Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-06-14
3 LOOKER-ON In IOWA.
5 Observation-Disclosures,
Tor the Times Republican.

For the Times Republican.
Chaplin, June 13.-Some of us travel
ing these days are having considerable
experience just now with wind and
flood. The other night several passen-
gers got on a freight train bound tor
Hampton. AT Brstow thunder
shower came on. All Dumont the bot
tom dropped OUT and Il mile west of
town the engineer stopped the train
and thought best to back up to Duluont
and wait for daylight, as running wa
ter covered the tracks and was over
the numerous bridges between Dumont
and Hansell. Finally the conductor
walked into the water knee deep and
found by feeling with his feet that the
bridges and iron rails were in their
place, so the train crawled out in the
darkness and into the water, giving the
passengers and crew few moments of
earnest thought. Then it was so in
teresting for some of the crowd, after
riding over in the bus at Hampton, to
find all of the beds taken at the hotel
If there is one thing a travelling man
thoroughly enjoys it is to arrive in a
town at / d. M and to have to hunt
bed during a big thunder storm.
The following is vouched for by
truthful travelling man: Recently while
the floods We're at their height, in broad
daylight, Il freight train on the Y. Y. u.
railroad arrived at u place where the
bridge looked unsafe. The engineer
refused to cross it. Back went the con-
ductor to the station, got dispatch
that the civil engineer Of the road had
examined the bridge; that it was safe,
and to go ahead" And this is the way
he went ahead: The fireman was sent
across the bridge on foot ito catch
her" the engine was uncoupled, started
reached the engineer jumped off. And
when the fireman Caught her" she was
in the ditch, in the place where was the
bridge the civil engineer had declared
safe. All of which goes to prove that Il
locomotive engineer will not always
take the word of another engineer, no
matter how civil" he Is.
So many men in Iowa have invested
in Beaumont oil stock that the follow
ing from an interview with a gentle
man who left Beaumont five weeks ago
will be of interest. In the first place it
should be stated that this gentleman is
rice grower and not interested any
way, shape or fashion in oil wells, oil
stocks, or booming either. He states
positively that the report sent out over
the country some weeks ago that the
earthquake shock had rendered all of
the "gushers" in Beaumont silent, i. e.,
had made it necessary to put in pumps
to get out the oil, was a lie made ont of
whole cloth. He says every well is
bottled up as soon as it spouts. This
for fire protection, as well as economy.
Thta every little while these wells are
opened and allowed to "gush.'' just to
flush the pipes. There is now in Beau
mont and vicinity over 230 of these
bottled up oil wells, ready to flow
whenever there is market for the
stuff. This nameless gentleman freely
admits that there is a great big huge
swindle connected with some of the oil
stock selling. 1t only costs $4,000 to
put down a well. and contracts are
made with the well driller mo gush, no
pay" AT present three pipe lines to
the coast are in operation, and these
pipe lines cost money But even now
of barrels are slowed In big
tanks, right at the very place where it
is supposed to find market, but the
supply exceeds the demand, say in "a
ito of 100000 to one. He uses in his
business the oil as fuel. for a 20 horse
power engine, and gets the oil delv-
cred eighteen miles from Beaumont 1t
55 cents barrel. Now this Iowa man
is in the rice growing business and,
altho a "gusher' has been struck four
miles from his plantation, and while he
is positive there's oil under his soil.
he's going to stick to rice and let 9TH
ers get rich on oil. All of which is sug-
gestive.
The writer also got from this gentle
man some new Ito him) ideas of rice |
culture, which may be interesting. 1t
seems he plows and prepares his |
ground for rice as an Iowa farmer does
Cor oats. Then when the growing crop |
IS. say four inches high, by a steam
pump arrangement he overflows the
ground with water. And from that time
ill the crop is almost ripe the water
runs over the ground. Then the water
s drained off, and the crop harvested
md threshed exactly like our small
grain crops in Iowa. Individually, the
climate does not agree with him. He
comes back to Iowa twice a year to re-
rain thirtv-seven pounds of lost flesh
n six months.
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