The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-05-25
FUEL OIL IN TEXAS.
DR.. Forward Thinks 1t VIII Eventu-
ally DispIace Coal.

NEW YORK, May 25.-Dr- c. 3. For
ward, :. prominent oil refiner of CIeve-
land. predicts that Texas oil will, on ac-
count Of its cheap ness and superiority.
within five years dispIace coal as a fuel
in all the Atlantic seaboard cities. DR..
Forward has just returned from an ex-
tended investigation of the oil fields in
Texas.
1T is merely a matter of time needed
for a demonstration that the supply Of
fuel oil in Texas is inexhaustibIe," said
Dr. Forward and then fuel users from
the Gulf to Labrador viii begin to reCOg-
nize its utility. 1t can be sold as cheaply
as the producers care to make the price
1t will be delivered in New York at a
small first cost. By January 1 there viii
be millions OF barrels of oil ready for
shipment The two gushing wells there
have been closed until tankage accommo-
datiops can be built The quantity of oil
available can better be understood, per-
haps, when it is stated that the two wells
already running oil have flow equal to
the entire oil production of Pennsylvania,
Ohio, and Indiana combined.
This petroleum is a heavy fuel OIL and
the ordinary processes of refining it have
not been successful II remains 10 be
seen whether the ingenuity of our oil ex-
perts VIII meet the exigency and turn this
new production to more valuable uses
than for mere fuel. For fuel alone it is
sure to be an important factor in the
commercial and domestic life of our At
lantic seaboard cities and towns. The sur
face evidences of oil-bearing ground in
dicate that almost unlimited supplies Of
this oil wi be found close to tidewater
The 81, IIative fever Is even more
deserted, I personally visited spots
where land which six months ago sold at
from ?, to so an acre for rice growing
sold this winter and spring at from 800
to SI25, so an acre Twenty-Five dollars an
acre was a good price for some of these
rice marshes Now, land so much under
water that a four-footed beast could not
be driven within three miles of it is sold
at high prices. It is like every new thing
A lot Of wildcat spectators have rushed
in and are booming things. Gradually
these fellows viii be wiped out by the
operation of the law governing the sur
viVaI of the flttest and then more con-
servative men viii go in and build up
legitimate enterprises
In southwestern Louisiana, at village
caIIel. Sulphur land which went begging
a few days ago at SIS an acre is now sell
ing at $500 an acre 1t IS a common slght
all through the promising oil district TO
see a man with map in one hand and a
contract in the other offering for sale land
somewhere out in the woods or on the
prairie miles distant. 4 purchaser with
ready money comes along and buys the
land without visiting it-taking 1t almost
absolutely on faith
Drilling is going on ali over southeas-
tern Texas. Where oil is struck the pros
pectors conceal the extent of their good
fortune. in the hope, no doubt, of secur-
ing adjoining land at the minimum OF
/ cost. The wells IN Texas are the largest
ones ever opened up in this country Rus
STA has the nearest approach to them
( Everyone is interested IN what the Sta no
[ ard on Company viii do in Texas. Their
representatives were early on the ground.
/ The extent Of the strike nonDlussed the
/ Standard people, as il did everyone else;
( No one seems TO know what the Standard
/ VIII do. but of course everyone knows il
VIII show its hand at the necessary time