West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1903-10-08
IN THE OIL FIELDS.
A Prestonian Writes mp Some News.
Notes and Comments from the Marion
County Town with Two Names.
~ W. Va. Sept. a.. 1903.

the Argus and the folks at home, thought
l would pen you few lines. AsI was
coming in from Fairmont day before yes,er-
day Bro. Martin. the postmaster. handed
me as the song says, ga letter from home.
You'd be putting II mildly to say was glad
IL didn', take long to scan IL and IL made
me feel much better when saw they were
all enjoying life as big as house. The
writer of !, was Tom Kenney and he told
me they were having kind of reunion
| down on the farm lie and his family from
runnelton, Brose and his young wife from
Rosemoni, Vince Cooke and wife from
Housewife, and my son Mike from Weaver.
1, made Inc feel still more lonely that was
not there with my wife. lie said they were
all very lonely for me bu, could afford to be
lonely when they heard was having my
hearing restored. when the fact of the mat.
ter Is don, think they ever thought about
me for from the tone of the letter they had
| an eight gallon keg of beer aud were enioy-
ing health TO a finish. or course would
like to have been there but the Lord ruled
otherwise.
l am staying with my two sou in laws
Messrs. Cordray and Greaser. stay with
them week about and am living on The fat of
the land, beefsteak three times day, as the
politician would say when stumping for
Office about election time. This Is a pretty
town aud the fair sex are all bright, intelli-
gent and fine looking. The population is
about fifteen hundred. AS stood on the
bridge at midnight and took a birdseye view
OF the town, ] wondered If fellow often
struck Town of that size where you would
not see hi, of smoke curling up from some
house at least, but I, is all natural gas and
IL is nice and clean, no smoke or coal dust.
It's eleven miles To Faifmont and fair
| road. drive il every second day 10 be
operated upon for my hearing by a specialist.
He has gotten my hearing about restored.
l can hear the birds sing now and hear the
town clock strike when am in bed and
heard my first sermon Sunday In Fairmont
in year. II makes me feel like the small
boy when he gets his first pair of pants. This
doctor is our own jim Graham who used to
be in Kingwood. lie has big practice
and doctors for the ear, throat, nose and eye
and appears TO have great success. He says
he will have to hold me here two weeks vet
but don't mind that when can have my
hearing and health restored. would
undergo anything rather than suffer as dill.
take medicine four times day and stimu-
lating dose before the operation but II has TO
be pure. lie has TO taste il before he will
allow me TO take il aud of course you know
any druggis, is good judge. But struck
friend that has ten barrels of il in the
person Of Albert Shaw II is pure re
whiskey and is ten years old. Bert is we'll
fixed and has fine property on Locust avenue
and the corner of Fourth street. lie gave
$4,000 for ii last April year ago and now
he can get 81, 500 for il. not bad invest
ment
My son'in-law am staying with now Is a
driller and ! went out with him Monday
night to see them drilling | always thought
II was soft snap at five day but excuse
me. They earn every cent they get and il
they got their just dues they ought TO have.
ten day. They had the well down 1000
for tina, b., for some days but they had hold
OF IL that nigh, all right. They were trying
TO get il up aud II would do you good to see
those brawny fellows for they are all heavy
weights With muscles like prize fighter,
Their shirt fronts opened and their sleeves
rolled up, all three holding the temper screw
and telling by that what was going on 5000
feet in the bowels of the earth and waiting
for an opening to charge for that hi, that is
held by $500 p"unh sem and when the
time came they active as cats. read
and heard of hades beng terror but to
hear that engine surge aud almost tear from
her foundation aud the boiler about forty
feet away heated by natural gas with a roar
ing flame out both ends, you would think it
was surely close 10 the end of time and il
would make fellow think of all the bad
tricks he had ever done. Those three were
the two drilIers and contractor, Al Smith,
for he himself had been a driller when he
went into The oil business lie Is now one
OF the heaviest contractors in the oil fields
aud IS a jolly good fellow Another OF
"
zSoo feet but they got that out next morn
ing They are waiting on a wire cable. II
takes -four horses tn haul il so You can see /,
Is no small rope Mr.. IIievy has 20 teams
weighing from 80 to 80 hundred team
lie gets S. 90 day for each team.
II Is hne sight to see three Of those
teams hauling a boiler aud TO see them
go s,rsigh, upa hill. They load boiler
with two horses and do IL quickly.
There are about -four bar rooms and pool
aud billiard rooms here. have been here
two weeks and have not seen the least sign
OF jar or scrap. When some Of these
dfillers and lease men come in out OF the
country they get like the moon does after
the hrst quarter. Tom Neal Is General
Manager Of the whole Warrington oil field
ard IS as the Italians used to say of Zoe
Fcocy. he Is big boss" Mr.. McGary is
Superintendent here ~ this place. Tbie
oil varies from three quarters Of "a mile to
= mile and a quarter In width. When thct
get out beyond the oil streak ID Is eas an
the south side and salt water on the north
Ny other son -in.law Is field boss He has
TO see over a certain number Of wells and
see that his men keep them in order There
are two OF tie south Pen bosses here and
ono TOR the Fisher Oil Company. They get
about eighty dollars a month but they have
10 hustle for " when anything gets wrong
with an oil we'll. They have a pump station
that Is OF hydraulic pressure. They pump
10 out q the creek into this pump station
and then distribute II to the different
boilers NJ the we'll and some OF Ii tbev
drive out through a seven inch pipe as far
as even miles There was boiler blew
up the other morning I heard IA but
thought u was part Of The workings Of some
part but heard afterward that IL was n
boiler az one Of the wells Luckily u ala