The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1882-10-19


Regions of Pennsylvania.
When an operator goes into an unde-
veloped field and puts down test well
he naturally desires to have the profit of
his risk. It costs him something like
$4,000 to put down that wildcat well,
for which, in most cases, he gets no re-
turn, for the majority of wildcat wells
produce nothing. If he finds a rich
sand, however. and can keep it a secret
for while, he has fortune in his hands.
he can sell oil short, knowing that when
lt is known that new field has been
discovered the price will go down. His
most direct opportunity, however, is to
lease the land in the neighborhood of
his well, to be sold again at an enormous
proht as soon as it is known that it is
productive territory. So he guards his
secret with every appliance he can
invent. His most dangerous enemies
are the scouts" They are paid to
discover what he is trying to conceal.
Almost every prominent oil broker
has scout regularly employed to
keep him posted on the latest doings at
the front. Daring, cautious, patient,
untlring, INSCRIPTIONS, and honest, the
scout must add to the experience of
driller the subtle judgment of broker
and the keenness of an operator. In
the shadows of the night he earns his
salary lurking about in the neighbor-
hood of a new well. out of gunshot of
the guards about the derrick; lying often
in the snow or in the swamp for hours,
with his nose and ears stretched above
the shelter of some friendly log, to catch
the smell of gas or the gurgle of flowing
oil; sneaking up to the tank-house to
get peep in if possible; watching the
motion of the walking-beam, and esti-
mating the depth of the tools thereby;
ready to bride the driller or exchange
shots with the guard at moments
notice.
He sometimes spends weeks watching
one particular well. He studies the
habits of the men working on it, notes
if any of them are likely to succumb to
the temptation of his brandy flask, jots
down the hours when each one takes
his nap, marks which way their faces
are mostly turned in their rounds, and,
if he can not court their favor, devises
some scheme to get inside their guards
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 a mystery when he sleeps. Almost
any time of the day he may be seen loi-
tering about wherever there is a crowd,
picking up acquaintance with the few
drillers whom he does not already know.
The emoluments of, the work are oc-
casionally of size to compensate for
any amount of hardship. For instance,
.'Si'' Hughes, who ot the Anchor Oil
company pointer on 646 has been taken
into the company with the Office of SUI
into and aIoor fanfh of fhair
profits. His springs work will net him
not less then SIS, 900; but there is we'll
defined path circling through the woods
around GAG, worn by the feet of those
VINO worked as hard as he and got no
thing but their salaries. How Hughes
got his information is still mystery
He is said to claim that he lay under
the derrick for nineteen consecutive
hours, but the prevailing impression is
that he bought the secret from one of
the guards.
In the course of an experience-meet-
ing the other evening, with Capt. Peter
Grace, one of the men who put down
the GAG we'll in this district, he told me
the true story of the mystery. Much
has been written about it, more proba-
bly, than has ever been printed about an
oil well before, but the captain told me
q few things which were new. This
wonderful Cherry Grove district owes
its development to the misfortunes of
George Fl. Dimmick. He had been
wrecked financially over in the Coal
creek region, and Capt. Grace set him
to work out this way rather to give him
a chance to recover than from any other
motive. Land could be leased for a
dollar an acre, and the experiment was
not very costly.
when the tools broke through the
shell of the sand about 10 o'clock on
the morning of the 18th of March," said
Capt. Grace, s'we knew we had found
wealth. The oil filled up a hundred
feet before we could get the tools out
The pressure of gas was tremendous
We drove tight-ftting wooden plug,
81 feet long, to the bottom of the wen,
poured the hole full of oil, screwed in
the casing head, and set the tools, which |
weigh not less than ton, on top of it.
Even then when the well flowed it blew
the casing-head off and sent the tools
flying up the derrick.
One trick we played to deceive the |
scouts l think has never got into print.
| took torpedo man into a room in the |
hotel at Warren one day, very mysteri-
ously, but took good care to have q
scout see me do it. OF course the scout |
hid himself in the adioin- !
ing room. / told the shooter, with my
voice trembling, that had put my last |
dollar into the 646 venture, and had |
M oil r,,YrSf nroT anyoo ornoor-