The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1901-05-11
DENEvOLENT ASSOCIATIONS.

|
UNITED CONFEDERATE VETERANS
,eets lst Saturday of each month, at court
oase. 10 .. m. I
CAPT. LUCAS DISCLAIMER.
The Gazette has received the fol- f
owing letter from Capt. A. F.
Lucas:
I. NJ. GuFFEY COMPANY, j
FUEL OIL. 7 |
BEAUMONT, TEX, May 6, 1901. }
Editor Of The Gss<ss<, Lafayette, La.
MY DEAR SIR notice that you have re-
produced an article. purPorting to be from
the New Orleans Picayune, in which you
cuote an interview / had with it's reporter,
stating that said there was nothing IN II AT
Arse I a Butte. and that 1 stated that we
have no disposition to START operations there.
and that we only-wanted to get control and
that oil would hold where it is, as we had
plenty of it. Also the drastic remarks IN
regard to the Guffey and Galley Company
and the disposition of the people who are
tied up with our leases. Allow me to reply !
to that, that the statement made by the
Picayune, if it was such a statement, was an
absolute falsehood, and only made to garbie
the condition of things and irritate the
owners of those properties. We think also
thar vour drastic remarks were uncalled for,
and in explanation to the foregoing would
say that we propose to bore and operate al
Anse La Butte az soon as possible, and only
the difficulty in obtaining of machinery and
men capable Of doing the right kind OF
work has delayed our operations. we nave
the interests of the people associated win
us in lease-holds at heart, as we'll rs our
selves In fact, their interests are identical
with ours. 1 will thank you, as will Our
Company thank you to kindly correct the
disparaeiue remark that I personally have
never made, and oblige.
Yours respectfully,
A. F. LUCAS.
by G. c. S.
The interview which furnished
the basis of our editorial appeared
in the New Orleans Picayune OF
April ee. The words ascrlbed to
Capt. Lucas were printed between
quotation marks, and knowing the
Picayune to be reputable journal
and in the absence of any denial
from Capt. Lucas, we accepted the
interview as truthful and commented
upon the remarkable utterances
which it contained. We had nc
reason to question the authentIc't,
of the statement and under the CIR
cumstances our remarks were Jus'l
fable and not bit 100 ''drastlc.
If Capt. Lucas was incorrect!
reported, we regret that that we dl'
h.,
of our editorial, because we do no
wish to do any injustice to Capt
Lucas or anyone else. In order t
have prevented the Disseminate
of erroneous impressions concern
ing the Guffey Company the inco'
rect interview should have bee
rectified as soon as it was put
ished. We gladly give space
the foregoing letter particularly D.
cause Capt. Lucas couples his d.
claimer with a promise Ito Dol
and operate at Anse Labutte
soon as possible" This Will
good news to the people. Aithous
several companies have been tak't
up leases throughout this sectle
and thousands of acres are co
trolled by them, not an inch OF a
tual boring has yet been done al
it is not surprising if the report
interview of Capt. Lucas n
caused unfavorable comment. T
farmers who signed the leases act
in good faith. They readily {
fered their lands and were pleas
to accept reasonable compen:
ton in the event of the discove
of oil, but it IS safe to say that +
single lease would have been
cured if any doubt existed as to
sincerity of the lessees.
Capt. Lucas directed the first
vestieations at 'Anse Labutte and
stated through the columns OF
Times Democrat that his. W
there was a success and that it
discontinued on account of
of financial support. The Gu
Company, with which he is c
nec,ed, has some of the most de
able lands in that section, and
to be hoped that he will soon b