Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1904-12-01
PASSING OF sPINDLET0P.
b. L. Humphrey Writes Of Oil Pro-
duction in Texas.

For the Reflector.
BEAUMONT, Tex. Nov. 22.--As
some Of your readers are Interested
In the Kansas oil fields, ! will give
them the benefit OF some impressions
received In the southeastern Texas
oil district.
Spindletop! Everybody has heard
Of II and remembers the full page ad'
vertisemsnts that appeared In the
daily papers about three years ago
booming the various oil companies
that were organized to extract the
oil from Spindletop and money from
the credulous investor. 1t was for a
time the greatest producing district
ever discovered and was q puzzle to
the most experienced operators. Some
Of the fret wells were estimated to
flow rs, 900 barrels per day. 10 the
early days Of this field, millions OF
barrels were wasted flowing down
the ravines, being there burned or
running out into the Neches river.
Gushers were turned on for the
amusement Of northern investors and
some who came to scoff remained to
pay fabulous prices for oil stock.
When the price of land went to $780,
600 per acre, only spectators with
great nerve and long purses could
get into the game except BY the
organization Of companies.
Spindletop was named from a
gradual elevation Of ten or fifteen
feet in the prairie at that point. 1t
is located about three miles southeast
Of Beaumont, the district covering
not morethan 500 or 800 acres. From
a short distance it presents the appear
ance Of forest OF derricks, standing
as close together as the trees in the
pine woods. or the 700 or 800 wells
drilled at Spindletop only about
one in ten is now being pumped, the
daily production being 1880 barrels
of oil worth 40 cents per barrel. Other
districts have outstripped it, Sour
Lake producing 10000 barrels daily,
Batson 10000, Matagcrda 25O0 and
Saratoga 1000. The total production
OF southeast Texas is about $4,000
barrels daily. Jennings, in the
Louisiana district, is taking out Co.,
600 barrels per day, one well there
flowing 10000 barrels;
Beaumont is a growing city of 26,'
900 population. A large oil refinery
is located just east of the city and is
connected by pipe lines with Fort
Arthur, Sour Lake, Batson and other
points. The principal productive
features outside Of the oil business
are the lumber mills and rice mills,
one large rice mill being Just com
pleted. There is a vast amount OF oil
storage around Beaumont, From
that city to Port Arthur the steel oil
tanks are always in sight, dotting the
country like wheat stacks In Kansas
landscape.
Port Arthur is much improved
since 1 last saw it. 1t is only just
about the size of Abilene but its main
street is the finest that | have ever
seen. One hundred feet ia width
IL is paved with, white shells and for
at least hal a mils has solid cement
sidewalks sixteen feet wide and cement
curbing without single break for
that distance. Our property owners
would roar some if they had to pay
81 front foot for sidewalks.
The J. M. Guffey Refining Co. has
large plant just west of Port Arthur
with 1877 ifty.thousand barrel storage
tanks. The tank steamers, j. M.
Guffey and Conneaut. were loading
with oil Ia the harbor; also g FIVE
masted schooner taking on two mil
dion feet Of pine lumber for some east
ern port. The tank steamers come in
with water as ballast, then the
water is pumped out and oil pumped
10. A steamer carrying 10000 bar
rels can be loaded In "a hours.
Sabine Pass is has.been. The ex'
port trade goes to Port Arthur. Mos
quitoes are plentiful. The ground is
fat and only two or three feet above
the gulf. When 9 bad storm comes,
there being no trees to climb, the
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