112 DE. EOBEET BELL ON 



drilled in 1882, and operations were again active in 1883, when some 45,000 barrels were 

 produced; in 1884, 130,000, in 1885, 145,000, and in 1886, 180,000 barrels, or a total of 

 500,000 barrels since the revival. 



The drift clay ofPetroliais so impervioiis that tanks excavated in it and lined with 

 wood are fovmd to be capable of holding the oil, and large quantities of it are stored in 

 this way. These receptacles are circular in plan, and the largest are forty feet in diameter 

 by fifty and sixty in depth, but those of the average size are thirty feet in width by thirty- 

 five feet in depth. They have a total capacity of 600,000 barrels. The largest of them are 

 owned by tanking companies. On November 1st, 1886, ten of them were full, and Mr. W. 

 K. Gibson informed the writer that the aggregate of oil which they then contained was 

 415,000 barrels. The same gentleman gave me the following as the stocks of oil on hand 

 on December 31st, 1885: in tanks at the wells, 36,000 barrels; in the tanking company's 

 tanks, 3*73,504 barrels ; crude oil and its equivalent at the several refineries, 38,372 barrels, 

 or a total of 447,8*76 barrels. At 85| cents per barrel in the tanks, which was the actual 

 mean rate at which crude oil was sold during 1885, this would represent $382,934. The 

 average selling price of the illuminating oil in 1886 was 14| cents per gallon. Formerly 

 the crude oil was sent to London (Ontario), Sarnia, Montreal, and elsewhere, to be refined, 

 but now the whole of it, except about 5 per cent., is treated at Petrolia, in nine distilleries 

 and refineries. The stills are great elongated cylinders, the largest of them capable of 

 holding from 275 to 300 barrels of petroleum. The six stills at the Producers' Works, when 

 in operation, contain 1,600 barrels, or 266 each. These are arranged side by side, to the 

 number of six to twelve or more, on a brick " bench," so that the fire can reach their whole 

 length beneath. The fuel consists of water and the refuse tar, strongly injected together 

 from a nozzle. Mr. James Kerr, who is thoroughly versed in the chemistry of petroleum, 

 and acts as inspector for the refiners, gave me the average commercial constitutents, per 

 cent., of the crude oil of Petrolia, as follows : — 



Naptlia 7.72 



Burning oil of the Government standard 49 .50 



Gas oil 14.74 



Lubricatin»^ or paraffin oil 9.65 



Intermediate oil 4 . 00 



Paraffin wax 1.41 



Hard coke 3 . 75 



Soft coke and waste ■ 9.23 



Total 100.00 



During 1886, the average number of pumping engines at work in the district was 75, 

 or one to every 35 wells. They had an aA'^erage of 18, and a total of 1,350 horse-power. 

 About 30 engines, with an average of 15, or a total of 450 horse-power, were employed in 

 drilling. In addition to these, the refineries, shops, lumber-mills, etc., connected with 

 the oil industry, employed about 50 more engines, with an average of 40 and a total of 

 2,000 horse power, to say nothing of the locomotive power required on the railways, etc., 

 to transport the products. Large numbers of horses are used in hauling the crude and 

 refined oil, the machinery, lumber, and supplies of all kinds required in the business. 

 The total nvimber of men and boys employed in connection with the oil industry of 

 Euuiskillen is about 2,000, and these would represent a population of about 10,000 depeu- 



