The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1901-02-26
new TEXAN 0ILFIELDS.
Bright Future Dawns For the
Lone Star State.
GREATEST FIELD YET OPENED.

GREATEST FIELD YET OPENED.
Thousands of Mem and Millions of
Capital VIII he Emp1oyed-HOw Oil
Discovery Saved Hon. Roger O.
Mills From Poverty-May Be a Subj
terranean Lake.
AS result Of the discovery Of the
marvellous gushing oil well at Beau
mont, Tex, the Lone Star State Is at
tracing worldwide attention as pro-
Queer of lubricating and illuminating
oil and natural gas.
Men who are familiar with the oil
business and who know the situation
in Texas assert that it is greater
field for these operations than Penn
sylvania, Indiana, West Virginia or
Ohio, says a writer in the st. Louis
Post-Dispatch. They say that the sur
face of the oil and gas resources of the
state has hardly been scratched by the
operations during the three years since
the first discovery Of oil at Corsicana
and that when the field Is fully work
ed the industry will be one employing
millions of capital, thousands of men
and producing tens Of millions of reve-
nue. to investors.
These experts point to the fact that
oil has been discovered In three widely
separated sections of the state, at Cor
sicana. In central Texas; at San An
tonic. In southwest Texas, and at Beau
mont, In southeast Texas, and that in
disputable evidences of the presence OF
oil have been discovered In north and
northwest Texas, In what Is known as
the Panhandle. These facts and the
additional fact that oil floats on the
gulf of Mexico In vast bodies along
the southeast coast lead experts to
hazard the opinion that Texas is over
a vast subterranean lake of oil. which
may be tapped in almost any section
Of the state.
The discovery of oil at Corsicana in
1897 has an element of romance in 1t
because it saved from poverty and a
hard struggle during his declining
years a distinguished Texan, Hon.
Roger @. Mills, then retiring as United
States senator. Mills had spent the
! best years of his life In the public serv-
| ice and as a tariff reformer had become
a world character.
Like many public servants of the old
school, he had made no money, and when
the time came for him to retire he saw
| staring him In the face the necessity
! for struggling for a livelihood. He had
managed to save his homestead at Cor
sicana, although his means would not
permit him to keep it in repair and II
was in dilapidated condition. This
was the gloomy prospect that Senator
Mills contemplated as his lot when he
retired from the senate.
One day oil was discovered at Corsi.
cana, and within a few weeks wells
were being sunk on the Mills home
stead. Oil was found in large quaint
ties, and within few months the sena,
tor was transported from poverty to af-
fiuence. Since then his income from
oil has averaged $1,000,000 or more
year, and he will be many times mil.
lionaire before he dies. Others have
made fortunes as great from the same
source, but this instance is the most
noteworthy.
The discovery of oil was made quite
by accident.
n. G.. Johnson, a contractor, was
sinking artesian wells to increase the
public water supply. When his drill
had reached a depth of 1,040 feet, oil
began to flow from the well. Imme
diately other wells were sunk, with 8
like result. and the town of Corsicans
experienced boom the like of which Il
or any other Texas town had never
known. Real estate was held at fabu
lous prices, and leases were given fol
fortunes.
Oil had been discovered, but the peo
pie did not know what to do with it
There was no refinery, and the owners
of wells didn't know how to market
their product. Neither did they know
that a well could be plugged and it:
flow stopped to prevent waste. So they
allowed the oil to flow and saved it the
best way they could in barrels ant
tanks. They had a fortune, but didn'1
know how to realize on it.
At this juncture j. s. Cullinan ap
peared on the scene. He was godsend
to Corsicana He had worked the oil
fields of the north and saw the posi-
bilities of the situation at Corsicana al
glance. He called the owners OF
wells together and spoke to them thus
Gentlemen. you have got bonanza
here, but you don't seem to know how
to realize on it. l will buy 10000
barrels of your oil at so cents barrel
The proposition was accepted al
once, and Cullinan lost no time in eign
ing contracts with the producers. The
latter figured that they could realize
from $40 to SIS day without turning
hand, and they were content
The price of crude oil then was ST. Il
a barrel, so Cullinan made Go cents OF
every barrel he purchased in its crude
FORM He lost no time in erecting ano
equipping a refinery. The well owners
even when they learned the price OF
oil, were content to let Cullinan's con
tracts stand, and he took the 100000
barrels at first engaged and as much
more at the same price before the ar
tangement broke up. He made for
funp