The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-11-27
HAS PRESSURE
/. OF 200 POUNDS
That Is C. [. Davidson's ESti-
mate of Winfield Gas Well.
TEST HAS BEEN DELAYED
On Account of Inability to Get
Packing.
TEST HAS BEEN DELAYED

The committee Of the council. Mayor
Mclean. c. L. Davidson and J. Giles
smith. went to Winfield yesterday morn
ing and returned yesterday afternoon
OF the trip Mr.. Davidson said:
They undoubtedly have gas in that
well and there is a good, strong flow.
1 should thia1 possibly pressure of 200
pounds. There are 400 feet Of water in
the well
The strike was such a surprise that
they were not prepared for it. They had
pat down 200 feet OF casing and when
was discovered they sent 10 Chanute FOL
a gauge and casing so they could con
troll the flow There was no casing in
Chanute, so an order was telegraphed to
Pittsburg for the casing and this is now
on the road.
When the casing arrives it will be
known just now mucn this we'll can
produce in d day. There was small
cavern at the bottom Of the well and
this hinders the f1ow Of ags to some ex-
tent
The people and the driIler are very
sanguine about the well You see. the
drill had Just broken through the crust
anu into the gas-producing sandstone on
saturday The drill has penetrated but
two inches into that sandstone and here
is this big row of gas. As soon as
the casing and packing arrives it will
be put in and the water pumped out and
then the drill viii be put to work again.
-. Will penetrate almost the entire thick
ness Of gas sand. If mat sand is twenty
or thirty feet thick the wei will be a
good producer. The thicker the strata
che more gas viii be produced. OF course
there is no way TO ten just how thick
the strata is until the drill makes the
sounding. The expert handling the drill
knows his business and he can tell when
the drill is about through a certain
strata.
'Rsges & Co. have a splendid new drill
ing outfit 1t is up-to-date in every
way and they can drill fifty to 100 feet
per day. They are the people we want
10 make the contract with. They have
the best of machinery and know how to
do the work"
The committee was met at the train,"
said j. Giles Smith. and were taken TO
the well in a carriage. The worlmen
have crude arrangement for combining
the gas and they have a small pipe laid
to the engine and are making steam
with it. To one side there is another
pipe with .T shaped valve. The man
in charge opened the valve and lighted
it and then turned it vide open The
fire spread over the large engine room
and extended ten feet from either end OF
tn TT opening and to a height Of fifteen
feet
THE discovery of this well only
strengthens my belief that there is gas
close TO Wichita. Winfield has taken the
initiative and gone to work and you see
what they have found. Gas would be the
greatest blessing that ever struck Wich-
tia and the business men realize il, and
we are going after it. RACES & Co. gave
us TO understand that they were ready
10 move to Wichita at any time and
would DO so Immediately on the compile
ton of the contract with Winfield. which
will be III a few days. want the city
TO handle this thing. bat II the people
VIII not vote the bonds to pay for dig
gins the first well. then l viii assist in
organizing d company TO do the work
and We viii have to let them have the
benefit"
H. /. Resing, secretary of the CONNER
cial club. spent Tuesday IN Winfield.
He gave about the same opinion OF the
well as the councilmen. but said that the
Winfield people were afraid Of lease
sharks"
The business men had meeting on
Tuesday night, ne said to form some
plan by which the city and the citizerS
could be protected from these outside
parties 1 tried to get into the meeting
and told them that We would likely have
the Same experience here and I wanted
70 get some pointers on the game myself
They could not see il that way.
The wen is not worth much ar pres
cnt. except to show that there is eas
near Winfield. \ person can feel the gas
escaping # he leans over the well or
puts his hands over IL and ne can hear
the rumbling III the water below They
VIII go deeper and il the strata Of gas
sand IS thick enough the well viii be a
good producer. The gas thar is escap-
ing now smells like the odor from gas
cline can and it burns vita blue fame
and with a good pressure.