The jars are made entirely of Norway iron 2 in. sq., with the exception of the inner faces and ends of the slotted openings, which are lined with steel, the whole being heated red-hot and care fully annealed, to effect a thorough union of the metals. Tha stroke of the jars has been reduced to 12 in. and their total length is about 6 ft.
The bitts are made of Norway iron, with 40 lb. of steal on the point, which is drawn to a width of 51 in., more or less, according to the size of the well. The flat and round reamers are made also of Norway iron, with more steal on the point.
There are also various extra tools for different purposes.
The hollow reamer is for straightening a crooked hole. A spud or spoon for enlarging the well around a stuck too], is simply half a hollow reamer ; a slip-socket is to drop over the head of a tool that is fast, with dogs or teeth to fall out and catch under the collar ; a horn-socket, or tapering iron tube, is to drive and wedge upon the head of any fastened iron. All these, with many others, often especially devised and constructed for the purpose, are required at various times in sinking a well. The cable used is 6-in. untarred manilla rope.
The sand pump has two improvements : (1), the valve with a drop-stem to open it on reaching the bottom of the well ; and (2) the piston which keeps its place at the bottom of the pump while being lowered, but when drawn up, fills the pump by its suction with the loose debris and water.
Pumpe.—The main improvements under this head are included in the two items of sucker-rods and valves. The old style of sucker-rods with fish-tail ends has passed out of use, the rivets con stantly becoming loose and dropping into the working barrel having given great annoyance. To remedy this, the joint is made without any rivets ; the wood is driven into a metallic socket and widened at the end with a wedge, an intermediate piece of small tubing making a screw connection between the two sockets.
The valves in use are a plain standing valve at the bottom of the working barrel, and a 3- or 4 cup valve, or a water-packer of some kind ; special valves are made for gas when it predominates largely in a well, and to meet the several conditions which occur. The body of the sucker-rod is made of the best upland ash, 1 in. in diameter, and 24-28 ft. long.
Transportation.—The first producing wells being found upon the flat land of Oil creek and the Alleghany river, the removal of the product was not a matter of great difficulty, as flat-boats con veyed the oil down stream to the nearest railroad. The railroads gradually extended their branches along the valleys of the region, but the oil produced from inlying valleys or remote spots had to be conveyed in barrels by teams, often a distance of 10-12 miles, and at great cost.
To remedy this, recourse was had to conveyance in pipes, and a 4-in. cast-iron pipe with leaded joints was laid in 1861 from Titusville, four miles down the creek. Owing to imperfect construc tion, it was a failure, and all projects of the kind were abandoned until 1865, when Samuel Van eyckle conceived the extension of the tubing of the well, as it were, to the station desired, and laid the first line of 2-in. tubing six miles in length, from Pit-hole to Miller farm. The success of this line caused the matter to be taken up by others, and the length of lines in the Pennsylvanian oil region now reaches an aggregate of nearly 2000 miles, and 15 separate companies are engaged in the transportation of oil by pipe from the wells to the railroad.
The tubing in common use for well and shipping purposes is made of wrought-iron plates, of No. 6 or .7 wire gauge, heated in a furnace, and closed around a cold iron core ; the joint in the lap weld tubing is formed by passing it, while hot and soft, through a series of rollers, which first turn up the edges, and then press or weld them down upon each other. In butt-weld tubing, the edges are simply heated to a white heat, and then rolled together. Tubing for oil purposes must stand a test of 1200 lb. a sq. in. of internal pressure, a strength which is attained only by lap-weld.
In a pump for a pipe-line, the essential elements are a long stroke, a small oil-cylinder, and a large steam•cylinder. The air-chamber also must be proportioned to the work of the line, for the capacity of the pump is substantially the capacity of the line. There should be no obstruction in the line, especially at the point of delivery ; a simple bend of the pipe at the receiving-tank will add many lb. pressure to the pump. All stop-cocks and connections should be free-way stop-cocks.