JEPFERSONIAN. Scuotcfr to Politico, literature, Agriculture, Science, iHaralitw, ani eucral intelligence. VOL. 24. STROUDSBURG, MONROE COUNTY, PA. MARCH 23, 1865. NO. ii THE Published by Theodore Schoch. TERMS Two tlnllarsa vrar in advance and if no SdSiibVih-Sr lhC"yC!U,lW doIlarsaiulfilf'j io paper diseontinucu unui arrearages arc paid, nan. may seem, ID IS nevertheless true, ,D the3' laust Put their slaves in the army if les, one or three insertions $1 50. Each additional they would further prosecute the War SUC mscrtion, 50 cents. Longer ones in pronoition. ' H. rr i i i ,i . , ,, cessluliy. lie would advise them to treat JOB PRfiVJTIffG, LLKixns strtyioorthc Art.andonthe sor.ibic terms. t or all Kixns Executed in the lughc most leusorr xne collapsing: .Rebellion. Hauewood U. S. A. Hospital, ) Washington, D. G, 3Iarch 3, 1SG5. j Mil. Editoii : That the slaveholders rebellion is on its last legs, and soon ... Will tumble into the last ditch, is apparent to every unbiased and reflecting mind The' ferocious growl raised by the Richmond dynasty upon the return of those philan - .i -.r Pl , thropic gentlemen, Messrs Stephens, Hunter and Campbell, rebel peace com - nusaioncrs, who had gone to Hampton Roads to consult with President Lincoln, 1 nnil to wit ho. r brums finvnrnmonf r,r. .7 . , . mzcu, ior i evueue tucy am not come to settle on any other termg, showed this clearly. The hearts of many of the most "oral and Union lovin nip.n l,nfc Wl, . i,,,., i r l . ' wiu Mcu ouutnc.n xawycrs woum, ir .1 Tl.l- i .1 t nicy pyssiuiy couiu, entangle me plain, honest Old T.ail Splitter, of Illinois, in their negotiations for peace, to yield to terms that would be dcfrradinrr to our : cause, and the principles of democratic government, for which we are fighting. W'c arc happy to know the fears Tim f TllinAi 1 were , , , p . J . tow tnem nc was anxious 10 seme t0 converse with a number of these erring, our national difficulties without further but repenting brethren. They arc now effusion of blood, and would yield every- j in the Government service as teamsters. thing, not inconsistent with the honor of;They deserted on the 2d of February in , , . , , front of Jetersburg. One of them be our common countrv, and that he was do- i , ,. n tt -i i ' ! longed to the lothJV.U. lie said the $irous to have peace and happiness re- rebei soij;cra were discouraged they stored to our distracted country. He told i could plainly see that they never could them they could have peace any day, by (gain their independence, that they would simply laying down their arms, going to ! b,e fooIs t0 rCUain a,!y Io"f .t0 tbc ldlled' , . ' . . i that ten were deserting to their homes, to their homes, and, as peaceable citizens, . Qnc com5ng into our Hncs Another, of suVmumg to the Constitution and Lawsjti,e sd Ga., said, they had no hopes of of the United States. 33ut these men, j success since Hood's defeat, and Shcr- possesscd of the conning and spirit of the1 :ws march through Georgia, and the c i ii n fi, capture of Savanah and Fort Pishcr. On rst emblem ol their cause, raised on the , .1 i , ' , , the line he came from, the desertions walls of ort bumpter, the rattle snake, wcrc mQst frcqucnfc t0 thc Union lincs as wcrc not to be so easily bluffed off, and in true terpentine style, they seek to be guile Father Abraham to agree to thc harmless thing of an armistice to work up the minds of their people to thc ncgotia- ting point. Their object was to open the way for recognition by Foreign Nations. Thc old rail splitter discovered the deep Fchcming game they wcrc playing, and was as firm as a rock with his ultimatum. Thus foiled, theso chivalrous kniirhts returned to the rebel Capital with a flea in their ears. They report the result of their mission to his Imperial Majesty, JrfFerson Davis, who gets into a rage at llicir ill success, and thc insolent demands of Abraham, and dcclarcs,that if the Sun-! with a death grip, upon the throat of this iiy South is ever united again to thc ha-j bastard republic, and the result is most . , , p.i v .1 -1 ,1 1 I clorious. Charleston, thc mother thatgavc t.a Yankees of the North, it must be done f , " , , . , ,, 5 birth to this hellish monster, and thc 1-y c'.Ticr hands than his; UraUfhe had ",crad!e ju wi,jch it has been cradled for thousand riio'rc such valtrsbic lives as his he would lay them all upon the altar of their Deity. Jew Denjamin, his Premier, declared thev never dreamed of recon- ttruction and the terms of the usurper at Washington was an insult to such men of "dignity" as they were. Thc rebel Cougrcss, and rebel Press, take up thc cry, and Extra Billy Smith, rebel Gover nor of Yinriuia, calls a war meeting at thc African Church, and the would be a'pps lie of peace, 11 at m tt..(- 1 .. r -r. . - ii.. r..: pi, ,.t. While Jeff. Davis holds forth, not on Mars liill j l,u n?ifli hill wbm-n the rJuliar W l V A X V J m s m w J institution is worshinncd. The burden! of their messages arc, great is thc Peculiar Institution of Chivalry. More able bod ied men, mules, oxen and silver spoons arc needed to be sacrificed upon thc altar of our 'dicty ;' for it is by this craft you cec that we have our wealth. And not only is this, our Goddess, which all. slave holders worship in danger, 1ut there is danger that thc power of thc whole Con federal will be set at naught. For this rail splitter saith, that a Government, j tot a free and Republican Government, niiu&e euiuur ftwuu 10 and that he will not tolerate - 1 any despotic :,,:iq. nA 1.110ns, uuu, COVernincnt within his dominions us these priests, worshiping at the ihrine of Moloch, begin to warm up in their dis courses, thc sound or tue war wnoup u lju hush wm., u, drowns all other voices in the rebel Camp, i that He who has of late crowned thc ef and another shout, loud and long, Great J forts of our Array and Navy, with brilliant is iJie Peculiar inslitutivn of the Chival ry, reuds thc air. The effects of this great halo baloo is to he wonderful. Thc rebel Press tells us that rebel deserters will now return to their ranks iu swarms, like bees to the rose buds, aud houey suckles, that the war spirit of 1861 is once more aroused, And thc whole rebel Capital is set ablaze by the patriotism of these secession mad caps. But the cautious Jew Benjamin has something to report from statistics in bis possession, and that is the fact that- the rebel arm' is very much reduced in numbers, and that thev have no more white men to conscript; and, unpleasant batnbo very tenderly; not conscript him !an(1 frCC him t0 fishfc' for tlien he would descrt to the Yankees; but he would say j to every woolly head that wishes, (mark .that! '-'wishes!") go in the army go uuu iuivi. mm iu ugiii, lur wieu lie wuuiu I ana ngnt, ana you shall be tree." it we j don't do this, they will, when opportuni - ty offers, run to Abraham's bosom, and he win, uie iauniui om ratnarcn, employ them in his army to conquer us. This ' , . l i, . ., , ujuat uy an uiuaus prevent, ii we nave to turn abolitionists ourselves. Better liberate, some who will fight to keep the , balance iu bondage than to loose all. L vc wiimow leave thes bobs, in the hallucination i(ea hafc thoir slavc We will-ow leave these Southern Na- in which the vvmilrl flo-M. fnv f.liom , has thrown them, and cast our eyes away irom the llebel Capital, and take a view ; of" wnat 13 going on in other parts of the nrn...t.n,l l.,.wl HM. T 1 1 wu. xuv xviuiuuuiiu papers informed us that when the rebel Peace Commissioners passed through their lines on their way to "Washington, that their soldiers were so overjoyed at the prospects : ot peace that they shouted until their i throats got hoarse : an evidence that they i want peace regardless of what becomes of the Uoufederacy. The effect of the fail ure of their mission is visible m the hunarcds or deserters that daily come 'into our lines, since their return. The effect is vice versa to the prophecy. Instead of deserters rushing into the reb- CJ rauks, like pigs running after an car of corn, they give the cold shoulder to the confederacy and turn their faces A- ! braham-wards. 1 had an opportunity p. few days aero, they would shoot every one that was 'caught deserting to the rear. A third said that one half of Lee's army would desert, or surrender, if an opportunity of fered to do so without their getting killed. I will not vouch for thc truth of the ac count given by these deserters of affairs in the Confederacj', but they declare their rations was one pint of meal and one ounce of meat per day. Their appear ance attests the truth that the Holy Land no longer flows with milk and honey, and that Cottou and darkies arc not as abun daut as in the da3's of yore, when that fibrous and downy monarch swayed his ty ranicle sceptre. Since these deserters came into our lines, Uncle Sam has been contracting the muscles of his hand, which he ha3 laid, the last thirty years, defended by 450 guns, has failcn, with her sister cities in crime, Columbia and Wilmington and the mud sill of thc North arc intruding, with their hateful presence, upon the sa cred soil, from the four winds of the earth. The oil Flag waves in majesty and tri umph over Fort Sumter and the once proud harlot, but now humbled city of Charleston. One rebel stronghold after .another yields to the untiring energy of a free and determined people, engaged in , , j a o v cause UIIU a vindictive retribution s VI Ituu; ,u Juuouli;ui ujju" " luouiuiiu nu ungrauuu i u.c , " ? luH I mf aristocracy is uciuir uiavuu uuu j.uuaui Abraham, with his noble ar and navy has been so munificent of late, iu lavish- mg oiessings m uisguifeu upuu iuc nappj family at llichmond, that desertions to our lincs are gcttiug to be more numer ous than ever ; and the Chivalry are in such ccstacy and joyous delight, that they find it difficult for them to contain them selves in the narrow Mmits of the Confed eracy much longer; and1 if Gotf. Grant and his Corporals, don't keep a watchful eye upou them hereafter, when admin'is terinfr these disguised blessings which 11 -i: : 1 oh ji sweet and hannifviue iuflu- .ence upon uienivairy uy . uu ,i:. u : inr riincn irAii ninniniiiu iiimri niiii 111 i.iii' U1 "jujio uiuuiwj-u't. - Slaveholders Paradise, and turn up in the -ii e aomiuion 01 uic ouiu uu xjujuiuj. ui Mexico, Maximillion. success will, if we trust iu Him, continue to show his favors upou our cause. Let 'us pray that thc day may soon come when i every rebel stronghold shall fall, and the ' ra- of treason shall be trailed in the dust, laud our own Old Glory once more assume its proud position, and float in triumph over every foot of national soil, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the Gulf to' the Lakes and British America: Bespectfully yours, AARON FLYTE, Go. G,. 67th Reg. P. V. PETROLEUM. lo compress the whole subject of Pe troleum into a newspaper article would be a feat more difficult of accomplish ment than any feat performed by literary prestidgitators. Ilowevcr, I will give you, in as concise a form as possible, the n .i , . , luieiuauug leaiuros 01 cue petroleum mre interestinS featur subject, The rapid developm , ducing territory, andthi ent of the oil-pro- dthe immense auantitv ot petroleum that is now consumed in the , United States, has made it so familiar to the public that an elaborate analysis of , ts properties is unnecessary, it is a uat- ural oil, deposited in the earth usually at a depth of from one hundred to six hundred feet, has a rancid, disagreeable odor, and is valuable for burning, lubri cating and medicinal purposes. Although its properties, and a knowledge of thc extent of its deposits, have but recently been known iu this country, petroleum has in reality been known and used to some extent in every age, running back almost to the diluvian period. In Egypt petroleum was used for medi cinal purposes nearly four thousand years a0, and oil snriur3 are still in cxistaneo in that country. In the latter part of the last century, two ship cargoes of the crude oil were transported to England to be sold, but the process of refining not being understood, the traffic was aband oned. Under the name of Sicilian oil. thc people of Agrigentum used what is known as petroleum for the purpose of illumination, and in Parma there is a spring of naptha which the people apply to a like use at thc present day. In Asia Minor thc oil has been known to exist, and has been used to a limited extent for ages ; and in Pcrssa a large quantity has been annually consumed, buring several hundred years. Even in this country petroleum is by no means a new discovery. It was well known to the Indians before America was discovered, and was used for medicinal purposes. The early set tlers of Western Pennsylvania, and'other districts where oil springs now exist, used rock oil, as they called it, for various pur poses, collecting it by skimming the oil deposit on the top of thc water as it ac cumulated from the springs. In the memoranda of his visits to Fort du Quesne (now Pittsburg,) during thc French and Indian war with the Colonies, General Washington mentions the existence of oil springs in localities where wells arc now in operation. But neither thc In dians nor the early white settler knew anything of the vast deposits iu the bed of the earth. Thc region in which the oil is now found in Western Pennsylvania has al most for a century been known as a great salt district, aud salt wells have been in operation there ever since the early set tlement of thc country. In boring salt wells the greatest difficulty was found in selecting localities where the water was not impregnated with a substance which the salt men characterized as " a uasty, greasy, substance," and which we of the present day call petroleum. Nearly forty years ago a Mr. Packer, while boring for salt water on Deer Creek, in Clarion coun ty, Pa., struck oil at the depth of 400 feet. The "greasy water," as he termed it, spurted up with great force, overflowed the land thereabouts, ruined his salt ma chinery, saturated the land with grease: and Mr. Packer profoundly disgusted with thc result of his efforts to obtain salt, left the country in a miff, little dreaming that he was running away from an El Dorado richer than the gold mines of California more remunerative, too. than the diamond mines of Brazil. Aa a natural consequence of the in crease of thc quantity of oil that found its way to the surface from abandoned salt wells, thc people living in localities where it appeared, gradually discovered that it contained some valuable proper ties. Thc reader will perhaps remember that only a few years ago a substance of horrid odor and taste was sold throughout the country as a sovereign remedy for nearly all the ills of thc flesh, and bearing the names successively of Seneca Oil, Gcnnesec Oil, and Rock Oil. It was warranted to cure everything from tooth ache to hereditary consumption, and was a perfect aunihilator of such simple ail ments as rheumatism and asthma being equally efficacious in external and inter nal applications. This miraculous stuff was simply crude petroleum, and that it was calculated to cither kill or cure, when taken internaVly, nobody will now deny. Thc apparently iircxhaustablc supply of the oil at length attracted the attention of scientific men, and in 1858 its proper tics and uses became more generally un derstood. A few barrels of the crude oil wcrc exported to England, where it was partially refined, and its commcroial im portance began to be understood. Yan kee enterprise having- bccir attracted to thc subject, thc natural result followed. A method of refininir was invented, the illuminating and lubricating uses of petroleum wcrc discovered, and the reign of Pctrolia commenced. Thc cxistaneo of oil beds haviug been determined, aud Yankee enterprise bav in"- been attracted thereto, the ncxtques linn iVinr. naturally arose was. llOW to determine where to KtVU " I api iiwu nttil o urn 1 1 Inr 1 . i 11 . r.. was soon discovered . .K,.,1 fW thorn whh some- - thing of a lottery iu striking oil. t (Id WW iwwwww Gcolo- gists and otter .scientific men', who cm- barked in the oil trade, carried out their' theories in this respect, but Were not al- wova fjupppsfiil The lartrer class wno t-r vwuw m . . O flocked to the Uil Dorado, however,- uau accordingly bored at random. The superstitious class who are generally the majority, relied, and still rely upon the miraculous "witch hazel" men. These men profess to tell J precisely where deposits of water, ; oil mav be found, bv means of n salt or little ... ' stick. The more sensible manner of choosing localities for oil wells is to bore where the geological formation is like that where good wells have been found. At best, sinking oil wells is a lottery if a man stand one chance in twenty of drawing a prize, he is lucky. The process of boring the oil well is very simple. A derrick, consisting of four upright timbers placed 10 or 12 feet apart and fastened by cross pieces is erected directly over thcspot selected for boring.-'1 his derrick is usually from 40 to 60 feet high, and is made very stable in order to support the boring machinery. A steam engine of six or eight horse pow er is now used for work of drilling, al- tnough many wells ot not very great depth havo been bored by hand. An iron pipe, about six inches in diameter, is first driven down to the first stratum of rock. Where this is found at a con siderable distance from the surface, the pipe is inserted iu sections; that is, a piece is first driven down, then another section is fastened firmly to it at the top; this is in turn driven down, aud so on till the rock is reached. The drill is then introduced into this tube, reaching down to the rock the iron rod suspend ing it being lengthened by the fastening of additiohal pieces at the top as the drill works its way through the rock. The drill is about two and a half inches in diameter and is worked up and down by means of thc engine above. The process of drilling is of course slow, and depends upon the hardness of thc stratum. An average day's work of drilling is from 6 to 8 feet, but sometimes 10 or 12 feet is accomplished. The first stratum through which the drill passes is slate or soap stone, then comes a stratum of sand stone which is usually not more than ten or twelve feet iu thickness ; next is another layer of slate of a bluish appearance, about twenty feet in thickness, after which the second stratum of sandstone is reached. When this is accomplished the depth reached ranging from two to six hundred and in some instance a thou sand feet the oil is struck provided the borer is lucky. A new process of drilling has lately been invented, however, which bids fair to greatly facilitate the sinking of oil wells- It is this ; Thc drill is a slender tube, thc end of which is set with a species of diamond. This drill is con nected with machinery at the surface, by means of which it revolves with great velocity, cutting out the rock in a core, which is removed in pieces, by clamps let down in thc hole. By this method a well of Svc hundred feet in depth may be bored in two weeks, which, by tho old process woum require two monous. as i soon as the drill passes through the last j stratum, and reaches thc reservoir be- u ,1.. t 1 j.1 1 .: 1. 11.. . iuy, tuero comes rusinug up 10 tue sur face a combustib! gas-, followed D7 a mixture of salt water and petroleum the oil is invariably accompanied by salt wa ter, and they are separated as will be hereafter explained. This is the realiza tion of "great expectations," the finding of the El Dorado, thc acme of petroleum ambition, for every spurt from the well is a greenback. If the borer ha3 been lucky enough to strike a flowing well, he j has nothing now to do but to stand still and see himself grow fabulously rich : that is, he has ouly to send it to market. But flowing wells arc a great rarity, and the most sanguine disciple of Pctrolia does not expect such boundless good for tune. I he now ol salt water and petro leum to the surface, therefore is, except in flowing wells, of very short duration, and the next work to be done is the pre paration for pumping. Thc bore of the by what is termed a "trimmer," and au iron tube, fastened together m section of 10 or 12 feet, is run down to thc oil deposit. A flax seed bag, which expands when wet, is fixed at a certain distance from the surface within the tube, in order to prevent tho surfaco water from rushing dowu. A plunger or valvcd piston is next inserted in thc tube, and this being attached to the engine, thc work of pumpiug com mences. The old method of pumping oil is on the same general principle of ordinary water pumping, and requires no explana tion ; but Yankee ingenuity has lately invented a new process, which will prob ably soon be generally adopted. Two tubes are' inserted in thc well, and by a powerful force-pump the air is forced down ono of them, and thc oil, in conse quence of the pressure of the air, is forced up the other tube in a steady stream. Thc flbwj by this method, is much more steady and of greater volume than' by tho pumping process, and it has been "suc cessfully applied to many wells that had failed to yield oil in the old manner. The petroleum, as before remarked, is in variably accompanied by salt water. As it reaches the surface, this mixture is car ried by conduits into large wooden' tanks, in which thc oil rises to thc surface of 1 the water and is drawn off into barrels, . . , . . , 1 ii M uuu w HUYU cruuu nuuuium mo nnioro nnrim-rrninrr r.iu; ruuiiiun uuu uuueigumg mu y.uu.., As before mentioned, there is one !.. . ..... . -11 chance m a half dozen that the borer wiu strike oil, and that the proportion of wells that give a.permanent flow, even when be es- suecussiui iui u nunc, unj . . . I) ' ' ' ' There are wmuicu m ... no faith in geology, and hundreds of wells along Oil Creek that at first gave au abundant supply of Petro leum, yet to-day they are as dry as a pow der horn. And in the Mecca oil region of Ohio, which three or four years ago was the center of attraction, there is not at the present time a. well that is much more than paying expenses, and not one m a Hundred ot those that at one time gave great promise, is now Dumoiuir. Within the last year, however, a number of "played out" wells to use' the expres sive term in use hereabouts have been recuperated by ingenious processes and patient labor, and now abundantly repay mg the work expended upon them. As an instance of what may be accomplished in this way, as well as to show the persis tency and determination of oil seekers, the following circumstance may be men tioned : Mitchell & Allen, a Philadelphia oil company, obtained the leases known as the Cement wells, on the Buchauan farm. This well had already been tried and a bandoned by several practiced oil-search ers, and was pronounced worthless. Tho Philadelphians, however thought differ ently, and went to work with a will to demonstrate their theory. As another instance of the pertinacity which is given to a man by the hope of gaining a good well, the following is related ; Mr. P. Haines was boring a well also on the Buchanan farm, and had every prospect of a lucky strike. Unfortunate" ly, when going through the last stratum of rock, his drill became detatched, stuck in the rock several hundred feet from tho surface, and man was never more com pletely in a "fix" than he so was the drill. But he was plentifully endowed with pure Yankee perseverance and in dustry, and went to work to remove tho drill a seemingly hopeless task. . For fifteen months Mr. Haines labored assid uously with this object, and his patience and industry were at last rewarded by success his troubles were healed by the gentle soothing of "a hundred barrels a day." Since thc great commercial importance of petroleum became known, the discov eries of oil have been wonderful. West ern Pennsylvania was the first, and still is the greatest oil producing region, but the oleagiuous compound has since been found to exist in nearly half the States and Territories now within the Union, and probably will also be found in those now under the rebel dominion, when Jeff Davis and his clan are made to sec the folly of chasing the iynis fatuus of inde pendence, and go to boring for taugiblc petroleum. The Oil Creek region is the the favorite with practical oil men, for the reason that thc chances of success in boring here are better than in any other locality yet discovered. But throughout all Western Pennsylvania the Petroleum has reached fever heat. Wells are being bored, land boucht un at fabulous nrices. . ' . 1 r- j anti tno peopIe, who for years have been content to plod as frugal aud industrious nnformers are dazzled hv tha nrosnerifc of 1 rt...i lii. t ni .i u. k. - - - V . r r lauuiuus wuuilii. J.11 uiai iuu uuu u uyuiiu counties rich wells have been obtained, and in Washington, Lawrence, Beaver, Butler, Crawford, Erie, Green, Indiana, Clearfield and Elk counties, oil has al ready been obtained, or the sinking of wells is in progress. In these counties thc farmers have all put extravagant pri ces on their lands : and even then are careful to stipulate that a certain percent agc 0f the prospective oil is to go into j their pockets. Doubtless" uinc-tenths of them will be able to literally put all they get in their pockets. Western Virginia, next to Western Pennsylvania, is the ad miration of oil mcu. Thc war aud thc oil fever broke out simultaneously in this region ; but notwithstanding the greasy appearance of the rebels generally, there seems to be but little affinity between re bellion aud Petroleum, and thc rebols have a disagreeable way of making peri odical raids into thc Western Virginia oil regions, thereby suddenly suspending oleaginous research. It is thought, how ever, that when this "cruel war is over," to use a strictly original expression the oil region of Western Virgiuia will be found to be at least equal in richness to those of Pennsylvania. Iu Ohio, the oil seems to "lay around loose," and it is said with undoubted truthfulness, that farmers almost fear to go to sleep at night least before morning thc petroleum beds which they know to exist under their farms shall burst their earthly bounds and inundate tho surface with an oleaginous flood. The Mecca excitement, as previously sta ted, proved a decided humbug, frctt more stable" wells havo been struck in other parts of the State. In Southeastern Ohio there is every indication of boundless Pe troleum deposits. In Washington- county also, the borings have proven highly suc cessful, and hi the vicinity of Zancsvillc, Marietta, New Lisbou and Wayncsburg, oil has already been found. Columbiaua, Preble, Muskingum and many oth'er coup tics havo also reached thc height of thc oil fever, and the bowels of the earth arc being effectually stirred up. Thc conta gion of thc oil excitement has also brokeu out in Indiana and thc "Hoosiers" are in dustriously trying to bore themselves rich, with apparently good success. But. to particularize the oil localities would take fob much space. Suffice it to say that Petroleum has already been discovered, in addition to the abovo mentioned local ities, in Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Michigan, Kansas, California, Colorado, New York, and elsewhere in the couutry, and yet the discoveries are apparently on ly in their infancy. In foreign countries, too, the old oil wells which have existed for ages have been hunted up, and in ma ny instances by Yankee's", and petroleum! (the word, and not the substance) is in' the mouth of the whole world. As a case' in point, one of the Boston papers states that Col. Gowan, of that city (the Yanked' who took the contract to raise the sunken vessels in the harbor of Sebastapool, if I mistake not) was lately en route from Sr.' Petersburgb, Russia, through Georgia and Circassia. In the neighborhood oF the sea of Azof, he stumbled upon somo' old oil wells, bought them for a sonandf now delights the gaping nativos by draw ing grease out of the earth with steam. This question is solely theoretical, and ean be demonstrated only by time. The' best opinions are, however, that Petrolo uui is inexhaustible, that the transforma tion which the earth is constantly under going causes a perpetual deposit of vege tation beneath the surface of thc earth and the distillation of this vegetable mat tor forming constituents of Petroleum'' the geologists argue that the surjnlv ia boundless. Oil men are auite willing to leave the subject to the savans. It is quite enough for the" disciples of PetroHa to know that the oil now exists in vast quantities, and they are determined that' while geologists theorize, they will pumpV The Petroleum interest is. of course. only in its infantcv, but the product of last year shows the commercial interest which the oil is rapidty attaining. There' are no means of estimating, even approx imately, the quantity of oil consumed in' tma uuumry uunng loo, ana the only way in which an idea of the gross produc- lon can nc tormcd is by referring to the exportation. The Way Deserters Look at Things. A corrcspndent from thc Armv. of. the Potomac writing under date Feb. 25hV says : A squad ot deserters who came over on Thursday night were fired upon furiously, but, strange to tell, not a man of them was injured. After thev rdacb!-' cd a place of safety, some of our men in quired how it was that they all escaped, "Oh," said the spokesman of the party r "them fellers flrcd too high to hit us I"' 'Yes, yes," returned the picket officer, "but why did they fire so high ?" "Oh! why, don't you know ?" answered the rebel ; "well, it's because they are coming over themselves to-morrow night !" ' Another lot of fifty-three deserters' from a South Carolina regiment, who also came" in on Thursday night, reported, 'them selves as "peace commissioners"." They said that as Messrs". Stephens, Hunter and Campbell had failed to make terms' with the Administration and bring them back into the Union, they concluded to come over themselves aud see what they j could accomplish in that line. One of this number declared that th'ev Mid gone into this war to "put down the heresy that a negro is as good as a white man ;" bnfc as that doctrine was now apparently about' to be adopted at the South, and the ne groes were to be placed iu th.e ranks there and made their equals, they wished to go North, where there were fewer of such? equals to be found. Tho introduction of negro' soldiers into the Southern1 army is represented as being exceedingly distaste ful to thc white men, and likely to make desertions far more numerous than ever." New Postage Stamp. A sclf-caucelliug postage stamp has' been invented. Instead of moistqnLtff thc back of these stamps, the face, being gummed, is dampened and placed on the' letter as usual, when such an impressiorf ou the faec of the letter renders their re'-' moval impossible. If by any process, tho" stanfps are' taken off, it must be destroyed, while the impression remains plainly up'-" on the letter. 'The self-cancelling opera'-; tion will save a vast amount of time and labor in all our post offices, and insures se:, curity against being re-used or picked off by thieves. The main point of inquiry now appears to be, whether these light' and delicate stamps will bo found able to' resist the action of heat in warm weather, and be as completely portable as the pres ent issue; whether, in folding them,; they would not adhere to each! other,1 or break so as to" disfigure1 the vign'otto. Since thc fifteenth day of last Decern' bcr our captures of artillery from the re bellion, field and siege pieces," brass, irofi and steel, smooth- bores ami rifles, Ameri can and English manufacture, of all sorts and sizes, from thc little howitzer of a flying cavalry squadron to the ponderous mahogany mounted Armstrong guns a!t Fort Fisher an'd Caswell, havo been abb't as follows : Guns Captufec"?. By Gen. Thomas from' the rebef Gen':, Hood in' the late Nashville campignV.6.0' By Gen Sherman at Savannah, , . i6& By Gen's Terry and Schofioldand Admir al Porter in Cape Fear dc'feuccs, tl5 By Gen. Gillmore at Charleston, 450 Total, 845' Nor is this all ; for, including the-can- noh bst by thc enemy in tlie blowing up' of their ironclads in the Savannah' rivery Charleston harbor and Capo Feaf river, their aggregate losses are something over' nine hundred cannon. A prcttly good' budget this for tlie wiutcr campaign", arid' a very good explanation Of tho present panic at Richmond. The receipts of internal revenue for thV month of February, 1865. amounted S18,766,359,.16-.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers