well, resembling the boiling of a pot.
In the case of the flowing wells, when the vein of petroleum is reached,
the gas rushes forth with such violence, and the upward pressure is so
furious, as to force the implements from the well, and even the tubing,
when not properly secured, has been driven through the derrick in its
upward progress.

After the boring has been successfully accomplished, the next operation
consists in tubing the well. This is merely the introduction of a copper
or iron chamber, extending down, or nearly so, to the vein of the oil.
This tubing is, for the pumping and larger-class flowing wells, usually
about two and a half or three inches in diameter, consisting of sections
about twenty feet in length, and connected together by means of screw
and socket joints. As there are usually many veins of water passed
through in boring, some device must be resorted to in order to shut off
this water from the oil vein and produce a vacuum. This is accomplished
by applying what is called a 'seed bag' to the tube at the point where
this stoppage is desirable. The seed bag is a tube of strong leather
some eighteen inches in length and about five inches in diameter. It is
put around the metallic tube and the lower end firmly tied around it.
From a pint to a quart of flaxseed is then poured in, and the upper end
bound rather more slightly than the lower, when the tube is sunk to its
place in the well. In a few hours the flaxseed in the sack below will
have swollen and distended the bag so as to effectually shut off all
water from above. When it is desirable to withdraw the tubing from the
well, the effort of raising it will break the slight fastening at the
upper end of the leathern sack, permitting the seed to escape and the
tube to be withdrawn without difficulty. When the well is to be pumped,
a pump barrel is placed at the lower end of the tube, with piston rods
extending to the top and attached to the working beam used in boring the
well.

As the petroleum is ordinarily mixed with more or less water when
brought to the surface, it is thrown first into a tank, and the superior
gravity of the water causing it to sink to the bottom, it is drawn off
from beneath, and the petroleum placed in barrels. These tanks are of
all sizes, ranking from thirty to two thousand barrels each.

For the present, wells that were formerly pumped at a profit are biding
their time; for at present prices of oil operations upon them