Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1882-07-25
OIL SCOUTS.
Their Delicate and Dangerous
Work in the Oil Regions OF
Pennsylvania.
Bradford Star.

wildcat we'll, for which, in most cases,
he gets no return, for the majority of
wildcat wells produce nothing. II he
finds a rich sand, however, and can
keep it secret for a while, he has
a fortune in his hands. He can sell
oil short, knowing that when it is
known that a new field has been dis
covered, the price will 60 down.
His most direct opportunity, however,
is to lease the land in the neiehbor-
hood of his well, to be sold again at
an enormous profit as soon as it is
known thatit is productive territory.
So he guards his secret with every
alliance 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, pa
tient, unscrupulous, and honest, the
scout must add to the experience Of a
driller the subtle judgment of bro
ker and the keenness OF an operator.
In the shadows of the night he earns
his salary, lurking about in the neigh
borhood of a new well, out of gunshot
Of the guards in the derrick; lying
often in the snow or in the swamp tor
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 sneakiug up to
the tank house to get peep in if pos
sible; watching the motion of the
walking beam and estimating the
depth of the tools thereby; ready to
bribe driller or exchange shots with
a guard at a moments notice.
He sometimes spends weeks watch
ing one particular we'll. He studies
the habits Of the men working on it,
notes if any of them are likely to sue
cumb to temptation Of his brandy
flask, jots down the hours when each
one takes his nap, marks each way
their faces are mostly turned in their
rounds, and, if he cannot court their
favor, devises some scheme to get
inside 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 mys.
terry when he sleeps. Almost any time
of the day he may be seen lettering
about wherever there is a crowd, pick
ing up acquaintance with the few
1rillers whom he does not already
know.
The emoluments Of the work are oc
casionally of a size to compensate for
any amount ofhardship. For instance,
"Si' Hughes, who got the Anchor
Oil Company a pointer on GAG, has
been taken into the company With the
Office Of superintendent and clear
tenth OF their profits. His springs
work will net him not less than $780,
600; but there is we'll defined path
circling through the woods around
GAG, worn by the feet of those who
worked as hard as he aud got nothing
but tLeir 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
meeting the other evening with Capt.
Peter Grace, one of the men who put
down the 646 we'll in this district, he
told me the true story Of the mystery.
Much has been written about it, more
probably than was ever printed about
an oil well before, but the Captain
told me few things which were new.
This wonderful Cherry Grove district
owes its development to the misfor.
tunes of George H. Dimmick. He
had been wrecked financially over in
the Goal Oraek region, and Captain
Grace set him to work out this way
rather to give him a chance to re
cover 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 ofthe sand about 10 o'clock on
the morning Of the 1lth of March,"
said Captain Grace, we know We had
found wealth. The oil filed up
hundred feet before we could get the
toolG out. The pressure Of gas was
tremendous. We drove tight fitting
wooden plug, 81 feet long, to the bot
tom of the well, poured the hole full OF
oil, screwed in the casing head, and
set the tools, which weigh not less
than a ton, on top of it. Even then
when the well flowed it blew the cas-.
ing head off and sent the tools flying
up the derrick. "
"One trick we played to deceive the
scouts think has never gotinte print.
| took o torpedo man into a room in
the hotel at Warren one day, very
mysteriously, but took good care to
have scout see me do it. Of course
the scout Immediately hid himself in
the adjoining room.
| told the shooter, with my voice
trembling, that / had put my last dol
lar into the GAG venture, and had
found no oil. | must get some ap-
pearance Of grease ip order TO sell my
lease and get out whole. l arranged
with him to 60 out that night and
torpedo the well. Well, we went out
with make believe torpedo filed with
water. The scouts were at our heels,
of course, and watched every motion.
We vent to ths well in tbs dead Of
night, and there went through the
form of shooting the we'll so accurately
that even the guards about the we'll
were deceived. The next morning