The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-10-25


| rocks and logs to the derrick. | didn't
| offer to help and he didn't invite me.
| The line was run down the reel through
I the pulley, the anchor fitted to the bot
| tom of the shell, the shell carefully low
cred into the hole and hung on the hook
at the end of the line. This hook is
made so that when the torpedo rests at
the bottom of the we'll it unhooks and
| the ball drops to one side.
Before leaving the drillers had poured
water into the hole, SO that it stood
about three hundred feet, the hold be-
ing Liza feet deep altogether On the
top of the shell, just under the ball. was
a round piece of iron with a quarter
inch rod on the lower end of this rod a
long cap, which rested on a small an
vii piece. The go-devil, when dropped,
should strike the plate and explode the
cap.
The shooter went out to the reel and
drew the shell up so that the top stood
about three feet above the floor, and
securely locked the reel. The cans
We're then uncorked, and l noticed that
there We're two corks to each can, the
holes being on opposite corners as they
contents We're poured into the shells
and l ooked much like fine, winter
strained lard OIL 1t was hard for me
to realize the energy stored up there
and that few drops We're enough to
tear me into shreds.
AS we walked back to the reel my
companion remarked that perhaps
had better withdraw to distance, as
the most dangerous time was at hand.
when | start letting off that brake,
If anything should stick and then
drop it might be interesting, and il
the reel does not work smooth and even
l cannot tell how things are going down
in the hole. Sometimes q shell sticks
and unhooks, and sometimes the ball
let's go. If your reel has hard spots
you never feel sure" As he spoke |
began to realize that few cents on the
price paid for getting things just right
did not count for anything in business
like that. In a few minutes the shell
was at the bottom and I was given
the privilege of dropping the goodwill,
We walked off about one hundred and
fifty feet and waited. I must have
been a hoodoo, as the shot failed to re-
ter Then o jack squib was made
This is simply a small tube with about
two or three ounces of nitro-glycerine
In the bottom, severaI feet of water
proof fuse, with a cap on the lower
end in the glycerine, coiled up, and
some sand packed in to make weight to
sink it through the fluid. The fuse is
lighted with the squib dropped into the
hole. This did the work. We could
feel a jar; then came a rush of air, then
sand and gravel, and with a great rush
and roar the water and dirt came forth,
going high over the top of the derrick.
In a gusher country this might be fol-
lowed by a flow Of oil amounting some
times to seven thousand barrels in
twenty-four hours, or by flow of gas,
with a pressure of hundreds of per
square inch and a roar that can be
heard for miles. All the fire under the
boiler and elsewhere around a well is
extinguished before shooting, as some
gas is always present, and many men
have been burned up by the gas igni-
ting. This we'll turned out to be a
small pumper. We left it to the drill
ers to finish; they had to clean out and
then the owner tubed it,
AS | drove back with the shooter it
seemed a long time since I had left the
shop, and [ did not think / would care
to exchange jobs with him if he did get
five dollars per shot for his work, and
it made me feel Gravity to think of a
man getting up in the night and taking
on such a load, as is often done Most
of the hauling of stock Is done at night.
as it is cooler, there are less teams on
the road and fewer people to kick about
hauling it through the towns.-Ameri-
can Machinist.