The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1899-04-12
A LARGE STORY.
Petersburg Works off an I'm
mense Sensation

Prominent Morgantown People are
Alleged 10 have done Something
wfulwhatit is and Where they are
said to have Done it-.BstteIle 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.
PAREERsBUG, W. Va, April o.
Sensational charges against well
known oil men of high standing are
made in bill which has been fled
in the u. 5. Court in the case OF VIM.
NJ. Carr and others ys. The Battelle
Oil Co, OF Morgantown, and others.
The Battelle Oil Co, was organized
in 1893 with A. L. Lowric,o Pittsburg
president; d. H. Courtney, OF Nor
gantown, vice president; Clarence B.
Ollie, of Morgantown, secretary
Israel C. 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
a contract on April II, 1898, with
VIM. M. Carr, by which he was given
a three fourths interest in the leases
on the 523 acres on condition that
he should drill test well 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 well.
Bad luck seemed to follow him. His
tools stuck at depth of ], 100 feet
and new well was started. In this
one the tools again stuck 1T depth
of $3.50 feet and it was not until
March 1896 that the third we'll was
completed and proved to be small
producer 1t was connected with
the pipe line and its production was
sold.
No further steps we're 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 a 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 G.
w. Huston who had sold TO B. II.
Hite, d professor at the W. Va. Uni
versity and r. d. Mead of Morgan
town, and to Geo. II. Lewis of Pitts
burg a cousin of Lowrie's.
Il. d.,
TO Carr for his three fourths interest
had not been recorded then but has
subsequently been.
Under this condition OF affairs,
Vim. NJ. Carr, Thompson, Calender
and Howell have brought suit in the
u. S. Court against the Battelle Oil
Co., b. H. Courtney, Clarence B.
Ollie, Israel G. White, Joseph McDer-
mott. G. w. Huston, r. d. Mead,
Arthur Lowrie and Geo. H. 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
j 9th 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
it was found that Carr's deed was not
on record, up to which time there had
been no question as to his interest, as
!. shown by their attempts to secure the
interests of Thompson. Calender and
Howell.
Israel G. White is the state geolo-
gist and McDermott is a member of
the governors staff. The other de-
PENDANTS are of equally high standing
and the charges against them will
cause sensation wherever they are
known. AS the property is alleged to
recover three-fourths of it, there is
$75, 900 involved in the case.
Members of the Battelle Oil Com
pany which is composed of the bust
ness men in the community were ask
ed about the story sent out from
Parkersburg and given above. They
denounced it as fake of the darkest
dye. AS one OF them expressed it.
lit is a Chicago story with -Parkers-
burg trimmings. Chicago wind and
gall are proverbial and it can be seen
that there is very little on the face of
the story to recommend it.
One of the members of the company
stated in answer to question as to
the merits of the case that the plain
tiffs did not have the slightest show
OF getting the injunction they have
asked for. There is no suit as yet. An
injunction has been asked for and this
will be heard on the thirteenth. The
injunction will not be granted because
of the fact that everything depends on
the interest which they claim that
they own.
They own no interest in the prop
erty and never owned any. They were
to have three fourths right when
4 they comnlpfed n test, we'll This we'll