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Below are three articles published September 28, 1883 by
The Allegany County Reporter
from research & files of the Late Emma Lou King, former Town of Alma Historian.....
THE WILLING WELL
(The Allegany County Reporter, Wellsville NY Sep 28, 1883)
The Fletcher well, on lot 111, Alma is the mysterious one that will be watched
for the next few days. This well, when first drilled, ws looked to by many for
the extension of the field in that direction. They were sanguine as to the
result and reported the well as a good one. The well, however, was reported
"dry" by the owners, and so tabulated. The casing pulled, the well plugged;
everybody, at least, supposed it to be dry. Today it is reported that the owners
are leasing all the land in the immediate vicinity of this well that they can
lay their hands on. From this fact many draw the conclusion that the well is by
no means what it seems. That it is a second-edition of the Varney well which
after being tabulated a failure for nearly a month had the plug removed and
spurted oil over the derrick. If this should prove to be the case in the Flecher
well, would cause considerable excitement. It is several miles in advance of
developments and would define as it was thought to condemn a large seeping
territory. The opinion prevails pretty generally, nevertheless, that the well
has been rightly tabulated before and is dry. --
From Allegany County Reporter --
Wellsville,NY -- Sept 28, 1883
"O. P. Taylor"
"Barkis is Willing"
"Places His Neck Gently in the Democratic Noose and Asks to be led to Victory or
Death"
----------------
"The following correspondence explains itself. In last Thursday's issue of the
Daily appeared a letter of acceptance, which we judge from Mr. Taylor's appended
letter to us he considers to have been a forgery. He is pleased to "suspect"
that that letter of acceptance was "handed in from the desk of the Editor of the
Reporter." We dislike men of a suspicious nature. If Mr. Taylor will charge
outright that we wrote that other letter of acceptance, we won't deny it.
The following is the correspondence:
ENOS W. BARNES, EDITOR, REPORTER
In a recent issue of your paper you took the liberty to publish what purports to
be my letter of acceptance of the nomination for Assembly, which was read by me
before I had any official notification that such nomination had been made. I
suspect it was "handed in" from the desk of the Editor of The Reporter. I
therefore insert now the enclosed letter of acceptance, which I am willing to
father. Yours resp, O. P. Taylor"
THE CHILD BORN
O.P.Taylor Nominated for the Assembly
The wires at 3:15 p.m. today (Wednesday) bring the glorious news that the new
Democratic Assembly baby is at last born! The strain has been great, the labor
long and severe, but it is a nice baby.
It is not definitely known, but it is earnestly believed that Mr. Taylor will
accept. He is made of the kind of metal that knows no fear, willingly accepts
odds, and he will doubless make Mr. Manchester blush in the exhibition of
stalwart courage in "standing in" with the boys.
Mr. Taylor was gritty enough to be a boss rebel all through the Rebellion, and
sensible enough to accept the result and be as good a Union man since as any man
on the job. He has risked more, lost more, won more and done more in the
Allegany Oil Field than any other ten men put together.
It is not to be expected that he will come anywhere near an election, but, he
will certainly poll a large vote. He is sure of the non-resident vote in the oil
districts, and will doubtless get away with a handsome score in his home town.
Let us be thankful that the suffering party did not die in the throes of the
demoralizing incubation, and thankful as well that it has hatched a lively
chicken. Nichols was our first choice, but General Taylor will do very well.
Like "Old Zach," he will fight hard, and like him, will probably never know when
he is "licked."
Speak Kindly of the Old Well
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