RAMANCE OF OIL

Evening Star, Issue 19020, 15 August 1925, Page 10

RAMANCE OF OIL

MEDICINE FOR INDIANS

PRECIOUS MINERAL ONCE NEGLECTED.

In 1632 a Franciscan missionary writing from America spoke of ‘springs of oil” occurring in what is now Alleghany County, Tho Red Indians, when they suffered from sickness, used to skim it from the surface of tho water in tho creeks and drink it as medicine.

This was in the days when herds of buffaloes and flocks of wild turkeys ranged the continent from north to south. Now they are gone, together with the Tied Indians, and only the oil remains. Such was the first reference to oil in the New World, which now annually produced millions upon millions of barrels of this valuable and indispensable product. But for (ho real ancient history of oil we naturiiliv have to come back to the Old World, though in production it lies far behind the Wee tern lands. Oil has been known at Baku since time immemorial. Baku was the Mecca of the Hindu fil'd worshippers, and was annually visited by thousands of pilgrims. The Temple of Surakhani was for centuries the seat of the Sacred Fire, and as late as the eighties was still visited by priests from India.

Marco Polo, tho Venetian traveller, saw and described the burning springs, and Persia has been known since earliest times to contain oil. Of recent years tho Persian Golds have been proved to bo some of the richest in the world. We find that the Romans knew the nso of oil from Persia, and burned it in lamps in the Temple of Jupiter. This is the first recorded instance in history of its use for lighting purposes. After the decline of the Roman Empire petroleum was forgotten or neglected, and it was not until centuries had elapsed that it was again used for this purpose. Not a hundred years ago our ancestors wrote their manuscripts by the fitful light of a candle, or by t.be sputtering flare of a lamp burning animal or vegetable oil. But the march of civilisation discovered the latent, properties in the thick viscous substance which oozed out from certain parts of the earth’s crust. In 1659 the first oil well was sunk in America by a man named Drake, and within a comparatiyely short time other wells were sunk and a ready market found for the products (says a writer in ‘John o’ London’s Weekly ’). Tho torch of enlightenment was soon carried into the uttermost , comers of tho world, and into the homes of rich and poor alike the paraffin lamp found its way, diffusing its mellow light on countless family circles. A common enough article surely, but what a wealth of romance behind it! Other and varied Uses were found for tho remaining fractions of crude oil, chief among which is tho propulsion of motor vehicles. , As kerosene it lights our way in the dark places; as motor spirit it makes our care fly along tho road easily, smoothly, and swiftly; as a lubricant it minimises the wear and tear of the gigantic machines in tho world’s .great factories; and as fuel oil it propels the warships of Britain across every bud.