The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-05-09

Sleepy Town TO Thriving City.
Fortunes That Have Been
Made in the Petroleum Districts
SAN ANTONIO, Tex May Cotton
may still he king in Texas, but oil is the
heir apparent. All Texas. especially
eastern Texas. which is considerably Iarg-
er@than New England, is wild over oil
The fever is conta gious and is spreading
with wonderful rapfGity- Bankers. with
their wealth invested in railroad stocks
and bonds and mining interests, have
made haste to withdraw the same and put
it in oil. School children are saving their
pennies tc buy oil. and if there is any
person in this section Of the State who has
not from ] to I0,02) shares of oil stocks it
is because he or she cannot raise sufh-
cient money with which TO purchase one
During the past three or four months
more than S2,oa0,093 has gone out from
Fort Worth alone for investment in the
Beaumont oil wells, In fact. the drainage
upon the circulating medium of the city
has been so great that there is general
complaint on the part or the business men
Of the town. and local trade has been to a
considerable extent hampered. Houston,
Waco, Dallas, Austin, and other smaller
towns have had like experience While
CAA Atcso sum- cut q IDDl OF money mas
gone in for development purposes. with
the expectation on the part Of the pro
motors of reauzins millions in return
The present prospects are that they will
not be disappointed.
1t was the break Of day when the Pres
dents special train passed through the
heart of the newly discovered oil region.
IN the centre of which is the city OF Beau
mont Those who were awake at that
early hour could but feebly discern the
towering shafts Of the giant oil wells four
miles across the Texas plain When the
Presidents trip was being planned it was
thought at first that he would be able to
visit the oil region, but later. when the
itinerary was prepared. II was found that
the early hour at which he was compelled
to pass through Beaumont and the ne
cessity Of making other connections
would prevent him from witnessing the
wells in operation
Five months ago Beaumont was a
sleepy little Southern town with a pop
ulation Of twelve or fourteen thousand
people rather more backward and less
advanced than the average Texas town.
Now it is a city of 5000 or 30 600 per-
sons, and its only industry is oil. The
city Is flooded with SPECTATORS who have
rushed there from all parts of the coun-
try, thousands OF them from the North
/ Old men who have been oil prosDectors
/ since the boom days in oil City, Titus
vile, and that section of northwestern
Pennsylvania, declare that they have
never experienced anything like it. The
supply seems to be practically inexhausti-
/ bic. For years the seafarfng men have
noticed and remarked about the smooth.
glossy condition Of the water Of the gulf
along the coast about twenty miles away
/ and on Galveston Bay, and the evidence
I Of oil upon the waters No one dreamed
( however, that Texas was destined to be
/ the greatest oil producing State and that
/ the product was 50 accessible and near
/ 10 tide water
/ The discovery of oil at Beaumont is. due
/ TO a man known throughout the region
! as Cap Lucas For years he Insisted
/ that there was oil beneath the surface.
/ anu sought TO prove his statement FL
/ naliy, he succeeded some five or six. years
/ ago in organizing a company for the pur-
/ pose Of sinking a well. The machinery
/ broke after a superficial boring, the
! cOmpany's funds became exhausted. and
( the project was abandoned by all save
/ Cap Lucas All the time he talked moth
! ing but oil, and the skepticaI people Of
I Beaumont and vicinity regarded him as
/ q crank, and were inclined TO think that
| the subject haS almost turned his brain.
| Several months ago his company was
! reorgauized and again began boring.
| About 200 feet down the great tank was
/ struck It spouted forth the oil in such
| volume and with such velocity that ii
| was with difficulty that the well was cap
! ped and the flow regulated In fact so
much Of It escaped that II flooded a vast
] country and formed q lake of crude oil in
Eg@- --lr4-.
/ the exercise Of great precautiOu that a
/ dangerous cOnfiagTatiOn was prevented
For some weeks the Inhabitants Of the Vi
/ cI1lty lived IN fear OF the oil becoming
/ tons were enforced and no was permitted
/ to approach this lake of oil with any com
( bustibie substance. The news that Lucas
/ naQ at last struck OIL spread with great
I rapidity and hundreds Of spectators were
! followed by thousands Of others Land
I which had been offered for sale at So. so
/ and 80 an acre and found no purchasers
! at once took an enormous jump. and in
I many instances has sold for s. 90 an
acre. and the price WAS not considered
/ exOrbJant- An oil exchange was open
J ed. but before 1t could be put into opera
/ ton the spectators stood upon the street
corners on dry goods boxes and offered
their stocks and oil lands for sale. A
unique character among them has been
/ a young woman VINO went TO Beaumont
early, struck oil, and has already amassed
q fortune
{ many Sums s'iE t,5i't 'i wealth. speech
I " acquired, and mushroom fortunes. and
! those who profess to know declare that
Cripple Creek and Cape Nome in the hey
day Of their greatest bOOms never expert
! enced greater excitement than was wit
! messed in the oil fields Of Texas. An old
/ negro who was born q slave had by dint
OF great industry and a mule acquired
J = little farm Of thirty-hve acres. once
he was asked what he would sell i for
and TeDjied that he would take $50 an
I acre The prospective purchaser went a
( mile beyond and bought better land for
: SO an acre. Three months ago the negro