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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, Wcfin|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 I 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 H Tin: « . t I' <» . i , ^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 of beiny the Deposit required, on on application for an allotment of Shares in the undertaking. £ For the City Bank, 4 c. •f ^ ■ in. w i a n ww j i t '11 I 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.) V 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. i I' 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 " r lai on I Ml 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 *% ft '^'m i h -:-,.( 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 in pipei s to burn under their salt pans. goes on 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 I 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 8 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 I SaAOdfilMiIla. 9 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 i.5« 10 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 th 11 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 i 1 IM 12 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. \\ m IP 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 I* ]3 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" can he intlamed half an iut'h ahove tho surface of the li(piid. This linde«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, ii jii(lit in the clay on ]m (jirni, wlufn lie observed some 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 I; s 16 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