New Ulm weekly review., 1884-04-30
NEW UInd.: REVIEW, WEDNESDAY, APRn 50, 1854
"a SABBATH OIL WELL.s
"A Story of the Days OF the Oil E1
<av11

81
There are few of the old oilmen,
whose connection with the exciting life
of the oil regions began on Oil Creek,
that can not recall the interest. excited
by the eccentricities (as they were sup
posed to be then), of a well on the
Buchanan farm, at Housewife. 1t was
the first flowing well ever struck in the
oil regions, and it deTeloped-a a peculi-
arity Of ceasing to flow at II o'clock
Saturday night, and starting again on
Monday morning, that gave it the
name Of the Sunday well.
It was located on a lease ten rods
square, and the post-ofice building Of
housewife was afterwards put on the
lease where the well was. Drilling
was done with a spring pole. Drive
pipes were used to reach the rock, for
which $25 a point was paid. On Janu-
ary 10, 1861, the well had reached a
depth of 191 feet, and was on top of
the first sand. By this time there were
a dozen producing wells in the vicinity,
all pumping, and all drilled wet, as
was Mr.. Curtis ALSO A hard shell
was struck on the top of the first sand,
on which they drilled for q long time,
the light tools Of those days making
very little impression on it. At last It
was broken, when the oil suddenly be-
gan to dow. Not expecting flowing
well. there was no tankage up, but the
planks were on the ground for it. In
those days square tanks were built.
The well flowed strongly, and large
stream of oil ran down the creek. Eff
%o> o. Ia To oh %osv hoys-
rels, and the tank was pushed to COM
pletion as rapidly as possible. To save
the oil until the tank was up large
hogshead was obtained and placed in
the derrick. A plug was made out of
q scantling and driven into the top of
the drive pipe. A hole was bored
through the center of the plug and
lead pipe inserted in it, and bent over
into the hogshead. Men were then
employed to dip the oil out of the hogs
head with pals and pour it into barrels
through the old-fashioned cider tunnels.
No one suggested that the surface water
be shut off, and in those days twas not
thought of. The novelty Of flowing
well drew large crowds to the spot, and
for many weeks it was the topic of
conversation among oil men.
The well flowed into the hogshead
through the lead pipe without tubing
in it for several weeks, or until tank
could be built. After the tank was up
one joint of two and one-haf inch tub
ing was put into the drive pipe, and ex-
tended up into the derrick through the
bottom of common oil barrel which
was fastened there on scaffolding.
The single joint of tubing was all that
was ever put into the we'll. Old clothes
and waste were packed around the tub
ing inside the drive pipe, and braces
put on them and against the sides of
the derrick, to prevent their being
blown out The owner estimated the
best days production of the well at
sixty barrels or possibly seventy-fve
barrels, though others put it as high as
100 barrels. Oil was sold from this
well, in the month of January, at so q
barrel.
After the well began flowing into
the barrel at the end of the tubing,
pebbles could frequently be heard rat
tling in it, and one flow forced the head
of the barrel out. When this was be-
ing mended, it was discovered that the
bottom OF the barrel was filed with
pebbles which had been thrown out to
the depth of nearly foot.
After being turned into the tank for
four or five days, the well began flow
ing with the greatest regularity. It
flowed four times a day, and SO regular
that for number of days the flows did
not vary minute. Its time of flow
ing became so we'll known that men
would come with their watches to time
it, and amuse themselves by regulating
the time of day by it. On the second
or third Sabbath after being turned
into the tank, it made no oil. This
was reported to Mr.. Curtis, the owner,
and also the fact that on the next Sab.
bath it made no flow. On the follow
ing Monday morning, finding the same
thing had occurred, Mr.. Curtis ordered
a gauge to be taken the next Saturday
night at II o'clock, and another on
Monday morning. This was done,
! and the gauges showed that not q drop
of oil had been put in the tank. This
occurred each Sabbath for long time
causing great interest and mystery in
the minds of the people. At that time
there was considerable discussion con-
cerning the breaking of the Sabbath on
oil wells, and this we'll served as a
good text against Sabbath breaking.
After some study Mr.. Curtis discovered
that this eccentricity was due to a nat
ural cause. There were many pump
! ing wells surrounding the Sunday we'll,
all of which were shut down each Sat
urday night at midnight. The surface
water was not shut off and this flooded
the producing sand. On Monday morn
ing the pumping wells were started
again, and as soon as the water was
exhausted the Sunday well began flow
ing again with it's accustomed regular
ity, only to close when Saturday night
came around.
When the oil was exhausted in the
first sand, after the well had produced
three or four months, it was drilled BY
| steam power through the third sand, a
depth Of 500 feet. No oil was found in
either the second or third sand, and it
was abandoned. Meanwhile the price
of oil had declined from the $40 point
in January to twenty five cents q bar.
| rel-ON City Derrick.
Taking OFF Overcoats.
why is it., asked a lady, ..tha
gentlemen-no, men-persist in wear.