154 The American Geologist. u&vch. i90i- 
on which stand at short intervals the derricks of the oil-men. 
So close are they that it seems almost impossible for all to ob- 
tain oil, yet failures are rare. 
Orange county to the south of Los Angeles can scarcely be 
said to have begun operations until 1896, but during the in- 
terval its experiments have been attended with very promis- 
ing results and already a number of companies are busy in 
developing its resources. A pipe-line to the sea at San Pedro 
contributes in no slight degree to the success of the operation 
in this field. 
Without going into too much detail for which this is not 
the place, the above named districts summarize the results 
of the exploration for petroleum in southern and central Cal- 
ifornia. That other fields will be found is almost certain. San 
Diego is making great efforts on the southern line of the state 
but the results thus far are small. 
The prospects in California are good and that the State 
has in her oil-fields a supply of mineral fuel, to her inval- 
uable, is already obvious. The high prices of coal and wood 
have been a barrier, almost insuperable, in the way of her ad- 
vance in manufactures, but with the removal of this she will 
be in a position to take a new start in the industrial race. 
Already the railways are adopting the new fuel. With the 
aid of some of the many devices for burning it, which scarcely 
come within our province here, it is found more economical, 
clean and efficient at $1.25 or $1.50 a barrel than coal at $6.00 
to $7.00 per ton. By experiment engineers have found that 
two or three barrels of crude oil will do the work of a ton of 
good coal without making smoke or ashes. 
Other important advantages accruing from the use of oil 
will at once present themselves before the mind of an en- 
gineer in California, where conditions are very different from 
those of the eastern states. 
The present consumption of crude oil for purposes of heat- 
ing and steam raising is immense, but to state it in figures is 
impossible. It can, however, scarcely be put at less than a 
quarter of a million barrels yearly and this would be a moder- 
ate estimate. 
As a general rule the California petroleum dift'ers from that 
of Pennsylvania and Ohio etc., by having as its base or more 
