Morning journal and courier., 1882-07-12

where we located the. Mystery We were not sure of it. but we were bound to work the market anyway, and SO we hauled twen- ty-five barrels of oil to the well to be used to grease the derrick in case she turned out dry. But sine didn't come in dry, you know" said the captain, as he loanged of with friend.
 The wells here are the marvel of all mar vels to oil men. No such prolific territory has ever been tapped sinco the Drake we'll
 first disclosed the possibilities of petroleum production. There have been wells as large as those of Cherry Grove but they have not 1 been found uniformly through distance of | four miles, as the gushers have been devel-
 oped hereabouts Altogether about no rigs l up and wells drilling is the estimate for the status of this field on July 1. Many of these l rigs belong to wealthy oil companies, and 1 the wells will not be drilled as yet. Much of | the territory is cut up into five acre lots, on l which the lessee is charged $1, 900 an acre i bonus and one fourth of all the oil pro- l duced. Even at this extravagant price the
 land is eagerly snapped up. Yesterday $l2,
 900, with royalty of one-h half tho oil pro-
 duced was paid by a prominent Huntsville
 producer for twelve acres of lot SIS, on which
 is situated the great Murphy gusher. This
 man will put down two wells. By the time
 they are finished, if no accident happens, the 1 property will have cost him O,OOO. So that the two wells must produce 40,0OO barrels ot
 fifty cent oil clear before he can realize s
 dollar of profit on his investment. The older shake their heads ove, such problems, and say that al this has been that it does no last The oil is in a loose conglomerate
 which rapidly exhausts itself In ninety days, they claim, the wells will fall off at [ rapid rate, and each completed producer vii accelerate the decline. But as yet thes 5 croakers find few hearers among the oil men who are rushing the drill with vigor neve before displayed The programme is to ge down to the oil bearing rock, then put ul tankage, get in pipeline connection, an' an hours work with the drill does the rest After the wells begin flowing strongly it l / impossible to remove the tools, and they ar allowed to remain suspended at the bolton of the hole.
 ,, The burning we'll of the Anchor Oil com , ! pany, on lot G47, about half mile iron Garfield ceased to be a novelty, but tn
 sight is still grand and impressive. Tn solid stream of oil spurts from five to tel v feet above the casing head before it ignites when it flashes into sheet of flame of gigan a tic dimensions surmounted by pail of dens black smoke that rises almost to the summe ! clouds. The heat is intense that no on :. :. can approach within thirty feet of the well ' Jefferson Morris has contracted to extinguis
 l the fire within ten days for $3 ,OOO worth o , oil. $2, 800 in cash and $1,OOO day for eac day less than ten from the time when tn s ! work began. His success is doubtful, at leas
 until the production of the we'll now 2,eO
 barrels daily, has greatly fallen off. Th
 burning of these necessarily flowing wells
 problem to this generation of oil OF orators, who watch the experiments of tn t Anchor Oil company with anxious eyes
 thinking that it may be their turn next. Tn
 l Grant well, near Housewife, which wa
 burned in 1865 while gushing 2,2Oo barrels : ] day, extinguished by heaping earth in
 ! huge pile over the mouth of the we'll. Bu . l such remedy would avail nothing here bf cause of the immense quantity of gas whic a ~ escapes with the oil.