Morning journal and courier., 1882-12-06
Oil ssMysteries."
Peculiarity of the Petroleum speeuIa- tiOn.

A PeculiarIty of the Petroleum speeuIn- tion.
 correspondent of the Ihtlddelohio 7Tanes writing from the oil region on the fab ulous fortunes made and lost in the petro- leum speculation says: The country has again gone mad with oil on the brain. But the great bull movement and advancing prices last week received setback by the striking of large we'll in new territory. The new well is located in Forest county and is owned by the Anchor Oil company. The first reports sent out from it reported it flowing at one thousand barrels per diem. Since then, however, the best reports rate the daily production of the we'll at three hun dred barrels. It has been the custom for several years past to board up the derricks of 'wildcat" test wells in important loca- tions and place an armed guard around them to prevent trespassers from gaining access, in order to keep the result of the wells secret from the public until the owners have had time to buy sell adjoining lands and prepare for the effect of the well on the market Such a we'll, in oil region parlance is termed @ mystery" and the frequent occurrence of ''mysteries'' has resulted in the employment by leading brokers and large producing firms of men thoroughly versed in all matters pertaining to the petroleum industry, who are aptly termed scouts, as it is their duty to learn the condition of such wells by strategy or force. This new well is no exception to the rule As soon as 1t
  the services of fifty Swedes, employed in peeling hemlock tan bark in the vicinity, and set them to felling trees around the well which is located in the midst of a vast forest. A plot, eight hundred feet square, was marked out and the logs and brush cut were piled upon the lines of this square, forming a high palisade around the well which was located in the centre of the square, and then the Swedes were put on guard within the inclos- ure to prevent anyone gaining admittance. yrt-. ..~IA An~n skirmishing around outside the fort trying to gain an entrance, but, while daylight lasted, they were unsuccessful. When the friendly shades of night had fallen, though, three of the most daring ones silently scaled the wall and cautiously crept through the trees and bushes, inside the inolosure, to the tanks into which the well was flowing, where they re- mained several hours. listening to the flows and measuring the contents of the tanks, after which they silently stole away again, While the three were in at the tanks, two others drilled a hole in the pipe line laid to l convey the oil away from the we'll, and on l which pump was working, by which means l they lea ned that no oil was passing through the pipe. On Saturday night they again 1 gauged the tanks, twenty four hours after the 1 first measurement, and as no oil was pumped away they knew the exact output of the we'll 1 for that day. Luckily the scouts were not l detected at this work, they would have l been roughly handled. 2.
 Perhaps the most notable of oil mysteries 1 was the well on lot 646, Cherry Grove town
 ship, in Warren county, which was drilled to
 the sand last March. The well was rank l "wildcat" of great interest to the trade, and
 as it was generally understood it would be
 made a mystery scouts were detailed to watch it some time before 1t reached the oil bearing
 level. None of them succeeded in getting
 any reliable information from it, though,
 except one, "Si' Hughes, who had made his
 way through the picket line and lay under the derrick floor for forty-nine hours without
 food, in freezing weather. and in positi on
 where he was deluged with water every time
 the sand pump was used The result of the
 well, which started in May with production
 of one thousand barrels day, is well known,
 and Mir. Hughes received from various parties
 $50, 900 for the information he suffered such
 hardship to gain He also was given an in
 terest in an oil company which purchased
 lands adjacent to the well, from which he
 realized handsome sum. This company
 was the Anchor Oil company, which owns
 the new Forest county mystery. The scouts
 knowledge of the oil business, their activity,
 their daring, and their training to close ob
 servatiou of minute details. They are not
 only employed to watch mysteries" !" but
 also to compile statistics of the production
 of the old fields and report the capacities o1
 new wells which are not guarded, and among them are found most of the oil reporters ot
 the oil region newspapers. Their pay Ii
 various. Some of them work for salaries
 ranging from $1Oo to $2o0 per month ant
 expenses, while others work for brokers ant
 receive one half the profits all transaction
 made on the strength of their information
 Some of these have made snug fortunes dur
 ing the past two months Taken a clas they represent some of the best intellects il the region.
 George Bartlett, of New Britain, was ar
 rested in Hartford Monday evening on a charge of rape, committed in New Britaip
 In the police court yesterday the charge wa t altered to one of simple assault and he wa 8 fined $1O and costs and sentenced to be con 7 fined in jail for two months. Kate Flanni [ gan was the party assaulted.