Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-04-11
MAKING A BIG NOISE,
But the Great Groveton GuSher's Per-
formance Justifes all of 1t.
A CASE WHERE SENTIMENT PAID.
The Forest Grove Well Now Putting Out
1.6OO Barrels a Day.
EXPERTS CALCULATIONS ALL AwRT

The A. B. Young Farm oil we'll is still the
wonder of al! who visit Forest Grove, and il
is something to blow about, being the largest
well ever struck in Allegheny county. is
within five miles of the city, and ranks high
among the greatest gushers ever found in
the State, demonstrating that the supposed
treacherous hundred-foot sand has capabil-
ities hitherto updreamed of in this county.
A reporter Of THE DISPATCH spent an
hour at the well yesterday, and having seen
the Grant we'll at Pithole City and scores of
other gushers in the upper oil country, as
well as some of the famous ones in Butler,
Beaver and Washington counties, he speaks
whereof he knows, and he is certain to dot
that " hat the drilier OF this 7. j. Wander
grift prize told him of her is reliable, and
the driller said she was making 1,500 or
1,600 barrels a day. Were the gas
which is expelling the oil utilized.
this S52-an-hour gusher would make in ad-
dition fair payer as gas well. There
was but one how pipe at work and great care
was necessary in letting on the force that it
should not be great enough to drive the oil out
of the tank, even when the fluid was six feet
from the top. The roar that accompanied the
fow was equal to that of escaping steam from
a locomotive boiler earring S0U-pounds pressure
of steam.
LOCATION OF THE WELL.
The well is located near the head of Halls
run, and in making that section Nature has
played pTanks that appear to make almost any
revelation possible, even though her work can
not be traced down to the unstratified without
shafting. Itwas once favorite ground for the
exploration of nascent geologlsts. Some 80
odd years ago copper nuggets were found along
its course, and company was formed TO work
the mineral. bur the Civil War broke out and
the enterprise was abandoned and never resus-
citated. A. such minerals are supposed. or rather
known, to belong to the metamorphic, or vol
canic formation. 1t is So pposed either that MILO
had dropped some copper in the neighborhood
or that Il had been salted by designing people.
ImmemorIal floods have cut through the strata
for some 800 feet in section regarding the use
of which some utilitarians have been speculat-
ing for many years. 1t has been regarded for
some time past until the Depp wells were
struck as gas territory but that strike upset all
preconceived and semi-scientihc theories, and
now were the drill to strike gold dollars the
inhabitants would not be surprised. Like the
Dutchman who thought it barely possible that
a man might bite his own ear of, they think
there is ''nodings impossible NIT God"
The strike has turned values topsy-turvy in
that neighborhood. and no property holder
knows what he is worth now: Superintendent
Gus B. Young of the city mail delivery service,
was at the we'll and he told how sentiment had
made him and the other heirs of the paUernal
acres value their homestead. The few acres
reserved can now be leased for the price of
princes ransom and without depreciating its
value as an heirloom.
Mrs. McElherron, mother of Captain William
McElherron. has been offered a fortune
bonus on her farm near by. but she was not
known to have leased yesterday.
THE ALCHEMIcAL BoRER.
The old Quinn farm, which corners within a
Faru faaS Frl,o ad
Schuler, of the West End, not long ago, for s65
an acre. The present owner leased it on Mon
day to Gillespie Bros. for bonus of Sis an
acre and the usual royalty. II is said that it
ought TO be good oil territory, as the soil is so
thin and poor that. one man says two
drunken men could not raise fight on it and
it would have to be fertilized before you could
make bricks on it 1t is certainly. judging
from appearance, pretty well worked out.
Rev. DR.. Beacom's salary seems to be pretty
well assured, as the parsonage, a small lot of
ground has, been leased on a royalty and 81 600
bonus and an acre belonging to the Ewing
gregation to use for sheds in which to house
their horses while attending church service, is
leased for $500 and one-eighth royalty. The
Fort Pitt Gas Company has this lease along
with several other good ones, including the
Depp farm.
II IS sald that the lease on John McKeown's
so acres, cornering in the Young well, had been
forfeited. but unluckily for him he accepted
$50 back rent one day last week. and thus re-
vived the lease and cut himself out OF several
thousand dollars bonus. big well. however
will make him comfortable, and there
seems to be no doubt in the minds
of operators that he will yet realize
handsomely. The trouble is that not only will
the people thus tied up under old leases lose
the big bonus now offered those who did not
lease, but the operators having them shut in
can take their time to develope. A part OF the
McClelland farm has been condemned by a
failure. but the remainder is now regarded as
very valuable but il is also tied by old lease,
and the Standard has some good territory shut
in across the gorge to the south of the gusher.