Oil wells in the woods . ove. The oil industry was a youth no longer; the wildoats,-as well as the wild-cats, had given way to thewiser judgment of maturity, and the business assumeda better and more substantial trend. After a hard fought battle, the Standard succeededin getting control of the oil market and proclaimedthrough their agent, Joseph Seep, that the price ofoil would be governed by the natural law of supplyand demand, instead of the uncertain floor of the Ex-change. The brokers tried hard to have this, their deathblow, reconsidered; but Standard Oil, acting for acommon good, paid no
Oil wells in the woods . ove. The oil industry was a youth no longer; the wildoats,-as well as the wild-cats, had given way to thewiser judgment of maturity, and the business assumeda better and more substantial trend. After a hard fought battle, the Standard succeededin getting control of the oil market and proclaimedthrough their agent, Joseph Seep, that the price ofoil would be governed by the natural law of supplyand demand, instead of the uncertain floor of the Ex-change. The brokers tried hard to have this, their deathblow, reconsidered; but Standard Oil, acting for acommon good, paid no attention to their protests;the Exchange, with its record of broken homes andpauperized producers, had to go. With the exception of a very few who played onthe inside, no one made money on wind oil, andmany sighs of relief were given when, for a certainty,it was known that buying oil on margin was a thingof the past. Members of the Exchange were forced to seek othervocations, and those who were stockholders in the [312]. THE LOVE OF TRUE COMPANIONSHIP building, and had other interests, fraternized them-selves into an organization, which, on account of thedeath of the Exchange, was given the significantname of Paresis Club. Pass the Exchange to-day, and with the exceptionof a farm wagon or two hitched outside, you seenothing of a stir. Peep inside, and if it happens to be a rainy day,you will see little groups scattered throughout thespacious room, playing cards, or telling the tales ofpalmy days when Johnny Steele, under the glossytitle of Coal Oil Johnny, appeared upon the streetsof Philadelphia in a carriage of his own designing,and upon its sides in flaming colors the picture of aflowing oil well, and directly beneath in letters ofgold his nom de plume, Coal Oil Johnny, Oil Prince,and Prince of Spendthrifts. Many of the producers who had gone to Ohio toinvestigate the new developments, came back dis-gusted. It is not oil at all, they would argue; more likeB. S.—more like
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidoilwellsinwo, bookyear1905
