West Virginia daily oil review. [volume] (Sistersville, W. Va.) 1894-1902, 1902-02-13
stood II months without pumping,
which did not do II any good.

which did not do 1t any good.
Now came the Southern Oil COM
pany, composed principally OF the
Dukes, of Duke Center, Pa, G. II.
Dana, the torpedo man, and Geo.
r. Wright, who bought the Bob's
Bar well 100000 cash. Operators
and drillers from everywhere rushed
In after this transaction. There
was not standing room In the few
scattered huts to accommodate the
crowd, but the crowd stood on to
watch the result In another we'll
that Appleby & Duke drilled imme-
one mile southwest of Bob's
Bar. It was put down HOO feet
and was as dry as a bone. This
gave the waiting crowd chill and
checked operations, but 1t did not
stop them. DR.. Dana went up the
Ohio river three miles and drilled
another well and got a S barrel pro-
Queer. It Is producing yet. Wells
were drilled Tricky, some coming
In small and some doing nothing
for two or three years and still the
pipe line had not come. At this
junction the Southern OH company
sold out all the oil 1t had In Its
tanks, Its we'll and Its lease for $I2,.
900 cash to the Interstate Petro-
leum company, of Boston. This
was the best deal that the Inter.
state ever made In a long record of
investment and experimental work
In Kentucky and Tennessee oil
fields. When the tankage was
measured up the Interstate Petro-
leum company received credit for
1920 barrels of oil and 1t still had
Its Bob's Bar well, doing 22 barrels
day, and Its leases on territory
adjoining 1t. The Dukes and Ap-
pleby and Dana withdrew from the
field.
Miss Stone drilled two more
wells known as the Rock House
well and the Bowles we'll, between
the Bob's Bar and the Lacey, which
was the name that the first well she
drilled was known by, and each of
them showed a little oil. The
Rock House well was thought to
be S barrel producer and the
other was thought to have better
prospects lower down, with also a
fair showing above.
What Is known as the Abe Beat
ty we'll In Fentress county made a
record for itself which goes down
as a tradition to posterity. 1t was a
tremendous gasser at 700 feet. It
blew rock out of the hole as If 1t
had been shot by nitro-glycerine
and one of the rocks cut the knee
cap off one of the driller's legs; 1t
blew the string of tools, weighing
$500 pounds Though the top of the
derrick, and smashed the crown
pulley to pieces. When the acci-
dent occurred 1t was reported
throughout Tennessee that there
had been an earthquake In Fentress
The shock was great
enough to give that impression.
The blast of this we'll can be heard
for miles yet, and when lighted at
night 1t makes the river brilliant
for the raftsmen at work on their
floats and whenever there Is any
thing special doing during a rise
the well Is lighted up to oblige
them. The we'll was said to have
s, 900, 900 cubic feet only capacity.
It was sold TWO years ago for ST.
500, with leases and good will, to
the Tennessee Coal and Lumber
company, and that company has
now machinery and gas engines on
the way to Fentress county to drill
for oil.
After a while the Standard Oil
company commenced to start drill
ing on Its leaseholds. It operated
under the name of the Forest Oil
Its first location being
away down to the east, at Little
Crab postofce. It's first we'll was
2 400 feet deep. 1t found limestone
ali the way. It got little showing
at 700 feet and nothing more.
The Forest OH company drilled
three other wells on the Cumber-
land Plateau, east of Bob's Bar
about IS miles. All were dry.
The same company drilled another
dry well southwest of Bob's Bar and
still another dry one northeast of
Bob's Bar 81 miles. In the early
operations there was always q lean.
Ing towards the east. The compa-
MES figured that the eastern coun-
try lined up better with the north
ern production, and as to prove
the falibility of mans judgement,
operations eastward In all of the