St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-03-31

killed by the guardians of some well of which
he was attempting to learn the capacity or
prospects in that wild region, and that his
body has been buried in the woods There
is no evidence of the fact, but he was known
to be particularly daring scout, and it is
well known that owners of oil wells which 1t
is DESTROYS to make what are known in oil
region parlance as "mysteries'' employ men
to guard taem night and day, armed with
| rifles, and having positive orders to shoot
any one who may be discovered approach
ing or lurking about the property at night,
and to prevent any one getting near the
spot at any time. The manufacture of mvs-
teries among Oil wells came to be notable
branch of the oil-producing business during
the Cherry Grove excitement in Warren
county in 1882, and brought into existence
an entirely new business, which was given
the name of oil scouting. Mystery wells are
always wildcat enterprises, the result or
which the owners do not want to be known
to the public or to operators. saiarled
scout may be paid $50 week, and many OF
them do not get more than half that sum.
Others work for a share in the profits that
may result from operations made on the
strength of the
INFORMATION THEY OBTAIN Alta MYSTERY
WELL
and report to their employers. In this way
not a few have made fortunes. ''Si''
Hughes, one of the most daring and persis-
tent oil scouts in the region, received $50,
600 in cash for two days and nights work
| in the Cherry Grove field, on the most cele-
brated oil well mystery in the history of the
| business. This was the great we'll known as
''646," SO called from the number of the
tract on which it was situated in Cherry
Grove township. This well was wildcat of
| the rankest kind, and while no one seemed
to have much faith in oil being found in
the district, every one knew the importance
of the venture if oil should happen to be
struck. 1t was watched, therefore, with the
greatest interest. The drill reached the sand
| in March, 1882 and scouts had been on the
| lookout for weeks before. 1t was boarded
up, and line of armed pickets set to guard
it. One cold night ''Si'' Hughes succeeded
in lodging the sentinel's and got through
the lines. He forced his way into the der
| rick unseen, and hid under the floor: He
lay there forty hours, with the weather so
cold that the water, with which he was
| drenched whenever the sandpump was used,
| froze solid upon him almost as soon as it
touched him. He was literally encased in
| icy armor for nearly two days. He had moth
ing to eat, but was rewarded at last by max
ing the discovery that the well was a good
producer and would revolutioniZe the trade
beyond q doubt He got away from the
we'll in safety and repeated what he had
learned to his employers, the Anchor Oil
company. The well remained mystery
until the following May, and in the mean
time the Anchor company had secured the
most valuable territory in the region, and
also prepared themselves to reap handsome
ben eft in the market when the news about
the we'll was made public. The we'll was q
thousand-barrel producer. Besides the $50.
900 Hughes was paid he was given an inter
est in the company which yielded him
nearly 5000, 900.
The missing scout Farren had many mar
row escapes in the Warren field.
ONE NIGHT HE WAS SHOT IN THE KNEE BY A
at mystery well, but wounded as he was he
approached the derrick from another side,
gained an entrance, and obtained the infor-
nation he was after. He had bound up his
wounded leg with 4 handkerchief, and after
learning the character of the well rode ten
carry the news to his employers. One night
he determined to obtain some information
about a well on the Cooper tract, in Warren
county There were % scouts watching the
well, which had been closely guarded for two
months by some of the most vigilant and
hostile pckets with which the scouts had
ever contended. Shots were fired nearly
every night at the scouts for the swapping
of twig under their feet was sure to be fol-
lowed by rile-shot from the pickets in the
direction of the sound Several scouts were
wounded, one dangerously, being left an al
most helpless cripple from the effects of the
shot. The well owners, as soon as the drill
reached the sand, had set their men to work
telling trees about the derrick, which was
situated in deep forest. A plot 500 feet
square was marked out, and the logs and
brush cut were piled on the line of this
square, forming a high palisade on every
side. Fifty Swedes, who had been peeling
hemlock bark in the vicinity were then
armed with rifles and ordered to patrol this
square constantly. After two months of
fruitless efforts TO learn something about the
nature Of the well, Farren, as stated, deter
mined TO acquire the much desired knOwl-
edge one night in September, and all alone
he made his way through the picket line. He
was about 10 begin climbing the wall OF
trees and brush when he stepped on the dead
limb of fallen tree, and it broke with a
loud noise. Instantly rifle was fired by one
of the pickets, and the ball whiZzed by
Farren's ear and buried itself in the tree
against which he was standing. second
shot was fired and the ball passed through
Farren's hat. This angered him and he
drew his revolver and returned the picket's
fire. At the third shot nc heard the sentinel
scampering away. Farren sealed the high
wall and gained the Enclosure uudetccted.
He crept into the derrick house, heard the
oil flowing into the well, measured the ca
pacity of the tanks, and gauged a half hours
flow, thus fixing the size of the well. He
also tapped the pipe line leading away from
the we'll and IN which pump was at work
which had been supposed TO be a blind, as
it was doubted that any oil was being sent
away from the well. Farren found that the
suspicion was correct, and that the pipe was
dry. These points were all that that hc was
an xious to establish, and after he had done
so to his satisfaction, he started TO make his
escape. As he was climtng The wall Of trees
he was caught by two Of the pckets, and Il
desperate tight ensued. Farren knocked
both of the men down and made his escape,
followed By two rifle balls, one Of which
passed through the sleeve OF his coat. Five
hours later he had the news Of the mystery's
character confIed to his employers twenty
miles away and they fortune out Of bis
nights work.
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