The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-07-18
OIL FLOWS LIKE WATER
Nj. VI. BRIGHT TALKS or THE TEXAS
OIL FIELD As 1T rs.
Wells VIII Produce 100000 Barrels q
Day-Poor Land Owners Made
Suddenly wealthy.

NJ. NJ Bright, from the bonanza oil coun-
try around Beaumont. Tex. registered at
the Denison House last evening and will be
i'm the city the rest Of the week. He repre-
sents the German-American oil Company.
and is making trip through the South and
Middle West selling stock in his company
and the oil produced by his company's
wells. He is especially making an effort
TO induce large factories TO adopt oil as
the fuel under their boilers and to make
contracts with his company.
THE companies thas own the wells in the
oil country of Texas" said Mr.. Bright last
night, ARE now trying To find market
for the oil. There are thousands and thou
sands of barrels OF IL stored in tanks. and
more tanks are being built fast pos
sible. Besides many of the wells have been
capped awaiting the time when the oil
can be sent TO market. A pipe line has
been built from the Beaumont field eight
cen miles 10 the coast. Fortunately. there
is a deep-water harbor on the coast at
that point and tank boats can be loaded
there Oil is now being shipped 10 New
York and TO Europe. but not in large guam
titles. for the buyers must be satisfied
takes some time to make the tests.
The Texas oil stands low among the
highly infiammable oils, and for this reason
II can be used for fuel just Is il comes
out OF the ground; it requires no refining.
The Southern Pacific and the Santa Fe
railroads have come to the conclusion that
there Is enough oil in Texas 10 warrant
their making their locomotives oil-burning
instead of coal-burning. This opens up a
vast market for Texas oil. The railroads
will build tanks along their lines. loco
motive will use three barrels OF oil 10
every ton OF coal
VASTNESS OF TEXAS FIELD.
tine wells that now exist in the Texas
oil field will produce 100000 barrels of oil
day. That is more than is produced In
all the other oil fields put together. The
world has never before seen anything like
the oil wells of Texas. The Haywood Com
pany has an eight-inch well that runs
$1,000 barrels OF oil day Mnen ~ IL open,
When that we'll was sunk the OIL shot up
into the air more than 2l2 feet IN SOLID
column eight inches In diameter. IL was a
great sight when II first spouted. Inc OH
was caught by the wind when IL reached
It's height and came back TO the eartn In
spray. 80, ,.,. ,.,,.n v..
the first on the ground, now has eight
wells that run 5000 barrels a day each.
The value OF the oil IS. rouehiy' 90 30 cents
day Some of these wells are capped. and,
as | said before. the market for the oil.
Is just opening. so the owners OF the Weiis
are not getting their money out or their
you must remember that 81 was only
last January that the bonanza was dis
| covered North OF Beaumont Is lake
called Sour lake. Gas dubbed up through
| the water and. taking this as a sign,
several persons sunk wells there. geol-
ogist named Lucas decided TO prospect
south Of Beaumont where there wsre
and when oil showed up he leased the
ground He then made proposition 10
Gnney ana Ssixy' NO sTo on biS leases o and
! give him a tenth interest In the product
| This they did.
PEOPLE SEEMED MAD.
my company has wells at Corsicana.
about four hundred miles from the Beau
mont field. rhe Corscana oil country has
been worked for years. When / got word
that a well that flowed 10000 barrels a
day had been sunk at Beaumont. j took
a train for that place Immediately. i ex-
| pectcd 10 see a hve-hundred-ba WELL
and that would have been a phenomenon,
| for the average flow OF well Is ten barrels
day. When 1 saw the Lucas well throw
| ing up a monster column OF oil / esti-
mated that Il was giving out more like
| fifty thousand barrels than i've hundred.
/ opened an office and began 10 lease
We'll. within twenty-four hours people
began to pour into Beaumont In flood
! The town had about ll,Vo0 people, ana WITH
| in three days there were twenty thousand
| strangers there. Every body seemed mad.
] saw men running through the streets
] with wads OF money 80 large that they
| had TO hold them in both hands begging
! land owners 10 lease ar sell TO them.
Around the Guffey Galley held the value
! 81 land went up from $3.50 an acre 10 $500 OK
an acre. That country Is not a great
! cattle raising tract and most OF the land
had been poverty stricken became rich IN
day. ! know one man that had ten
| acre field some distance from Beaumont.
He is an invalid. and was railt Dad agent
| at a way station He barely made liv-
| ing. He sold his field for $4,000.
1T Is no wonder that spectators were
willing to pay any price for land. for one OF
/ the Texas gushers Is worth million doll
lars. prospecuvey. The well driving con-
tractors also lave been made rich. AS soon
oil began 10 pour out OF the ground they
advanced their rates until they had them
up 10 81 foot for boring. The demand
! for machinery was far greater than the
4 tiers OF the situation Wages FOR working
/ men and for carpenters 10 build tanks also
/ have gone up. The people OF Beaumont
built sheds and put mp tents End charged
81 a night for space enough 10 sleep on.
STANDARD" CUTS no FIGURE
There are many reports about the stand
ard OH Company's part in the dealings at
Beaumont. l do not believe the Standard
has much n any hold there Conditions
there differ vastly from conditions IN other
/ oil fields OF the country The Standard
controls the rehneries OF the country. but
/ this gives IL no advantage al Beaumont.
/ because the Texas oil does not need 20 he
/ refined. The Standard has been able &C
/ control other oil fields because ~ has con-
/ trolled railroads when II has wished The
/ owners OF the Texas wells 40 not need rail-
| roads 20 carry their product. because OF
/ the pipeline 20 the coast. There Is no dan
| ger OF the Standard company getting its
/ clutch on the tank ships. because thess
/ ships can be built when they are needed.
| and. besides tank ships from foreign coun-
| tries can be loaded there. The STANDARD
| oil Company will cut no figure at Beau
/ mont unless II can buy up all the wells. and
that would be big job. even for thu
/ STANDARD oil Company.
| Millions OF acres OF Texas lard have
/ been leased by oil proSpectors. Wherever
there Is an indication OF oil there Is a rush
for the land. not only near Beaumont but
all over the state. There are thousand