Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1890-10-17
Luck in OIL.

When Petrolia was in its prime, there
was certain producer whose name shall
be -, 4" if yo please, who always insisted
that there was no such thing as luck. 1T
was all management-good manage
mentor judgment-good Judgment"
He always repeated those words to add
force to his point He had been very sue
cessful and had accumulated considera-
BILE store of this worlds goods in the shape
of greenbacks and oil leases, and was on
the road to competence. All or most of
his fortune had been made from a single
good oil farm near Petrolia, which he had
acquired by the accident of marriage with
relative of the owner of the farm, maid
en- lady. That made Mr.. the first choice
out of would-be lessees, and he secured the
lease. After having drilled and developed
the farm for third sand, and it had proven
only moderately productive, another man
demonstrated the fact that there was
fourth sand underlying the third, and
much more productive. Mr.. J at once
pulled the tubing in one of his wells and
proceeded to drill it down to the fourth
sand. 1t started off at 1000 barrels day.
Several Others followed suit, and of course
j became wealthy, and it was all from his
wonderful foresight and judgment-good
judgment"
Before Mr. J had drilled his wells down
to the fourth sand, he was willing to part
with his wells and the farm at about junk
price, with small allowance for the de-
pleted production, but could not find
he stuck to his idea of judgment, l will tell
a little story: At one time when he was
bringing in one of his wells, he stepped be-
hind the derrick to go to the tank to see
her flow. Now the drillers in order to fill
the forge had dug hole about two feet
deep and four feet square. This hole had
become filled up level full with sand pump
ings, and the tool dresser in cleaning out
his forge had thrown light dry ashes on top
of the mud, and it looked like dry land.
Mr.. j walked briskly toward the tank, as
producer usually does when she begins
to flow.
Well, one foot went into this hole, and
to prevent fall the other quickly follow
ed it. The driller, on hearing something
like swear word, looked around the cor
ner of the derrick, and seeing Mr.. Us con-
dition, said with a smile that presaged a
laugh at more opportune moment, 'Mr.
J, that is hard luck" The reply came
promptly: "No hard luck at all; bad man
agement-bad management" To illustrate
luck in oil affairs a little further, will cite
bit Of inside and unwritten history of the
Wildwood pool, to show that all fortunes
in the oil business are not the result of
good management, but are sometimes the
result of accident. About three years ago
man conceived the idea that section of
country in the vicinity of Wildwood con-
tanned an oil field, and acting on this idea
he went to work and leased a large tract
of land for oil purposes and, after many
trials, succeeded in getting up company
to drill well. This company was gotten
up by giving another party one-half in
terest in the leases to drill the first we'll
The well was drilled and as is the usual
result Of the first venture, was dry hole,
with merely, as he says, the ear marks of
an oil well, and, as usual, again his COM
pany deserted him, and he was forced to
try other fields and pastures new, while
the leases were held on to, to take the
chances of someone else drilling in that
vicinity. Another party came in and took
up block of leases adjoining the first,
drilled well and struck oil, and wildcat
ter No. l was saved. Theyear before that.
when wildcatter No. rs leases came due To
do some work or pay bis rentals Git was in
March, 1882, his company said to him,
GIVE the leases back; we don't want them;
they are no good" In compliance with
this order he went to the land owners and
offered to give the leases back and quit
claim to the land but they refused to take
back the leases unless he paid the last
years rental, which amounted to quite
sum of money. Money with my wildcat
ter was scarce at this time, as he had heen
playing in hard luck for many years, as
wildcatters usually do, but by giving his
company good talking to and reiterating
ceeded in getting the money to pay the
rentals for another year.
The rentals paid kept the leases alive to
the 2Sth day of March last, and on the Oath
day of March last the Griffith well, adjoin-
ing, came in large, and then there was
some tall hustling to put the money in
bank, as per contract, to pay the rentals.
Now it was the landholders turn to kick,
and they refused to take the money, but
it was in the bank and the leases were
saved to my wildcatter and his associates.
To-day this same property has a produc
ton on it of nearly 1900 barrels day, and
is known as the Gibson d Giles by some
and by others as the Roth Oil Company, be-
ing one and the same, Gibson and Giles be-
ing the men who drilled the first well for a
half interest in the leases. Their half in
terest is intact, but the other interests are
somewhat split up since. Gibson & Giles,
seeing the ear marks of an oil field in the
well, stayed with their entire interest.
Now the indulgent reader of this may in
fer that l am firm believer in luck. That
would be a mistake, for believe that a
man who has made it a life study can get
nearer to an oil pool the first time than the
man who knows nothing about it.
There are plenty of instances of new men
jumping in and making a strike the first
time, but there are innumerable cases
where they have not even got in the oil
belt. We never hear anything about those,
and it is the lucky strikes that are conspic-
uous.
The trouble with the wildcatter is that
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