The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1901-08-15
Special Correspondence

e I- west. northwest, north, north
als' nd east, demonstrating that the
tt.l oT pool, did not extend in those
dye r.un>, and in the territory to the
gould lone remained the hope that the
tstl would be still further enlarged by
the pening of future wells in that di-
trr.tn vt that time it had thus been
shNl that If the territory to the south
proved to be as dry as the territory on
lie oilier three sides of the $50 acre
aar tI3e field would be a mere pool of
limited area, and yet, despite the fact
thar lou0, 900 barrels of oil had already
mean raken from the $50 acre tract, the
Haywood No. 3, the thirteenth we'll
drilled seemed to be as great a gusher,
5eH-d 10 be capable of producing as
u4-i III as the first gusher, the Lucas
~ H. which conservative men say was
good t0r $4,000 barrels of crude petro-
iegw per day when it was first struck
Pools ordinarily open up for business
in Il sensational way by producing vast
quantities of oil at the start and then
ape Wy dwindle to insignifcance. They
e. Hr like the rocket and come down
lii- The rockets stick. Yet here is APP
prntly pool of a very few acres
whose 10 curbed volcanoes of oil have
already produced 600, 900 barrels, and
.-e asst we'll comes in as strong as the
1fsT cd oil men cannot understand
L-.s aud there are many other things
about the Beaumont field that puzzle
.el There seems to be practically
no Es worth mentioning, and yet the
wells all flow with wonderful strength
am lr not need the usual jolt given by
tbs eAIIosion of several hundred quarts
f H.tr0glycerin in the oil bearing sand
Or rock When the stream of oil in the
Haywood No. broke loose, it shot up
Of oil that was very beautiful but eX-
pensVe luxury, and yet when this well
was slut off it only had a pressure of
Sd pounds to the square inch at the
casing head. The oil is unlike any 9th
er ever discovered in this country; the
wells are drilled in new way because
QuickSands prevent the use Of the Old
apparatus. The new method mixes up
Tie rock and sand SO that no one can
tel e&actly how and when and where
lferent formations are encountered.
AID the conditions and indications are
so dfiprtnt that the veterans are all
unable to tell what the outcome will be.
The consequence is that no one knows
anything rs yet concerning the true cal
Der Of beaumont. There has been q
great deal written in the newspapers
aoout gnshers that produce 10000 or
$4,000 or even 100000 barrels of oil per
nay though $4,000 is said to be the true
aglrc for the Lucas well. but no man
Sl tell Low long the gushers will gash
whether they will continue to pour
foI'h seas of oil week after week and
lol h after month or practically run
Try in Il few days or a fortnight. II
mast be borne in mind that owing to
Tie lack Of tankage not one Of these -
Producing wells has yet been unbridled
sud permitted to show what it can do
is one thing to have $4,000 barrel
well in good working order and another
care for such an enormous produc-
ton
Ile oil must be stored somewhere.
aud the favorite receptacles for this
p1lpose-huge iron tanks. each with a
capacity Of $4,000 barrels-are very
expensive structures and cannot be
quilt in week or a month in a new
Oil country. Some Of the tanks even
lold $4,000 barrels. and supposing that
uuney q Galley. the owners Of the Lu-
eas we'll, were able to perform the i'm
possible and create q new tank each
Jay this vast, constantly growing
@hkage scheme would only be capable
VI caring for one well. provided 1t
Continued to produce $4,000 barrels per
Jay for number Of days or weeks
When the fact is kept in flew that
.lere are 10 wells to be supplied with
"hkage, not one, and that there waA
not single tank erected when the Lu.
vas gusher began operations, the read.
er Is readily able to understand what a
vast problem the storage problem III
ahd why Beaumont's Is gushers have
oeen tightly muzzled most of the time
Since they were struck. They have not
neen permitted to flow steadily, after
@e manner Of most oil wells, thus Civ.
'us experts some idea Of their staying
Qualities, but have only been unleashed
LOT an hour or two at q time as fast as
mew tanks could be built or new pipe