The San Francisco call., 1899-06-05

popular "eXcitementS," =" and these plctur-
esque things of persistent recurrence al
ways attract more attention than
more important and legitimate develop
ments in old and rich mining regions,
There is a rush to some alleged redis-
covered placers in Lower California, and
in the San Joaquin Valley there is a great
oil boom on, attended by the usual crazy
formation of wildcat companies by the
hundred, speculation in worthless stocks
and properties, the location, bonding and
buying of miles of desert hills and proph-
ecies of sudden fortunes
The foundation of the oil craze IS the
really important development of a small
but remarkable oil field, at Oil City, a
few miles from Coalinga, on the western
side of the valley, In Fresno County. This
is notable as being the first producing
held of Importance developed north of
the IehaChapi Mountains after nearly
lorty years of prospecting through the
cehtral ana northern parts of the State.
The storm center of the Lower Califor-
MIA boom is San Diego, from which point
the craze is ably stimulated in the usual
way by newspaper correspondents and
transportation and other business inter-
ests which will profit thereby. In San
Francisco the Mexican Consul-General,
Mr.. Coney, is receiving inquiries about
the field by the hundreds, and from many
points a good sized rush is fairly on A
stampede to new gold field is as easy
to check as a stampede of a great cattle
herd, and the judicious may as well keep
out of it's way.
No definite Information about the Sierra
Pintada field has been given, and none
seems obtainable from any source. IN
the columns Of newspaper reports tnaI
are published the accounts are but vague
rumors of millions in sight" Nc golo
General Coney knows only what is In
the papers, and no mining authorities &C
quainted with Lower California are ape
to say anything without visiting tne
place. But it requires only vague ruInolS
to start a mining rush and keep II up uh-
til the bottom falls out. There may be a
good deal of gold down there, for the stun
is where you find it, and there are un-
doubtediy places where gravel can be
worked with profit by the dry washing
process; but it is certain that nine out OF
ten of the rushers will come out OF that
desert poorer and thinner than they
went in The Ybarra Gold Mining Com
pany of this city, which holds large CON
cessions and works good mine sixty
miles from the new field, has sent re-
liable expert, NJ. G.. Rhodes, in. and IN
two or three weeks candid reports from
him and others of reliability will show
what there really is there.
% Mr. Rhodes said: THE papers here
are determined to get up boom DO not
allow them to carry you OH your ieet.
There is really little more known ao01I 4II
the mines than when we left the city: we
do not believe last nights report OF tne
large amount of gold sent to Guaymas'
The San Joaquin Valley oil craze is
nearer home The long-standing faith of
oil experts that profitable oil discoveries
will be made at many places along the
coast range from the Southern oil helds
north clear to Humboldt County is one
help to the boom. The geological for
nations, sandstones and shales, are faV-
orable to oil deposits throughout region
hundreds of miles long, and the thousands
of oil seepages TO be seen here ana there
show the widespread existence of OIL But
an oil seepage does not indicate an en-
closed reservoir of oil that there is money
in and with a few small exceptions no
borings north of Tehachapi had ever pro-
duced flow of oil until luck came to two
men who went to boring at Oil City in
1896. For two years there has been an
increasing amount of prospecting for oil
In Monterey, San Benito, Santa cara,
San Mateo, Contra Costa an the San
Joaquin Valley counties, and more good
fields will undoubtedly be struck. The
Sunset oil field of Kern County has pro-
duced a little for years and in Moody,
Gulch, Santa Clara County few barrels
q day have been pumped for twenty years.
The Oil City region has been the scene
of former failures. About twelve. years
ago an English company spent 500 900 In
developing a worthless coal mine near
there, and Coalinga, near Alcalde. the
terminus of the branch railroad forty
miles west of Hanford, was the result. In
1893 the Puerte Oil Company of Los An
geles began operations on some oil ind1-
cations at what is now Oil City, ten
miles from Coalinga. They, spent about
$50 900 and quit. Others tried and quit. In
1896 c. A. Garfield and j. A. Chanslor,
who had had experience in the Los An
geles field, got financial backing and went
to work with faith and derricks on the
abandoned ground. They struck a quite
remarkable flow of oil last year and have
been shipping over thousand barrels
day for some time. Garfield q Chans-
field and are the "oil kings" of the San
Joaquin Valley. Their brilliant success
naturally got an oil craze fairly gong
ever. Along the foothills of the eastern
slope of the coast range from Kern
County north there is a belt of oil indi-
cations and of favorable geological for
nation, and all along this region land
has been taken by oil operators by the
thousands of acres. 1t is an arid, desc.
late and unpopulated region, but little of
it has escaped.
In Fresno, Visalia, Selma Tulare. Bak-
erstield and other valley towns companies
have been formed right and left. 1t is
said that in twenty-five days this spring
forty-siX companies were Incorporated.
Some are legitimate and promising. 9th
ers are founded on any old patch of sage
brush, and find a lively field for stock
sales. 1t is likely that out of this craze
will come few good wells in other places
and a considerable development Of the oil
resources of the region. though most of
the stock buyers will get left.
There has been a good deal of boom
stuff written about Oil City. ]. H. Means
field deputy of the State Mining Bureau
has returned from a months study of
that region, and his account is a reliable
statement of the situation In an inter
view he said:
p 81 spent most of my time at Oil City,
which is the only producing district, and
l made brief visits south through Fresno
ana Kings Counties. There are quite
good many wells at Oil City, but some
are old and have never produced much
if any oil. Six or eight new wells have
been sunk wl,hin two years and they are
fine producers. AS near as | could learn
the present production is from 2500 to 5000
barrels day, but this could soon be
nearly doubled by sinking old wells deep
er and working producers to their full
capacity. Several are down nearly to
the oil sand l suppose the market limits
the production yet. Five or six drilling
rigs are running and others are being
prepared. About twelve wells could be
now made productive. The largest is
down about 1400 feet and flows about 400
barrels a daV