Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-05-05
Miseellausuns Rsaains.
THE TEXAS OIL FIELDS.
interesting Description Of the Great
Wells at Humble.

Wells at Humble.
Rock Hill Herald:
When I visited the Humble oil field
promised myself that I would not
say much about 1t to my friends for
two reasons. First, because I knew II
would be impossible for me to give
them any adequate idea Of what saw
and second. I knew II could 1t would
sadly impair my reputation for verac-
ity-I have learned long ago that IL a
man wants to establish and sustain a
reputation for truthfulness he must
not only tell the truth but a reasona-
BILE truth. However. in a moment of
enthusiasm and in a burst Of conf
dence I did say something about 1t to
a group of friends. and the next thing
I knew I had promised the editor to
write him an article, but with the un-
derstanding that was to assume none
OF the responsibility II the veraclty OF
the said article is called into ques-
ton.
Humble is seventeen miles north OF
Houston. Tex, in a part Of the state
that Is perfectly fiat and slightly bog
gy. On Tuesday morning. April 18th,
at o'clock, Capt D. D. Peden, an old
South Carolinian. but now an elder In
the First Presbyterian church of
Houston. took charge Of me and start
ed with me for Humble. At that early
hour train Of six coaches was crowd
ed and we could scarcely find seat.
Another train of seven coaches runs at
10 o'clock and they tell me II is al
ways perfect jam. A little after Z
we stepped off at the Humble railroad
station. a mile and a half from the
oil field. A unique sight met my eyes.
saw a town which had sprung up al
most in a day. On the first Of January
there were only q few farm cottages
In all that country. Now there are four
thousand people living at the station
and on the field together. The houses
are built of newly sawn rough plank
standing endwise. They have their
hotels, court house. jail, ETC.. all built
Of the same material.
We had an excellent breakfast In
one Of the hotels. Many of the peo-
pie are living in tents and cooking and
rating In the open air. 1t Is no un-
common thing to see a cook stove
right out in the open. with a pipe run
ming some ten feet high. The whole
place was throbbing with life. Every
fellow seemed bent on business. There
were the raw-boned Texas ponies
with their huge saddles and brawny
looking men. in high boots, galloping
here and there on them. There were
the fine teams Of draft horses and
mules pulling their heavy loads Of
pipe through mud and mire two feet
deep. The whole scene struck me as a
type of the wild and woody west.
Mr.. j. w. Sullivan, a man with a
great big body and q great big heart,
and a friend Of Capt. Peden's. took
charge of us upon our arrival. He
knew everything about the place and
1t seemed to me that he knew every
body. He had been there since the
first we'll was sunk. We were soon In
a surry with a half-breed Indian for a
driver. He had a splendid team and
1t was we'll that he did for the roads
were terrible. We were soon on the
field and 1t was a wonderful sight.
The oil area is so far confined to a
district about two miles long and a
mile and a half wide. but the greater
ma jority Of the wells are on an area of
la half mile square. There are several
hundred of these wells. For the bene-
It Of those who never saw an oil well
I had better describe 1t briefly. First
Of all a derrick Is built about seventy
feet high. It Is about Is or 20 feet
square at the bottom and or feet
square at the top. This Is built to
hold the boring machinery and also for
raising and lowering the pipe that Is
nut into the we'll. You can imagine
how several hundred Of these derricks.
built of new lumber. would look on a
fiat surface of land half mile square.
The wells are sunk very much after
the fashion Of our deep wells that are
used to supply the city with water.
The pipe they put into them, should
say, Is from three to four inches In
diameter. They go from 1.050 to 1.l5O
feet deep before they strike OIL. 1t
takes some weeks to sink well and
1t costs from four to six thousand dol-
lars per we'll. Several new wells were
being bored while I was there. OF
course some Of these wells do not
strike oil and all the money Invested
is lost Some strike salt water and
nothing else and that money Is lost.
All Of them strike more or less nat
ural gas at a depth Of 800 feet. This
gas Is often the source Of a great deal
Of annoyance and danger to those
sinking the wells. 1t has destroyed
several wells that gave great promise.
A few days before I was there
Mr.. Underwood was sinking a well.
When he reached about 800 feet the
gas began to blow out and sand ana
mud began to fly as high as the tree
tops. The gas became ignited from
the fire in the boiler. What followed
resembled a small sized volcano.
When 1t was all over the only thing
that was left of the well and machin-
cry was a hole in the ground about 20
or 80 feet in diameter. The derrick,
the engine, the pumps and the pipes
were all many hundreds Of feet under
ground-no mortal man knows how
many.
There Is gas mixed with all the
oil that comes up This Is separated
from the oil by being passed though a
peculiar kind of tank. They make use
80 - cr.oot daol of thia gas IL is DiDed