1897 



GMvANINGS IN BKE CULTURE. 



(85 



more are almost dry wells. The gas :uiil oil 

 are fouiul at a depth of from 'JSOO to :i(»(lO feel. 

 luiou.vjh {j^as has been found in the locality to 

 run all tlie entwines, and th?re is (juite a sys- 

 tem of pi])inij to carry the gas to wherever a 

 new well is being put down. Another system 

 of pi]>es, to carry water, is also needed. 



Hefore we reached ihe big well I was so 

 used up by climbing hills that I told friend 

 \'ankirk I coidd not go any further and keep 

 uj) enthusiasm until I had had my regular 

 nap. We found a place where a new dining- 

 hall had just been put up ; and I tell you I 

 had a real nice dinner with the well-drillers. 

 I believe they are mostly rather rough in their 

 manners and talk ; but friend \'. (you remem- 

 ber about the Sunday-school, building and all, 

 that I told you he was largely instrumental in 

 starling) found an opportunity at the dinner- 

 table to discover one or more of the boys who 

 had attended the revival meetings ; and I tell 

 you it was refreshing indeed to find even in 

 that crowd that there were at least a few W'ho 

 loved the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. 



I had a very refreshing nap in a new room 

 made of rough pine boards; and before taking 

 my nap it was my privilege to pray that the 

 spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ might find a 

 lodging-place in the hearts of those who were 

 delving away down in the depths of the earth 

 for these hidden treasures that God has placed 

 there for his beloved children. 



By the way, it seems a little queer that there 

 are just as many wells, if not more, clear up 

 on the tops of the hills, than there are down 

 in the valleys. When we think of the extra 

 labor required to pull timbers and great heavy 

 iron pipes and massive drills up on to the tops 

 of those hills, one might suppose that, so 

 long as it is all guesswork any way, the pros- 

 pectors and projectors would choose to locate 

 in the valleys. I tried to find out b}- inquiry 

 what it was that guided them in deciding 

 where to sink a new well. It costs three or 

 four thousand dollars to get down to the 

 proper depth. As nearly as I could find out, 

 they work this way: After a successful well 

 has been struck, others locate around it — not 

 getting too close, however. Now, suppose 

 that oil-wells are failures except in a certain 

 counse from the first good one. Of course, 

 the new ventures will be off in a similar di- 

 rection to this second successful well. In 

 that way they begin to lead off in a certain 

 direction. The first well may be just on the 

 edge of a good field. In that case, the ques- 

 tion is to decide in which direction the center 

 of the field lies. Now, in connection w'ith 

 the above facts the disposiiion of the party 

 wlio owns the land adjoining has much to do 

 with it. Some men will be exceedingly 

 liberal in making terms for drilling test-wells. 

 Others will hold off for better prices. So 

 you see we have two factors to decide where a 

 test-well shall be put down. 



Along with the oil come gas and parafline. 

 The latter seems to be a substance that comes 

 out with the oil, but separates, coating the 

 tubes, the sides of the tank, and every thing 

 else, with its grease. I presume one reason 

 vhy the flow of any new well gradually sub- 



sides is because of the accumulation on the 

 ])ipes of a coating of paraffine. 



The most imiK)rtant well of the group gave 

 about 2i)()(» barrels of oil per day, or pretty 

 nearly that, wlien first opened ; and for three 

 months ])ast it has averaged about 1000 barrels 

 a day. When I was there it was giving .some 

 (iOO or 700 barrels. But the oil comes inter- 

 mittently. Some wells do not give oil at all 

 except at stated periods. These periods may 

 be once a day or once in three or four hours ; 

 and at times the pressure of oil and gas is so 

 great that the iron pipes writhe and twist 

 about like a snake as they discharge their 

 volumes of gas and oil under the strain of a 

 pressure equal to or perhaps greater than that 

 in many steam-boilers. 



Now, friends, there is something very en- 

 ticing and even fascinating about starting up 

 a new industry away back in isolated country 

 places like this one. It is exceedingly refresh- 

 ing (especially about dinner lime) to find a 

 brand-new boarding-hall, clean dishes, pleas- 

 ant, nice-looking women, and every thing to 

 indicate enterprise and go-ahead. It was 

 pleasant to see the well-drillers doff their over- 

 alls, wash up, and sit down to dinner, with 

 hair nicely combed, etc. It was the great 

 well that was spouting forth its treasures, but 

 a few rods away, that furnished the money 

 for this enterprise. It is quite likely a town 

 will be built up here, for the Standard Oil Co. 

 has already run up a pipe-line to take away 

 the oil. The wives and mothers will need to 

 come into the neighborhood, and children's 

 voices will be heard ; and then, oh \\ow great 

 the need of a Sunday-school as well as day 

 school, and a little church ! And if these 

 people expect to prosper and be happy, there 

 will needs be a Sunday to be remem beared and 

 kept holy. May the great God above help 

 our people, in starting things of this kind, to 

 remember they can never be prospered and 

 enjoy real happiness without ri<r/iteoiisness 

 and godliness. 



Our Homes. 



Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. — Exod. 

 20:8. 



The following was read at a semi-annual 

 conference at Chatham Center, Medina Co., 

 O., Oct. 21 : 



THE CHRISTIAN SAHIi.\TH ; OUR HERITAGE AS A NA- 

 TION .A.NU INDIVIDUALS. 



Towering high above other blessing.s we have from 

 the eginiung of our nation a heritage of Christian 

 principles; and who that thoughtfully contemplates 

 the past but accepts as true the following words? 

 "There is no heroism like that which conies from 

 hearts filled with heavenly influences." 



1 am often surprised at the coolness with which 

 many appropriate all the benefits of this g.ivernment 

 for them.selves, and rail at Christianity, but for which 

 there would have been no nation such as this has been 

 in the pa.st, and is now. I would suggest to them, if 

 such tie really their honest sentiments, that they 

 make their dwelling in heathen lands, where they 

 will not be troubled with the demands of the Christian 

 sabbath. When we try to contemplate the beginning 

 of our sabbath, the seventh period of time that God 

 hallowed, we .seem to stand awed amid creation's 

 dawnings, and hush our breath to listen to the music 

 of the spheres as the morning stars together sing, and, 



