hills. We have already seen that those of Venezuela lie 

 among the spurs of the Cordilleras. Those of Pennsylvania lie chiefly 

 near the AUeghanies, and the great oil-region of the Casi:)ian is over- 

 shadowed by the Caucasus. 



In the year 1876 (seventeen years after Colonel Drake had bored 

 his first well) it was estimated that 20,000 wells had been sunk in Penn. 

 sylvania and West Virginia at a cost of -$190,000,000, the oil produced 

 being valued at $300,000,000 at the wells — cost of carriage to the sea- 

 board adding one fourth to the value of an oil-cargo. In 1879 the pro- 

 duction of oil in the United States was estimated at about 15,000,000 

 barrels, equal to 600,000,000 gallons. In 1880 upward of 400,000,000 

 gallons, valued at $46,000,000, were exported from the States, irre- 

 spective of the enormous home consumption. 



Very remarkable is the organization whereby an elaborate system 

 of iron pipes connects all the wells in the most remote districts of Pe- 

 trolea with enormous tanks, wherein the oil from many wells is stored^ 

 and is thence conveyed by main pipes to the nearest railway-station, 

 where it runs into another series of great reservoirs, thence to be trans- 

 ferred to the locomotive tanks or oil-wagons. These are cylinders re- 

 sembling great steamboat funnels laid lengthwise on the wagon. 

 From the center of each cylinder rises a large iron cupola, constructed 

 to allow for the expansion of the oil should it become heated. Such 

 wagon-trains are about as dirty and greasy looking concerns as can 

 well be imagined. 



In many cases their services are dispensed with, and the main pipes 

 — which have a diameter of from four to six inches — are carried direct 

 to the great refineries. One of these at Cleveland is one hundred and 

 seven miles distant from the wells which feed it ; another at Buffalo 

 is distant seventy-eight miles ; and that at Pittsburg is thirty-eight 

 miles from its source of supply. Two great main pumps are led three 

 hundred miles to Bayonne on the seaboard of New York Bay, and there 

 deliver their cargo ready for shipping. Pumping-engines working at 

 intervals of twenty-five miles give an impetus to the flow of these oil- 

 streams. 



This pipe business is all in the hands of two great companies ; and 

 some idea may be formed of the vast scale on which they work, from 

 the fact that the principal company — distinguished as " The United 

 Pipe Lines Company" — owns three thousand miles of pipes, and 



