The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-01-28
BIG RESERVOIR
OF GAS STRUCK
Mud and Sand Hurled Forty
Feet Into the Air.
BORING FOR OIL IS STOPPED
WATER IS GUSHING FROM THE
WELL NEAR HARRINGTON.

EkUD, water and sand shot forty feet
Iui in the air at the Gufey & Galley
oil wei two miles southwest of
Pennington at o'clock Tuesday after
noon A strong flow OF water was en-
countered at a depth of zoo feet. ard al
most Immediately afterH-a~5 a reservoir
Of gas was penetrated which burst out
with such force that it shot water ana
everything else in the way. except pipe
and tools. twO-thirds the way up the
seventy-foot derrick.
James Odell. one of the drillers, was
on a narrow platform q little over forty
feet from the ground. He was struck
with the flying mud. It looked for d
time as if the Outburst might become
serious and carry away tools and per-
haps derrick. The driiler FASTENED out
OF the way. The big drill was drawn
and the fires in the boiler We're allowed
10 so out until the gas could be got
under control.
Small Pocket OF Gas.
Apparently at first only small peck
ct of gas had been penetrated. The
pressure stopped for . time, but later
=
was another eruption. There is a steady
artesian flow of water which was gush-
ing forth rapidly yesterday afternoon
when the well was visited By d repre-
sentative of The Herald. The water
poured out from the pipes and guTgled
down a short decliVity, spreading out
in a shallow pool
superintendent Rumbaugh ordered all
work of sinking stopped. The huge drill
n IL.
slanting beams Of the derrick. and the
men devoted themselves to digging a
pit TO hold a supply Of water Ever
since the drilling started water has been
hauled from the edge Of Pennington, q
distance Of nearly Two miles. Before
shutting off this flow by sending down
the casing farther. AR Rumbaugh
wanted TO lay in a supply Of water OF
the ground. He expects to resume
drilling today.
Making Good Roadway.
1--WE have been making about twenty
feet a day SAID Mr. Rumbaugh. our
progress has been slower than we would
like il TO be on account OF the colo
weather 1t has been taking us until
nearly 10 o'clock in the morning TO get
things thawed out so we can start drlli-
ing. We quit at > . clock, 50 you see we
are not drilling so very long As soon as
the weather moderates we viii make
much faster time If we have the same
formation
SO far we have been going through
sand such as you see on the surface.
They say there is 500 OF Go feet of this.
The gas and the water we have struck
are both IL this kind of sand We really
don't expect. much until we get down
2o00 10 500 feet. but Of course You never
can tell much about It. The old wells
were down so TO 900 feet
The experimental well is 10 be put down
400 feet If need be in order 10 determine
whether oil exists IN quantities In this
locality it is situated in a big field q
few hundred yards from the road. The
dark outlines of the derrick and the
buildings cuddling at his foot stood out sn
picturesque relief yesterday afternoon
against the glistening expanse of snow
which stretched broken only by few
fence posts, some bare-boughed trees and
uuderbrush and an occasional black specE
marking a dwelling. TO the Whltened
OquirTh mountains caressed by clouds
and ilumned By the setting sun.
Already numbers of people visit the
well daily aud poster the men with all
manner Of questions. A. slight pre-
Tantive against This D bulletin board
has been posted where it stares each
newcomer i'm the face on il is pictured
a buriy man inserting a boot where II
will 40 most good in the person Of man
who is asking: How deep are YOU now t''
Below is this inscription:
DAILY bulletin. Wei 500 feet ForInd-
ton hard. Mostly oak, with some Oregon
pine. This is ms busy day