Daily new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1897-1906, 1899-04-05
A LARGE STORY.
Parkersburg Works off an I'm
mense Sensation.

AwfuIWhatit is and Where they are
Said to have Done it--BatteIle Oil
Company People Deny the Story
and they Tell Their Side of the
Thing--They think they will have
no Trouble in Knocking ont the
People Who Want an Injunction.
sPARKERsBuG, w. Va, April 81
Sensational charges against well
known oil men of high standing are
made in bill which has been filed
in the u. ). Court in the case oil. VIM.
NJ. Carr and others vs.. The Battelle
Oil Co., OF Morgantown, and others.
The Battelle Oil Co, was organized
in 1893 with A. L.Lowrie, of Pittsburg
president; ID. H. Courtney, of Nor
gantown, vice president; Clarence B.
Ollie, Of Morgantown, secretary.
Israel G. White and Joseph McDer-
mott of Morgantown, were the other
directors
This company secured leases on
523 acres Of land in the deep sand
oil territory in Monongalia county
which at that time had not been de-
veloped, and the value of which was
unknown.
According to the allegations in the
bill, the Battelle Oil Co. entered into
contract on April IL, 1898, with
VIM. NJ Carr, by which he was given
a three-fourths interest in the leases
on the 523 acres on condition that
he should drill test we'll Carr as
ISOLATED with himself Thompson,
/ Calender and Howell, OF Chicago,
and transferred to them certain por-
tions of his three fourths interest in
the leases. He then began the WE'LL
Bad luck seemed to follow him. His
tools stuck at a depth of | 100 feet
one the tools again stuck at depth
of $3.50 feet and it was not until
March 1896 that the third well was
completed and proved to be small
producer 1t was connected with
the pipe line and its production was
sold.
No further steps were taken to de-
/ velop the property which was in
the line of development, and wells
were gradually being put down clos
er to it. In last December good
well was gotten on adjoining proper
( ty and in January, the bill alleges,
members and agents of the Battelle
Oil Co, went to Chicago and Sc
cured ten days options on the inter
ests of Thompson, Calender and
Howell. In estimating the value Of
the interests upon which the options
were taken the value OF thewhole was
placed at $4,000, where as the bill
alleges the actual value to be over
100000
Lowrie and White, who had secured
the options, did not buy the Chicago
interests in the ten days, and Thomp-
son then sent on his share Of the rem
tai due. The Battelle Oil Co., the
bill alleges. refused to receive this and
wrote back to him in explanation that
there was nothing on record showing
that Carr, Thompson, Calender or
Howell had any interest in the prop
erty and that the company had
sold out all the property to @.
w. Huston who had sold to B. II.
Hite, a professor at the w. Va, Uni
yersity and r. d. Mead OF Morgan
town, and to Geo. III. Lewis Of Pitts
burg cousin of Lowrie's
The deed from the Battelle Oil Co.
to Carr for his three fourths interest
had not been recorded then but has
subsequently been.
| Under this condition OF affairs,
VIM. M. Carr, Thompson, Calender
and Howell have brought suit in the
| q. S. Court against the Battelle Oil
Co., d. III. Courtney, Clarence b.
Ollie, Israel G. White, Joseph McDer-
mott, G. w. Huston, r. ID. Mead,
Arthur Lowrie and Geo. III. Lewis, to
set aside the deeds from the Battelle
! Oil Co. to Huston and from him to
the other purchasers, and a temporary
| Injunction has been granted to pre-
vent any of them from disposing of or
attempting to dispose of any part of
the property until the case can be
heard. The hearing is set for the
18th inst at Parkersburg.
The bill alleges fraud upon the part
of the members Of the Battelle Oil Co.,
and alleges that the sale to Huston
and others was for the purpose Of de
frauding the plaintiffs. 1t implies
| that the fraud was committed after
1T was found that Carr's deed was not
on record, up to which time there had
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