The San Francisco call., 1898-08-18
ITS BRAZEN SCHEME BALKED
< SUMMFRLAND OIL MEN STAND
 :. FOR THEIR RIGHTS.
Fiercely Resist One of the Boldest : - Attempts at Robbery Ever =: Made by the Railroad
 Company.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

IlSfidnQ. bara contains about 700 inhabitants, all of whom are interested or working in the oil industry. There are $50 wells in an area of less than 150 acres The first wells which were bored were north of the town proper and on the side of hill. These wells at first pro- .-dueed from five to eight barrels a day each, but now they will only average one or one and a half a day
 Experience has shown that the far ther west and south one went the more :oil would be found, and so well boring began to be done over the precipitous blum and on the sand near the beach, All the. wells along here have been pro- .ducing an average of eight barrels a day This fact has caused the present trouble between all the well owners and *the Southern Pacific Company. repre- .:sented by J. B. Treadwen. During the last few months about fifty wells have been bored on the beach at the front of the bluff and some little distance from high water mark.
 The beach front of Summerland is a .miIe and a half in length. This strip lis divided among about dozen own :~ers. who base their claim to the prop .:erty on a lease which they have ob- tained from the owners of the land on the bluff above.
 :: Thomas D. Wood is the owner of the least end of the strip, with a beach frontage of 2600 feet. To the west of hkr3 lies a strip 150 feet in length, which .TFeadwel claims, but to prove this he has. nothing to show. To the west of this strip for three-fourths of a mile there: are several owners-Ed Stevens, Sf-L, .,r- :~-:NhQ have about thirty wells in all. Then comes Treadwells wharf and the scene of the trouble.
 :: 1t was TreadwelIs intention to build a. short wharf on the strip of 150 feet :.Whtch he claimed, next to that owned :by::T D. Wood, and to connect this wharf with the one already begun 1900 feet. farther to the west He had -planned for the construction of about 200 wells run along the surf below low s.water mark. This is just where the great reservoir of oil is known to be located, and had his plans material @izs9 he would have been able to tap the: bottom of the reservoir and thus drain all the wells to the north of him %.aiQFg' the beach and on the bluff. .'&:TN0. weeks ago Treadwell made grade down this bluff on the 15O-foOt :.sfTfp claimed by him, and had just be- :glin building the wharf when the beach owners led by T. D. Wood and A. Hope DOeg. got a large force of men together and worked all night. Next E.morning there was a double line of piles along the beach from Treadwelrs 15G=foot strip to his wharf, 1900 feet to the: west. This completely shut his men out, so that they could not pro- ceed further with his work.
 This done, Treadwell began his ope- .rations on the other side of the wharf, :but he had not proceeded more than
 -l- IL 4T-- -l betWeen the wharf and the pile driver at the end of this row of piles. Now the pile driver stands in the surf a hun dFed feet below low water mark, sup .ported by the few piles under it, but with no connection whatever with the rest Of the wharf.
 =. The present plan of the beach owners Is to. erect platforms on the line of piles built by the well owners and put wells In every thirty feet Ground to the west of Treadwells wharf for 800 feet Is being worked by William M. s. ::MQore who has about thirty wells He has: invested already S16,000, and he is ,+the: most active owner against the Southern Pacific Company. Still far tl1er' to the west lies the claim of w. ". Burton and H. T. Williams. They have. a wharf extended several hun =dred feet beyond the surf and are working eighteen or twenty wells. The wharf is merely to be used as a plat form for their wells. They own the Hand. directly behind them, so there : :haVe been no complaints thus far for extending this wharf and boring wells in the sea.
 :: Above the bluff in Summerland :: proper there are about $50 wells, yield ing an average of three and a half bar ;: Tels a day. Among the large owners are J. c. Wilson, Edward Stevens, c. . A, Eoomis, $. w Knapp, William
 Outhout Jr. and H. E. Packard, all of Santa Barbara, and J. J. Cook capi-
 talist, from San Francisco.
 The plan in vogue here for pumping :: Is by the pumping jack which is used flor pumping about forty wells, and is run by seventeen to twenty horsepower
 engines. The owners of these pump :. ing jacks charge from SIP to $15 a month to pump a well. The average production of oil is about 700 barrels
 day and this brings about 90 cents a
 barrel. Almost seVenty-five carloads of oil are shipped every month from that the Southern Pacific Company gets = thirty five carloads. They are using oil on their engines on this division
 entirely. The OxwaPd Beet Sugar
 Factory in Ventura County is using $500 barrels of oil a month.
 The price varies according to it's den-
 sitY, The oil which is being pumped from the wells first bored and to the
 north of the others is much denser than
 the others. The farther south the well the lighter Is the oil by the Beaume
 test, showing about IS degrees; the cen
 ter of the field wells show Il to 12 de- .grees
 The average depth of the well is 225
 feet, varying from 100 feet to 500 feet
 The farther out to sea the deeper the
 well. At the present time 400 men are employed on the field, but if the South 'nrn Pacific Company is defeated in tha attempt to rob the rightful owners the force will be doubled. Several hun
 fred more wells will be sunk immedi- ately on receipt of the news of the . Southrn Pacific Company's defeat.
 Already there are over $500. .000 in-
 vested by the different owners, who are
 making preparations for a long wharf
 in order to place the oil directly on
 board vessels for shipment.
 This Is the reason Treadwell gave for
 wishing to obtain franchise for a wharf from the Supervisors of this county but ii afterWard developed to