Name/Title
StereographEntry/Object ID
2023.055.3.0192Description
A black and white stereograph. Image is of a forested area, the framework of an oil well is present as several people watch as oil emerges from it. Above the image "T20 (Star)" is printed, below the image "20352T Shooting an Oil Well with Nitroglyeerin, Peena." is printed, to the left of the image "Keystone View Company COPYRIGHTED Manufacturers MADE IN U.S.A. Publishers" is printed, to the right of the image "Meadville, Pa., New York, N. Y., Chicago, Ill., London, England." is printed. On the reverse the following is printed:
70 - (20352)
SHOOTING A NEW OIL WELL WITH NITROGLYCERIN, PENNSYLVANIA
The world petroleum means "rock oil," or oil that comes from the ground. Far down in the earth, sometimes as far as 4,000 feet, petroleum is stored in sands which lie between layers of rock through which the oil cannot escape. We need that oil because from it are made gasoine, lubricating oils, and other products.
This well has been drilled, and the driller found, by examining the dirt brought to the surface by his machine, that oil was near. Then he lowered a can of nitroglyeerin into the well. You know that nitroglyeerin is a bery powerful explosive. In the top of the can was a torpedo. A weight called a go-devil was next dropped upon the can. The ropedo exploded and ignited the nitroglycerin. A terrible explosion followed. You see the results. The oil was forced up the well and shot hight into the air! That derrick is 72 feet high and the stream of oil is much higher.
This well should now yield oil for some time. If the pipe becomes clogged with parafin, it may be torpedoed again. If such an explosdoes not start a flow of oil, the driller knows he must either drill deeper or drill in another place.
Most petroleum is dark green in color. Some of it is thick like syrup, some is like kerosene. All crude oil must be refined before it becomes gasoline. From the storage tanks near the wells, it is carried away in tank cars or driven by pumps through pipes to refineries. These pipe lines are laid under rivers, through mountains, under our very feet, sometimes, for hundreds of miles. In the refineries, petroleum is heated and different products are obtained, of which the most important and valuable is gasoline.
Index references" Automboile Manufacture; Fuel; Oil; Petroleum; Transportation.
Copyright by The Keystone View CompanyCollection
Photograph Collection