The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1904-11-22
HOW pRnLess FIND OIL.
systems Of Drillers, Promoters and
the Wit.h ia Wdd Country.

d"
pert and promo;er in this city vcsicr-
day morning Why we ask a drilicr
a proters, an expert locator or a.
witch r. is comparatively easy
in a well developed territory With
PRODUCING wells ON an sioos. ne pitch
a derrick and get OIL but in wild
country, districts remote where there
has never beer hole drilled nor al
derrick built Il is quite another story.
well" said the driller man after a
pause III is like this You don
know thing about it. and the moro
You look at the land and he more you
think about it The more muddied You
probably viii become Some rather
take their chances on a hillside and
others in the valleys. Some follow so
called surface indications and others
follow the advice of the witch Il is
all a guess, however, and when an is
said and done. you probably will find it
one place as well as another had
a contract not so long ago TO drill a
hole for a fellow who wanted it on
ridge He he'd picked out the exact
spot and ma &ed it off, so that an
had TO do was to put UP the rig and
heelu We started for the place ON a
wagon. but in tine river bottom the
wagon got stuck in the mud We fus-
sed around for a while, and then saw
we were in for IT, NV man got tired,
and finally said he believed We would
locate the well as close To the place
where we Fot stuck as possible. We
did it and got q good oil wcll Afie-
we got the wcll in he rlvog bottom we
moved lp on the hillside TO the spot
he had first picked out and we cot a
dry hole knew another fellow who
went to a will country. When ne
came to pick out site for the fest
well he shut his ewes. Whirled around
two or three times and threw rock
as far as ne could Where the rock
fell was the size Of The Well He got
oil There was stin another fellow
who used TO tell MS 81" drill any old
place anc he sometimes found oil But
these are merely samples Of expert.
ence Every man TO his notion"
The Wise Promoter
q ry" said the promoter appear
ing as liznihed and wise as an owl
first to find out the nearest wen and
the direction the pool seems TO 'akc
Then take n ruler and measure of
the line of the trend and place my
derricks somewhere along thar line
But If VAS distant. say ten miles
from the nearest production II would
be all matter Of guess Especially
is that true OF the Kansas field. where
the trends are contrarywise and some
times cross each other In case Of
doubt ] SHOULD let the driller pick the
spot and abide the result Even the
first hole is no indications Of the value
OF least have known Of as many
as FIVE holes drilled on lease in this
field and every one OF them dry. when
some tenderfoot would come along ard
get good oil wells on that same lease
j have in mind the case Of a firm that
drilled some holes around here twelve
wears ago and reported the district dry.
when within stones throw Of these
dry holes are some Of The hest pro-
ducing wells in the district ! iemom
Der also case at Idchbure n. g.
The men drilled thirteen holes an un
lucky number and did not get he oil
After thar came a man ahc eot cil Iu
every one of the fifteen holes ne
drilled 70 he original promoters had
surveyed .he Ground they cculd not
have gone around .he ON pruducme
territory nearly $50 closely ass hey di J.
by accident You have 10 take your
chances and that IS what J aiu doiua
q "cince" Says the witch"
II is easy" said the witch "Al I
have 10 DO is 20 take my diviping ro1
and go our iato ths territory 20 be de
yeloped AMI put b. on the ground n
there is oil there tie instrument viii
show it az once. You oannot fail IL
YOU have the proper kind Of an inslu-
ment Tho trouble with these people
is that they are no, Sufficiently posted
in metailurey to know that you can
discover the erese.,ce OF mineral in tho
ground by the simple device Of a di-
vining roi But you can do II am the.
same l have located dozens - wells
IN this district and never failed vet
And in other districts where no wells
have been drilled I have located eool
Oh wells which eyentuall5 made money
for their owners With ihe rest oiI
The fellows Il ia cues work. With me