The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1886-07-22

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ORIGIN or OIL SCOUTING. ~
The Work First Done by Newspaper Cor
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES and Rewards.
In the good old days when the petro-
leum wells of Pennsylvania were
kicked" down with the aid of light
iron drill and hickory spring pole, oil
scouts were unknown. There were no
oil exchanges, no pipe lines, no brokers,
and very few spectators. The oil pro-
| Queer bailed his well out by hand
power windlass, ran it into barrels, and
hauled it on wagons to the nearest refn-
cry. Oil passed directly from the pro-
ducer to the refiner, and prices were
regulated by the laws of supply and de-
mand. In the Oil Creek valley much of
the oil was sent to market in flatboats.
Occasionally in summer the pilot had to
get out and pour water on the rocks to
float his boat over the rifles. Then the
producer managed everything; now he
manages nothing-not even his own
| wells. .... 'r..t.r aE... .aas.- r.
Oil scouting is of recent origin. The
oil region newspapers are responsible for
1t. Years ago they began the practice of
making monthly reports, showing the
number of wells drilled during the month,
thenumber of barrels of crude petroleum
produced by each well, the number of
wells drilling, and the number of rigs
(derricks) up and building. Correspond
ents specially detailed for this work trav-
eled through the oil fields constantly,
selegraphing from day to day the pro-
gress of operations in the new fields, or,
10 speak technically, 3at the front" Oc-
easionally, when the information thus
telegraphed was of sufficient importance
to affect the price of oil, and it came TO
hand early in the afternoon, the news
paper proprietor used it as basis to de-
termine his course in buying, or selling
oil. Next morning it was published as
aews, and the public had the benefit of it.
| Brokers and spectators soon saw the
value of this advance information, and
lost no time in proposing to the newspa-
per proprietor that he should divide up
| with his early news, and take share in
whatever profits might accrue. As a
rule the newspaper proprietors preferred
todivide theif news with their subscribers
next morning, leaving the brokers and
spectators to shift for themselves. Fail
ing to get an advance share in the daily
reports, the spectators next tried to get
the monthly reports a day or two ahead
of the rest of the people, but in this they
were likewise disappointed. a.-..
Then one of the big oil companies
which wanted to know when to sell oil
sent out a specially selected man to
make a regular monthly oil report, and
to send in from day to day the news of
the field. For the first few months the
man worked with the newspaper CORES
pondents, learning their methods and
studying the typographical features of
the country. When he was able to stand
alone other men were put into the field
! by oil companies and brokers' firms, and
in short time half score of them were
roaming about the oil regions. AS a
means of distinguishing them from the
newspaper men they were called oil
scouts. Their work did not differ mate
rally from that of the newspaper CORE
spondents, but in the course of time they
dropped the making Of monthly reports
of operations in the entire field and con-
fined themselves to those portions of the
petroleum regions that were most likely
| to affect the price of oil. ~ =. paft
! Of late years the rapid development of
the oil-producing country, and the over
weening tendency of spectators and
speculative producers to cast a halo of
mystery over nearly every well drilled
in new territory, have practically con-
fined the scouts work to the watching Of
what is known to the trade as wildcat
wells" A wildcat" ia an experimental
venture in new and undeveloped terri
! tory. One promising wildcat, judi
ciously managed by its owner,
will cause more doubt, uncer-
tainty,. and uneasiness to the trade
than all the rest of the wells in
the country put together. The oil
market is usually in such precarious
condition that large well in new field
will depress prices to serious extent
1t is important, therefore, for company
that is holding oil for rise to know
whether the newest wildcat is to become
a prolific well or dry hole, and it is the
scouts business to find this out In adj
vance of every one else. reto1.% s3l@
| Usually the owner of the wildcat has
i oil of his own that he wants to sell be-
60. k1<, re- hraa 1>o h.
ingly makes the wildcat q mystery until
he has arranged his financial affairs to
his satisfaction. He boards up the der
rick so that no one can see, into it. and
posts armed sentineis In the immediate
neighborhood to warn off intruders.
Despite these precautions the oil scout
| invariably gets the news. Sometimes he
creeps past the sentinels in the dead of
night and crawls under the derrick door
to watch the drilling; occasionally he
climbs tree to enable him to look down
| into the derrick, and at rare intervals,
when all else fails, he brides sentinel to
| give him the news that he seeks. The
work is hard, unsatisfactory and often
| dangerous. The scout often sleeps out
in the woods all night in rain or snow;
goes hungry and wet and cold for two or
three days at time, and is frequently
shot by over-zealous sentinels. Nothing
daumts him, however, and if he makes a
lucky hit for his firm he sometimes gets
share in the profits accruing from the
use of his information. Some Of the
scouts have speculated on their own ac-
count and done well. Others have made
money out of purchases of wildcat lands.
New York Times.
6 Timothy Titcomb" as a Lecturer.
Holland drew good houses, and for a
time was very popular. But the public
soon outg-ew the mild preaching of
/ Timothy Titcomb," and he withdrew to