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suds of the old slave states, for the rensouihnt the process ol recuperation requires udegree of mtelligeuce to agricultu ra! I*borers which cannot lbv possessed byslaves. \\ Hen, therefore,ilATt'iy has over-rim and exhausted alf the lands it now possesses, being denied, additional room to expand in, slaveowners will be at a disadvantage in ihe production of cotton and other staples, in cohi petition nUh free labor and scientific methods Implored in producing the entile sta||bs on the'vtagiri soil* ol other tropical regions. \\ Hen mutters-siiall-liHve reached this stage, towardswhich they nre inevitably tending, ihiverrwill not only W on the high rund to »■*mr * ^ -w m V. w m , r —Unction, but wilt have nearly accomplished the journey. %A VISIT? TO THE OIL REGIONCO Ift. mm —with Ilt-zekiuh. Well, onward we traveled over Hdt and over valley, across water courses, runs, young creeks, swamps, e.; desolation was written legibly nil around ; scarcely a habitation was to be seen, and such its were visible, were so far oil”,itiid looked so like rude nnd miserableshanties, that we never paused for amoment, but onward we went, laughing,joking, whistling and drinking, 'till at hist we got on the top ot a ridge, and found we hud lost our way, and did not know which route to take, nil traces of a roruf having disappeared. On the top ofthe ridge we baited, und after holding it council of inquiry, we proposed the Yankee and ourself to toss ut a copper for choice of routes, which was accordingly dune, the Yankee being the loser. We then selected a route, which nil hands fob lowed, and which, as it happened, turned out to be the right truck for the ‘eternal cielitre;” After traveling a . brief . apacefurther, we parted company, and took overthe little Kanawha, and goon found, lo our great delight, our friend Henry Pride, of Fairmont, who procured a couple of horses, and off we started afresh, and shortly after sundown reached the ‘eternal centre/ \Y here is the “eternal centre ?” our renders will ii2sk. Well, this region of country is contained in a circle, the circumferenceof which is nearly three in ilea, nod ia distant about eight miles, on the LittleKa-nnwJtii river, above Elizabeth, the county-sent of Wirt county.- In and about lids favored spot, are the waters called Burning Spring run, Chesnut run, Nettle run, and their tributaries. Within this “centre,” as it is colled, are situated the various oil wells, fomo in full btast, some in process of boring, nnd some as yet untouched. Here is situated the bind of the celebrated Rathbun. who, it is represented, bus made u large fortune by leasing outhalf acre and quarter acre lots. Here-aUouta.L* located the celebrated Camden well, mid various other wells, right on the bank of the Little Knmuvlm. that ririw forming the base of the circuit of two orthree mites, before spoken of.On arriving ihkl evening at the “centra “ we put up ntji our horses werefiitched nt the inside fence .corner, whilePride and ourself wept in to make arrangement for the night. Here, however, we conTd not stay, there being no stable for our horses, and we left soon, but bad to pay forty cents for the hitching of our horses to I be inside Fence-coroer. At Lynch’s up a tributarv of Horning Spring run. we were more successful here we found stables For our tired nod jaded horses and good' quarters for ourselves within doors. This was onr lieiu]quarters during onr stay at the well, purreaders may.well believe that Lynch’s was crowded with people; up etnirs And downwere filied to repletion, and such n. strange and singular crowd we never before spentn night wit A. Sitting by the lire tip fifctM after Mipper. one of onr fellow-lodgerj On-A Grnplitc Description of Sights amiExpcritnctti lu nuct about the ^Eternal Center.’*Macdoonell, the local of the FairmontVirginian, baa been to see the oil region.He graphically details his experience inthat delectable country. We quote:We left Grafton about three o'clock in i the Northwestern train, and arrived at Re-■ truleum, without iiny accident, about seven I o'clock in the morning. Petroleum is a mighty fine town/ronsistlngof four dwell-; nig*, and is situated in Ritchie County; these dwellings might be dmsifiud, to wit: two frame botices nnd two. cabins. One of the 1 mines is ti storehouse, nil (he others arc hotels. On lauding at Petroleum. We found our company 10 number twenty persons, a grotesque and motley crowd, nil strangers to us, and all of whom presented , n wild, varied and vagabond’iippearai.ee. We were recommended to a tavern kept by ft persi.h named Camp. Soon as we started from the ears towards ilie tavern, Mr, Camp, the landlord, rushed out and told us we could noL be accommodated there, but must go, to the lower hotel. Thitherwe accordingly went: this institution wasformerly a school ho use, and bad been an Iri-h shanty. The landlord’s name is Tinr-rackuiuo, a good, clever fellow; be gave us an excellent breakfast, which we much needed, and to which we did ample justice. This is a wild-looking country.,not a road to be found It) Llieneighborhood fit to travel. mid the wretched state of the weather rendered everything dismal, gloomy nndmiserable. Not being able to find any conveyances, horse or mule, be started from Petroleum on foot—the whole pnrtv. Previous to starling, we held a consultation about the roiid , not one of,us had the least idea of the geography of the country; we worn all hound for Burning Spring run, in Wirt County, the “eternal venire/ n* it is called. In the crowd was u real live Yankee, named Hezckiub Something. lie was the beau ideal of a Yankee, long, gaunt, bony, and cadaverous.indeed the skin on his face was so tight he cnuld uultfiiilie u sure tn* lire. TtlTS jambYankee was the life and soul of our party.No one, it appeared, could give us anysnli-factory information us to our route, the distance to Burning Springs being about twenty miles. The Yankee made various enquiries on the subject, add at length he asked a boy about eleven years old. who was looking out of a window, if there were any finger-boards on the road to guide the traveler, to which In* replied with great gravity, but withal a carious twinkle in Ins eye, that If he, the Yankee, would give him one Jailor bonus, lie would go to the store and but* him * finger-board At length we sinned on our journey, the road, it road it eon Id he called, was kuee-decrp in mud, the wind washigh, howling, and cold; nevertheless,what with whisky, good health, good humor, and good fellowship, we got along in ig it tv fine, the Yankee enlivening the route by his strange remarks und quaint pronunciation?; indeed he couldn't sayfor any money, ’iwns a I wavs kioir % . m * *tvrtrtineu us with a description of the people massed together in and about the wells. There were two classes of people, he told us, to wit, the upper tens and the lower hitrwrtds. The upper tens were those who slept up stairs, ten iu a bed. and the lower hundreds were those who slept as best they could, a hundred or more, on the floor.Next morning alter breakfast, we sallied out to see the elephant. The morning was excessively cold and gloomv. The country around was rough and hilly beyond anything we had imagined. To be sure, j on tlie bottoms, there was some excellentland, but all beside, was totally unfit for human habitation. We first came lo the Harper well, nt the mouth of a branch emptying into Burning Spring run. Atthis well we found them dipping up thethickest oil we ever saw. We don’t know how many barrels this well runs daily. Alew days ago Harper became discouraged and offered to sell out for §800; this veryday lie was offered §80,000 for his well.—Bn weeding farther on, we reached a commanding point, nnd beheld nil aroand us, a mile nr two, in every direction, innumerable derricks erected, empty barrels piledin heaps, and long rows of filled barrels._In this small compass of the “eternal centre/’ we estimated that at least fn'iir thuns-gedone Wav or unto see the cele-wns not at the were unable toand people were engg other in the oil trade.YV a had some*curiositv hrated Elulhhun, hut fie well, and therefore wegratify our curiosity. We siiw, however.h:s son, who has a very big nose, arid is, therefore, according lo Professor Fellows.a high-blooded man. At this well we found our old and esteemed friend. Bob Upton, engaged as clerk to Mr Rnthbnn,He would have taken tis round to see the | tdcplmnt, but owing lo press of business • and flow of oil be was unable to do so. From thence we went to Barns* well ; tins wttai formerly an old suit well, on the bank of the Little Kanawha. It runs, we wereIfiiinformed, about forty barrels a day. At Rogers well we found them pumping and barrelling. From nine o’clock id the morning rill sundown, sevcntv-two barrels were obtained here this day. 'The Camden ’ well was. as they lectinienflj call it, gariry out at the rate of two hundred barrels in twenty-four hours. We have not .^p ire to write an account oT nil we saw in this region ; our business was merely to get a glimpse of the elephant; we had no intention or desire lo invest, nnd the weather was so exceedingly bad we couldn't enjoyour trip as well ns under other dretim-l Stances, we most likely would.GETTING MARRIED EARLY.IU Adv»nlngM ««tl DlindvnniBL'^-iis Comparative Effect* cm tiw Mananti I He Wonum—HurrltU I*lfe Gen-crally OoiiMidLTcd*[From a ctmuuimic*tiou in the Cincinnati Commercial .JI -■’B a. rrignr*c acttip m your issue of the 22d inst., itdvisiug yuuiig people to ‘‘get married/’ The tone ofthearticle was good, though a bo tit the propriety of mi each/ marriage there is an honest difference of opinion. It seems lo be best for man—thereby be learns cnctm-omy, frugality and stability* M Huy ii ro thus saved who would otherwise drill out like vvorthloss weeds on the wild sea of dissipation, llume and wife and children nve objects to develop the best pan of mans nature, they center his aft cot i.uus, they stimulate his ambition, and lbus promote big success in the world.The cures ot dimiestic life often bear so heavily upon woman, that she gains far less by marriage. U is true she has ibat ‘‘absorbing sense of unalloyed happiness that belongs only to the union of two younn hearts, of which the article speaks, but aside from her aireetiumU being, ihe other parts of her nature are trcqueutly left to dwarf and dwindle. 1 think I sirii warranted in saying that the mental resources of a large proportion of our American women never increase utter marriage, while cases iu which they diminish arevery numerous.It often happens that when a couple are married, the school education of the woman is quiLe us good as that of the man,her talents equal, to say the least, her family heller, and her position in society superior. But the change in her life and oven pal ion is so complete, that she soon loses much ut the knowledge she has acquired. She would gladly retain it, but it passes from her like a retreating tide.— ft Is crowded out by new cares and duties, nnd thoughts on new subjects. A lew years only pass away, before muoh andtenses, levers and laws, solids and liuids, flights or rhetoric, chips of logic, und stray equations danee through her brain in t*qn-fmsious. forming, with every attempt tobring them into order, nothing buL grotesque, kulltduscopic figures.Not so with the man. Ho has occasion lo u=c the knew lodge lie has gained, nrfurthermore he continues, in Home manner,the pursuit of science. J/is education was but just begun, perhaps, ut the time they were married. He goes oil exercising nnd improving his powerj,increasing hi knowledge nnd strength and ability—twenty years of wedded life have nut rolled over their heads before there is a frightful disparity between him and his companion._Then, probably, he will begin to talk about u want of CM*jtnialit!tm und nil lb;vl— he bar a wife who cannot appreciate him, and he may come to the sage conclusion that it is very dangerous for a man of yrftif capacities to marry at all.All this time the wife has been engaged in cooking dinners, and nursing children, and ministering to the physical necessities of her family, fthev have been too poor Lu have help) and when she has time to think, which seldom happens, the tin welcome conviction forces itself upon her. that their home is do home for her husband—it is t only a place where Ie eau nnd sleeps, mid , gets his linen jwashed and mended. Butshe could not help it. He has been Aw.she has been fettered. Sftcirtv ini'?*.**1 , •; «uu aUlrveXS lor food; andnow ihe public delight in his ample proportions, while it looks with contempt upon the gaunt and shriveled being at bis , able.Now I would sny to the young women, if this is to be your experience, if. ill the language of Sidney Smith, your /swift vanishing womanhood is to wrinkle itself upinto despised old nge/* for ‘ heaven's sake do not marry young!But bow is the result of domestic cares to be avoided? responds the inquirer.—These dutios, and the maternal, also, moatbe performed by women. Certainly. \Y«-cheriah them at an essential part of life’s labor; and ask ticv exemption from ilnrir j4 responsibilities. But it does not follow.therefore, that A man lias a right to convertan intellectual nnd gifted being, or arty olher, into a mere “satellite of the dinneri Vi :th tit t;i
Newspaper Details
Wheeling Daily Intelligencer
Wheeling, West Virginia, US
Mon, Apr 01, 1861
Page 1
Full Page
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Anonymous
VA, USA 16 Aug 2020
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