114 Reminiscences of 



oil-gusher had been struck, adding much to the value. 

 I then had to detour several miles to Franklin for a 

 telegraph office, and send off a message to Pierce. 



Oil City, on the Alleghany, at the mouth of Oil Creek, 

 was fifteen miles below, and although a drizzly rain was 

 falHng — from which I had become iinmune — I pushed on 

 over the muddy roads. As I occasionally came in sight 

 of Oil Creek, I saw that it was at a booming height, and 

 carr\^ing along trees and wrecks of buildings, with an 

 occasional small house or two and dead cattle, with 

 the water more or less surfaced with petroleum from 

 overflowing wells or damaged tanks. At Oil City — as 

 I approached at sundown — I saw the backwater 

 from the Alleghany River had spread over a large 

 area, flooding a large part of the town from which 

 the inhabitants had fled to higher ground where 

 they were camping out, as all the upper ground 

 houses and the church and schoolhouse were filled up. 

 It looked unfavorable for a night's lodging. But as I 

 passed along I overtook a gentleman with whom I had 

 some conversation, and who kindly offered to give me 

 a sofa in his sitting-room, his house otherwise be- 

 ing crowded. This I gladl}' accepted, and got my 

 horse well put-up and fed. The wife of my host gave 

 me a good supper accompanied with a bowl of fine 

 coffee, from which I partook so heartily that I failed 

 to get any sleep during the night, nor did I feel par- 

 ticularly fatigued. Having a stove in the room I occu- 

 pied, I dried my clothes pretty well and passed the 

 night in reading from the small library my room 

 contained. 



The following morning I mounted my steed, which 

 I found comfortably refreshed, and rode back to Titus- 



