The times., 1901-05-18
THE OIL BOOM IN TEXAS.
Eleven Wells which Furnish q
Third of the American Product.
(From the New York Times. J


Beaumont, Tex, May 10-There are
now eleven wells spouting oil in the Beau
mont district, and their daily production
is nearly one-half as much as the aggre-
gate production of all the other wells in
the United States, of which there are
about 10000
The California and Texas railroads and
the large industrial works throughout
necessary equipment can be made. a call
from California has come for million
barrels of Beaumont oil, and the Santa
Fe and Southern Pacific railroads are
making contracts for a term of five years
for the delivery of fuel oil at the wells
for from 90 cents to 81 a barrel. a Cali
fornia well company offered the Santa Fe
Road $4,000 TO release ii from a two
years contract to furnish oil at 81 per
barrel. This road has contracted for 49,
600 barrels a year for five years, of Texas
oil, at the same price. There are now
forty-one chartered oil companies in Tex
as, aggregating not less than 500, ,O00, 900
capitalization There are, besides, several
pipe line companies, barge tank concern
TO operate or the Neches River and a
large oil refining mandatory. where
Illuminating, lubricating oil and asphalt
tum will be made. These companies are
capitalized at from 81 ,0000 900 to s., coo. 900
each The Standard Oil Company is in
control of the Corsicana field and has five
wells running at Sulphur, La, where it
owns or leases twelve square miles OF
property forty-three miles east of Beau
tons a day of sulphur at $3S a ton. Three
large oil companies are at work upon
other properties in this field In fact,
every parish in southern and southwest
ern Louisiana has its oil companies drill
ing holes. In most of the counties OF
Texas drilling is actively going on and
the State Is kept in condition of wild
excitement over reports of strikes in
places hundreds of miles apart. A $4,000
600 TRANSFORMATION company has been
formed. with the plan OF having pipes
conduct oil from Beaumont to tankships
and barges bound for every part or the
world The company fs also arranging
for railroad tank cars TO be operated over
all the railroads.
Men who paid 500 and upward Tor
places on the streets where they could
set up a desk now have little stalls, about
four feet square on hotel porches, under
sheds and hastily constructed shanties.
There business is conducted on greater
scale and with less noise than on the
curb although many real estate men still
drive their bargains on the paVements.
Nearly all men wear badges in their
hatS-ther business stgns-and large but
tons advertising their property.
The OIL Exchange is run more smoothly
than il was IA week ago when an 1rate
capitalist threatened to organize another
exchange, because this one did not know
how to conduct business; nevertheless,
many owners of wells are unable to be
on hand when stocks are called, and con
fusion is the result.
Hotels. streets, and the postOfice are
still congested with excited crowds, ana
men pay as high as 81 for better posi-
tion in the standing line before the post
oiIice and wait two hours in a restaurant
for a place al a table. Architects and
builders are working like beavers putting
up hundreds of residences and dozens of
Office buildings. shops, and hotels Beau
mont is on a big boom, and all values are
greatly inflated. Special trains are run
to adjacent cities and towns, where men
may obtain sleeping accommodations.
The choking, binding dust has subsidized
sinnD tho ST roots Mere Snrinkled with oil