580 



PETROLEUM. 



ments have been made for the exportation of 

 the product, and in the first 4 months of 1861 

 there were exported from New York alone 

 73,837 gallons. From January 1, 1862, to 

 May 28, the exports from Kew York amount- 

 ed to 2,854,515 gallons ; from Boston, to the 

 24th of April, to 152,894 gallons ; from Phila- 

 delphia, 781,930 gallons ; and from Baltimore, 

 10,850 gallons. The great bulk of these ex- 

 portations is to London and Liverpool, but 

 large quantities have also been sent to Havre, 

 Australia, Cuba, &c. The character of the 

 crude oil preferred in market is of the density 

 of 40 to 43 Baume when obtained by pump- 

 ing, or of 45 to 50 of oil from flowing wells. 

 The standard refined oil is of 44 to 45 B. An- 

 other test recently introduced is the tempera- 

 ture at which the oil ignites on the close ap- 

 proach of flame, and that is preferred which 

 thus takes fire when heated to 100 to 120 F. 

 A convenient instrument for applying this test 

 has lately been invented. Oils of light color con- 

 tinue to be preferred for domestic use, although 

 the darker colored possess higher illuminating 

 properties, and are sold at lower rates. The 

 value of the best refined is from 20 to 25 cents 

 per gallon. 



Several interesting circumstances have at- 

 tended the opening of the wells of Oil Creek and 

 vicinity. The oil, when first struck, has in 

 several instances been known to burst forth 

 with great violence from a depth of 400 or 500 

 feet, and be projected like a fountain high into 

 the air, covering the trees and the surface 

 around ; and it is now a necessary precaution 

 to construct beforehand large vats where there 

 is a strong probability of striking the oil. 

 These, however, are often overflowed, and 

 much oil is lost before the current can be con- 

 trolled. A well of this character, 6^ miles 

 above the mouth of Oil Creek, after running 

 for some time, was gauged in March, 1862, by 

 noting the time it took to fill a vat of the ca- 

 pacity of 260 barrels, and it was found to yield 

 at the rate of 3,740 barrels a day. To prevent 

 the oil running to waste, means were adopted, 

 at this as well as at other wells of the same 

 character, of checking the flow by stopcocks ; 

 and for 3 months after gauging, no perceptible 

 diminution has been observed in the product 

 of this well when it was allowed to flow. Its 

 depth . is 470 feet. The outburst of oil has in 

 several instances been attended with disastrous 

 explosions from the ignition of the oily vapors 

 and carburetted gas accompanying them, on 

 reaching the flames of the fires under the steam- 

 boilers near the wells. The danger of this is so 

 imminent, that all fires immediately around are 

 now instantly extinguished on the outburst of 

 an oil well. 



The probable duration of the supplies of pe- 

 troleum, and consequently of the great business 

 it has suddenly called into existence, is a ques- 

 tion of no little interest and importance. The 

 experience of the only known similar regions in 

 other parts of the world, as that of Rangoon in 



Burmah, and of Bakoo in Georgia, on the bor- 

 ders of the Caspian, which for many centuries 

 have continued to furnish inexhaustible sup- 

 plies of natural oil, encourages the expectation 

 that the American supplies will also prove per- 

 manent ; and. it may be added, that the result 

 of the operations carried on upon a gigantic 

 scale up to the present time, favors the same 

 conclusion. Various estimates have been pre- 

 pared at different times, representing the prob- 

 able production of the several oil districts ; but 

 while little dependence can be placed upon the 

 figures presented, the inference may be drawn 

 from them that single wells, from a variety of 

 causes, fluctuate in their yield ; and that a con- 

 siderable decrease has taken place from the 

 enormous production of the flowing wells. The 

 entire failure of these would no doubt prove a 

 benefit to the region, as it would tend to equal- 

 ize the production, and place the great mass of 

 the operators upon the same footing, as all 

 would then depend alike upon pumping for 

 their supplies. The business is now chiefly 

 concentrated on Oil Creek, within 10 miles 

 from its mouth, where nearly 500 wells have 

 been sunk, of which about 75 are flowing. 

 In a carefully-prepared statement of 113 wells 

 in this district, brought down to June 2, 1862, 

 their total product is estimated at 1,032,100 

 barrels, with a present daily capacity of 5,037 

 barrels. Fifty of these wells are rated as 

 producing nothing, and the highest present 

 yield of any one is 1,000 barrels. Only 3 

 are rated as being of this capacity, and only 

 1 other as high as 800 barrels. Their total 

 capacity, when they commenced to floAv, was 

 estimated at 26,480 barrels per day. The 

 amount of oil in store is said to be 67,700 

 barrels. The present product would be much 

 greater, were not the yield of most of the flow- 

 ing wells checked by stop-cocks, the propri- 

 etors finding it for their interest to wait for 

 more remunerative prices. 



The applications of petroleum are chiefly 

 limited to purposes of illumination, and lubri- 

 cating machinery, and for the latter purpose 

 the consumption is already large upon rail- 

 roads. Naphtha, separated by distillation from 

 the petroleum, is employed to a considerable 

 extent as a substitute for spirits of turpentine 

 by the manufacturers of patent leather, in the 

 preparation of paints and varnishes, and as a 

 solvent for india-rubber, &c. A novel use of 

 the crude article has lately been introduced, 

 under an order from the United States Govern- 

 ment, for filling bomb-shells ; its effect, when 

 these are exploded, being similar to that of the 

 ancient Greek fire. The greatest impediment 

 in the use of the oil for domestic purposes, has 

 been the difficulty of obtaining lamps in which 

 it could be consumed without the use of a 

 chimney. Many inventors have been experi- 

 inenting, with the object of providing such 

 lamps, and this seems at last to have been at- 

 tained in several of novel construction and 

 great ingenuity. 



