PETROLEUM 375 



in the field. The wells were not reopened for several years, 

 when they were found to be unproductive. 



In the early history of petroleum production it became 

 necessarv^ to find some other means of transporting the crude 

 oil to the railroads and the navigable streams tlian in barrels 

 conveyed by wagons. The measure adopted was the pipe 

 Ime system, the success of which gradually displaced, in a 

 great measure, transportation by rail and boat, and developed 

 a new and remarkably cheap and efficient system of trans- 

 portation for both the crude and refined product. Pipe lines 

 have proved indispensable to the general industry of petro- 

 leum and natural gas. The fact that the manufacturer could 

 supply at a reasonable price wrought iron pipe in sizes up to 

 eight inches in diameter which would stand 1,000 to 1,500 

 pounds pressure to the square inch, and had almost perfect 

 joints, has aided greatly the economical collection and dis- 

 tribution of petroleum in all the producing regions. 



The first petroleum from Oil creek was shipped in barrels 

 made of oak staves banded with hoop iron. The penetrating 

 and salient nature of crude petroleum made it difficult to 

 manufacture barrels that would retain it, even after these 

 barrels had been coated inside with hot glue. The difficulty 

 of returning the barrels when empty, the uncertainty of their 

 condition and the liability to loss by this method of transpor- 

 tation, made it very unsatisfactory, and a source of annoy- 

 ance to shippers and transportation companies. 



About the year 1865 railroads put wooden tanks or tubs 

 for carrying crude petroleum in each end of box cars, a car 

 thus equipped holding from 2,000 to 4,000 gallons. While 

 this improvement was being made by the railroads, trans- 

 portation by the Allegheny river was also greatly improved 

 by the use of bulk oil boats. These boats, each of which held 

 from 1,500 to 2,000 barrels, were made 130 feet long, 22 feet 

 broad, from 3J to 4^ feet in depth and were divided into 8 

 watertight compartments. These were loaded at Oil City 

 and floated dowTi the river to the refineries to Freeport, Pitts- 

 burg, Rochester, Mingo, "\ATieeling, Marietta, and Parkersburg. 

 The latter pouits also received crude petroleum transported 

 in bulk boats from Burning Springs on the Little Kanawha 



