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Photographic

Sciences
Corporation

23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTSR.N.Y. 14580

(716) 872-4503

CIHM/ICMH

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Li ^ -'

THE

* ---m

■ .U^

CANADIAN NATIVE OIL;

ITS STORY, ITS USES, AND ITS PROFITS,

WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF

' n

A VISIT TO THE OIL WELLS.

many a row

Of starry lamps and blazing Cressets, fed

With naphtha and asphaltns, yielded liglit

As from a sky." Paradise Lost.

LONDON:

ASHBY & CO., 79, KING' WILLIAM STREET, E.C

1862.

(BNTIKBD at STATIOirkBS' HALL.)

' ■>

M,^

•f

CANADIAN NATIVE OIL COMPANY,

(LIMITED).

Incorporated nnthr flie Joint Stock Companies' Acts 19 and 20 Vic.
Cap. 47, b)/ which the liability ufemh Shareholder is strictlij limited to
the amount of his Shares.

Capital £100,000, in 20,000 Shares of £5 each.

lOs. on Application, and lOs. on Allotmont.

No Call to exceed £1 per Share, and an interval of not less than Three

Months between each Call.

Directors.

John Arthur Rokbuck, Esq., M.P., Chairman, Ashley Place, Wcf<tminster.
Adolf Ellissen, Esq., Firm of Ellissen & Co., 21, Muorgute-strcet, Director of

tiie Metropolitan and Provincial Hank.
The Hon. Mr. Justice IlALinuRxoN, M.P., Gordon House, Islcwoith, Chairman

of the Canada Agency Association.
John Henry Lance, Ksq., Director of the London and South African Bank.
F. John Law, Esq., Tiie Holmwood, Dorking, Chairman of the London General

Omnibus Company.
Lt.-Colonel G. H. Money, N.E.L.K , 2, Bedford Square, and 9, Berkeley Street,

Berkeley Square.
[With power to add to their number].

Bankers.
The City Bank.

Brokers.
Sir Robert Garden & Sox, 2, Royal Exchange Buildings.

Auditors.
Henry Kingscote, Esq. — Samuel Burgess Gunnell, Esq.

SoLJCiroR.
J. F. Elmslte, Esq., 10, Lombard Street.

Consulting Engineers.
Messrs. Phillips & Darlington, Moorgate Street Chambers.

Secretary.

Mr. David Nisbett, Jun.

Temporary Offices— 27, Greshara Street.

The great value of the Native or Petroleum Oil discoveries to Canada and
Great Britain is now universally admitted, but up to the present time no complete
system has been adopted to bring this bounteous supply of nature to the English
and Continental markets upon favourable terms both to producer and consumer.

The refineries that have been established in Canada have only been sufficient to
supply the local demand, and for a long time to come all the Oil that can be
refined in the Province will find a ready sale in the Colonies ; but a market for the
crude Oil, overflowing in such prodigious quantities, is sought for in England,
where it may be refined by the best processes, and a standard quality, safe for
burning, furnished to the world, when it is assumed that the use of this beautiful
and valuable product will become universal, and that it will entirely supersede all
other burning Oils.

In completing an extensive system for bringing forward a large supply of these
Crude Oils, it will be necessary that ships should be specially employed in the
trade (as a vessel once used for carrrying this oil becomes so impregnated with the
offensive odour, that it is unfitted for any other freight), that agencies should be

iti

established at tlio ports of shipment, refineries, vats, and storehouses constructed
in Enghinil, ntid tjiat a coiisiilerahle amount of cash should be eml)arked in Oil,
afloat or in stock, reqiiirin;; in tlic a^'j^regate a larger cajiital than falls within the
usual seopo of iiuHvidiuil enteri)rise— hence the estalilishment of this Company.

The Oil deposits of Caiiuila, like the Cual strata of England, arc confined to
certain localities, wliich it is assumed will yield supjilies for ages, cotisetiucntly iho
first consideration of this (.'om])any was to secure huge tracts of land in the counties
of Euniskillen, Hrooke, and Somlira (together an aggregate of about 4,000 acres)
the region in whicii tiie chief discoveries have hitherto been made. The low creek
lands througiiout the whole of these tracts have geological indications of Oil, and
the surface is useful as farming land, while a portion is covered with oak limber of
great value, which is now used for nniking the casks in which the Oil is sliippcd.

Upon a portion of the lands secured by tiiis Company, a well has already been
sunk to the depth of more than 150 feet, when Oil was discovered; but it is not the
intention of the Company to prosecute further boring, or to sink more ^vells at
present, preferring to avail of the immense quantities of Oil almost running to
waste, for want of barrels and means of shipment, and resort to tiieir i)roperty in
reserve hereafter, should the price of Crude Oil materially advance, in consequence
of the increasing demand fur it in England, and on the Continent.

One of tiie largest flowing wells was struck in this region, on the 18th March
last, which yi'' led 7,000 barrels per day, and the others continued to give tlieir
supplies wi» it perceptible diminution, showing the inexhaustible nature of these
deposits.

Mr. J. B. .ViLLiAJis, Magistrate of the town of Chatham, and County of Kent,
and formerly Crown Lands' Agent there, says under date of 1st April last: —

" Judging from the increased quantities of Oil spouting up whercA'er it has been
struck, it cannot be doubted but it extends over a largo space of the Country, in
fact the same indications tliat were first met with in Euniskillen are now being
discovered in Dawn, Brooke, and iSombra. Wluvt is required, as you must be
aware, is sufficient capital to develop the trade on a large scale, and to
advantage."

Mr. W. II. Wklls, Jtidgc of the County Court of the County of Kent, who is
considered well versed in the geology of Canada, says: —

" By refeiTing to the map you Avill perceive that Dresden on the east branch of
the Sydenham is destined to be the point for the shipment of Oil" (meaning to
Europe.)

Mr. Wm, Troudfoot, lately President of the Bank of Upper Canada, writes: —

" Dresden, on the Sydenham river, where vessels of a large size can come up
and take freight, is only 13 miles from Euniskillen, and a Company have applied
for a Charter to build a plank road to this jjort, a short distance from Lake
St. Clair."

It is the intention of this Company to take in tlieir supplies whilst the navigation
is open at Dresden, conveying the Oil to Europe without transhipment; but should
the Grand Trunk and the Gre.it Western of Caiuala Railways hereafter arrange to
deliver the Oil to the Company's vessels at any of the ports on the Lakes, or upon
the St. Lawrence, upon favourable terms, the Company will avail of these ports, as
the sole object is to ensure by their vessels a direct trade, and to bring the Oil in
the quickest and cheapest manner to market. In the winter season, during the
closing of the navigation of the St. LaAvrence, the Company propose to receive
their Canadian supplies at Portland and New Yoik.

The " Toronto Globe," a journal much devoted to these Oil maters, in its issue
of 5th February last, gives the result of a shipment of Oil from the wells to New
York or Portland, and assumes the cost of such transit to be about 400 per cent,
upon the original value of the Crade Oil at Euniskillen, and assuming the freight
thence to Liverpool or London at 8/. per barrel, the whole shows an aggregate of
about 750 per cent, upon the original value of the Oil at the wells. From this
statement it is obvious that a transit by water over the whole route without tran-
shipment will alone yield to this Company a large dividend upon the Capital.

The differential duties in France, under the Cobden Treaty, in favour of English
Kefined Oils of about lO'/o over Oils refined in the United States, will give to this
Comjjany an important advantage.

It is proposed to erect Hefineries and Storehouses upon a suitable site which has
been selected on the banks of the Thames, and the whole of the buildings will be

of an inexpensive yet duralile clmrartiT. The rcl'ii'-jil of the lending; Lomlon
Insuiaiice (.'»>in|iiiiih's t<> take any ri^k on the Crude (>il, or to uceept risks upon
otiier property where it is stored, and of tlie Docks to jierniit any sliijis to enter
with it on l)oard, render th^' ennipUti; nrr.ingenients contemplated tor btoring it,
whilst in its crude state, in deiaehed buildings, a positive necessity.

rrofessor IIkhai'Ath, Dr. II.vs.saiJv, ami ])r. HaijuvY, of Kinj^'s College, unite
in stating that Oil may he safely offered lor sale, and used for f)uridng, when it i.s
not lir.hL' to igniie under 130" Fahieidieit; consequently it is the intention of this
Company to i stahlisii t:iat standard, which can he done without ditrieulty.

Besides the superiority of this Oil over all others for hrilliaiicy of light and for
cheapii'>>s, it must find universal favour for its cleanly nature, and that it gives no
troul), .n its use. With varied treatment in refining, the Crude Oil yields a most
vahmhle lubricating Oil, much esteemed in Lancashire for machinery of rai>id
motion ; Napt/ia, a solvent for eaoutchouc and other gums; and lienzhie, a perfect
substitute for turpentine and alcohol, in many processes of nmnnfacture; and with
appropriate treatment it yields largely the i)ure I'arafHn for candles; and also may
be used as tlic basis for producing various dyes for general manufacturing piirj)oses.
Professor IIimj, of the Toronto Uiuversity, in a paper written by him on the
subject of these Oils, thus speaks of Petroleum: —

"The extraordinary cheapness of Pftrolenm, as an illuminator, is too well
known in Canada to reipiirc any sjiecial notice. Notwithstanding the comi)arative
dcarness in this country and the United States of the chendcals (sulphtnic acid
and alkalies) which are required to purify, deodorise, and fit it for burning in
lamps, yet it is, at 45 cents a gallon, incomparably the cheapest illuminator which
has yet been manufactured; audit threatens, for domestic purposes, to drive all
otlier means of illumination out of the field. IJut in Britain, France, and Germany,
where acid and alkalies are abimdant and cheap, and where all the by-products —
such as lienzole, tar, &c., can be utilized with profit, the preparation of purified
Petroleum can be effected at so much cheaper a rate than on this Continent, as to
nearly make up the difference in the cost of the raw material, which freight and
insurance would add to it. Petroleum has arrested the production of Coal Oil or
Keroline on this Continent; it will soon arrest, if proper steps are taken, the
production of Shale Oil in France and (iermany."

In order to show tlie comparative advantage of this Petroleum or Rock Oil over
all other burning Oils, the following Statement, the result of careful experiment
and calculation is submitted.—

Description of Oil.

Price per Gallon

Intensity of
Liglit by the!
riiotometcr. I

Amount of ' Cost of an
Liglit from equal quauti-
equal quan- ty of Light iu
tity. i decimals.

Petroleum or lluck Oil

Sperm

Camphine .

Kape or Colza .

Lard

Whale

2/-
7/6

5/.
4/.
4/.
2/9

13.70
2-00
5'0()
210
1-50
2-40

2-60

•95

1-30

l-iiO

•70

•85

2-00
20-00
1000

6-50
14-50

8-25.

The Directors refrain, for obvious reasons, from makii;^ any statement of profits
that might hereafter restrict them as to prices. The Company will be a trading
one, bring its own supplies, and receiving on trust and deposit, the produce of
others at a fixed charge; taking freight iu their own ships, and storing at their
own wharves and depots; and the simple fact that the Crude Oil at the wells can
be offered at l.^d. per gallon, and is worth and sells readily when refined at 2/.
per gallon in England and on the Continent, while the residuum yields products as
the Oil itself, leaves so vast a margin of profit, that a calculation wotild be
superfluous.

The " Times " Newspaper, ever taking the lead in Commercial matters, in its
City Article of April 11th, almost foreshadows the formation of this Company, and
shows its absolute and immediate necessity, as follows: —

" The last Canadian Papers show that the supplies from the Oil wells constitute
an increasing to{)ic of attention throughout the Province, as the quantity is
apparently illimitable; freight is the grand question for consideration, and
the Toronto ' Globe ' points out that the real abundance of the article will not be

nmnircifcd in Kiiicpc iiiiiil s|)i'riul racilitits for tmnsjxnl luid .sliipiueiit lUf l)ioiiy;lit
into (ipi'nitioii. In the instani'o of rcfint'il Oil there arc no iiirticniiir (lillicnlties,
hut tlie refinin;;' | roccss can lie niriicil on more eoononiically and extensively on
this side, anil the oltject therefore is to contrive means for the cheap transiiort of
the crude material. In tlnit state its snull is so offensive that Rniin, fionr, or other
aitieles carried in trnckH or vessels in which it has previously heen stowi.'d lieconic
(hinia;,a'd, and there is conseiiuently a (;enerul indisjjosition to take it, except at very
liit^h rates. A class of tank vessels will therefore prohahly have to he created for
the pHr ose. A vessel, it is ohserved, that carries one load of Petroleum is fit for
no other husiness, save coal, iron, timber, or other articles which cannot be spoilt
by the odour. Still, even at the hit;li rates at present paid for hoth laud ancl sea
freij^hts, it is calculated that the price is suflieieiit to yield a good ])rofit to the
owners nf the llowing wells, who are at no expense for pumpiri^?. The value of the
I'etndcum landed at Liverpool is about Is. per gallon, and nearly the whole of this
consists of the charges for transport, while the belief in Canada is that under an
organised system these charges might be reduced to 2.^(1. j)er gallon, or even lower.
The room for an extension of the trade is therefore beyond calculation.

Applications for Shares must be made in the annexed form. The deposit of 10s.
per share must be jiaid to the Comj)any's Bankers, for which a receipt will bo
given. If no allotment be made, the deposit-money will he returned in full; and
if a less number bo allotted than is applied for, the surplus will be used towards
the payment on allotment.

For full particulars respecting the Canadian Native Oil discoveries reference is
made to a i)amphict entitled, "The Canadian Native Oil, its Story, its Uses, and
its I'roiits; with some account of a Visit to the Oil Wells;" which may be had
gratis, u])on ajiplication to the Secretary, at the Offices of the Company, where
Forms of Application for Sliares may be also obtained.

.m iiliiilallti ff i— i H' ii nrliiill'" -l i nWUM i i m . i iwiiiWi

Tin:

«
.

<» .

, ^1

'■V

CANADIAN N ATI VI-: OIL C0:MPANV,

LIMITED.

Form of Application for Shares. To bo retained by the Bankers,

To the Directors of the Otnadian Native Oil Company, Limited,

(iiiNTM;MKN,— Ilaviiit,' paid to Trii; City Bank the Sura of £

I licrohy request that you will allot iiii- Shares of £5 each,

in the Caxadian Native Oir- CoMrvw. Limited, and I hereby agree to accept
Piich Shares, or iiiiy smaller nnml)cr that may ho allotted to me, and to pay 10s.
per Share when allotted, and to sign the Articles of Association when re(iuired.

I am, Gentlemen, your obedient Servant,

Usual Signature —

Name in full, and ptainhj written

Profession or Occiipaliim

Address in full

Date

' m^MM%M%M%%mm%mum%%m%%%%%%%%i-

BANKERS' RECEIPT.

To lie retalneil by Appllennt, after being; M^^ncd by RankcrH.

Received the

J^(tyof.

1862,

on account of the Directors of the Canadian Native Oil Company, Limited, the Sum

beiny the Deposit required, on on application for an allotment of

Shares in the undertaking.

For the City Bank,

•f

■ in. w i a n ww j i t '11 I

I t

TlIK

CANADIAN NATIVE OIL?

ITS STORY, ITS USES, AND ITS PROFITS,

WITH BOMB ACCOUNT or

A VISIT TO THE OIL WELLS.

many a row

Of starry lamps and blazing cressets, fed

With nai)htha and asphaltiis, yielded light

As from a sky." Paradise Lost.

LONDON:

ASHBY & CO., 79, KING WILLIAM STREET, E.G.

1862.

(SKTEBEB AT BTATIOMERS' BALL.)

WilKN the probability of some disorderly escapade on the part
of a certain "Rock, Mineral, or Native Oil," was brought before
the Civic Magistrate a short time since, at the instigation of some
respectable parties named " Paraffin^' and " Sherwoodle," nearly
related to the culprit, and said to be gravely interested in wishing
to lock him up out of their Avay, his lordship having, it is to be
presumed, taken the advice of the City Solicitor, and consulted
Mr. Goodman, his own chief clerk, — declined to interfere. Veiy
much to the surprise and disappointment of the tender relatives,
the good uncle Parallin and the cousin Sherwoodle, to the
sad discomfiture of the aunt Belmontine and the great-aunt
Camphine, as well as to the infinite disgust of Dr. Lancet, wlio
volunteered his evidence on the occasion, as Analvtical Commissi-
oner (lor the usual fee on either side), his lordship pronounced
the young gentleman admissible to polite society, and capable ot
enlightening the world quite as well, if not better, than his more
pretentious relations. Mr. William Cubitt, in fact, like a sensible
man and a wise magistrate, declared that he thought the impor-
tation of the article ought not to be discouraged; "it was a new
gift of Nature — an article of inestimable commercial advantage:
and It seemed to him that every one ought gladly to avail him-
self of its production.''

In this sage dictum, our worthy chief magistrate but vindi-
cated in his own plain words, what a recent writer has observed
in more glowing language, viz: "that among the innumerable
inventions and improvements which characterize our times, we
look back with absolute amazement at the slowness with which
men of former generations turned to account the gifts of Nature.
During many years they may almost be said not to have known
what to do with anything. The materials of wealth were heaped
about them on all sides, while they stood stolidly in the midst,

£»»

CANADIAN NATIVE OIL.

ETC. KTC. ETC.

rntlier bewildered thun benefited or enlightened by tlie prodi-
gality of our Gieut Mother."^

Fifty years !igo, when gas first came into general use, it was
thought that the universal adoption of a means of lighting, at
once so cheap, so brilliant, and so clean, would ypeedily reduce —
in the (irst instance, the price of oil and tallow, and gradually
lead to their almost total disuse. But it was not so; the prices
both of tallow and oil rose to such a degree, what with the
retirement of the great whales (over-hunted by a greedy com-
merce) to the more remote and inaccessible regions of their ocean
homes, and the enormously increased demand for a lubricating
medium for maeliinery — all of it the giant growth of the past
half century, — that substitutes were eagerly sought after; hence
Science at last, springing forward to the necessity, extracted from
<'oal itself its lilddden treasures of light, stored from th^ sunbeams
of many thousand years past, and handed it forth to craving
mankind in the shape of coal oil. But this, which was the
wonder of the last Great Exhibition, was, again, found to be
comparatively too expensive for ordinary use, as well as fraught
with another great disadvantage — the destruction of the coal
itself in its distillation. Again the aid of Science was called
in, and it Avas demanded of her that from sources yet imknown,
and from nuiteriaJs otherwise useless, she should bring forth ll<4ht
and heat. She answered from the peat bog with paraflin;
but here again the process was expensive. Again aroused, she
pointed with exhausted hand to bituminous shale and other
minerals, evidently but the incompleted representatives of the
more perfect coal.

Under the names of Photoa'en, Paraflin Oil, Boirhead
or Bathgate naptha, a naptha has existed for several years
in tlie commercial markets. It; is now prepared on an im-
mense scale in various parts of the New and Old World, as
may be judged from the various specimens of the materiuls and
the products to be seen everywhere in the International Exhi-
bition. "It was, we believe, (says J\Ir. Robert Hunt in his
new edition of Dr. lire's Dictionary) at first procured solely
by the distillation, at as low a temperature as possible, by
the Torbarine mineral or Boghead coal of Scotland; but more
recently it has been ascertained that any common coal, or every
bituminous shale, if subjected to the same treatment, will yield
similar products." Here again there was a process not expensive
certainly, but still costly ; and Science, having gained this step,
advanced farther, as is her wont, viz., from distillation to analysis,
and a more complete utilization of products and residuum.
"There is little doubt," says Mr. Charles Grevillo Williams, the
able author of the " Handbook of Chemical Manufactures," in

* Cornhill Majaiiyie, June, 1862.— Article : " \Vl\at are our Oil-wells t "

lai

res," in

observing upon some of these mineral products for supplymg a
cheaper light, " there is little doubt that a rigorous examination
of tlie oils procurable by distiUation of tlie various luiropeau and
other bitumens, would he rewarded, not ouly by scientific resuhs
of great interest, but also by discoveries of imuiense comuicrcial
importance. It luiist not be forgotten in connection witli tlie
money value of sucli rcsearelies, that the bitunuMi yields a very
high per centiige of distillation, much greater tlian any of the
shale or imperfectly tossdized coals, wldch are wrv)uuht on the
large scale for the preparation of illuminatiug or lubricatiug
oils."

The response was immediate to the suggestion, if indeed it had
not already preceded it. The victorious progress of our arms in
Burmali had opened up the products of that nation to our com-
merce, and one of the agents of Price's Candle Company, in
their search after pahn oils, came upon the famous tar or Petroleum
Springs of Rangoon. Here he observed the naptha self-distilling
at tlie wells, and forwarded some barrels of it to his principals;
nor were they long before they availed themselves of this know-
ledge. This was the first introduction of Petroleum to com-
merce, and from this, by the aid of science, have rep'..lted Bel-
montine, '^ a white transparent solid, a kind of paraffin, and the
most elegant candle material known," our old friend the
" na))tha figuring under the title of paraffin oil — it being only para-
ffin oil, because the paraffin luis been taken away from it — and
"the extraordinary liquid named Sherwoodle," because we
presume its ordinary scientific nomenclature of Bcnz ilc was not
fine enough for it. An enormous profit had been the result of
Mr. Young's Boghead coal or Torbane Patent oil; into this profit
the Rangoon oil, Belmontine, and Sherwoodole worked their
way, and cut out a large slice for themselves. In this pamphlet
we are about to introduce to our English public the m(^ans of
becoming sharers to a much larger extent in the same largely
/'ofitable transaction by a much cheaper and shorter road.

In the first place, however, Ave must premise a difference of
opinion with the highest civic authority. Petroleum is not a
" new gift of Nature.'' Its introduction to common use, and the
chemical means for its more advantageous and cheaper utilisation
are alone the novelty. With " native oil" the Persian has for
ages lighted up his temple and his home, and roasted his mutton
on coals of clay moistened with '^ native oil," the "naptha, or
asphaltus" of Milton; the Red Indian has with it lighted his calumet
of peace for centuries past ; the Zantiote has lazily seen it
run to waste ever, since his island was vomited upwards by a
volcano from the sea; we brought it fiom the West Indies in
asphaltum for our pavements; it abounds in the swamps of the
Crimea; it floats unheeded on the Kuban; the Dyak of Borneo

'^'m

-:-,.(

collects It for his petty commerce; while those wonderful Chinese,
wlio evidently must have known everything before any body
else was born, have, for untold years boiled their salt pans and
dissolved their rocks with it, at their Ycn-tsing and Ho-tsing,
their "salt wells and fire wells," which we hope our brave soldiers
and our bold merchant explorers will not be long without an
opportunity of seeing with their own eyes, in the Province of
Setch-Ouen,on the banks of the great river Yantz-tse-Kiang, whose
course extends from the Yellow Sea almost up to the confines of our
outlying Indian provinces. The story of these Chinese Oil Wells
Is a curious one. The last European eyes that beheld them belonged
to the Abbe Hue; but as he passed too rapidly through that portion
of the country to make notes, the repoit he gives us is that of a
martyr, now but just made a saint by the Pope, one M. Imbert, a
French Roman Catholic missionary, who for many years had the
charge of this district, and only left It to meet his martyrdom as
Vicar Apostolic of Corea in 1838, a death tardily revenged by
the late French expedition, but gloriously rewarded by his recent
canonisation. In this report, after describing the country, and
the method of boring wells by the Chinese (which Is exactly that
of the artesian principle in every point), and after telling
ufi how a gas comes from these wells which the people lead

off

pipei

s to burn under their salt

pans.

goes

to say : — " When a salt well has been dug to the depth of 1000
feet — *' (your Chinaman is never sparing of his labour or his
patience) " — a bituminous oil is found in it that burns In water.
Sometimes as many as four or five jars, of a hundred pounds each,
are collected in a day. This oil is very foetid, but it is made use
of to lio;ht the sheds In which are the wells and cauldrons of salt.
The Mandarins, by order of the Prince, sometimes buy thousands
of jars of it in order to calcine rocks under water, and render the
navigation less perilous. When a shipwreck takes place, the people
make a kind of lamp of this oil, which they throw Into the water
near the spot, and then a diver (and oftener still a thief) goes
down to search for any article of value that he can carry away,
the subaqueous lamp lighting him perf(v,tly.''

We have thus native gas, native gas pipes, and " Native Oil"
from the earliest period in China. The other places where
it has been met with are Amiano (Duchy of Parma), liaku
(on the Ca^iplan), Barbadoes, Clermont (France), Gobian, near
Besnlercs (France) Galicia, Neufchatel (Switzerland), Tegernsee
(Bosnia), Trinidad, United States; Valdi Noto (Sicily), Wallachia,
Zante, St. Zelo (Modena).

But all these wondrous stores of long-treasured light lay useless
until a lucky Yankee, in boring after a salt well, hit upon an
oil-well of Nature's own distillation. It was the right thing in
the right hands. He know how to use it, and, what is more.

I Ih

Colonel T^rake knew how
not without its moral.

to sell it. The story is curious, luul

more,

Teie Oil Sprtxgs of the United States.

The produce of the Oil Springs of the United States liad been
known in commerce for many years as " Seneca oil." The
Indian tribes for ages held their councils and great festivals by
the light produced from tlie fountains, at what is now known as
'^ Oil Creek," a branch of the Alleghany river, in a wild and
sterile tract of country in the north-western part of tlic State of
of Pennsylvania. It was first collected for sale by the Seneca
Indians, a tribe famous in the confederacy known as the " Six
Nations," and which numbered amonn; its chiefs the fjreat orator
Red Jacket, Big Tree, Farmer's Brother, and Corn Planter, all of
them notable chiefs. They observed it floating on the banks of
the stream, and collected it by spreading their blankets on the
surface, and then wrinixinjx them out. The oil thus obtained
they used as medicine, especially as an external application for
rheumatism and affections of the joints. Hence its adoption, in
the course of time, into the European pharmacopceias. But what
once annointed the aching limbs of the sava^-e and the early
settlers, now lubricates the easy-going jomts of steam -engnies.
Its fiery brightness no longer shines on the faces of the Red men,
or glistens from a back ground of dark forests, but liglits up in gay
illumination the theatre or the promenade, and gives brilliancy to
beauty in the ball-room or the boudoir. The oil was gathered and
sold in small quantities for some years ; but it was not until Septem-
ber, 1859, that Colonel Drake, of Titusville, while searcliing for a
salt-spring, struck the first vein by boring at a deptli of 70
feet. Since that time numerous wells have been sunk in tluit
neighbourhood, and Titusville has become the centre of a busy
mining district. Many remarkable stories are told of the reward of
continued perseverance, on the part of men wlio have comincnccd
the work of boring for the oil, which has been found at depths
varying from 70 to 500 feet. One well, called the " Empire
Well " will yield more than 7,000 gallons per day. More than
five million gallons of oil have been raised and sold. The surface
of the river is covered with that large portion which runs to
waste. One poor man, rewarded for his labours with a " flow "
of 100 gallons per minute, saw his wealth run away under his
eyes, for he could not gather it. " The whole district is odorous
with oil," says a journal of the locality, "the soil is made viscid
by it. A piece of earth adheres to your boot, and you become
at once odoriferous and offensive. Oil is every where; one "tastes
it in the beer, and even whiskey fails to put it out. IMie flavour
is detected in the bread; you eat bacon, but you taste oil. You

,■ I

smell it and taste it in the air, aiid hold your nose to lesson its
ungracious influence upon the olfactories. You go to bed, but
the sheets are oily; you open a door, and your hand which has
touched the handle iuis caught the contagion; you proceed to
■wash, and find a film upon the water, and as you wipe your face,
the skin is imbued with an oleaginous deposit from the towel.
Oildoin asserts its sway, and Oil is King."

At Titusvillc, the oldest well, which we believe yielded Mr.
Drake a handsome foitune, is now worked by the Seneca Oil
Company, who obtain from it upwards of 500 gallons of pure oil
per day. About a mile from this is a well worked by the firm of
Crossley and Co., which yields an abundance of oil. A few rods
below, Stackpole and Fletcher have found, in addition to a fine
show of oil, a very strong salt well, which is a great acquisition
to the country, as salt is a very scarce article. The next well of
importance is the " Ilibbard Well," which produces about 400
gallons of heavy oil per day. This oil is a better lubricator than
the oil which is found in most of the wells. The next is the
famous " M'Clintock Well," belonging to Brewer, Watson, and
Co. The oil from this Avell, daily, is variously estimated from
1,000 to 1,200 gallons. The proprietors of this well have a large
amount of oil territory, and are either boring, or have bored,
some twelve wells on the choice points along the banks of Oil
Creek. They have a quantity of oil lands on the Caldwell Creek,
one of the tributaries of Oil Creek. The spring of Parker and
Barnsdale is one of the best yet opened. It is said to yield 800
gallons daily. The oil is thin and fine, and loses but little in
rectifying. There are many other wells in the neighbourhood of
a less productive character, and many more nearly completed,
which promise well for the future. At Tidionte, in Warren
county, further up the Alleghany, seventeen wells are in opera-
tion, producing not less than 10,000 gallons per day. There are
probably a hundred more wells being sunk at Tidionte. The
Crescent Oil Company own a large tract of land near this place,
and are producing great quantities of oil.

The Oil District is peculiar in many respects. The far famed
Oil Creek is ordinarily a stream of about a hundred and three
feet dc( p. It flows for seventeen miles in a southernly direction
from Titusville to Oil City, where it falls into the Alleghany
river. It resembles a hujxe eel wrifffjling through a narrow
valley, about half a mile wide, with hills rising from seventy to a
hundred feet high on each side, forming banks. The oil wells
are bored in the level meadows or bottoms forming the dry links
on each side of the creek, and they extend through the whole
valley. From one well 20,000 gallons a day is now flowing.
There is no evidence of the supply becoming exhausted, as the
oldest flowing wells yield as abundantly to-day as when first

SaAOdfilMiIla.

son it3
;d, but
'\\ has

.'C(l to

f face,
towel.

opened, and, excepting in a single Instance the flow of none has
been aiFected by new wells, sunk within a short distance. The
boring of these wells is mostly executed by steam power, but
the oil is not reached at a uniform depth, although it is gc-nerally
obtained in the same sandstone strata. It seems to be contained
ill rocky channels and chambers. Our authority is the *' Titus-
ville Gazette," (all " Oil-Springs " have their newspaper) of the
JiOth ^hirch last.

Mecca, in the oil regions of Ohio, is situated in the north-
eastern part of the State, fifty miles from Cleveland, and twcnt}--
ono miles from Erie. It is the most tluiving town in the west.
Within eight months of 1860, 2oO new houses were built,
and nearly one hundred acres of forest land have fallen before the
advancing march of a battalion of ''rail splitters." About two
years ago, a gentleman interested in the Titusville mines, hearing
that the water in the wells of this place was strongly impregnated
with oil, came over and commenced drilling. At the depth of
fifty feet he struck a vein of oil which proved to be the best
lubricating oil yet found. Posting back to Pennsylvania, he
formed a company and returned, leasing of the farmers some six
hundred acres. The company then sub-leased the territory to
parties for the purpose of boring for oils and minerals, requiring a
a handsome bonus. The fame of the wells spread far and wide;
faster and faster camo up the pilgrims, until tlie pilgrimages to
the modern ]\Iecca bid fair to rival in numbers those made to the
ancient one by the children of the Orient. They came not
in caravans of large but of small companies, from all sections
of the country; and, mingling in the crowd of miners,
might be seen Cape Cod Yankees, the shrewd Connecticut
ditto, Knickerbockers, Pennsylvanians, Hoosiers, Badgers, and
Kentuckians — all ambitious of securing for themselves a pn.ying
oil-well. Nearly one hundred steam-engines are at work day
time and night time, and in a moonliojhteveninjj to see the smoke
and the steam and the fires of so many machines, within a compara-
tively small circumference, is truly a novel sight. The oil is used
by nearly all the western railroads, also is being extensively refined
in Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati, and the business
of supplying the refined oil and peculiar lamps required seeins
to be about the only one West now having life. As the rail-
roads save themselves thousands of dollars per annum by its use,
and the people are discarding the deadly camphine, and taking
this oil instead, these mines are destined to give permanent em-
ployment and wealth to thousands.

The correspondent of the yines gives the fullowing Interesting
description: — " The wells are mere holes in the ground, about six
inches in diameter. They are dug by driving cast-iron pipes,
four inches inside diameter, to the rock, varying in depth from

i.5«

ten to sixty Icct. After finding a 'good show* of oil, a })unip is
put in the well, driven by steam, and tlic oil and water pumped
into large vats holding a hundred barrels caeh, the oil rising to
tiie top while the water is drawn off' at the bottom. The crude
oil is sold readily at 'Jd. to 4d. sterling per gallon at the well,
and the barrels paid for extra. It makes a better light when
refined than any other burning fluid I have ever seen — second
only to best coal gas, with no liability to explode, like many
illuminating fluids that have been from time to time oiTercd to
the public. The phenomena produced upon opening some of
these wells are very singular. One opened recently at Tidionte
spouted the oil and water to the height of sixty feet, forced by
the gas, the generation of wliich seems at all times to be going
on. This new trade is worthy the attention of your oil dealers,
and I hope will receive it. The supply seems inexhaustible.
Wells that commenced pumping at the rate of IGO gallons per
day, are now pumping six or seven times that amount, while a
few, from which at their opening the oil was forced in large
quantities by the pent up gas, have fallen olF; but if the pump is
stopped a few days (as has happened by the breakage of machinery),
the oil commences to flow of its own accord. JMost of the works
are rude, and scarcely a well is worked to its capacity. ]\Iuch of
the oil territory is in the forest, the fuel for generating steam is
green, and the whole thing is in its infancy. When a year shall
have passed, and experience shall have taught owners and opera-
tors the true system to be pursued, the supply will be very much
increased. The demand seems to augment with the supply. The
refineries are not able to fulfil their orders, and it is scarcely used
in the rural districts."

Fleets of flat boats have been built to run down the stream
with the freshets. They are from 40 to 80 feet long and 2 feet
deep. They arc drawn np alongside the sides and run full by
hose, then floated down to Pittsburgh where the oil is taken to
the refineries, the expense of a barrel at 8s. being thus saved.

No one in that neighbourhood talks about explosion or
its danger — that is left for the London Cockneys in Cornhill
articles. They are careful of fire as all discreet men are likely to
be in an oil store; but, there, in the very regionof oil, with hundreds
of thousands of barrels lying about, and the oil floating on the
surface of the river (which it has done for ages past, by the bye)
no man would read without a ' guffaw ' such passages as the
following : —

" It is impossil»le to contemplate without uneasiness the imminent
danger of such a state of things, for should any mischievous person apply
a torch, a candle, or even a hglited cigar to the oily pellicLi, the whole ex-
panse of the Delaware wouhl he instantly in a blaze, and all the ships on
the river, and houses on the banks, would probably be consumed, since

wa
bu

water, instead of extinguishing the firo of Potrolciini, only ciuisos it to
burn more fiercc^ly."

Who cannot fancy this amusing writer treading pjingcrly
tliroui]!;h tlic City because gunpowder is stored at Purlleet and
manufactured at Ilounslow, or shivering tit every steam-printers
door lest the boiler sliould burst : or trembling in his shoes lest l)y
smoking a cigar on the top of the Monument he might set fire
to his kindred Thames? How torril)le, too, arc liis prophetic
visions of future accidents from stored Petroleum ;

" A certain quantity of gas evolved from eacli barrel will meet in the
atmosphere, and liang in a concentrated explosive cloud over the whole
stock of petroleum. It will augment incessantly, and spretid till it comes
in contact with the nearest fii-e. An explosion will then take place, which
will shatter and consume ships, docks, warehouses, with whatever else may
be found within the range of its operation."

But why dt)es not ail this happen at Wyoming, in Canada, where
40,000 barrels lie stored in one railway shed? — an Oil City, wlune
on the banks of tlie Alleghany 20,000 barrels all on a heap, like
Messrs. Allsopps Pale Ale barrels on the Trent side at Burton, are
waiting, in the open air, and unshaded from the sun, for freight
to Pittsburgh? Why don't the open cisterns, there, with 30,000
barrels of oil in each, explode? Why do not the gaseous vapours
come together there and " blow up the ]\hiyor and Aldermen?"
Why is not the Alleghany on fire, and the Delaware, and the St.
Clair Kiver, and the Sydenham, and the Black Creek ? Ilow comes
that in 18G1 the Philadelphia and Erie Railway carried 134,927
barrels, as against 825 in 1859, and yet was not fired or blown
up? How is it that the 3,000 teamsters of Titusville, and the 300
at \\'yoming, who, day by day, for two years, have carried barrels
of oil by the dozen, over rough roads have never been burnt?
AVhy ! on one day last year there were 120,000 barrels on the
ground at one time, in one place, at Oil Creek; and there was no
blow up — no gas collection! Usque a deo t\us cockney ism? How
long is the gnping world to be led by great names to listen to such
monstrous nonst-nse? A wealth far beyond thiit of all Princes, as
the writer hime^clf acknowledges, is poured forth by Nature
daily from her bounteous stores. It requires no labour, merely
industry and skilful contrivance, to collect and store it. What
does our cockney critic? Does he thank Providence for such a
kindly gift? Does he warm with enthusiasm at such a store of
light, and warmth for the poor? Does he recognise the aggran-
disement of commercial advantages about to accrue to this nation?
or the increased comfort to the comnmnity? the development of
the Colony? No! Blinded by the sudden infiux of brilliant
light he flies with bats- wings, in the face of Providence, dis-
parages the Almighty's best gifts; declares, ex cathedra of Corn-
hill piiges, that, in defiance of the great first command, " Light

eluill not 1)0 "; turns up liis nose nt the '^Ainoiican or Canadian to bo
(Ictocted invariiibl)'" (save the nuirk !) " like a musk or civet cat,"
and endcavoiH's to IVi<,diten us witli tlic story, tliat every other
li^dit, tlian tluit of liis own iartlnug candle will be the (Juy
Faux's lantern of a general conllagration and explosion. Tho
danger of these oils was found in^tlie iigliter portions of thein ;
the point was to Hud a use for tliesL\ That use was found some
tune since, and the alarms of the writer in the Magazine are a
manill'st unaehronisni as well as an absurdity. Fortunately a
more practical and philosophical view was taken of tlu; j\lineral
Oils, on their (irst introduction, as the following from a Trade
Journal, of March 31st last, will prove — Fven the smell, which
so offended the delicate olfactory nerves of the polite critic, has, it
will be seen, vanisheil before that "neat-handed" maiden, Science.

411

ON NEW APPLICATIONS OF THE MJNERAL OILS.

The discovery of tlio appavoiiily inexliaustiblo supply of minciMl oils in
Canada and Iho Statos of North America c<(ii satrceli/ he orer-nitcd in a
commercial point of riew; it pronii.sos in a short time to oft'ect a very ini-
l)ortant change in the commercial relations between ourselves and the
Transatlantic nations. Already in some of the cities of North America
has the use of gas been superseded by this cheaper means of obtaining
artilicial illuminntion.

The mineral oils obtained in the States differ from those procured by the
destructive distillation of coal or tho Boghead shale. Unlike the coal tar pro-
ducts, they do not contain any large i)roportion of ben/ole, and hence are
not capable of bemg used as a source of the new dyes, aniline, riKujentu, etc.
They api)ear to belong to a different series of hydrocarbons — related to
the Eupiou group. The more volatile licpiids contained in these oils are
like the beiizole of tho Paraffin sei-ies, so inflammable, that they render
the oils dangerous for use in lami)s; and, as there has been hitherto no
useful or profitahle application (^f these lighter portions made, there has
always been a teniptiition to allow them to remain in the oils, rendering
them too inflammable to be perfectly safe. Hence the great prohlem is to
device some loieful application of these lighter products. This imi)ortant
problem is in a fiiir way of being solved, as several practical applications
have been suggested. The must volatile liquids of this group have a
specific gravity varying from 6o0 to 7'i>U; they evaporate readily when ex-
posed to the air, and hence they offer very considerable advantages when
used instead of turpentine in the pi'oparation of lead })aint. For this
purpose they have been successfully employed in America, and are coming
into use in this country.

Again, as they possess the power of dissolving resinous substances with
great rapidity, they may be used instead of wood spirit, methylated or
pure alcohol, for the preparation of many kinds of varnish; and as they
also possess a powei' that these spirits do not, namely, that of dissolving
Indian rubber and gutta percha, they offered the means of making
certain combinations of elastic gums and resins in the preparation of
varnishes which offtu" many advantages in practice.

AVe have received two samples of the lighter spirits prepared for these
purposes. They are sold under the commercial name of Mineral Turps,
or turpentine ; their present price may be .stated to be about one-third
less than that of the ordinary turps. Both are perfectly colourless. No

mmm

1, which is tho laor.) volatilo, possosm's a slight rmphtha-hko odour, totally
fi'oo frotu any nausoous charaoter. It is ho ditl'.iHive, that a largo iltop
allowoil to fall U[m)1i thiti papor Hproads ont into a width of 2 inches, and
in a room at a toniiu'ratui'o of .J.*"' Fah.civaporatcs ixTfuctly in l2 niinutus,
having tin; jiapiT without any pL'i'ct![)tii)lo stain. Its vapoiii' rises so
I'upidly, and so inlianiuiahlc, that at the tcinpciatnro of ay a small por-
tion ou a [tlato givos (jnt a va[)onr that c;)n ho set on lire ono inch al)ovo
thu sui'(a<iij of tho liipiid. Tins ilnid promises to ho a most vahial)lo agtdit
in tho preparation of varnisiies, as a substitute for - pirit, Imt it must ho
used with a due regard to tho iuliauimahlo character of its very ditl'usivo
and inllanunahle vai)our.

No. '2 Mineral Tnri)s of tho same company is rather heavier ; its spccilio
gr.u'ity is T'io; it is itorfeclly colourless, 1 ait its odour is loss pieasant
than that of No. 1. It is rapidly dill'nsive, when dropped ou paper, and
l(!aves the slightest pore(!ptil)le stain after evaporation ; is less v.)hi( lie,
although its vapour at <i.>" can he intlamed half an iut'h ahove tho surface
of the li(piid. This li<iuid is mamifactiu'ed as a suhstitutc for turps, iu
the onlinary lead paint, for which [)urpose it appears ])articularly adapted.
It i.s ohvious that the removal of th(^se more volatile and iuHammablo
portions is a great advantage to the oils iutt>nde«l for illumination ; and
that, though sj easily ignited, they may, with due precaution, l)o used as
sjifely as tur[)s or spirit for tho purposes foi* which they are respectively
adapted.

Tlierc is one use of these lighter oils which docs not appear to have
been suggesteil, but which is (piite worthy of a very extensive trial,
namely, their emi)loynient as a means of increasing the illuminating
power of coal gas. If a stream of gas, of a low illuminating power, is
jias.sed through these li([uids, it carries oli' so much of the va^jour tliat its
illuminating power is incicased iu a remarkal)lo degree ; hence they may
bo used HI those ct)utrivances ternujd naphthalizers — in which the gas
passes over and through i)orous strata saturated witli the mineral oil. In
order that the liglitor mineral oils may l)e extensively employed for these
purposes, they must be fairly punfied — an oliject which may be readily
accomplished by distilling them with charcoal reagents, which ai'c of low
cost, and are elfectual in removing the nauseous smell tliat distinguishes
the crude and uudistilled samples of many varieties.

Having tlius disposed of tho American Oil Springs and tlie
dangers prophecied as attendant upon the ii?e of tlieir products
in tliis country, — dangers the more remarkable from the fact,
that 30 millions of people have been using these oils for two years
to the extent of many millions of barrels, and that most of them
are yet living — we will proceed to enquire into the ("urther treasures
which, an all bounteous Providence has specially placed at our
own disposal, as Englishmen, if wo have but the good sense to
use them properly, and gi-asp the favourable opportunity with a
bold and vi<rorous hand.

■^

The Oil Wells of Canada West.

The CANADA NATIVE OIL, like the American Rock Oil, is
no new discovery. In 1 842 it was first spoken of among the settlers.
In 1847 it was mentioned by Sir William Logan, in the Govern-
ment Geological Survey of Canada West. In 1858 a Mr. Williams,

f '

now, we l)('li(;v(.>, ii jii(l<jf(! of tlic comity ol luiiit (('aiuidii \\\ ), lia|»-
pon('(l to !)(' dlg^in^' ii |>it in the clay on ]m (jirni, wlufn lie observed
some <Mol)uleH of oil Imblilinj' out on the surfiice of tlio tsoil, and wns
induced to di^ down de(!j)or, until tlie oil oozed out upon him,
uiul fillecl the hole. This was the coinnienci ment of the i'Jinis-
killen oil wells. A writer in the Toronto (ilohe, Sept. 7, 1861,
gives the following description of these wells : —

" No. 27, Towiisliip of MiiiiiskilloM. Loh No. is. Willianis and Cf).'
Ijroprictors. Wt-ll .sunk 4() fcL-l to rock ; l)oro 100 fcot in rock. — TIiIh well
avcrngcs tlio lar<^o f|uantit.y of (iO hiiinds per day. A very groat deal of oil
haH l)een taken from it. It lian been in operation two years.

"No. 28, ditto. 44 I'eot to rock; loO foot in rock. — Yield, 50 barrels
per day.

"No. 2i), Williams and Co,, itroprietors. Well sui,k 42 fcot to rock; l)orc,
100 feet in rock. — From it over 100 barrels a-ilay were taken for six days in
succossion. 11, .still yiidds copiously. Neai- the top of the horo there ia
a crevico in the rock, tliront,di which the oil, if allowed to reach so high,
escapes ; where it goes to there is no telling."

The curious scenes at these Oil-Wells is thus described: —

" Upon Messrs. Williams' property ai'o situated the 'gum beds.' Tho
first is in Lot 10, Second Concession of Enniskillou, three-([iiarters of a mile
south of tho concession lino. Al»out five acres of land are covered with
congealed oil, which, at some remote period, appears to have escaped
from its subterranean reservoir. For the most part it is covered with
grass and weeds, but in many places is entirely exposed. The second
'guru bed,' similar in ap])earance, is on Lot 18, in the F^'irst Concession,
about half-a-mile south-east of that first mentioneil. Upon the lirst bed
the wells numbered 27 and 28 luavc been sunk. LTpon the second, No.
29 well lias Leon sunk. These wells are a,t a greater than the average dei)th.
They are further south of the line than most. Several other wells are being
sunk vipon Messrs. Williams' proi)erty. Li one a dei)th of 250 feet has been
obtained. Oil has beeu repeatedly met within these wells, l)ut not in a
sutlicient quantity to pay. It will, probably, be found lower down. It is
said that tlie best oil comes from the greatest depths. Oil found in the rock
i.s more esteemed than that which forces its way into the surface well, tho
latter being much less free from iuipurities than the former. The oil
veins are exceedingly capricious. The distance of the rock from tlie
surface may l)e predicated with some certainty if experience be taken as
a guide, but there is no certainty as to the depth at which the oil will
bo lound. It may buist througli the gravel bcfoie the j'ock is reached ; it
may delay its appearance until the perseveiing well-sinker has penetrated
to a depth of 250 feet. Li Pennsylvania some of the best wells there,
which produce the finest quality and the largest quantity of oil, are 500
feet l)elow the sui'face. When the vein is first struck in a surface well,
the lumps of blue clay are brought up to the top soakeil in the blood-
coloured fluid. Then the oil digger ia in all his glory. He complaisantly
turns lii.s quid in his mouth, gives his hands another shove down his
breeches pockets, and with face bright with smiles, oil, and perspiration,
ejaculates as an interrogation, 'Beautiful, aint it ]' Now, unless you have
some near prospect of getting a share of the profits, it is not l^eautiful,
neither in smell noi' in look.s, but exactly the contrary. It will not do to
say so, however. Beautiful ! — Is it not worth 6 cents (2id.) a gallon, with
every prospect of being worth twice as much this time next year 1 Wliat
should make it beautiful if that will not 1 Accordmg to the same authority,

.Jil i

overythinj,' oily ultout tlio torritory in bouiitit'iil. Tlio iiiisty llln-k ('ri'i'k —
uptly iiiiiiitMl— as ih winds its way slowly alnii;^ its iinttow clnmiit'l, hiitwi^'H
Itiiiiks (!(»vt'i(!il with (Icii'ii'k-*, mill viits, jumI wi'll-chiirri'il ><hiiiiii-', pi'i'^ "f
biu'rrJM fillcil with till' iiiictiious li(|iiiil, iiioiiii<ls of hiiikI unit cluy. — is
licimtiCiil in liis eyes ; lit-ciiiist' it, snu'lls of pitntk'um, tn liis nosi). 'Oil
s|nin^,'s' look.i liko a HUiiill edition of SouMi StaH'nrd.Mldrd, unitt' as dirty,
and sniolliii;,' a gioat doal worse. I'lit tlitsro is this in its favour: a forty-
('ij;ht or ninrty-six hours' urqnaintaiiff with its odoui's, and thi- olfactoiy
nerves huiioMio inseiisiliju ti.<li<'ni. l'"rou» all points of the compass the
(rrcakinpof tile troadlo liy wliich thr drill is worked" (exactly as descrilied l»_v
J''atlier Iniliei't as lieiiii^ done liv tin- ( Miiiiese at their tiro-wells and salt,-
uells) "can he heard,! lirou[;hout the night, . Ivery day l>riii^;s its (junta of
wuywoiii niuddy travelh^'s. who with liiindlesou theiri)acks have stuinhled
through the dirl, clinilii-o !' o stuuipt*, nud wailed tho ditches on the
Wyoming and Florence roads M\iuy of tholii como to get employment,
and they arc suio of it ; others (joriie with dolUirs in their |)ockets, and
in a few days they liavo added others (" the large number of widls already
sunk. Thero can he no douht that if a good market can he found for tho
oil, of which thei'c appears uveiy jji'ohability, Oil 8|>ringH is destined to go
ahead very rapidly. In addition to the retineries already existing, a New
York house entertains tin; idei of founding another. >tr. Southern, the
largest i)roprietor of oil springs (ioO acres. Lot No. IH, Second (Concession),
Hont t(; tliis house a sample of the li^nniskillen I'ock oil, and it is pro-
noimced by tlieni to ln' the best thoy ever saw. The farm clearings around
this portion of ]"]miiskillen are few. Woods, huge, dark and almost impeno-
trtible, except by the aid of tho axe, extend in every direction. I5ut thoy
are destined soon to give place to tho homestead of the settler. Roads
aro now the only want; tho nearest Great Western Hail way Station is that
of Both well."

John Shaw's Fouiunk.

There it a story told in the Toronto Globe, of I'Y'bniary 5th, 1803,
whicli as the well is iilluiled to in Sir W. Logan's Olhcial
lle[)ort in tlie " Descriptive Catalogue of the I'A'ononiie Minerals of
Canada," now at the International I^xhibition, may, we think, serve
as a useful illustration of the subject: it must be premised, however,
that John Shaw's well is not shut up, as niiglit bo inferred from
the Oilicial Report, but simply *' corked up'* with a bag of seeds
in the pipe to stop the oil flowing away ; John Shaw clioosing
not to let his good fortune lun to waste, but rather to abide that
good time coming in the present summer, when the capitalists
of England shall unite in a Company to send out ships and bring
away across the sea the crude oil he can run out in almost
any quantity, to be refined by them, and converted by English
skill and science into products of value. The story is as follows:

"Ouo of the elements of romance at all times, has been tho sudden
elevation of individuals from penury to wealth and social consideration.
Having settled to our own satisfaction that romance it* not dead, we jjlunge
ill nu'dias rex, that is to say, into a certain deep well near Victoria, on
Lot 18, in tho Second Concession of the Township of Enniskillen, Li that
well a certain John Shaw centred all his hopes and expectations for many
long months. Painfully did he dig, painfully drill, painfully puinp, ex-
pending first cash and then credit, and afterwards his own muscles, on
a wearisome task. Not a sign of oil did he find. His neighbours' wells

were overflowing ; he alone had received no sliare of the petrolean stream.
The middle of last January found him a ruined, hopeless man, jeered at
by his neighbours, his pockets empty, his clothes in tatters —as our neigh-
bours across the lines say — dead broke. Report says that on a certain
day in January, he found him.sclf unable to ])ursue his work — not to put
too fine a point on it, his boots had utterly given out, and to enable him
to paddle about in the wet and cold, a new pair were absolutely necessary.
In fear and tiembling, as we may .suj>pose, John Shaw proceeded to the
neighbonring store, and having no money, asked — sad iiecesfjity — for a
pair of boots on credit. Report sayeth not uhetlier the refusal was kindly
administered, in the spirit of self-defence which traders must sometimes
fall back upon, or whether it was with the purse-pride of the rich man
looking down on his humble neighbour ; but cei'tain it is that the boots
were refused to John Shaw, and he returned to his well a sadder man
than he had left it, protesting that he would work no longer than that
<lay, and if success did not crown his eflorts, he woidd cast the mud of
Enniskillen from his old boots, and depart to more congenial climes.
Moodily he took up his drill, and sternly struck it into the rock. Hark !
what is that 1 A sound of liquid from the depths below, his sing and
gui'gling as it escapes from its confinements of centuries. Does it cease ?
No, on it comes, growing in volume evei'y moment. It fills th pipe, it
fills the well ; still it comes. Five minutes ; ten minutes ; in fifteen
minutes it has reached the top of the well ; it overflows ; it fills a tank ;
it overfiows that ; vain are all attempts to check its career ; resistless, it
pours in a mighty tide down the declivity into Black Creek, and is borne
away by the waters to the St. Clair and the Lakes. Who shall attempt to
describe the feelings of John Shaw at that moment 1 We shall not, for
we do not know how he showed them. The by-standers have not recox'ded
whether he wept, or whether he took oft' his hat and .shouted hooray !
Anything might be excused at such a moment. We suspect that, like a
philosophic Yankee, he went to work to 'save the ile.' But the report of
the flowing well spread like wildfire through the settlement, and 'John
Shaw's territory ' became the centre of attraction. In the morning he had
been ' Old Shaw;' if they had spelt his name with a P before it, they could
not have described him more contemptuously. Now he was Mr. Shaw.
Congratulations poured upon him ; and as he stood there, all covered
with oil and mud, up came the store-keeper who had refused him the
boots. The man of trade ai)preciated ' the situation,' he bowe d before
the I'ising sun, or rather the flowing oil lamp, and almost embracing the
dirty luminary, he said : '^My dear Mr. Shaw, isn't there anything in my
store you want ; if there is, just sny so.* What a moment for Shaw ! We
shall not record his answer — it was far too forcible to be polite. The
well was then flowing at a rate impossible to test with accuracy, but
afterwards when the yield was controlled, it produced two barrels of forty
gallons each in a minute and a half; which at one cent, and a quarter per
gallon (the lowest rate at which the article has been sold), would produce
C(j cents per minute, $39 per hour, $950 per twenty-four hours, and
$206,524 per annum, throwing oft" the odd cents and not counting Sunday!
Neither the illustrious but unknown authors of the Arabian Nights, nor
even Alexander Dumas, drew from their or his imagination a more sudden
transformation than this of John Shaw — in the morning a beggar, and in
the afternoon able to satisfy every want to be reached by money."

"John Shaw's flowing well has given an immense impetv.s to the
petroleum trade of Enniskillen. Not only will it produce a large quantity
itself, but it is quite certain that it will not long remain the only one of
its kind in the neighbourhood. These facts have exhibited in a very clear
light some things very urgently needed in the oil region. If sufficient
capital were engaged in conveying the petroleum to market, and sufiicient

■'■■*

I-
(I

means of transport supplied at a reasonable rate by the Great Western
Railway, John Shaw would certainly receive two or three cents a gallon
for his oil, and nrobably much more, and would be a much heavier
.- lillionnaire than ne now is. A large majority of the well-diggers are poor
and are unable to pay the expense of barrelling and conveyance to market'
and the merchant has not yet stepped in to perform his legitimate functions
as the medium of communication between the producer and the consumer.
The well-diggers are wilUng to sell the immense quantity of oil they have
in their vats very low, for most of them, besides being 'hard up,' are
anxious '.to dig deeper, in order to strike the point where the oil flows
upwards by natural pressure. A very little money at this moment,
therefore, will buy a largo quantity of oil. At present the chief road to
market is that to the Wyoming station of the Great Western Railroad.
The sleighing is good, and the price of hauling not high. On the Great
Western, however, it is alleged that the rates are too high ; that the
Company charge 860 a car-load from Wyoming to Hamilton, while they
send a car-load of lumber the same distance for $21. We need hardly
say that the oil trade is hkely to be of vast service to the Great Western,
not only in the freight it supplies directly, but in the improvement of the
country through which two of the parallel lines of the railway pass ; and
that the oil-men ought to be encouraged by the Company in every
reasonable way."

Thus far, the Toronto Globe. Another correspondent obliges
us with

A Visit from Dresden to the Enniskillen Oil

Regions.

'* Were, what our cousins across the line call, an " air-line road/*
constructed, the distance would not much exceed ten miles from
Dresden to Victoria, the scene where the " big well " is daily
attracting its numerous visitors. But our way was by Dawn
mills, and along the seventh concession of the township of Dawn,
a circuitous route. The heavens had been propitious by a liberal
bestowment of about two feet of snow, so that the sleighing Was
in first-rate condition, and cheered by the many sleigh-bells, we
went merrily along. As we entered the seventh line, we tra-
velled through a long stretch of fine rolling land, with occasional
homesteads and clearings interspersed with patches of the thick
forest, in which were prominent the hickory, the maple, and the
beech — the sure indication of superior land. But, at length, the
face of the country declined, and we found men busily employed
in laying corduroi/* (timber and trees lopped and topped, and
laid side by side to form a firm but very '^ rough and tumble,"
up and down, road, common in well wooded countries)
" through the swamps and s wails" (soft splashy places) " to prevent
the unlucky traveller from being buried with his team in the mud
and mire. Along these low lands, which here and there rose into
a higher altitude, we travelled five or six miles without a human
habitation; when, lo! on turning an angle some ten miles from
the wells, a peculiar perfume came floating on the breeze, which

grew stronfifer to our nasal organs as wc ncarcd tlic extraordinary
place towards which we were hastening. Soon a cooper's shop
presented itself, large, substantial, and business-like, but made of
logs; then a land office for the sale of town lots, or one-acre
diggings ; all of which, at the present time, can be bought on
easy terms, as cash is, of all things, the most needed. Further on,
a Refinery, new but in full operation, was seen; but instead of
passing on to it, our way lay to the right, where a fine site for
the future city was spread before us, on which there is already a
fair sprinkling of houses, with three good hotels and as many good
stores, besides numbers of both of smaller pretensions. Passing
by the many wells on the right and left, we hastened to the great
object of attraction— the big sjwutifig well, belonging to jMr. Sliaw.
As we descended from the high land into the plots, our attention
was called by the admonition " No smoking allowed here ;" (a
caution not unnecessary, as a stream of oil has more than once
been set on lire, and there are not sufficient men about to carry
out the Chinese method of subduing lire under similar circum-
stances, as mentioned by Father Imbert, who make a lake and
empty it into the hole) ; "then we saw a heterogeneous mass, in
which were men, women, children, sleighs, loading and un-
loading, barrels empty and barrels full, barrels clean from tlic
cooperage, and barrels smeared from the well. Amid hundreds
of spectators, some men were making bung-holes in the new
barrels, and others engaged in filling them, and still others
clearing the passage, with every variety of noise and vociferation,
while the busily employed, and the wondering spectators, were
standing from one to six inches in a black, greasy matter, the
mere waste of this extraordinary well, which, in making its way
to the creek, covered the surface of the ground for many rods
around with the oily stream. In different places, this valuable but
filthy-looking stuff was being carefully gathered up by the visitors,
among whom was an aged negro, who was striving to fill the
bottle in his left hand with an old shoe in his right hand, a hole
in the shoe wasting as much as it gave, like the well itself.
From the mouth of the well, where the oil is bubbling up in
every direction, there is a perpendicular tube some sixteen feet
high, four inches in diameter, but reduced to three-quarters of an
inch by a stop-cock at the top, from which the oil is conducted
into six or seven large tanks, two of which will hold five hundred
barrels. In each of these tiinks, there is a tap about four feet
from the ground, whence, by means of a short hose or funnel, the
barrels are filled, the bungs driven in and then rolled into the road
to be carted away. An intelligent gentleman, in charge of the
operations, informed me that were it possible to get barrels in
sufficient quantities, they could supply 1500 barrels in twenty-
four hours ; and that, even now, after having diminished the size

P-

of tlie tube from four inches to three quarters of an inch, they
were filling upwards of 500 barrels daily. The waste cannot be
calculated. All along Black Creek — it is said for nearly a mile —
there is a foot of oil on the top of the ice, which parties are
gathering up and selling for what it will fetch. Tht?re are
already three or four Kefineries in the village, and the best refined
oil is selling at fifty cents per gallon. We counted nearly 200
wells, some of which were being worked and still others were
being made. Large numbers of men were busily employed in
digging, banking up, and boring, all eager to penetrate to the
bowels of the earth for the hidden treasure. It struck us that
this extraordinary well is a serious injury to the other proprietors
of wells, as friend Shaw can certainly undersell and outsell them
all. His yield is spontaneous and continuous; theirs is con-
strained and must be raised at the expense of horse or manual
labour. But the great difficulty is getting it to market.
Teaming it to the Wyoming station, is so slow a process, though
it is done from this one place at the rate of 500 barrels per day. It
is therefore in contemplation to send it through iron tubes to
the river Sydenham, at Dresden, and this, it is said, the state of
the country will permit. There is a descent of from fifteen to
twenty feet from Victoria to Dresden; so that by mctins of a
raised reservoir at the former place, it may be forced along to
vessels ready to receive it at tlie latter place.

This correspondent, whose testimony is the more valuable to us
in this country, as he is addressing himself to persons immediately
in the vicinity of the oil-springs, concludes his amusing account
with some observations worthy of note: —

"The oil," he says, "is rising in public estimation, not mei'oly aa an
illuminator, for which, in many respects, it is superior to all others, but in
its crude state, for a variety of useful purposes. Around the diggings, it
is extolled as a specific for catarrh, coughs, rheumatism, and as a liniment
for sprains and bruises,"

(It is singular that in the hill countries of the north-west of
India, a surveying party, sent by the British Government, found
that coal was used by the natives for medicinal purposes, they
being ignorant of any other purpose to which its was applicable.)

"We have used it as a disinfectant in small-pox and scarlet fever, and found
it as useful as the chloride of lime. We may also add, that we have found
the Canadian Native Oil a valuable as well as cheap substitute for linseed
oil and spirits of turpentine, in white lead, and colours, with which it
readily mixes, and especially in outside and rougher painting."

BoKiNG FOR Oil.

In the Abbe Hue's travels, the report of Father Imbert tells
how the Chinese bored the earth for their salt sj)rings and fire
springs on the Artesian principle, with a pipe, and iron rod, and

euAi

a trerldle, which the men took by turns to work, and generally
made 2 feet in the twelve hours. Just the same process may be
seen going on at the oil springs about Black Creek and h!nnis-
killen. The average price charged by contract is 8s. or $2 a foot
for the first hundred feet ; for the second 12s. a foot; for the third
16s. A distance of from 3 to 4| feet is generally made per day
Each 100 feet requires an additional man to work the drill, ana
after a depth of 300 feet has been reached, a steam-engine is gene-
rally employed. The way in which those wells are sunk is this:
— A hole from 4^ to 5 feet in diameter is dug to the rock in tlic
ordinary manner, the sides being cribbed up with timber to pre-
vent them falling in. Hitherto square wells have been principally
made, and by taking pieces of timber, and dove tailing the ends,
the well-sinkers have been able to make their cribs at little cost,
and with very rough tools. But the erection of a saw mill near
the Creek has made lumber cheap, and cribs are now being made
in the shape of large tubs, but without either top or bottom, which
being lot down into the wells as the sinking progresses, efiectually
protect the sides. When the rock is reached, a hole, say 2^ or
3 inches in diameter is bored into it for a distance of perhaps ?.
dozen feet. An iron pipe is then driven into the hole in the same
manner as piles are driven into the earth. The drill is next intro-
duced. The cutting portion is of steel, shaped like a common
chisel, welded to a round bar of iron, nearly as large in diameter
as the iron pipe into which it is placed, and generally weigliing
from 200 to 300 lbs. The drill is suspended by a short rope from
a beam overhead. In order to continue the boring, it is necessary
to get a reciprocating motion, and the object has hcen attained in
this way: — An upright post is erected by the side of each well.
Across the top of this post is placed a tapering spar, the thin end
of which just crosses the well, the thick end being fastened to
some tree at a convenient distance, or if none such can be found,
a weight is attached to the end; but more generally, care having
been tt?ken to select a spar heavy enough for the purpose, no
additional weight is required. It is now evident, that if the end
next the well be bent, the spar will right itself the moment tho
pressure is removed, and that the desired motion may tlius be
obtained. Accordingly, the rope attached to the drill is fastened
at a distance of about three feet from the end of the pole. From
the extreme end hang ropes with stirrups, into which the work-
men place their feet, and by alternately pressing and removing
the pressure, the drill is lifted a distance of six, eight, or ten inches,
as the case may be. Day after day the workmen thus " treddle'
until the oil is reached. When, after boring for a given time, the
men think that so much rock has been loosened as to render it
necessary to clear out the hole, the drill is wound up to the top
bv means of a windlass, and the sand pump lowered. This pump

is merely an iron tube with a valve opening inwards at the bottom.
When let down into the bore, the valve is forced open by coming
into contact with the pounded rock, which gets to the inside. As
soon as it is raised the contents of the tube pressing on the valve
close it, and so imprison themsulves within. The sand-pump
has to be used when going through soft rock, many times a day.
Shells, corals, and small pieces of the strata arc constantly brought
to the surface, so that geologists can tell with accuracy the nature
of the formations through which the drills pass. Wlien a quick-
sand is reached, it causes a great deal of trouble, as iron pipes
have to be driven down the bore until it is passed to keep the
hole clear. But such a misfortune seldom happens.

A Visit to the Oil Springs of Enniskillen.

As it is always important to procure, whenever possible, the
testimony of eye-witnesses, or persons on the spot, we think our-
selves fortunate in possessing a report of the visit made to the Oil
Springs of Enniskillen, Petrolla, and Black Creek, by a distin-
guished party from Toronto.

On Monday morning, says the Toronto Globe, of the 13th
March last —

A number of Toronto gentlemen, who had been invited to visit the
Enniskillen oil wells, for purposes which shall shortly appear, started from
this city by the Great Western Railway. The party consisted of the Mayor
of Toronto, Mr. J. G. Bowes, Professor Hind, Mr. Rice Lewis, Mr. Alexander
Manning, Mr. Thompson (late of the firm of Thompson, Keith, and Co.),
Mr. Henry Duncan, Mr. George S. Mackay, and Dr. Clarke, of Yorkville.
The journey upon the whole was as pleasant as can be expected at this
time of the year. The snow being upon the ground, there was no dust
to annoy the passengers, but then there were the hot stoves — an almost
unbearable nuisance. Relays of men were at work all along the road
repairing the track, keeping it clear of snow, and carefully examining into
its condition. Wyoming was reached in safety soon after nine o clock.
As the train stopped, the doors were thrown open, and the conductor
announced to the folks inside the cars, that the journey to the City of Grease
had been accomplished. Travellers sometimes pass the stations at which
they wish to stay ; but no such mistake ever occurs at Wyoming. The
odour arising from the oil prevents it. On the evening in question, the
heavily laden air rushed into the heated cars, awoke the sleepers, and
provoked expressions of disgust from all and sundry. Opposite to the
railway station is the Anglo- American Hotel, the chief house of entertain-
ment in the village. It is a large wooden building, divided into small bed-
rooms, closely packed with beds. A resolute effort was made by every
individual connected with the party to get at least a bed to hiniself.
The rooms were appropriated, the doors locked and the keys pocketed,
but the landlord, a just and upright man, determined to deal with all
alike, re-opened the doors with a pass-key, and proclaimed a policy of
strict neutrality. His worship the Mayor exerted his eloquence in vain.
His arguments were useless in the face of the fact, that if the beds were
apportioned as he desired, the permanent boarders would be displaced, and
that could not be, for, as the chambermaid declared, 'they were lie men,
sir ; nice men, sir.' and with a decided emnhasis, ' rick men, sir.' Who

could hope to compote with such a combination of qualities ? The
Mayor gave it up, resigned himself to the inevitable, and the remainder of
the company followed his example. The announcement that supper waa
ready mollitied the temper of all, and the eating of it restored good humour.
Albeit, fancy almost created the behef that everything was permeated
with petroleum. It was impossible to get rid of the odour. Closed doora
were useless. If the pockets of every man had been full of leeks, the scent
could not have been worse. Small was the amount of sleep the strangers
got on Thursday night.

Wyoming.

The first hours of daylight on Friday morning were given to an
examination of Wyoming. It has probably a population of 300,
principally teamsters, who are employed in the conveyance of the
oil from Black Creek. The village is in the midst of almost im-
penetrable woods. But little land has been cleared, and close
behind the " shanties" which have been erected, the tall pines still
rear their heads. A lew Stores, well stocked with a miscel-
laneous assortment of goods, have been put np. After dark, they
are brilliantly lighted up with native oil lamps, and so show oli*
the coloured calicoes and gaudy waistcoats, imported for the especial
benefit of the " ile men'' and their wives, to far greater advan-
tage than the tallow candles of old. The majority of the houses
are built of rough, pine boards, or of logs plastered with clay. The
Great Western Railway have erected a large wooden station, with
a store-house attached, and a shed 300 feet long, to which they
intend to add another hundred feet in a short time. This shed is
full of barrels of oil awaiting the orders of their owners. Close by
it twenty-four round tanks, capable of holding 130 barrels each,
and three square tanks, capable of holding 600 barrels each, have
been built, and are nearly all full. The well-owners have adopted
this expedient to save expense, it being far cheaper to store the oil
in large tanks, than to pay $2 for 40-gallon barrels. Altogether,
there are about 10,500 barrels of oil at Wyoming awaiting ship-
ment. Two thousand barrels were sent away m January, and
] 000 in February. Nearly 40,000 barrels have been disposed of
since the trade was opened.

The Journey to Black Creek.

Some excellent sleighing with bad horses brought the party
to Black Creek. Everywhere along the road they met teamsters
conveying barrels of oil at the rate of a cent per gallon. Seven
and a half barrels make a tun, and each cart carried from 12 to
20 barrels of 40 gallons each; so that the teamster would not
have made a bad day of it. The plank-road was in course
of construction, though not yet completed. A steam saw-mill
has been erected a little north of Black Creek, and sufficient
lumber has been sawn to plank the road, with the exception of

'♦> i ■^'' '4 '■' '

tlirco miles at tlio Wyoming end, which huve been gmvcUed.
Over two miles of planking were laid In the full, and lumber for
the remainder is distributed along the sides of the road, ready to
be put down directly the snow disappears, so that the inconve-
nience of bad roads will be remedied in a very short time. (The
Oil Springs Gazette, has since announced that the road is now
completed).

On the way to Black Creek many "shanties" have been
erected since last summer, and portions of the forest cleared; but
the road is a very dreary one at present, and has few attractions
except to speculators in oil. The dark woods close it in on either
side, the huge trees stripped of their leaves by the winter, show
scarcely any signs of life, while still clinging to their trunks arc
the withered remnants of the luxurious, but rank vegetation of
former years. Large numbers of trues which have been felled
by the axe, torn up by the wind, or which have fallen from decay,
lie strewed about in all directions, adding nothing to the beauty
of the landscape.

Petrolia.

About six miles south of Wyoming is Petrolia, an oil village
of some importance, but who.^e glories are dim in the presence of
those of Black Creek. A good number of wells have been sunk,
but none are yielding very largely.

Mr. Coman's Well.

A Mr. T. Coman has got to a depth of 355 feet. He struck,
at 55 feet below the surface, a hard limestone rock, which he
penetrated a distance of about 30 feet. Next there came what
the diggers call soapstone for 200 feet, then hard limestone again
for 40 feet, since which time he has met with nothing but sand.
Mr. Coman employs a steam engine of about six-horse power for
drilling and pumping. He gets buts little oil — not more than
two barrels per day, but he is determined to persevere.

Mr. Wheelwright's Well.

A short distance from Mr. Coman's well is one belonging to
Mr. Wheelwright. He has penetrated the earth to a distance of
335 feet. When about 290 feet from the surface there was a
great emission of gas, and a considerable quantity of oil was
forced through the pipe far above the heads of the men employed
in drilling. Gas continues to escape at intervals, and there
appears at all times, judging from the seething sound, to be great
trouble brewing at the bottom.

Adams' Refinery.

Before leaving Petrolia, the party visited the refinery of Messrs.
Adams. It is very complete, and the oil made therein is of the

best quality. But here as elsewhere there is a very great deal of
waste. No use is made of the benzole whicli is allowed to
escape, and the refuse oil finds its way into the creek. A black
substance, very much like coal, accumulates in the stills, and is
burned in one or more of the stoves of the establishment.
Professor Hind suggested that the refuse oil should be mixed
with saw dust and clay, and used as fuel, for which purpose it
would beyond all doubt answer most admirably. Wood is so
easily procured at Petrolia, that perhaps of the two it is the least
cxpensivfij but it might be shipped elsewhere to advantage, being
less bulky than other fuel. [On the 21st of April, we hear that
information had reached London (Canada West) of the advent
of a spouting well on the Bligh Farm. Late on Tuesday
evening, a strong and continuous stream spouted from a depth
of 350 feet. The position of Petrolia, with roads at all times
good, and only five miles from Wyoming station, renders this the
more valuable. All the oil-well owners immediately betook
themselves to deep boring.]

Black Creek.

Leaving Petrolia, the Toronto visitors made the best of their
way to Black Creek. The village is progressing very fast; houses
are springing up on all sides, and the Stores of late have largely
increased in number. Tn a short time, the place will lose its
rough and temporary look, and settle down into a staid and sober
member of the municipal community. Not a few of the well-
owners have brought their families with them, and there promises
to be in a short time a fair proportion of the softer sex in the
village. Immediate proximit}/ to the wells is not a desirable
position for a private house; and some of the oil-men who can
afford it, have therefore purchased land to the west of the
Wyoming road, where as yet the odorous liquid has not been
found. Bye-and-bye it is to be expected they will erect buildings
for themselves, and so constitute a "fashionable" quarter to the
town. Black Creek does not yet know the luxury of side walks,
and is by this time, there is little doubt, in a state of unmitigated
mud. A movement is on foot to plank the road which runs
through the oil-wells; and necessity will, in all probability,
compel the early execution of the project. Land in the neigh-
bourhood of Black Creek is rising in value; and as it is very
fertile and well timbered, no long time can elapse before some
large clearings for agricultural purposes will be made.

Examination of the Wells.— The Third Spouter.

As there was no time to be lost, the party started at once to
examine the wells. They were first conducted to one owned by
Messrs. Murdoch and M'Caul, upon '^territory" belonging to

••-■•'j^'^tim*,--^

Mr. Bush, close upon tlic line between lots 17 and 18, in the
second concession of Enniskillen. This is the third of the so-called
flowing wells which have been discovered in Canada. Out of
the ordinary wells, it should be understood the oil has to be
pumped; but in the flowing wells it is forced to the surface
without the aid of machinery. The men in the employ of
Messrs. Murdoch and M'Caul had left off drilling on the 4th
instant, and had gone to supper. Before doing so, gas had
escaped tlirough the bore, but they thought little of it. One of
them, however, having forgotten some article of clothing, re-
turned to the well at about seven o'clock P.M., and was astonished
to lind oil flowing out of the bore, at the rate of about five and
twenty barrels per hour. The total depth of the well is 234 feet,
and the pipe through which the oil now runs is 18 feet above
the ground, so that it is forced upwards a distance of no less than
252 feet. The pressure necessary to effect this must be enormous.
Since the vein was opened, the average rate at which it has
yielded has not diminished.

An immense quantity of oil has been allowed to run into the
creek. Inasmuch as it would cost about ,$1,200 a day to barrel
all tlie oil flowing from this single well, the proprietors feel they
have a little more than they know well what to do with. They
have erected a large tank close by the well, which holds 350
barrels ; and have partially plugged the pipe, but do not care to
stop the flow altogether, as it is feared, that if the oil were not
allowed its piesent mode of egress, it would find some other
channel and disappear in the earth. This appears rather a chi-
merical fear, but it is said to be warranted by experience in
Pennsylvania. The character of the strata through which the
drill was passed in sinking the well is the same as tliat generally
met with in this locality. The rock was found at a depth of
45 feet.

The pipe let into the mouth of these flowing wells is fixed in
its position by having a bag of flax seed tied round the lower
end, and, as the seed expands when it becomes damp, the pipe is
very securely held.

Shaw's Flowing Well.

On the west half of lot 18, and but a short distance from
Murdoch and M'Cnul's well, is the flowing well owned by
Mr. Shaw (before described.)

The second flowing oil-well belongs to Messrs. Bradley Brothers.
It will run about 2,000 barrels in twenty-four hours. The rock
was found at a distance of 52 feet below the surface. Oil was
" struck " at a distance of 206 feet. In this well an iron pipe
has been driven down to a depth of 180 feet. In boring, the
drill passed through 100 feet of soft soapstone, then 15 or 20

feet of Imrd rock, then throutrh ii piece of soii[)stone, uiul finally
penctnited 2^ feet into a hard rock, when the appearance of t!ie
oil rendered further progress unnecessary.

The Other Wells.

These arc all the flowing wells yet discovered, but there is no
reason to bo given why many more should not be found.
Altliougli they have placed the ordinary sort of which so much
was before thouglit altogether in the shade, yet these latter have
merits of tlicir own suflicient to give them great importance, as the
total of their yield must be immense. Messrs. Watkins and Mills
possess a well now giving about thirty barrels per day. The oil forces
Its way up the bore through the rock, and has been suffered nearly
to fill the well proper. The superincumbent pressure prevents the
oil coming up as fast as it would do were the well kept empty.
But the proprietors have already got more oil than they know
what to do with, and so arc glad to restrict the yield. They have
nine tanks full, holding about 2,200 barrels, and a tenth tank is
in course of construction. Besides whicli, they have filled two
wells near by, which they arc using as tanks until they need tlu;
oil for the market. On Mr. Busli's land are, among others, two
wells which deserve notice. The first belongs to Nash and Co.
The rock is fifty feet below the surface. The oil was found 85
feet farther down. The second belongs to Messrs. Buchanan and
Gray. The rock is also 50 feet below the surface, but oil was not
reached until it had been pierced a depth of 135 feet. The two
wells are not more than eighty or ninety leet apart.

Surface Wells.

Sometime ago the surface wells, or wells into which the oil
entered through the crevices in the rock, rendering boring unne-
cessary, were esteemed valuable, but they are now at a very con-
siderable discount. Some of them have " given out," and their
owners are engaged in drilling.

Ho>v Canadian Native Oil is refined.

The simple process of refining the oils is thus described by the
Scientific American.

" Of the many uses to which Petroleum and its derivatives are applied,
that of illuminating is the most important ; and the process of refining is
exceedingly simple. The crude material is put into a large iron retort
connected with a sort of iron pipes, surrounded by cold water called the
condenser. Heat is applied to the retoi-t, and from the open extremity of
the condenser a light coloured liquid of a strong odour soon flows. This
is naphtha, and is very volatile and very explosive. Some refiners mix it
with the burning-oil, and numerous accidents have resulted from such
mercenary indiscretion which, however, can never be the case in oil sent

JS88li^4?.(iU!W^;^jv^W«iii**-!^*iJiPi«(«/s

out under tlio Imiulw of a rospoctablo company, whore «fVe xccghs do-
pcndM on ruining and preserving a good nunio, and conscqvi .i |>'*"for-

enco fi)r thoir .staitlo articlo in tlie world's ninrkcis. It is iwuu y, h<>v ..vor,
run into a 80[)arato tank. After tlio naphtlia has passid over, h» oi useri
for illumination distils oft'. Steam is now forced into the ro^ vt and th<
heavy lubricating oil driven over. There now remains a black, -^ily, tarr^
matter— sometimes used to grease heavy machinery — and a Ijiuok cokt)
emidoyed a.s fuel. There are, however, five substances separated in this
operation, but only the first throe are of any economic importance.

" The naphtha is used as a substitute for turpi-ntino in paints, or by
repeated distillation the benzole is separatotl from the fabrics. This, how-
ever, is rather a drug in the hands of the refiner.

" The burning-oil as it comes from the retort is of a yellow colour ; in
order to remove this, it is placed in a largo lejid-lined cistern, wherein it is
agitated with about 10 per cent, of sulphuric acid. After the acid and the
impurities have subsided, the oil is drawn otf into another tank and
agitated into 4 per cent, of soda lye. This last operation is to remove any
acid remaining with the oil, and also to extract the residue of the coloring
matter. In fact it is sometimes employed alone, and a very good oil
obtained. The oil is now agitated with water to remove the soda lye, and
is then ready for consumption."

One tiling our readers may make sure of — pure Petroleum, Kock
or carbon oil, when properly refined, is not and cannot be
explosive. " I'uraflinc necessarily," says Dr. Hartley, Professor
of JNIedical Jurisprudence at University College, in a report laid
before the jury on a recent trial, " does not at ordinary tempera-
tures give off vapour which will form an explosive mixture with
atmospheric air. A lighted match may be applied to it without
setting it on fire; its qualities, in this respect, being those of the
ordinary animal oils used for lamps." It is only when 'tricks of
trade ' have been played off by the admixture of materials of an
explosive character at a lower rate of temperature that such
accidents (so called) can possibly occur.*

The wealth of the oil region of Canada would seem to be
inexhaustible.

Theory of the Oil Wells.

This oil production is certainly an extraordinary natural phe-
nomenon. Geologists and men of science, so-called, have not
failed to indulge in their usual jargon and their multitudinous
nomenclature on the subject; but, as yet, they have failed to
account in any satisfactory manner for its existence, or to pro-

* The Toronto Globe has some sensible observations on this point. " The
danger attending the use of well rectified petroleum," it says, "is as small
as that attending the use of any other oil. The public to a very great extent
have the remedy in their own hands. None but imperfectly rectified
mineral or coal oil will explode. To test it let the buyer pour a little into
a saucer, and gradually bring a piece of lighted paper or a match close to
the surface of the fluid. If not properly rectified, the gas arising from the
oil will ignite and produce a very slight explosion. Such oil must not bo
carried home."

militate nny theory as to the quantity of oil wliicli tlic under-
lying cavornous strata may contain. Whether it be an animal,
vegetable or mineral productis still a question; whether coal in
an incipient btate, or coal deoxidated, or the product of coral rocks,
or the separation of bitumen from coal, or oil ** from somewhere
or of some sort " forced into the limestone which is said to producse
it, and a specimen of which is to be seen in the Canadian
Court, at the International Exhibition, all seem to be equally
doubtful and disputable anil disputed, 'i'he only person who
appears at all decided on any point, is Sir William Logan, and he
speaks of its position as ** anticlinal.,^* with which, we presume,
the unlearned ought to be satisfied. We give the Ivcport from the
" Geological Survey of (Canada;" as quoted in the " JX-fcriptive Ca-
talogue of a Collection of the Economic Minerals of Canada and
of its Crystalline Rocks," sent to the London Literriational
Exhibition, for 1862'':—

Petroleum or Rock Oil.

Enniskilleii. — Gum or miiici-al tar from tho surfaco ; CVuilo oil from tlio
well; llcfiiied or burning (dl ; Lubricating or niuchinery oil.

Natural spring.s of oil havo boon known in soveral looalities in WoHtcirn
Canada. Two of those aro in the township of Enniskillen, in the Houtlu i ii
part of which are two patches of an acre or more, covered with a layer of
several inches of viscid mineral tar or asphaltum, which has resulted from
tho drying up of tho petroleum of these springs. Welli snnk in tiioir
vicinity, to a depth of from forty to sixty feet, through tho superficial
clays, encounter a stratum of gravel, resting oh the surface of tlie rock be-
neath, and often ftUed with oil ; giving origin to what are called surface
wells. On boring into the underlying soft fossiliferous shales and lime-
stone, fissures are met with at various depths, from which rise abundant
supplies of oil, often accompanied with inflammable gas, and with watei-,
which is sometines saline. These fissures, which also supply the smfuce
wells, are apparently connected with the oil-bearing strata ot the Conifer-
ous limestone; which is from 200 to 300 feet below the surface, in Ennis-
killen. Within an area of about four square miles in the first three ranges
of this township, there were supposed to be, in August, 1861, about seventy
wells, yielding more or less oil. Of these, 40 were surface wells, that is,
wells sunk from 40 to 60 feet, through the drift clay and gravel, to tho
rock beneath. Some of these latter, which had yielded but little oil, gave
abundant supplies by boring into the rock. The oil-bearing fiasui-es or
veins, in adjacent wells, were met with at depths varying from 36 to 100,
and even 150 feet from the surface of the rock. One of the most abundant
occurred at 60 feet. In some few cases the oil from the borings rises above
the surface of the ground, constituting what are called flowing wells.

It is not easy to know the amount of oil which these wells are capable
of supplying; since from the great difficulty in getting it to market,
arising from the want of good roads, few of the wells are regularly and
continuously pumped. Some of those which were bored in July and
August last, are said upon good authority, to have yielded from 400 to
500 barrels of oil, in a week or two after having been opened ; but the re-
servoirs provided, being filled with oil, the pumping of the wells was
suspended. Two bored wells, belonging to Mr. Williams, which were tho
only ones continuously wrought in August last, are said to have yielded

J S^Ig^mpB^piilg^^^fi^ff.iJ i iimwai/'HMkJ

toci'tlier, (luring nomo montliH, from 20 to 2.1 barrols (of 40 gallons each,)
(Inily. About six milcH to tho northward, at P(?troliii, on lutH IH and 14 of
ranges 10 and II of tho same townMhip, 1(1 w<ills had liccn sunk hint
August; of whicli 1'^ woro Hurface woHm, and hud yic^ldod largo (juantituvs
of oil. Soverul of th«MO had been wrought for nearly twelve months, and
were suppohcd in Miat tinio to have yielded 1,000 i)arrels. Other wells
had recently been bored to a depth of nearly 200 feet, but yielded less oil
than tho surface wells. Tho wells of this region seem, thus far, to be less
important thuji tlif»«e in the southern part of the township. The oil from
the deep or rock ^.)< somowhat lighter and more fluid than that from tho
Huncilicial wells, which is very dark coloured and somewhat viscid. . . .
Adjacent borint's somctimos api)ear to bo comicctcd with tho samo
oil-yielding fissuii*. and to uttlect each other's supply ; in some eases air
))a.sses down one ^''aft when tho other is pumped. — Cor)ii/oi'()u.i fortiiufiunf
Jhu'oiiian. . . . Tho fucts observed with regard to tho petroleum
springs in Cuiiuda and the United States, would seem to show that they
aro always f»n tho lines of anticlinals, along which the oil from its 8ui>erior
lovity accumulates, and afterwards by the pressure of water, is raised to
tho surface through tho natural fissures whieh generally oecin" upon aiiti-
ulinnls. The oil-bearing limestone uiiderlie.s an area of 7,000 s<[uaro miles
in W(fstorn Canada. Tho limestone is of marine origin, and contains no
organic remains but thovSO of marine animals ; .so that wo are led to con-
clude that these hydrocarbons have boon derived from a p(3culiar deeom-
))osition of their tissues. These tissues, as is well known, diller but little
from those of tho plants, which in many more recent formations have given
rise to bitumens. We may suppose that many soft gelatinous animals,
hud perhaps plants, whose traces have disappeared, may have contril)uteil
to form tho petroleum of these coral beds.

The next paragraph, relating to tlie kindred product, is of
sonic importance, as showing a specimen of the victories whicli
(/ANADiAN Native Oil is likely to achieve over other products,
jia soon us it meets them in the open market, unweighted by
difllculties of transport: —

Bituminous shale. — Shale from the bed ; Burning oil ; Lubricating oil.

The shale of Collingwood, on lot 28, range 3, yields, when distilled, from
3 to 4 per cent, of tarry oil, which by tlie usual nrocess of rectification
affords oil fit for illumination and lubrication, vvorks were erected by
IMessi's. Pollard and Macdonell, in October, 1859, consisting of 24 retort.s,
and capable of yielding about 200 gallons of oil daily, by Ihc distillation of
from 20 to .30 tons of .shale. The available bed of shale is 7 feet in thick-
ness, and the material was delivered broken for the retorts, at 20 cents,
the ton. The cost of the crude oil was said to be 14 cents, tho gallon, and
for a while the works were carried on successfully, a ready market being
found for the oils ; but the works were repeatedly destroyed by fire, and
the oils from this source coming in competition with petroleum from tho
oil wells of Enniskillen, the enterprise is for the present abandoned. — Utica
f'oniiation, Lower iSilurian.

Mr. T. Sterry Hunt's OriNiON.

It is the opinion of Mr. T. Sterry Hunt, the chemist of tl:
Geological Survey, that —

"The petroleum oil ])roceeds from the corniferous limestone. This
limestone outcrops at Port Erie, and runs across tho country to Lake
Huron, by the way of Woodstock. Tt is overlaid in some parts of Lambton

and Kout by a thick bed of 8halo of the Hamilton Group, and there arc
some others of a higher formation in Lambton, near Lake Huron, called
the Chemung and Portage Group, which is the base of the coal measures in
Michigan, 3000 or 4000 feet below the coal there. All these formations in
Canada have a dip to the south of from 17 to 25 feet in the mile, therefore,
the further south you go, the deeper under the surface will the rock be
found. The surface drift in Kent is something over 200 feet thick. Pro-
bably the petroleum is collected in basins from the breaking up of the rock,
and consequently the boring for it must be >;ocompanied with risk ; but
there cui be no doubt that oil will be found for miles around the present
springs."

Anothkr Opinion.

"An American writer/' says the author of the article, " What are
the Oil Wells ? " in the Cornhill Magazine —

" After having examined the wells of Canada, Ohio, and Pennsylvam'a'.
has arrived at the conclusion that petroleum is not coal, but coal-oil, stored
a\\<iy, he says, in cells, forming in the aggregate immense reefs. As it was
collected from the impure waters of the early ocean by minute coral
polypes, it has been driven by heat and pressure into reservoirs an<l
ci'evices, where man's ingenuity is discovering it day by day. I have, in
my possession, many specimens of this fossil coral, with the oil plainly
visible in the cells. This fact, however, which he deems conclusive, proves
nothing, except that the fragments of coral in question had been long
enough steeped in an oleaginous fluid to permit the finer particles to pene-
trate through the pores, and coop themselves in the interior cells."

With all deference to this author, we must say that the opinion
from Avhich he differs does actually prove a great deal, if the coral
limestone be always found with petroleum, and petroleum be not
found without it. Another argument of some force in its favour
would be the fact of the petroleum being found only in the 7000
square miles indicated by Sir William Logan, which the oil-
bearing limestone underlies. And this would render nugatory
the writer's objection, that " no other circumstances seem to favour
tliis hypothesis," as "throughout the Eastern and Pacific oceans,
from the Maldive Atolls to the barrier reefs of New Caledonia,
and the smaller groups on the Southern Pacific, we find no oil
wells amid coral formations, though vast beds of this substance,
some in a state of subsidence, others incessantly upheaving, while
a tliird class, neither rising nor sinking, has been explored with
tl^.e minutest attention by scientific observers." The same writer
goes on to say, more fancifully, we think, than philosophically,
*' The discoveries in America will necessarily lead to the study of
the way in which the great reservoirs of petroleum are distributed
under the earth's surface. Hitherto it would appear that, although
the substance be popularly denominated rock-oil, it is usually
found in morasses, swamps, and peat-bogs, sometimes at a distance
from luxuriant vegetation, but occasionally, as in Zante, closely
neighboured by vines :.nd other beautiful shrubs." The present
condition of the surflice is of little force in a geological argument,
although the presence of the peat-bogs would surely tend to

favour the coal-like origin of petroleum, " There/' the (writer la
alluding to Zante) " the marsh is small, bordered on one side by a
bank of shingle, which protects it from the sun, and surrounded
on all sides by a semi-circular lange of hills, clearly indicating that
what is now a marsh was formerly the crater of a volcano. In
Canada the oil is found by boring through a stiflPclay from fifty to
a hundred feet in depth, mingled confusedly with vast boulders
and frequently of limestone torn from the under-lying rocks. Tlic
surface of the plain situated at no great distance from the lakes,
is Hat, swampy, and densely wooded, a description which appears
to answer equally well to the aspect of the oil-dis^tricts in the
United States, where, however, it is sometimes necessary to carry
down the borings to a depth of 500 feet.'' (It will be observed
that Sir William Logan has much the best of this argument.)
"It may be conjectured that the true locality of the oil was
situated in the lowest ranges of mountains, whicli may account for
the prodigious force with which the petroleum, when an opening
has been made for it, shoots up into the atmosphere. AVatcr, it is
well known, will always endeavour, when first emancipated from
the earth, to rise to the level from which it originally flowed ;
and the specific gravity of the petroleum being considerably less
than that of water, it may be expected to display a stronger ten-
dency to attain the height of its original spring-head than the
most buoyant and elastic fountain."

Mr. Pease's OriNioN.

i\!uch more philosophical, and, indeed,^ more exact are the
observations of Mr. F. S. Pease, of Buffalo, in his Trade Circular
for 1861.

"The wonder that is expressed generally in regard to the immense
flow of these oils is produced rather by the result of the uses to
which they are applied than otherwise. The scientific research and
chemical application which have produced the results and uses to which
they are applied are more to be wondered at than the vastiiess and almost
inexplicable functions of the oil-deposits themselves, which have bceii
known for years, but only recently developed and applied ; nor are these
deposits, of themselves, any more wonderful than mountains of salt, and
alkali lakes, borax springs, or sulphur rocks— these results of ages and
nature's continued changes leave us to wonder at their vastncss and con-
jecture as to their origin, while each new development ad 's an additional
surprise.

"The theories advanced in regard to the origin of the Petroleum and oil
springs of Pensylvania and Canada are various. Many of these are refuted
by the nature and composition of this substance itself. We are more than
ever convinced that the most plausible theory is, that the oil is of vege-
table origin, and that these oils are the result of nature's chemical opera-
tions in the transformation of wood to coal, the different specific (quanti-
ties showing the different stages of decomposition and trunslbrmation.
Immense pressure forces the oil into ditferent seams and s[)iings far away
from any known indications, and often in high and level districts."

More concisely it has been stated, that " the geological position
of tlie oil appears in all cases to be between the bituminous coal
beds and above the anthracite. The probability is, that it is
derived from the volcanic separation of the bituminous from the
carbonaceous portion of the coal, that it drains off between tlie
strata and follows the inclination of the coal measures until it
reaches the surface in some denuded portion of the coal bed, and
through artificial openings provided for it by borings."

Professor Chapman's Opinion.

Professor Chapman, of Toronto, remarked, at a meeting of the
Canadian Institute, that it was perfectly clear petroleum could
not be derived from vegetable matter. In the rocks where it
occurred, there were found no traces of vegetable remains cxcej)t
a few fucoids cr sea- weeds. Thus it would without difficulty be
regarded as a secondary product derived from animal remains.
So!ne corals were found in these rocks, but quite as many organic
remains were found in other rocks, in which there was no trace
of oil. He considered it more reasonable to suppose, that the?e
oils were formed by some process of nature at great depths beneath
the earth's crust, rather than to look upon them as secondary
products, derived from the alteration of vegetable or animal
matter.

A Summing Up.

The opinion of the majority of men of science agrees with that
of men of practice, and it has been summed up by a hiirli
authority as follows: — " There can be no question if petroleum be
the right name, that it assimilates with coal as coul oil — coal in
some form — bottled light and heat," and light in a more intense
form, since the light from it is so much more brilliant than that
of coal that 1000 feet of Petroleum gas is more than equal to
2C00 feet of coal gas. The investigations of Warren, De La Rue,
and Hugo Miiller "find the fluid to consist of two principal
hydro-carbons; viz., the Benzole class and another, unacted upon
by acids, and apparently consisting of the radicals and the alcohols."

But, taking the Canadian Native Oil to be a mineral oil, which,
indeed, it would seem to be a mere scientific paradox to dispute,
its general characteristics may be thus summed up.

That it is lighter than water in the propcition of 0*82 to 100,
and will therefore float upon it.

That In its natural state it contains —
5 parts of asphalte
4 ,, gas and water
90 ,, crude oil, composed of liquid hydro-carbonates.

»>

>»

That these 90 parts of crude oil when analysed give —
7 parts of uncoloured naptha, containing Benzine
"^ liquid hydro-carbonates, of a faint amber colour

M 11 11 deeper yellow colour

J, ^ » ^ 1, deep reddish yellow

thick oil, containing paraffin
gaseous hydro-carbonates and fine charcoal.
The light given out by this oil when rectified or purified is
clear and steady, almost equal to gas in brilliancy, and with a
flame, which, in an ordinary lamp, has an illuminating power
equal to six common candles, and far more brilliant than sperm
oil. Half a pint of it is sufficient for twelve hours in a
common lamp, although it is usually burnt in lamps specially
constructed, of which a number of varieties, that have been
brouglit over to this country, may be seen at the warehouse of
Mr. F. M. Strange, 15, Cannon Street West.

Means of Bringing to Market.

In what manner the Canadian Native Oil has been
received by docks and railways, which will derive so large a
benefit from its transport, can be judged from the facts, that th<
Victoria Docks have issued a scale of charges that are excep-
tionally heavy.

This over-weighting is a would-be prohibition of the impor-
tation of the oils, and is equivalent, in ignorance, to the
movement fifty years ago, that would have stopped the use of
gas as likely to blow up London. It shows, however, that an
important point in the constitution of any Company for the
punctual importation and refinement of these oils, must be the
securing Docks of their own, with premises available for stonige of
the Canadian Native Oils. When any article of commerce
is received, while new, with a prejudice, the prejudice must be
respected at first, and it will gradually fall of itself.

The English people will ask themselves the question : " Shall that
which is used all over the world — with which the Chinese have
boiled their salt pans, the Persians lighted their temples and palaces,
which the Javanese and Malay of the Indian Archipelago, the Dyak
of Borneo, have had in daily use for ages; which in France, in
Germany, and throughout the great Continent of America, is
welcomed as a friend, or made a household servant — shall this
" liquid light " not be used in England, because some chemical
compounds in imitation of it have exploded ? Whereas a sure test
and an infallible preventive have been discovered ; the one the
pouring the oil in a saucer and applying a match above; the
other never selling it under 130, whicli is the point where safety
can be assured. The Company which is about to be formed

equal
may
The

to the discoveiy
be obviated by
oil, as it coiiijs
reddish brown colour,
condition, and at ordinary
is brought within an inch
have arisen fi'ora

for importing and refining this Canadian Native Oil, under
the title of the Canadian Nativk Oil Company, announces,
a fixed intention to act upon the advice of Professor Hera-
path, Dr. Ilassall, and Dr. Harvey of King's College, and abide
Ly that standard as a strict rule, thus totally getting rid of the
explosion difficulty, and securing to all consumers of oil marked
with their brand or trade mark, a guarantee against any possi-
bility of danger.

The Directors of the neighbouring Railways, as well as those
communicating with New York and Boston, besides enforcing
an additional charge on Native Ods, carefully issued a notice to
their detriment in tlie commercial markets of this country.

An intelligent writer in the Observer, of March 30th, in the

present year, remarks: —

" The recent discovery of oil wells in Canada West appears destined to
effect a vast revolution in several important branches of industry,
and niiiy yet prove a source of national wealth
of gold mines, and the danger of these oils
an exceedingly simple and inexpensive process,
from the well, is cas thin as water, of a dii'ty
and as inflammable as spii'it gas. In this
tenipenitures, the oil will ignite if a light

of its surface. Many serious accidents have arisen fi'ora negligence
near the wells. When purified, however (as it always is before being
ofi'ered in the market) it loses this dangei'ous quality. The most exti-aor-
dinary proof of this was afforded during a fire at Halifax. The firemen
took from the step of a door a barrel of the petroleum, knocked out the
head and dipped their firewood into it. During the whole night the
barrel stood open — cinders, coal, and burning wood fell into it and were
extinguished by the oil. We have seen several specimens of the crude
and refined oil, and with a lighted match have readily ignited the one ; but
when a light was dipped into the other, it was instantly extinguished.
There is, therefore, no ground for apprehension as to the use of this most
remarkable natural production, provided ordinary precautions are taken."
Speaking of the railways and the advantage to be derived by their
shareholders, the same writer says : — " In old fashioned countries like this,
the coal and the iron ores have to be extracted by the slow processes of
the miners' pick, and raised to the surface by expensive machinery. Not
so in the land of Oil Springs, There earth, the bounteous mother, herself
fills the trains which are to distribute her gifts through every country, and
all the resources of powerful companies are taxed to convey the oil with
sufficient rapidity to gas-works and manufactories of all desci'iptions
waiting for the supply. The price of the oil at the springs is about
twopence per gallon; gas can be obtained from it at a cost of less
than one-half at which it is obtained from coal ; and when the railways
have fully grappled with the task of its conveyaTice, the oil will not only
prove a source of unfailing dividends to shareholders, but by the multi-
plicity of purposes to which it can be applied will effect most important
changes in several of the industrial arts. An age that claims the lightning
for its messenger may yet accomplish the feat of i)i'oviding artificial light
as cheaply as daylight, and a time may come when the residuum of
petroleum will prove of vastly increased value to the aits and science
of the day."

The writer spoke like a prophet; for the above was written

only in March, and now in June it has alicady been discovered,
that the products of the residuum of petroleum, after the photo-
gene is exhausted to a profit, bear in themselves a high commer-
cial value as the base of our most precious dyes.

A writer in the June number of the Cornhill Magazine observes : —
*' Whatever other faults or shortcomings may be laid to our charge, we
can hardly be accused of neglecting any source of material wealth. We
have already discovered in petroleum a substance which will amalgamate
with wax in the manufacture of candles, while from the benzoline, or
quintessence of the oil, the fashionable dyes of rosenine and magenta are
obtained. It has also been stated that petroleum likewise supplies a fine
lubricating oil, though we trust none of our fair readers will imagine it is
to be applied to the skin, it being intended for lubricating machinery."

The writer will possibly be surprised to learn that this oil is a
specific for certain diseases of the skin, but must be used with
care, as having a tendency to produce inflammation — an action in
which mainly consists the rationale of the cure.

In regard to the question of danger, a leading article in The Daily News
of March 10th, 1862, says :— " Mr. W. B. Tegetmeier, the editor of 'The
Ironmonger,' a gentleman, whose scientific attainments have never been
allowed to ovei'lay his taste for what we may call domestic ecc ^.omy,
has fortunately devoted much attention to this subject ; he has examined
every lamp ever made in modern times, and analysed all the mineral oils
ho could procure. The result of his investigations may be summed up
in a very few words. With the most ordinary care there is no danger
whatever in the use of paraffine or mineral oil ' lamps.' A good burning-
oil should have all the lighter and more inflammable liquids removed by
distillation (which of course is sure to be the case when these products
become more profitable than the oil itself) and while it should be suffi-
ciently limpid and volatile to ascend the wick to the flame it should not
be so inflammable as to burn like camphine or spirits of wine without a
wick. If the new rock oil fulfils these conditions, the nights of dear
domestic lights are surely numbered."

It will be good news for our friends in Enniskillen, to
learn that an association of capitalists in England has made the
exportation of their staple product independent of Railways. The
Canadian Canal system was most fortunately perfected by a wise and
far-seeing government — notdlstracted by local prejudicesand favori-
tism, — on a grand and catholic system. The vast interior of the
Canadas, the wide regions of the Far West are opened over an area
of thousands of miles by water communication. Hence it happened,
that no sooner was this great discovery known in the commercial
markets, than the readiest and most facile means of communication
were immediately sought and found by the sea, by the great St.
Lawrence, by the Welland Canal, by the Lakes, by the smaller
rivers, by the tramway, and so into the centre of the Oil District.

The Township of Enniskillen is in the southernmost portion
of the county of Lambton (a grateful remembrance of Canada's
great benefactor, Lord Durham), in Canada West. It lies south
of Lake Huron, and within a few miles of the banks of a small

river running into the Lake St. Clair, which communicates witli
Lake Erie, whence, by the Wei land Canal, there is access by a
continuous line of river and canal navigation to the mighty stream
of the St. Lawrence, and so to the Atlantic Ocean, and the great
ports of all the world.

The feeling entertained on the spot as to the necessity for the
"oil men's" socurina; transport by sea is proved by the speeches at the
meeting held at Black Creek, which was attended by the Mayor
of Toronto, Mr. J. G. Bowes, Mr. Alexander Manning, Mr. Kice
Lewi-', Mr. Thompson (Thompson and Keith), Mr. Henry Duncan,
Dr. Clarke (Yorkvillo), INIr. George 8. INIackay, and Professor
Hind, of Trinity College. From Sarnia came the Mayor, Mr.
Adams, Hon. Mr. Cameron, H.L.C., Mr. Davis, Lambton County
Attorney, Mr. A. Miller, Mr. Forsyth, Dr. Fisher, J. P., and Mr.
Lee. The meeting was organised by calling Mr. Elliott, of Mount
l^viliot, to the chair, who stated that the object of the meeting was,
that men of notability, men of means and influence, should see
with their own eyes, that the oil was to be obtained in quantities
as large as had been represented, and might be induced to advance
the necessary capital to enable the possessors of tliis valuable natu-
ral product to turn it to the profitable account which their laborious
experience entitled them to expect. The oil produced in Ennis-
killen was equal to at least 3000 barrels per day, and over the road
between Black Creek and Wyoming from 140 to 150 teams passed
every day.

The ^layor of Toronto, Mr. J. G. Bowes, said three things were
requisite, — a lower rate of freight, readier access to market, and
a ready sale for the article.

Now, in the first place, he (Mr. Bowes) thought that, without their co-
operation, a proper market could not be established for the oil. The
government of this Province, and the municipalities of this Province,
had eiul)arrassed themselves for the purpose of providing the products
of Canada with means of access to the gi-eat markets of the world, so that
it was only right the railway companies themselves shoidd co-operate with
the producers. The farmers complained, and reasonably complainetl, that
they had contributed largely to the construction of the lines of railway,
but they did not enjoy the advantage of cheap freight which was due to
them. The "oil men" of Enniskillen made the same complaint. The only
remedy for the difficulty was for them to combine, and by building a road
of their own, render themselves independent of the railway. One man
could not do this. If they united, it could luost unquestionably bo
accomplished. (Cheers.) If they wotild allow hi.ii (Mr. Bowes) to suggest
a basis for the combination, he would propose some such plan as this —
that a company should be formed of capitalists and "oil men ;" that the
stock of the latter should consist of oil put in at the lowest cost price,
which price should be paid to them by the company — the money being
supplied by the capitalist portion of it — that the oil should be sent to
Europe, and the profits derived from it should be divided pro rata among
the stockholders. (Cheers.) He (Mr. Bowes) thtught a capital of $1()0,0()0
would be sufficient for this purpose. Agents would be enqiloyed to sell
the oil, and men acquainted with every branch of the forwarding business

would SCO that it reachoJ its destination by the cheapest possible route.
It was absolutely necossaiy there should be a medium between the pro-
ducer and the consumer. The merchant was that medium. If the pro-
ducers were obliged to go and negotiate for the transit of the article, and
for its sale, he stei)ped out of his proper sphere, and was sure to lose
money. The oil was now being produced with a rapidity of which they
could not take advantage, because they lacked the means of carrying the
oil to the market, where a profit could be made upon it. These means
a company would be able to supply. His Worship concluded with some
remarks upon the completeness with which every component part of
the oil could bo turned to advantage.

Mr. Campbell, of IJlack Creek, next spoke. He said he was one of the oil
l)ro(lucers of Emiiskillen. He understood the business, from the digging of
of the well to the securing of oil ; not theoretically, but practically. This oil
hud been thrown upon the world at an extraordinary time, when men had
been casting about for a quarter of a century to know what to burn ; and
now God had cast this responsibility upon them, lie wished to see the oil
sold at such a price, that while it remunerated the oil-digger, the poorest
child would be able to get a light to read by. (Cheers.) fc'peaking for the
men of Enniskillen, he was sure they felt thankful for the suggestions
which had been made. It pioved to them that they were dealing with men
of thorough and sound business capacity, whose advice they must follow
if they were to have prosperity in this matter.

Mr. Alexander Manning, being called upon to speak, remarked that
when, as it would appear, the whale fisheries were becoming inadequate
to supply the wants of man, nature had provided a magnificent sub-
stitute in the oil wells of Emiiskillen. The producers of the oil
were principally men who had laboured hard and spent nearly
every cent they had got. What they now wanted, was for capitalists
to come forward, and bring the product of their industry before the world.
The great consuming i)ortion of the world knew nothing of the springs ; in
fact, only those who had witnessed the producing power of the wells could
realise their importance. By isolated, individual eftbrt, the well-owners
could not hope to place their oil in the best position on the market — that
could only bo done by the concentrated energies of a company. A
tramway to some point on the river had been spoken of, and it had occurred
to him (Mr. Manning^) that if it were built, large tanks upon wheels might
be constructed, and run to or near to each oil producer's land, and being
there filled, might be run along the tramway to the port selected as the
terminus of the road. If vessels were also built with tanks in them, the
whole expense of barrels would be saved. When this was accomphshed,
there would be no difficulty in getting to the European markets.

Mr. Rice Lewis said the flowing wells surpassed anything he had
ever dreamed of. (Cheers.) Like the Queen of Sheba, who visited
Solomon, he was ready to declare that he had not believed the
word which came, but his eyes had seen it, and the half had not been
told him. (Cheers and laughter.) Now that this immense mine of
natural wealth had been discovered, it only remained to make it available,
so that the men who had laboured so hard, and persevered through so
many difficulties would reap the reward so well merited by them. (Cheers.)
To effect this, a company should be formed, and he fully concurred with
che suggestions made by the Mayor to that end. In his (Mr. Lewis')
opinion, it was the only way by which the wealth now running to waste
could be saved. He regretted that more capitalists and mercantile men
were not present, for then more would be convinced that there was a mine
of wealth in Enniskillen equal to California, or British Columbia. (Cheers.)
Professor Hind said three questions had l)een brought forward before
the meeting l»y previous speakers. The first related to the transportation

of the oil between the Oil Springs and foreign markets ; the second to the
very wonderful production of the oil; the third to the foreign markota.
With reference to the first, he need say very few worda : with reference to
the second, he never had conceived that such a wonderful flow of oil could
take place. There seemed to be no geological reason to doubt its con-
tinuance for a very long period of time. But there was one circumstance all
who visited the wells must have observed. There were now three so-
called " flowing wells," whose products they were to a certain extent in-
capable of controlling, and largo quantities of oil were running into the
creek. There were at the present moment not less than a thousand men
engaged in boring for the purpose of getting a fresh sup[)ly. He (Professor
Hind) would suggest that operations should be suspended until a market
had been found. Suppose half a dozen " flowing wells " were struck, oil
would be lost unless a market were at once opened. As to whether a
market could ])o foiind he would beg to call the attention of the meeting
to a few facts. Few could form any idea of the extraordmary attention
given of late years in England and on the continent of Europe, to find a
cheap source of illumination and of heat. In England, coal might be
bought at the mouth of the pit at six shillings a ton, and so well had the
manufacture of gas been carried out, that the whole cost of its manufacture
was covered by the price at which the coke was sold. But there were
many districts that could not be reached by gas, and consequently a great

t)ortion of the population of Great Britain, not residing in towns, were
ooking out for some source of illumination as cheap as gas. They were
searching every part of the world to discover that substance which had
been hit upon in Enniskillen. One company had given £GO,000 for some
asphaltum lands in Cuba, and they had made a call for £100,000 to put
their works in operation. The crude material was by this company taken
home, and after the long voyage converted into the very material we had
in Enniskillen in such abundance. Then there was the Burmese Naphtha
Company. Ships 1,000 tons burthen had been provided with iron tanks,
by wnich means this Burmese petroleum was carried a distance of 16,000
miles to England. Then there was the Torbarine mineral company, who
made oil by the distillation of Boghead coal, and by which Mr. Young, the
patentee, made £100.000, a-year. At a trial in London it was proved that
one firm alone had constructed 374,000 lamps for burning this oil. Now
the oil made from the Boghead coal was exactly the same as that discovered
ready made at Black Creek. When we discovered it was the source of the
new dyes, known as mauve, magenta, azurine, and rosaline, which had
recently been discovered its importance was still more apparent. It was
only within the last few months that a means of fixing these dyes upon
fabrics had been discovered, and now they promised to supersede the im-
portation of foreign dyes. Upon the continent multitudinous were the
devices for cheapening fuel. He (Mr. Hind) had made the remark to-day
that if saw-dust were plentiful in this neighbourhood, and if that saw-dust
were mixed with the crude oil now flowing into the river, they would be
doing what was now being done in France and Germany. There exist
at least eight different patents for making fuel from crude tar, oil, and
saw-dust mixed with a little clay. As a source of fuel, there was no doubt
petroleum would find a great market in France. The Germans were
searching every part of Europe for what they called " shale," which they
distilled for the purpose of obtaining oil. Supposing the crude petroleum
could be placed, as had been suggested by Mr. Manning, in iron tanks, and
landed at Rouen, Havre, Hamburg, and other places, at two shillings a
gallon, they would be introducing a substance richer than the celebrated
Torbay mineral, which sold for three shillings at home — two shillings
would give the well-owners of Enniskillen an enormous profit. (Cheers.)
Mr. Manning wished to say a word about the probable consumption

-r

oil iu Canada. Mr. Thompson had applied for a patent for making gas from
coal oil, and if he Huccciulod as he had good reason to expect thero wa.s
little doubt that in a uliort time the city of Toronto wouW ho lit up with
petroleum gas. The gas obtained from the oil gave a far superior light to
that olitaiiiod from coal The gas used in the city cost 4 dollai-s per
thousand feet, subject to a discount of 25 per cent, if paid within fifteen
days after the payment fell due. Mr. Thompson said it could be produced
from oil for one dollar per thousand, giving three times the light.

Mr. Forsyth read from a circular, issued by an English house, in which
it was stated, that if the wells of Pennsylvania and Canada contiinied
their yield, the export of rock oil would soon be as great as the export of
cotton. Mr. Forsyth also read a letter he had received from a gentleman
in England, who said he could dispose of ten thousand barrels of Canada
oil per day at prices ranging from 16^. to 17^. sterling per ton.

►Some conversation then ensued as to the resolution which had been
proposed by Mr. Campbell.

In pursuance of the resolutions adopted at this important
meeting, a tramway is in progress down to the water's edge, and
tlie " oil men" are ready, as may be seen, to afford every co-
operation to a Company formed for expediting the transit of their
products to the markets of the world.

What is wanted is a Company with ample cnpital, say of
£100,000, so that a dock, and premises for reception, storage,
and the refining of oils on their arrival, may be engaged,
and arrangements made for tlie purchase of ships (old colliers
and the like, which may be haa for moderate prices) to fetch
over the oils without breaking bulk from the place of ship-
ment to the London and other European ports. The
profits of such a transaction must necessarily be enormous, as the
Company will not limit its dealing to the sale of oils refined by
itself alone, but will give opportunity to other persons to engage
in the business of refining by supplying them with the crude oil.
In England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Hussia, and France there
is a ready market.

" It is evident," says the Toronto Globe, of the 5th of February last
" that while the first cost of the crude petroleum is so small, and
the supply so great, cheapness of conveyance to market is a matter
of the first importance, and that some more economical avenue must
be found than the railway supplies. The natural outlet is there,
but the organisation and some short communications are wanting.
The south branch of Bear.^ Creek is navigable for schooners as high
as Dresden, which is about ten miles from Victoria. Wallaceburgh,
at the junction of the north and south branches, is 12 miles from Victoria,
and Wilkesport Landing on the north branch, also navigable for schooners,
is Hi miles from Victoria. It is possible, when the water is high, to fioat
barrels down the north branch from the wells, and put them on board
vessels at Wilkesport or Wallaceburgh, thence to be conveyed to any part
of the Lakes, but during the greater part of the year the oil must be con-
veyed by ordinary roads. In winter, the existing roads are passable ; in
summer they are not so ; at Dresden, Wallaceburgh, or Wilkesport, a vessel
may take in her load and not part vnth it until she reaches Liverpool or
London Docks.

Hero it will bo seen tho cost of such transit to New York is
Bet down as 400 per cent, upon the original value of the oil at
the wells, and assuming the freight from New York to Liver-
pool, or London, to be 8s. per barrel, the price would be 750 per
cent, on the original value of the wells, from which it results

A transit entirely by sea from port to port without tranship-
ment would alone yield a largo dividend on its capital to the
Company. The Canadian Native Oil Company will have
its own wells upon its own lands, while, at the same time,
it will afford every fiicility to the " oil men" of the district.
Mr. J. B. Williams, a magistrate of Kent County, Canada
West, who, with Mr. W, li. Wells, a well-known judge of
the same county, points out Dresden on the Sydenham
river as the best ccat for the Company's shipping operations,
also adds that, "Judging from the increased quantities of oil
ppouting up wherever it has been struck, it cannot be doubted
that the supply extends over a large space of the country; in
fact, the same indications that were first met with in Enniskillen
are now being discovered in the adjacent townships of Dawn,
Brook, and Sombra." In the two last of these, as well as in En-
niskillen, large tracts of land have been secured by the Company
(4000 acres in the aggregate), equally well adapted for farming
purposes, and well covered with the oak of which casks are made,
while the low creeks, in which they abound in parts, shew every
indication of oil. The Company have what is presumed must
be a flowing well of their own; but this they will not open, re-
serving it until they have availed themselves of the immense
quantities of oil not only waiting shipment, but absolutely running
to waste from want of means of conveyance to a market.

Return Cargoes.

Curiously enough a return cargo of coals will be highly re-
munerative, as the anthracite coal of the United States is not
available for many purposes for which the bituminous coal of the
British Isles is absolutely necessary. Hence the disadvantage of all
vessels in which Canadian Native Oil is carried being thereby
rendered unlit for any other trade will not in this instance mili-
tate against the Company's interests; nor will even the winter
season interfere with the Company's operations, since, an arrange-
ment may at any time be effected with the Grand Trunk and
Great Western of Canada to carry oil in the more severe season
during the close of the river navigation, to Portland, Bic, Port
Levi, or even to New York, for shipment in the Company's
vessels.

Products and Uses of Canadian Native Oil.

It is necessary, before going further, that we should elucidate
the products and uses of the Canadian Native Oil. The
practical applications of this abundant natural product arc of a
most important character. Its general introduction for many
purposes of the arts is, unquestionably, only a matter of time,
and the due establishment, in the minds of large consumers,
of the conviction of a certain and unfailing supply. Dr. Sheridan
Muspratt has given the following analysis of the products of
Canadian Petroleum by destructive distillation.

100 parts of Enniskillen oil yield, on distillation : —

Light coloured naptha (S. G. 'TO^)
lieav^ yellow naptha (S. G. -837)
Lubricating oil, rich in parafTmc
Jar ------

Charcoal -------1

Loss -_---. -2

-J-

100

The speciHc gravity of the crude oil is '835, being five beyond
•830, the standard of specific gravity required in England of the
best petroleum.

The light coloured naptha is the Benzine of the manufacturer,
which has all the qualities of Benzole, but is of a finer quality and
colour.

Its use as an Oil for Lamps.

Cheap as petroleum is in Canada, there is no reason why,
sooner or later, that cheapness may not be made to tell in this
country ; for, at 2s. a gallon, it will bo unquestionably the
cheapest illuminator manufactured. Here, where acids and
alkalies are at a low price and abundant, and where all the by-
products can be sold with profit, in a ready market, the
rectifying and purification of the Canadian Native Oil in a
crude state can be carried on at such a rate, as to bring the price
equal to that of Canada, and make up the diflference of cost,
tonnage, freight, and insurance. As a general illuminator, when-
ever oil is used, there can be little doubt that the low price of
Canadian Native Oil, as well as the superior brilliancy of its light,
will rapidly diflfuse a demand for it throughout Great Britain and
the Continent.

The cheapness of petroleum which has already arrested the
production of coal oil in the United States, and as we learn by tele-
graph across the United States from St. Francisco has diminished
greatly the number of American vessels engaged in the whaling

trade of the South Seas, will mojst probably have a similar clT'cct
on the munufacture of oils from bituminous sliulos, which hu8, uf
late, been practised on an extensive scale in France,

In Northern (iermany, coal oils are very largely used for
street illumination, on the railroads, and most expos^ed localities.
They are largely manufactured in Hamburg; but if crude
Canadian Native Oil were laid down in that city, at tlio coHt
at whicli it can be 8U])plied from the Canada wells seaborne,
by a Company Imving its own vessels (freight, insurance, and
profit being addocj), the manufacture of coal oils would cease.

In Saxony and in Prussia, similar results would follow; a
clieaper illuminator and a better, being in the field, the Bitu-
ininous-Shale-Oil Works, so common in these countries, would
soon be abandoned; for it must be borne in uiind that such
manufactures yield but small profits, even with all the skill of tho
German and French practical chemists. It is of the utmost im-
portance to notice that if crude Canadian Native Oil were
imported it would not occasion any material change in machine-y,
for all the larger products which are the chief sources of profit,
the Canadian Native Oil is capable of producing in common
with coal. These products are —

1. Naphtha used as a solvent for caoutchouc, and dilFerent
resins and gums.

2. Benzole, a valuable substitute for alcohol, ether, and
turpentine; a preparation of it called benzoline dissolves India
rubber and gutta pcrcha (in consequence of which it has given
opportunity for a variety of manufactures of elastic fibres, and has
greatly advantaged the progress of electric telegraphs, submarine,
and otherwise). Benzole dissolves fats, and is largely used in
woollen, cotton, and silk manufactures; it restores faded colours;
removes tar, paint, oils, grease, and resin, and possesses many
other remarkable qualities. It is more generally known in trade
as " Mineral Turps," having been largely substituted in tho
making of paints, as well as in other cases for turpentine, owing to
the rise of price in the latter, owing to the war between the United
States. There is also another use to which benzole may bo
applied — the making of a brilliant gas, at very trifling expense,
with no difficulty, and with a most simple, compact, and accessi-
ble machinery. A stream of air driven through benzole becomes
so inflammable as to serve for the purpose of illumination. In
this mode of using the hydrocabon, it should be kept slightly
warm to assist its evaporisation. A machine on this principle, of
American invention, has been employed to illuminate houses.
The air is driven through the benzole by a very simple contri-
vance, the motive power being a descending weight.

3. Illuminating Oil, respecting which nothing further need
be said.

''^fmm^'

'■

4. IIkavy LuniMCATINO OlI^; for winch, when mixed wltli
a certain proportion of other futtv materials, there is u great
demand (or machinery purposes throughout the world. The
(JUidities recpiircd in oil f«)r nuichini'ry use arc that it should be
free from acid reaction, not vohitile, capable of withstanding both
cold and heat, and able to lubricate; without " gumming." 'Iheso
mialities are all possessed by the Canadian Nativk Oil, alter
distillation and relinement tVom the crude state. The (Canadian
l^ubricating Oil stands both heat and cold without changin'' its
consistency, and is in all respects ecjual to the best sperm which
letches DO/, a ton. This Canadian Lubricating Oil is ecpially
superior for manufactures, steam engine.^, and manufacturing
purposes generally, as it is for railroad purposes.

5. Natiitamne.

0. Tak. The source of .Mauve, Magentn, Ilosalinc, Azurinc, etc.,
which when mixed with a certain proportion of crude oil is used
for the manufacture of gas, or when mixed with saw-dust, as
stated hereafter, for fuel.

7. IIkfuse Carbon suitable also for fuel.

Gas prom Canadian Native Oil.

'*This is an established fact already," says the CornhiU
Magazine, " the inhabitants of Montreal, and perhaps by this time
other Canadian towns, are illuminated on their way home from
the tavern, or playhouse, by Petroleum gas." An advertisement
appeared, on December 12, in the Toronto papers, to the follow-
ing effect: —

GAS FROM PETROLEUM.

1 WOULD inform tlic Public that 1 liave completed niy experiment in malting (Jas
from (.'rude Petroleum, and am now prepared to offer one of the moat brilliuul and
economical Gas lights vet invented.

GAS CAN BE MADE

ONE DOLLAR PER ONE THOUSAND FEET,

And can bo seen burning on my premises.

I Am Manufacturing Portable Gas Works

To supply the Gas to Private and Public Buildings for §251) and upwards, and am now
prepared to sut)ply with promptness any demands made on me for tiiem.

JAMES E. THOMSON,

lOi), King-street West, Toronto.
Toronto, Deo. 12. 3G48 B.

On April 4, appeared the following —
CIRCULAR.

109, King Stueet West, Toronto, April 3, 18G2.

SIR, — We beg to inform you that we have secured a patent in Canada fer the manu-
facture of Illuminating' Gas from Crude Petroleum.
Our Process is susceptible of being applied on any scale— from the lighting of a
Dwelling House to that of the largest City.

■ -v

Three materials are employed in the manufacture of our Illumfnatinfj Gas. These are,
Crude Petroleum, Water, and Charcoal or Coke, all of them accessible and cheaj), and
from the extraordinary abundance of Petroleum in Canada and the United States, this
body is likely to remain so.

The qualities which we confidently expect will secure for Petroleum Gas your favour,
are : —

1st. — Its extraordinary illuminating power.

2nd. — The mildness and softness of its light.

3rd. — Its cheapness.

4th. — The ease with which a supply can always be controlled for illuminating, heating,
or cooking purposes.

A one -foot burner gives a flame as large as a four-foot burner of tlie common Coal
Gas supplied to cities and towns. The comparative smallness of the flame greatly
diminishes the heat, which is often found so oi)i)re8sive in largo rooms lighted with coal
gas. The absence of the flickering v/liith is often disadvautai,a'ous and di.sugreeable in
common coal gas, is another quality which it can be made to possess. Until the recent
adoption by tlie public of Coal and Petroleum Oil Lamps, Coal (Jas was considered to
be by far the cheapest illuminator known. Since the discovery of a process for manu-
facturing gas from Petroloum, to burn without smoke or smell from ordinary gas burn-
ers when properly made. Coal Gas has has been far surpassed in cheapness by Petroleum
Gas, and a uiildcr, steadier, yet stronger light secured.

Its cheapness may be inferred from the following brief statement : —

Five gallons of Crude Petroleum distilled and converted into gas according to our
jirncess, make one thousand cubic feet of gas. But one cubic foot of Petroleum Gas is
equal in illuminating power to four cubic feet of common Coal (Jas, so that in effect
live gallons of Petroleum are capable of producing an amount of light represented bj'
4,(J00 cubic ft , of Coal Gas, or from §12 to $1G in money, according to the present ratio
of gas charges in Canada. Where gas is required to be manufactured on a large scale,
it is desirable to remember that petroleum and water are easily Iiandled, and can by
their own flow supply the retorts continuously and without waste, thus doing away with
the unceasing labour of continually replenishing the retorts with coal, and tlie expense
entailed in tlie maintenance of numerous hands.

With respect to public buildings, one man giving three hours' attention per day to the
manutacture of Petroleum (ias, can produce by our patent jjrocess, enough gas to supply
100 burners with full pressure for 10 hours, at a cost of material not ex(;eeding ON K
DOLLAR, fuel for distillation included, or at from one-fourth to one-third the ;ost
usually charged by the Gas Companies now existing in Canada.

The substitution of Petroleum for Coal in Gas Works now in operation, can be eflTccted
with very little additional expense.

In public and private I lildings where it Is desirable to introduce Petroleum Gas, a
small detached room would be required, according to the capacity of the works. The
pipes and burners now used by Gas Companies are in all respects adapted to the Petro-
leum Gas, with this difference, that where a FOUR foot burner (the one in common use)
for Coal Gas is employed, a ONK-foot burner for Petroleum Gas would have to be sub-
stituted. Petroleum Gas burning through a FOUR foot gas burner is a magnificent
illuminator, and one which would not often be used for ordinary purposes.

Any communications relative to the introduction of the Patented Petroleum Gas into
public buildings or private houses, may now be addressed to James E. Thomson, 109,
King-street, West, Toronto ; and if the applicant state the number of burners recpiired
to be supplied, an estimate of the size and cost of the apparatus will be returned without
delay.

We arc, Sir, your obedient Ser\-ant3,

JAS. E. THOMSOX,
Hydraulic and Gas Engineer.

HENRY YOULE HIND, M. A.
Professor of Chemistry and Geology, Trinity College, Toronto.

This is speaking to facts certainly. Where coal is abundant
and cheap, it is not probable that in towns or cities, gas manu-
factured from Canadian Native Oil will be a successful com-
petitor for public favour, notwithstanding its superior illuminating
power, and the agreeable softness of the light which it produces.
The manufacture of gas from coal has attained such excellence,
that where the material can be procured at a moderate rate, the
value of the coke and other by-products is sulTicient to pay the

.*L

expense of manufacturing the gas per se. It is the pipes and the
quarrelling, and the lawyers, and the Acts of Parliament, that
have made gas dear, by loading it with the interest of a heavy
unnecessary outlay. But in districts, where coal is dear, and for
large buildings not within reach of gas works, this Canadian
native oil will become the cheapest source of illumination.
The gas from it, with which the cities of Toronto and Montreal
are now lighted, affords, we are assured, satisfactory proof that it
can be manufactured witli the utmost ease to burn without smoke
or smell, and to give a light three times as brilliant as ordinary coal
gas. From a gallon of Canadian native oil in the crude state,
weighing 8lbs., 6oz., Mr. Jas. Thomson produces 150 feet of gas
of high illuminating power, with a soft agreeable light, and no
smell or smoke. Is there not reason, then, to believe that the
manufacture of gas from the Canadian native oil will become
general in large establishments, in rural districts, and in towns
where coal is dear, not in England only, but more particularly in
France and many parts of Germany? In one town in Germany,
we hear, that they manufacture gas from the fat which they
extract from soap suds, which have thus become an article of
daily barter throughout the town. It is easy to conceive that
the crude Canadian native oil, would find purchasers from the
practisers of this ingenious and expensive process. " The expect-
ations of those who believe that the petroleum trade, which they
compare to that in gold, will amply make up for any deficiency
that may be caused by the interruption of the trade in cotton,
may, at first sight," says the " Cornliill Magazine," for June,
" appear extravagant; but when we consider the vast consump-
tion of gas in all the great cities and towns of Europe — from
Lisbon to Moscow, in our Australian Colonies, in the cities of
India, and reckon the gradual substitution of petroleum for coal
in the manufacture of gas — the calculation will hardly be thought
absurd."

Use of Canadian Native Oil as a Fuel.

The crude Canadian native oil is admirably adapted to form
tie means of utilising, for combustion, certain refuse matters,
which, without admixture with tar or similar substances, are
wholly valueless. The high price of fuel in France, and the
many patents taken out for artificial fuel, point out a ready
market. Clay in balls, as in Persia; sawdust and clay, as in
Norway; refuse charcoal, as in France, with numerous other
materials, may be impregnated with the crude oil, or the tar
refuse, and converted into artificial fuel. It will be used also in
stoves for cooking, in place of alcohol; or ratlicr, it will take a
position which alcohol has been too high-priced to occupy — tliat
of supplying heat and fire to cooking-stoves. Nor is it im-

f 1

i '

possible that our Ocean Steamers may seek its aid as fuel, for the
rapid generation of steam, since to them economy in bulk and
weight is a great desideratum. Petroleum is the essence of coal,

factory answer; to the second, a response is sought by the
tion of a " Canadian Native Oil Company," in this c(

great

and the question of its adoption, as a steam -generator, is depen-
dent on the abundance and certainty of the supply. To the first,
the " flowing wells," of Enniskillen have already given a satis-

forma-
country.

Its Antiseptic Pkopeuties.

Wood steeped in petroleum, or what is better, having Cana-
dian native oil forced into its pores by pressure, is proof against
decay for many years. The expense of Kyanizing, and the
enormous cost of relaying the wooden trees and sleepers of rail-
ways, will then be materially reduced.

Canadian Oil as a Lubricator.

We have already spoken on this head. The crude oil is
now sought after in many workshops where swift motion is
employed; when mixed with fat or resin, it acquires greater con-
sistency, and constitutes the well-known "Railway Giease,"
but it is the heavy lubricating oil, one of the results of
destructive distillation of the crude product, that will be most
extensively used. From this heavy lubricating oil, when not
thus used, paraffine, from which candles are made, equal to Bel-
montine, can be extracted by the ordinary processes of cold and
pressure.

Business Prospects of Canadian Native Oil.

The Canadian Oil, as refined in this country and imported into
France, will enjoy an advantage of 10 per cent, differential duty
under the Cobden Treaty over that from the United States, an
advantage it will possess over American oil in addition to the tax
on local consumption, which invariably acts as an impediment to
export, by weighting the immediate market for the article — as
was evidenced in our own commercial history by the duties on
paper and glass, which had limited, if not destroyed, our export
of those manufactures to foreign ports."^

Paris, le 10 Ducembre, 1861.

* Monsieur, — Vous m'avez fait I'honneur de m'eci-ire le 28 Octobre
dernier, a I'efFet d'etre fix6 sur le droit d'entree applicable a I'liuile de
schiste puritiue.

Co produit est assimile a I'essence de houille qui est passible de la taxe
de G^/o de la valeur, quelque suit la mode de transport, ii I'importation
directe d'Angleterre on de Belgique, lorsque Torigine anglaise on beige en
est dument justifioe. Arrivant de tons autres pays, Tesseuce de houille
est soumise an droit de 13f. ou de 14f., 30c. les 100 kil. plus le double de-
cline, fiuivant qu'elle est importue sous pavilion frangais ou sous pavilion

•■A

** This oil," says the correspondent of the Times, " makes a better

light when refined than any other burning fluid 1 have ever seen,

second only to the best coal gas, with no liability to explode like

many illuminating fluids that have been from time to time offered

to the public." " An increase of purity," says the Times city

article of February 25th, 1862, "is being constantly effected by

the daily experience of its enlarged manufacture ; but the

question of price cannot be tested until the requisite facilities of

transport shall have been established." An idea which the

same journal (ever foremost in its knowledge of the commercial

bearings of any important discovery) still further carries out in

a city article of April 11th, as follows: —

" The last Canadian papers shew that the supplies from the oil-wells
constitute an increasing topic of attention throiaghout the province. As
the quantities are apparently illimitable, freight is the grand question for
consideration, and the Toronto Globe points out that the real abundance
of the article will not be manifested in Europe until special facilities for
transport and shipment are brouglit int(^ operation. In the instance of
refined oil there are no particular difficulties ; but the refining process can
be carried on more economically and extensively on this side, and the
object, tlierefore, is to contrive means for the cheap transport of the
crude material. In that state its smell is so ott'ensive, that grain, flour,
, or other articles carried in trucks or vessels in which it has previously
been stowed, become damaged, and there is consequently a general indis-
pDsition to take it, except at very high rates. A class of tank- vessels will
tlierefore probably have to be created for the purpose. ' A vessel,' it is
observed, * that cariies oue load of petroleum is fit for no other business,
save ':■ . ' iron, timber, or other articles which cannot be spoilt by the
odouv ' 1\ even at the high rates at present paid for both land and sea
freigiit ...''■• calculated that the price is sufHcient to yield a good profit
to the o»viiors of the flowing wells, who are at no expense for pumping.
The values of the petroleum landed at Liverpool is about \s. per gall6n,
and nearly the whole of this consists of the charges for transport ; while
the belief in Canada is that under an organized system these charges

etranger et par terre. II est, d'ailleurs, facultatif aux importeurs d'essence
de liouille Anglaise on Beige d'adopter pour le droit au poids resultant du
tarif general, quand I'application de ce droit leur parait })lus avantageuso
(jue cello de la taxe a la valeur inscrite dans les tarifs conventionuels.

Agreez, Monsieur, 1' assurance

de ma parfaite consideration.
Le Conseiller d'Etat, Directeui- General,

BACKER.
Translation.
Sir, — You dir^ me the honour to write to me on the 28th December last,
so as to know the duty payable on purified schist oil. This produce is
assimilated to the Essence of coal, which pays 5\ ad valorem, by any
mode of transport direct from Belgium or England, where the English or
Belgium origin is duly certified. Coming from any other country, the
Essence of Coal pays 13f, or 14f, 30c. the 100 kil., plus the double decline,
according to its being brought in under the French flag or under a foreign
one, or by land. It is, however, optional to the importer of the English or
Belgian Coal to choose the duties by wiight arising from the (Jeneral
Tarif, when it appears more advantageous than by the duties ad valorem.

I::

might be reduced to 2^d. per gallon, or even lower. The room for an
extension of the trade is therefore beyond calculation. At one of the
flowing wells the oil rises from a depth of 234 feet at the rate of 25 ban*els,
or about 1,000 gallons per hour ; much of it is allowed to nin to waste
from the inadequacy of the supply of barrels, and of the other means to
store it. At another well the supply is alleged to have poured forth at
the rate of 70,000 gallons a day, uninterruptedly, except when the opening
is plugged, since the 16th of January last. A third well exists of a
similar capacity ; and the other wells, which require labour or machinery
for pumping, are innumerable. The latter, however, at present prices, do
not pay for working, since the proprietors of the flowing wells are of
course ready to part with their produce at rates which are little more than
nominal. The United States' wells in Pennsylvania are equally if not
more extensive, and the quantities of oil seeking transport to New York
and Boston are said to be far beyond the present carrying power of the
Atlantic and Erie Railways. Under the circumstances the preparation
of a sufficient rolling stock, and the completion of the short links which
are to bring the districts into direct connexion refipectively with these
lines in the United States, and with the Great Western in Canada, will be
awaited with general interest."

There is no doubt as to the amount of supply of the Canadian
Oils for ages yet to come. The area of the "oil-fields" forma-
tion has been pronounced by the Government geologists, in their
Report on Western Canada, to extend under 7,000 miles
in the Canadian provinces. To control the astonishing abun-
dance of the yield, and to keep it in store, not until a market can
be found — for that has been accomplished — but until the means
of reaching that market can be obtained, is the problem of the
day. Capital has to be organised, refineries established, docks
secured, ships purchased, a railway system perfected, before the
great fact of the mutual enrichment of England and Western
Canada, by dealing with the goods provided for them by N ture,
can be brought about and perfected.

The European markets afford a great field. In England,
France, and Germany, every promise of a mighty commercial
success seems likely to be realised.

Much has already been done, and many sacrifices have been
made ; all that was required of them patiently endured by our
brethren on the other side of the water; they have now by cor-
duroy roads and a new railway branch, — not only projected but
absolutely in course of construction, and to be finished in the
course of the present summer, — brought the oil down to a port
on the Lake St. Clair, which places their produce in connection
with the Great Lake, River, and Canal communication of
Canada, and enables it to be brought direct and in unbroken
bulk from the extreme of Canada West to the Port of London,
or any other port and harbour of the world. What is now re-
quired is, that the English capitalist should meet his Canadian
brother on the shore with ships ready to receive his barrels,
purchase from him the immense wealth he has drawn from the

'^^^

IS^lVl.-

sis,

ste

teeming bosom of tlie cartli, and, by means of science, extract
from them, by refining, all those vahiableand precious products for
which the world's market is waiting.

These are not fancies or speculations, but actual facts, — a now
California, to be worked by science and capital rather than by
ignorant labour, is open to those wlio have suiHcient acumen to
appreciate it. It is as if some great Russian merchant were to
declare his stores open to all who would come and fetcii the
tallow away from them. However we might question tlie sanity of
the over-generous individual, all would know that the article had
a marketable value, and would go for it accordingly. Just so, in
the present instance, the stores of all-bountiful nature are exuding
forth for us " liquid light," — oil of excellent quality, of known
commercial value, and of ready sale, as we have shown; producing
by the addition of a trifling amount of skill to its manipulation
an equivalent for turpentine, —just at a time that the internecine
war in the United States has rendered that valuable article most
scarce, — a solvent for India rubber and gutta percha, just as that
article, in a newer condition only produced by solvents, is
coming into use in a thousand new ways, — and the base of dyes
so precious that the wonder of our International Exhibition is
one piece of them, no larger tlian a pint pot, yet in value
£3,000.

To sum up the uses and advantages of Canadian NArrvE Oil
as a burning fluid, it may be pronounced to be incomparably the
cheapest, as it is the brightest illuminator that has yet been manu-
factured, even with the existing disadvantages of an imperfect
knowledge of its constituents and the dearness of requisite chemicals
(sulphuric acid and alkalies) in the localities where it has hitherto
been refined. When brought over to this country, where the
highest chemical acumen has been culminated to the extraction
of its commercial products, and the cheapest of all processes — the
use of steam alone — has been applied to its refinement, there
can be little question, that for domestic purposes It will drive all
other means of illumination out of the field.

Conclusion.

The wider diffusion of information, respecting this new supply
of light and fuel, the now general necessities of civilised
man, its nature, and the extent to which it can be obtained
from the Canadian native oil region about Enniskillln, is a matter
of grave importance, not only in England but in France and
Germany. We must be ready to show in practice that Canadian
Native Oil can do all that is promised for it. For this purpose,
the International Exhibition affords a medium better than a
thousand advertisements. Specimens of Canadian Native Oil

^'^Attt<-Iini1l.-

. iMi-ifi^'m^aaM

in every stage can now bo soon in the Canada Department,
where any enquiry addressed to Sir William Logan, the head of*
the Commissioners, who is generally on the spot, and laudably
anxious to itnpart every possible information that may tend to
develop the industrial resources of that country, will meet with
courteous attention and reply.

In order to show the comparative advantac^e of this Petroleum
or Rock Oil over all other burning oils, the following statement,
the result of careful experiment and calculation, is submitted : —

Intensity of Liglit

Amount of Lifjlit

Cost of an equal

Description of Oil.

Price per Gallon.

by tlic

fiom

quantity of Liglit

riiotomcter.

equal quantity.

in decimals.

Petioleum or

Rock Oil .

2/.

1370

2T)0

2-00

Sperm .

7/6

2 00

•9.-)

20-00

Caraphine

5/.

5-00

1-30

10-00

Rape or Colza

4/.

210

1-50

G-50

Lard

4/.

1-50

•70

14-O0

Whale .

2/9

2-40

■85

8-25

The market is universal and boundless, in England, France,
and Germany. Sir Roderick jNIurchisoii, in a recent address to
the British Association, invited attention to "an important dis-
covery of a resinous Shale in Tasmania termed Dysodile, which,
like the Torbane IMineral of Scotland, promises to be turned to
great account in the production of paraffine." But here is ''the
paraffine ready found and associated with more illuminating oils,
and other substances in our Canadian petroleum, which shows
only two parts of waste in every hundred parts." The markets of
the world demand it, and the English capitalist has little more
to do than send over his ships to fetch it, at his own price.

A flood of wealth is poured by nature into the lap of Canada —
a flood, even in its crude condition, known to be worth millions.
Our brethren, being of themselves incapable of realising the advan-
tages of these new treasures to their full extent, invite us to aid
them, and to share with them the yet greater profits to arise from
Canadian Native Oil, its manufacture, transportation, refine-
ment, and final sale. It is for Englishmen to say whether tliey
will ignorantly surrender to foreign hands so great a commercial
advantage.

•I'

■X

-i

IND EX.

Ire

-»'

v\(liims, Messrs.. llicir Ivctinen-, 2.3.

Aiiierican Oil Springs, <i.

Artosiiui pniici])l('. ii.-ed in Ciiin.'i, 1'.).

Aziiriiie, a I)euiuit'ul and cxpi'iisive itye
from Caiiiiilian Native Oil, 43.

TJarliudnos Oil S]iring«. 6.

Hakii Oil Spriiii^s, C.

liiitligatc najihtha, 4.

UeliiiMiuino, 3, 5.

Jk'iiziiic, a itroduct of Canadian Native
Oil, 41.

Rciizule, from Canadian Native Oil, 42.

Hituinon, oil from, 5.

Bituminous Shale, its distillation, 4;
driven from market by Caiuidian
Native Oil, 29. 42.

Black Creek Oil Wells, 19; journey to
and description of, 22, 24, 25.

Bligh Farm, Spouting well, 24.

Bojfliead naphtha, 4.

li»vh\]^ for Oil, 19, 20.

J{o\vis, ]\Ir. ,). G., Mayor of Toronto, his
advice on Canadian Native Oil, .36.

Bradley Brothers, Messrs, their Flow-
ing' {)il Well, 25.

Brook (Jil Wells, 40.

Burnuih, Petroleum from, 5.

Cami)hcll, Mr., of Black Creek, on ex-
porting Canadian Native Oil, 36.

Cani])iiine discarded for Native Oil, 9.

Canadian Native Oil, at International
Exhibition, 1862, 28; area over which
it extends, 29, 30, 40; Professor Cha])-
man's oi)inion of, 32; Mr. Pease's
opinion of, 31; its general charactcr-
isiics and constituents, 32; means of
bringing it to market, 33 ; over-
weighted by Docks and Kailwry
cliarges, 3:i, 34; sure and safe test
for, 33; Company to be formed for
importing, selling, and reiining, 34;
how exported by sea, 35, 36 ; Cana-
dian Canals System, largely advan-
tageous to, 3J; i)roducts and uses of,
41; gas made from it, and towns
lighted by it, 44: protits of import,
refinement, and sale by a Comi)aMy,
39; chcaimess of crude oil, 39; how
to carry it, 39, 40; analysis of, by Dr.
Sheridan Muspratt, 41; as oil for
lamps, 41; gives mauve, magenta,
rosaline, azurine, &c., 4.'3; used as
fuel with clay and sawdust, 45; its
antiseptic properties, 46; as a lubri-
cator, 46; its business prospects, 47;
advantages (jf a Company for disposal
of, 49; may be seen at fntcrnational
Exhibition, 49; its sui)eriority to all
other " burning oils," oO,

Canadian Native Oil, inestimable com-
mercial advantage of, 3; how drasvn
up, 18; its discovery, 7; used as medi-
cine, 7, 19; value HI crude state, 19;
liow used in medicine, 7, 35; ditfieulty
in getting to market, 19; its odour,
7; Sir W. Logan's account of, 23;
substitute for chloride of lime, 18; a
substitute for turpentine, 12; alcohol,
12; how refined, 27; dissolves india
rubber and gutta percha, 12; what it

is, 27; spoken of in^Governmcnt sur-
vey by Sir W. JiOgan, 13.

Chapman, Professor, of Toronto, his
opinion of Canadian Native Oil, 32.

Chinese, use Mineral Oil, 6.

Cincinnati, U.S., oil refined at, 9.

Clermont Oil Springs, 6.

Cleveland, I'.S., oil refined at, 9.

Coal, oil Irom, 4; advantageous as a
return cargo, 40; discontinuance of ifi
distillation in Northern Geimany,42.

Coal, used as a medicine in India, 19,

Columbus, U.S., oil refined at, 9.

Coman, Mr., his oil well, 23.

CortihUl Magazine, notice of Canadian
Native Oil, 10, 11.

Cubitt, Mr. William, his opinion of
Canadian Native Oil, 3.

Daili/ News, Notice of Canadian Native
oil, 35.

Docks charges in Canadian Native Oil
excejitional, 33.

Down, Oil Wells, 40.

Drake, Colonel, discovers Oil Springs at
Titusville, in Pennsylvania, 7.

J)rcsden, country between, and Ennis-
killen, 17, 18.

Dutv, dilferential, in favour of Canadian
Native Oil, 47.

Dyes, expensive and profitable, from
Canadian Native Oil, 43.

Enniskillen Oil Wells, 14,15; Petro-
leum trade at, 16; Visit to, 21 ; where
situate, 35.

Fire Springs of China, 6.

Flowing Wells of Oil, 25.

Forsyth, Mr. onCanadian Native Oil, .39.

F'uel, I'atent, made from Canadian Na-
tive Oil, 45.

Gas, its origin for lighting a Metropolis,
4 ; from Camvdian Native Oil, 43, 44.

Galicia Oil Sprmgs, 6.

Gobian Oil Sjirings, 6.

Hartley, Dr., his opinion of Paraffine
Oils,their non-explosive properties,27.

Harvey, Dr., King's College, his advice
to Company for sale ot Canadian
Native Oils,'34.

Hassall, Dr., his advice to be acted upon
by the Company, 34.

Herepath, Professor, his advice to Com-
pany followed, 34.

Hind, Professor, of Toronto University,
his account ot Canadian Native Oil,38.

Ho-tsing, Fire or Gas Wells of Setch-
Onen, 6.

Hue, Al)be, his travels, and account of
Naphtlia Springs in Chirux, 6.

Hunt, liobt. on Distillation from Coal, 4.

Hunt, T. Sierry, Mr., his opinion of
Canadian Native Oil, 29.

Imbert, Father, his account of Fire
Wells in China, 6.

Lamp Oil, from crude Canadian Native
Oil, 41.

Lewis, Kicc, Mr., his advice on export
of Canadian Native Oil, 37.

Logan, Sir William, his account of Ca-
nadian Native Oil, 28,

Lord Mayor, his opinion of Canadian
Native Oil, 3.

* . 1 V-

Lubricating, Want of lubricating me-
dium fur Macliiucry, 4.

Miu'liinery Oil, from ''nadian Native
(Jil, its superior uilvuntagcs, 43.

Magenta Dye, from Canadian Native
Oil, 43.

Manning, Alexander, Dr., his advice on
export of Canadian Native Oil, 37.

Market for Canadian Native Oils, in
England. Ireland, Scotland, Germany,
iiussia, and Franco, 3'J, 40.

Mauve Dyes, from Canadian Native
Oil, 43.

Mecca, oil regions of Oliio, a description
of, 9; its wenltli in oil, 'J.

Mineral Oils, tlieir now ajjplications, 12.

Murcliison, Sir llodcrick, hisopinion, 50.

Muspratt, Sheridan, Dr., his analysis of
Canadian Native Oil, 41.

Naphtha, Ii()ghcad,4iBaci)gatc,4; Ran-
goon, 5; from Canadian Native Oil, 42.

Neufcliatcl Oil Springs, G.

New York, cost of transit of Canadian
Native Oil, 400 per cent., 40.

Observer, its notice of Canadian Native
Oil, 34.

Ohio oil wells, 9.

Oil city, l)arrels at, 11.

Oil Creek, 1 1.

Oil wells, new dug, 9; curious, seen
at, 14; theory of, 7.

Oil, American, its use for railways and
machinery, 9; demand increases with
supply, 8; supply inexhaustible, 40.

Oil, Whale, its disuse prophesied, 4;
increases in value, 4.

Oil, Canadian, discovered, 7; its uses;
its safety, 10, 11; new applications,
12; their lighter products utilised, r2.

Oil Regions of United States, descrip-
tion of, 8,9, 10; their abundant pro-
duction, 8, 9, 10; of Canada, visit to,
13, 14, 1.5, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, to 27;
wealth inexhaustible, 27.

Oilmen of Enniskillen, meeting of, 36.

Paratlin, 3; from peat, 4; oil, 4; not
explosive at ordinary temperatures, 27.

Pease, F. S., Mr., of Buffalo, his opinion
of Canadian Native Oil, 31.

Peat, Paraffin from, 4.

Pennsylvania Oil Springs, 7 ; description
of, 14.

Petroleum, firs^t introduced to America,
6; springs, 5 ; not a new gift of nature,
. 6 ; its ancient and modern uses, 5, 6 ;
stirring notice of its danger, 11; offi-
cial account of, 28; theory of, 27.

Petrolia, visit to and description of oil
wells at, 23.

Photogen, 4.

Pittsburgh, how Oil is taken to, 40.

Pollard & Macdonnell, Messrs. give up
distilling bituminous Sliale, from su-
periority of Canadian Native Oil, 29.

Railways, charges exceptional on Cana-
dian Native Oil, 34 — subsequent dis-
position to meet oil men.

Rangoon Native Oil Springs, 5.

Resin, dissolved by Canadian Native
. Oil, 12.

,:-Jk. ,

Uosulinc, a bciiutiful and expensive dye
troiii Caiiiutiaii Native Oil, 43,

Salt Wells of China, 6; of United
States,

Seneca oil used in medicine, 7; com-
pany, their profits, 8.

Seich-Oucn Salt Wells, 6.

Shale, bituminous, 4; interior for distil-
lation, !).

Shaw, John, his fortune, the story of,
15, 16; his well, tiS.

Sherwoodole, 3, 5.

Sombra oil wells, 40.

Spouting wells, description of, 24, 25.

Si. Clair iiiver, not on lire, 11.

Strange, F. il., Mr., 15, Cannon-slreet,
City, exhibits lamiis for burning Ca-
nadian Native (Jii, 33.

Surface wells at Enniskillen, 20.

Sydenham iiiver, project for sending oil
down to, through iron tubes, 19.

Tallow, its cheapness foretold, 4 ; rises
in price, 4.

Tar from Canadian Native Oil, 43.

Teamsters of Titusville and Wyoming,

Tegernsee oil sjuMugs, 6.

Tegetmeier, W. B., Mr., his opinion of
Canadian Native Oil, 35.

Thames River, danger of fire from writer
in Cornhill Magazine, 11.

Thompson, Mr., tubes cut patent to make
gas from Canadian Native Oil, 39;
makes and sells it, 43; lights towns
with it,

Tidionte, oil at, 16.

Timber ships for conveyance of oil, 47.

Times Correspondent, his account of na-
tive oils 9 ; of Canadian Native Oil, 47.

Titusville, 9 ; oil springs at, 7 ; its pros-
perity; quantity of oil produced ut, 8.

Torbane, mineral, 5.

Tramway from oil wells to river, 39.

Transport of oil, see !ZV«ie« Correspond-
ent, 48,

Trinidad oil springs, 6.

Val di Note (Sicily) oil springs, 6.

Victoria Docks, charges exceptional, 33.

Victoria, Enniskillen, oil wells at, 15, 1 7.

Visit to oil springs, 2 1 etc.

Wallachia oil springs, 6.

Watkins and Mills, Messrs., their oil
well, 26.

Wells, W. H,, Mr. Judge, on export of
Canadian Native Oil, 40.

Whales retn'e to distant seas, 4.

Wheelwright, Mr , his oil well, 23.

Williams, Charles Greaville, on mineral
oils, 5.

Williams, Judge, discovers Canadian oil
wells, 14.

Wyoming, oil stored at, 1 1, 17 ; the City
of Gieuse described, 21, 22; quantity
of oil shipped from, 22.

Yeu-tsing, salt wells of Setch-Ouen, 6.

Young, iMessrs., their patent for Tor-
bane mineral, large profits of, 38.

Zantc, oil springs, 6, 30, 31.

Zelo St., oil springs, 6.

•1^