The San Francisco call., 1899-07-17


the report on a large oil-producing re-
| gion in Southern California which is be-
ing prepared for publication by Field AS
sistant w. L. Watts of the State Mining
| Bureau. !,
The report, which will be published as
bulletin, will embrace the results OF
two years labor by Mr. Watts in Los
Angeles and parts of San Diego, Ventura
and Orange counties. 1t will describe the
geological formations yielding oil, their
relation to other rocks and the structural
conditions unaer which oil is found and
will give statistical information as to the
production of the different fields and
wells during 1897 and 1898. The report
will not touch on Santa Barbara County.
Regarding the condition of the indus
try down there Mr.. Watts said in a gen.
eral talk: There is much more pros
pecting and development going on than
ever before and the industry will con-
tinue to steadily grow. In the Los An
geles field there are two strata of oil
bearing sand. The wells reaching only 70
the first stratum are about played out,
while the deeper ones are still producing.
sion of the field in 1898 made up for the
falling off in the old ground There is
much prospecting in the Puente Hllls,
where four or more new companies have
santa Fe, Central, Home. Rex and Co
lumba l companies J., are, are operating there.
duced about 0000 barrels from its wells
seven miles from Fullerston last year,
and it IS producing at a, greater rate
|. now. All its oil is used for fuel in its
engines. AS is we'll known by. far the
greater part of the oil produced is con-
sumed as fuel in it's crude state, though
the production of lubrcating oils and the
many by-products at the reflneries is Is
quite extensive. A very small amount OF
illuminating oil is made by refining a1d aa
Company, which probably mikes 1t with
it's Eastern oils.
New fields will be developed in the fu-
ture all along the coast range. Ihe
places already discovered at which the
geological structure is such as to allow
the accumulation Of oil IN valuable gu quana. IN
elsewhere at points yet unknown, ana as
an immensely greater number of people
taking an IN IN Oh 1t nns Is I'M
terests of the State. The rise in the pr1ce
of iron has not seriously retarded deVel-
at the increased cost of wells, but If E
man wants to put down well he Will
do so when he gets through kicking"
The chief value of the patient geological
work that Mr.. Watts and few others are
doing lies in the fact that it serves as a
guide to intelligent prospecting and de-
velopment in new places. A large number
of wells are always being put down by
practical oil men, who take charge of
operations for some company such as
those being formed so numerously In the
San Joaquin Valley, with little regard to
the study of the geological conditions, and
with much scorn of geological experts. "
But a geological expert in oil-bearing
formations can often tell driller that
paying yield is impossible where he pro-
poses to drill near an oil spring, ana that
there are chances of success at points 1ar
away where there are no signs OF OIL.
ATc+I Ion xxrall deem
was sunk in a near by county close TO OIL
indications, but it was on the wrong SIDE
of the inclined oil-bearing formation, and
the deeper it went the further from OIL
sand ii got Regarding the Importance of
scientific information in prospecting for
oil. Mr.. Watts said:
In California the structural conditions
affecting the lines along which paying
wells can be obtained are much more
complex than in the Eastern oil fields.
Hence it requires more geological knoWl-
edge to direct prospecting and the open
ing of new fields. Those who contemplate
investing in oil propositions should ac-
quaint themselves with the facts con-
cerning the occurrence of petroleum, so
that they may be able to form some esti-
mate of the risks they are taking. Propo-
sitions vary greatly in evident risk. There
is a lack of general knowledge as TO What
constitutes bona hde oil propoSluon, out
people are paying more attention now TO
geological features and to technical meth
DDS l don't believe in LUCK. II a man is
going TO put QOWA IL prospect WGll INC
more he knows about the geological condi-
tions the less the chances he takes The
man who works out the geological facts
pertaining TO territory to be proSpected
is not nfallible, but he can say that on
account of such-and-such geological con-
ditions there is or is not a reasonable
probability of obtaining oil in paying
quantities within such-and-such limits.
Natures secrets may be guessed at, and
the guess may be right; but the only re-
liable method is to patiently work out the
problem. The only way to get dennite
knowledge of the facts pertaining TO the
occurrence of petroleum in California is
to Systematically investigate the terri
tories in which there has been the most
development These facts can then be ap-
Piled intelligently to territories yet unde-
Veloped.''
Southern fields has several times polnted
ont probabilities of success in untouched
fields One case was that OF the eastern
extension of the Los Angeles field recently
developed successfully after his opinion
had been given He pointed out the prob
ability of productive wells under the
ocean off The shore at Summerland,
where long wharves bear many oil der
ricks pumping Oil from under the ocean.
But the man with the divlning rod still
fiourishes and is busy all over the State
telling with his forked stick just where
to drill to get so many barrels of oil
day Mr.. Watts runs across him fire.
QllentlY IN SOuIneTH SdllIOIlld WlSlS IlS
always claims the discovery of a new field
and he is helping capital to operate in the
San Joaquin Valley. Other wells are
driven near oil indications according to
the advice of an experienced practical"
man, who sizes up the ground with con-
scious wisdom. His drill may strike an
oil supply and will if the oil is there and
the drill goes deep enough, but expert
scientific opinions are as needful in oil
enterprises as in any part of the mining
field and should be sought when several
thousand dollars is to be gambled on a
hole in the ground
Mr.. Watts report will be the third by
him on the oil and gas yielding formations
of California. This, with an extensive
work on the genesis of California petro-
leum by State Mineralogist Cooper and
the scientific work being done in the San
Joaquin by Deputy j. H. Means, will af-
ford this year extensive additions to the
scientific literature of oil and asphalt in
this State.
There is a probability that the Califor,
MIA Miners Association will interest
itself in the injunction suits against the
Kate Hayes and Red Dog hydraulic mines
brought by the Anti-Debris Association
through it's manager and attorney, Robert
r. DeVlin. These suits are based on the
contention that the dams which have been
built at these mines to restrain the debris
of the hydraulic operations, which have
NV "a Ea6at