Omaha daily bee., 1902-03-24
ALL WELLS DON'T END WELL
Some spOuting Wealth, Others Swallow 1t
at Beaumont,
INCIDENTS OF THE CRAZE FOR GUSHtRS
what the Texas OH Field Has Pro-
duced in Ten MOnths-The
Fluid Generally Used
as Fuel.


as Fuel.
OF all the wonderful stories that have
come out OF the Beaumont CTexas) oil
region. relates the New York Herald, none
can compare with the bald facts In the case
Of d. r. Beatty. He leased a patch Of land
for $40. 1t sold within a few weeks for
81, 900, 900. Somehow the public has come to
believe there is more froth than substance
lnjthe talk OF oil and that about a bubble a
mighty turmoil has been raised. There was
froth and there is substance. The volume
Of froth can be measured only by the dura-
ton Of the craze that makes Beaumont the
Mecca of tens OF thousands Of fortune
hunters.
The substance is measured by hundreds OF
thousands of barrels Of oil that are shipped
each month, by the multitude Of manufac-
turing establishments which depend upon
Beaumont oil for their fuel, by the hun
dreds Of locomotives that use oil instead Of
coal and by the seemingly ceaseless flow Of
wealth from the wells in the proven field.
1t is less than a year since the first car
OF oil was sent from the Beaumont station;
II Is little more than a year since the frst
gusher came in" From March 8. 1901,
II uhNt VI II lhtAAdA HhAHAhNhNf W Jahaa
10, 1902, the railroad statistics show, 1O,301
cars, containing 1853, POP barrels Of oil,
we're shipped. And, in addition, II is esti-
mated 100, 900 barrels we're used in Beau
mont and its vicinity, that there were $780,
600 barrels IN the storage tanks on January
10 last and that 1.O00, 900 barrels were
wasted before the various gushers could be
capped or controlled.
II is contended by many Of the Beau
mont men that the scepticism about the
new oil field is due to old established oil
\ concerns, who see in the Texas gushers
rivalry that threatens their supremacy.
More baneful, however, have been the dog
ems Of swindles launched by INSCRIPTIONS
men, who saw in the excitement In the
Beaumont region an opportunity to sell
shares in companies that never owned an
acre Of land and never will produce a gallon
OF oil.
Beaumont I'm the "Boom."
Beaumont is still an overcrowded, bolster
Gus town, with more raucous-voiced en-
thusisasts to the square inch perhaps than
any other place on earth. Every train
brings a lot OF newcomers, but the mad
scenes of last March, April and May, when
all the passenger trains were run in three
four or Ave sections. and every man,
woman and child was inoculated with q
Mulberry Sellers virus, are no longer Il
be witnessed.
Order, system and business regularity
have taken the place Of a wild effort &c
grab anything in sight and trust to luck
as to the outcome. The proved district
the land out Of which the oil gushes-iI
less than 400 acres. There are many
problems for the Beaumont oil men tC
| - - AAz-- --.. ---N
for them to do before they can market al
the oil they bring forth.
There is much of romance and not 9
little Of tragedy ip the tale OF Beaumont
II all the remarkable Incidents were to b,
narrated many volumes would have to b.
written. Veteran oil men say the excite,
ment in the Pennsylvania field years agt
was mild by comparison.
Men who went to Beaumont simply u
see what was going on and to verify tn,
reports that they had heard OF the excite
ment there-men who went as they woult
go to a theater or q bull fight or q will
west ~show-were caught In the whirl an
acted like the others. They bought any
thing they could get with the money the.
possessed and were ready to sell or mort
gage everything they had in the world Il
order to get more oil.
In the trains that left Beaumont mos
OF the men complained of headache and Of
nervousness similar to that which follow
intoxication. This was but the reaction
from the Overworking Of the nervous sys
tenn.
Extravagant prices were paid for every
thing. Two negroes who lived in tumble
down cabins and who worked for $3.50 a da
got $1o.0 900 cash for their homes. One ma
- 80 IL - - IL
his overcoat returned only to discover tina
q thief had stolen it. In one of the pocket
Of the overcoat he had left 1000. HI
friends urged him to inform the police. H
replied that the coat and the thousand dol
lars could go to thunder. If he went both
ering about It he probably would lose $1,000
on one Of his oil deals in the meantime.
Some men who wanted to start a ban
paid $40, 900 for the privilege OF using a plea
! yune barber shop. A dry goods dealer
whose store was a very small affair, &c
SIC, 900 cash for giving UP his short leas'
Cash & Luckel paid $3.50 per month for tn
use Of an sx10 platform In front OF tn
! ramshackle Crosby house. Desk room o
. the platform brought $50 a month. Br
; that's in the town proper.
/ Land that could be bought a few year
I ago for 81 or SO an acre sold for 800, 900 a
acre.
Laughed at the "CFank."
II is to a man who was looked upon as
: crank" that the discovery of oil In tn
e Beaumont district Is due. His name
4 Higgins. He had for five or six years bee
= talking about the prospects Of striking o
at Spindle Top. People grew tired Of lister
ing to him. His talk was considered tn
vaporing of an overwrought mind Thu
there was oil in southeast Texas was cor
coded, for a refinery had been built at Sor
lake, in Hardin county, and traces OF o
had been discovered in many places. !
addition, stories had been told by s~eafarin
men of an oil pool in the gulf. about hftee
miles southwest Of Sabine Pass.
But the refinery at Sour Lake burned b