The Savannah morning news., 1901-07-18
A FORTUNE IN OIL
DIR. ST. j. ID. GRAHAM OF sAvAN-
NAH HAS STRUCK IT RICH.
He OWNS LANDS IN TEXAS.
HAS BEEN OFFERED s2s, 900 AN
ACRE FOR 200 ACRES.

siOns-IIc Has Half Interest in I6O
Acres and Is Sole Owner of 40
Acres, All Near Beaumont-Has Re-
fused ofers-Wants 100000 an
Acre-May Organize Company for
the Development of the Oil Indus
try on the Lands-HOw DIR. era
hams Good Luck Came 20 Him.
A big fortune awaits DR.. st. ]. B.
Graham of this city in Texas. He owns,
or is interested in, lands in the oil
district of that state that promise to
make him rich. This promise could be
fulfilled at once, If DR.. Graham cared
to sell at prices that have been offered
him for the lands, but he does not.
He sees more in it than has been Of
fered, and is holding off for larger
offer or to organize a company to OPP
crate oil wells.
Not rich in the ordinary sense of the
term, but as it is employed when one
speaks of millionaires, is DIR. Graham
to be upon the fruition of his hopes.
Millions would be his share if he should
close with offers that have been made.
AAC ioAOS OWLCu ny IL vi dlAhA anu
in which he is jointly interested with
another gentleman lie in Liberty and
Harden counties, Texas, a little way
north of Beaumont, a place made IA
nous by the great oil discoveries. The
lands are in three tracts, all of them
practically adjoining. One is 40 acres
in extent and is owned solely by Dr.
Graham. Each of the two other tracts
is 80 acres in extent, and DR.. Graham
has half interest in them. When seen
yesterday by a representative of the
Morning News about the report of the
offers that had been made him, DR..
Graham said:
Yes, 1 own forty acres individually,
and there are 100 acres more of the
by myself and a friend. My friend own
ed the 100 acres, which are in two
tracts of eighty acres each, but trans
ferred half interest to me not long
since for a consideration. Just what
1 paid him 1 do not care to say. 1
had befriended him, however, and he
said that he wanted to show his graf
itude and appreciation. He is now i'll
and is in Colorado for his health, but,
before his departure, he turned over
the management of the entire property
to me and told me to exercise my dis
erection as to what should be done with
it.
1.-THE lands are in Hardin and Liber-
ty counties and not far north of Beau
mont. There can be no question that
there are great oil veins beneath the
surface, for the lands are right in the
line of discoveries that have been made.
There is no reason why a gusher that
would yield 5000 barrels a day should
not be developed on the lands, and
that is the reason why I do not close
with an offer that has been made.
There might be any number of such
wells sunk, and where would be the
sense in selling out for what
was offered, $4,000 an
acre, when one such gusher,
yielding $4,000 barrels a day, would
mean a revenue of as many dollars a
day. Oil, at it's minimum price, is
worth 81 barrel, and it will run con-
siderably above that. 1 am not hasten
ing to accept an offer just because it
sounds large. There might be millions
more in it for company operating the
wells that will be sunk.
Before my friend, whose name l do
not care to mention, left for the West
he had been worried by many who
wanted the land His health was in
such a condition that he could not af-
ford to consider business. Soon after
he turned the matter over to me, which
was just a short while ago, i had tele-
phone conversation lasting orty-five
minutes with a multi-millionaire of st.
Paul. Mimi, who was in Montgomery,
Ala, and wanted to buy the lands at
$4,000 an acre. l declined the offer.
Since that time 1 have had two offers
of $25, 900. l am holding off for $50, coo
an acre. If l can't get it, / will prob
ably organize a stock company to sink
wells. The lands are the only ones in
that entire section that have not been
bought up by a syndicate. There can
be no question as to the great value
of the lands. Only a few weeks ago
an acre adjoining was sold for 100000
cash"
Dr. Graham said that he intends leav
ing Savannah tonight for Beau
mont. He will look over the situation
and, perhaps, dispose of all or a por-
ton of the property He expects to
be back in this city within a few days.
AS to his future movements, he was
not able to say just what he would do.
One often thinks about what he would
do If he should suddenly become mil
lionaire. and it probably would not
take many minutes for the average
mortal to decide. DIR. Graham says,
however, that he will make Savannah
his home. He did not say whether he
would continue or abandon the practice
of medicine
The deeds to the three tracts were
exhibited by DIR. Graham, but he would
not permit the use of the names they
showed. He would not talk about the
cost of the property either. The two
tracts of eighty acres each. ne said,
were bought by his friend in 1894. be-
fore the discovery OF oil in Texas. That
gentleman had been accustomed to
buy a bit Of property here and there
as he Travelled over the country, and
DIR. Graham hazarded a guess that
he owns lands in probably thirty states.
a small tract here and another there.
DIR. Graham bought his forty acres
some months ago, after the oil dis
coveries, from a Kentuckian.
A Great Cake walk Tonight.
Don't forget the cake walk at South