The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1882-07-29
OIL SCOUTS.
Their Delicate and Dangerous Work
in the Oil Regions.
Bradford Star.l

bradford Star.1
When an operator goes into al un
developed field and puts down tes
we'll he naturally desires to have tn,
profit of his risk. 1t costs him some
thing like $4,000 to pnt down that wild
cat we'll, for which, in most cases, he
gets no return, for the majority of wild
cat wells produce nothing. If he finds
a rich sand, however, and can keep it
a secret for a while, he has fortune in
his hands. He can sell Oil short, know
ing that when it is known that a new
| field has been discovered the price will
go down. His most direct opportuni-
ty, however, is to lease the land in the
neighborhood of his we'll, to be sold
again at an enormous profit as soon as
| it is known that it is productive terri
tory. Sc he guards his secret with
every appliance he can invent. His
| most dangerous enemies are the
| ssscouts." They are paid to discover
what he is trying to conceal.
Almost every prominent oil broker
| has ssscout" regularly employed to
keep him posted on the latest doings
| at the front. Daring, cautious, patient,
untiring, unscrupulous, and honest, the
scout must add to the experience of a
driller the subtle judgment of a broker
and the keenness of an operator. In
the shadows Of the night he earns his
salary lurking about in the neighbor-
hood of Il new we'll out of gunshot Of
the guards about the derrick; lying
often in the snow or in tho swamp for
hours, with his nose and cars stretch
ed above the shelter of some friendly
log to catch the smell of gas or the gur-
gle of flowing oil; sneaking up to the
tank house to get peep in if possible;
watching the motion of the walking
beam and estimating the depth of the
tools thereby; ready to hribe a driiler
or exchange shots with guard ut a
moments notice.
lie sometimes spends weeks watch
ing one particular we'll. lie studies
the habits of the men working on it,
notes ifany of them are likely to sue
cumb 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, deviscs 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 COM
municates with his employer before the
market opens. 1t is a mystery when
he sleeps. Almost any time Of the day
he may be seen lettering about
wherever there is crowd, picking up
acquaintance with the few driIIers
whom he does not already know.
The cmo1umcnts Of the work are oc-
casionaliy of a size to compensate for
any amount of hardships. For in
stance, tSi" Hughes, who got the An
chor Oil Company pointer on GAG, has
been taken into the company with the
office of superintendent and a clear
tenth of their profits. His springs
work will net him not less than $780,
600; but there is wclt-defiued path
circiing through the woods around GAG,
worn by the feet of those who worked
as hard as he and got nothing but their
salaries. How Hughes got his infor-
nation 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 % eet-