The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1882-08-10

PENNSYLVANIA = SOME CURIOUS
INCIDENTS ;-J.
From the Bradford Star
When an operator goes ipto an unde-
veloped field to put down q test well lie
naturally desires to have the profit of
his risk. 1t costs him something like
So, 600 to put down that. wildcat well,
for which, i'm most cases, he gets no
return, for the majority of wildcat
wells produce not hing, Jf1ie finds a
rich sand, however, aud can keep it
secret for while, lie has fortune in
his hands. He can sell oil short
knowing that when il is known that
q new field has been discovered the
price will go down His most direct
opportunity, however, is to lease the
land in the Deighborhood of his WELL
tn be sold again at an enormous profit
as soon as it is known that il is pro-
ductive territory. Sc he guards his
secret with every appliance he can in
vent. His most dangerous enemies
are the "scouts." They are paid to
discover what he is trying to conceal.
Almost every prominent oil broker
lns a "scout" regularly employed to
keep him posted Oh Tie latest doings
at the front. Daring, cautious, patti
ent untring, unscrupulous, and hon.
est, the scout must add to the expert
ence of driller the subtle Judgment
of broker and the keehness of all
operator. In the shadows of the night
he earns his salary lurking about in
the neighborhood of new well out of
gunshrt Of the guards about the der
rick lying often in the snow or in the
swamp for hours with lis nose and
ears stretched above tie shelter of
some friendly log to catch the smell
of gas or the gurg,e of flowing oil /;
sneaking up to the tank house to get
peep III IF possible watching the
motion of the walking beam and esti-
mating the depth of the tools thereby ;
ready to bribe the driller or exchange
shots with guard al moihent no
tice.
He sometimes spends weehs Watc h.
ing one particular we'll. He studies
the habtts of the meu working OH it,
notes if any Of them are likely TO sue
cumb TO the temptation of his brandy
flask, jots down the hours when eacl,
one takes his nap, marks which way
their faces are mostly turned in their
rounds, and if he cannot court their
favor, devises some scheme to get in
side their guard and at their secret.
In the gray Of the morning he rides
away to the nearest telegraph office
and communicates with his employer
before the market opens. 1t Is nys-
terry when he sleeps. Almost any
time of the day he may be seen loiter-
ing about Wherever there is crowd,
picking up acquaintance with the few
drillers he does not already know.
The emoluments of the work are oc-
casionalIy of sise to compensate for
any amount of hardship. For in
stance Isl" Hughes, who got the
Anchor oil company a pointer on GAG,
has been taken into the company with
the office of superintendent and q clear
tenth or their profits. His springs
work will net him net less than
Sl50, GOO; but there is well-defined
path circing through the woods
around $40, worn by the feet of those
who worked AS hard as he and got
nothing but their salaries. how
Hughes got his information is still a
mystery. lie is said to claim that he
lay under the derrick for nineteen con
secutive hours. bit the prevailing
impression Is that he bought the Sc
cret from one of the guards.
In the course Of an experience
meeting the other evening with Cap
tain Peter Grace, one of the men who
put down the 6l6 well III this district
he told me the true story of the mys
terry. Much has been written about
it, more probably than was ever print
ed about an oil well before, but the
captain told nie a few things which
were new. This wonderful Cherry
Grove district owes its development
to the misfortune of g george II. Dim
mick. He had been wrecked
financially over in the Coal creek
region, and Captain Grace set him t.,
work out this way rather to give hin
chance to recover than from any
other motive. Land could be leased
Tor dollar an acre, aiii the expert
ment was not very costly.
"When the tools broke through tn,
shell of the sand about 10 O'clock on
the morning on the llth of March, y
said Captaiii Grace, eve knew we haC
found wealth. The Oil filled up ,
hundred feet before we could get tn,
tools out. The pressure on us wa
tremendous. We drove d tight-fittinl
wooden plug 8! feet long to the bolton
of the well, poured the hole full of oil
screwed in tie casing head, and Sc
the tools, Which weigh not less thar
Il ton; on top of it, Even then whel
the well flowed it blew the casing hea,
off aud sent the tools flying UP tn
derrick.
lone trick we played to deceive tn
scouts 1 think has never got int
print. l took torpedo man into
room in the hotel at Warren one da.
very mysteriously, but took good ear
to have scout see nie do it. Ofcours