The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1905-01-21

two vehicles and their occupants into
almost invisible atoms He is the man
who shoots" the oil wells. Underneath
the seat Of his innocent looking buck
board : he may have stored away
enough \nitro-glycerine TO wipe TAR
sized town of from the face Of the
earth, leaving only a hole to indicate
where it once stood.
It is saidNtfat 80 per cent Of all the
oil wells drilled require to be shot n
order to make them paying producers.
The natural gushers are not so numer-
Gus as one think from the tales told
about them. The oil field has been so
thoroughly drained that it is not so
easy to secure oil in large quantities In
these days as il was when it was first
| discovered. In order to produce pro-
fitable flow it has been found necessary
to shoot th9 wells. This means the
setting off % a quantity of nitro
gIycerine or other explosive at the bot
tom Of the lwell, to break UP the oil
, bearing depo$it and release the oil.
Shooting a we'll with nitro-glycerine
is not a task for a timorous person.
Nor is the vicinity of the well at the
time the safest point on the face of the
globe. The drill. has reached the oil
bearing sands and the well is ready for
the shooter" He is sent for. He
drives to the we'll with his blackboard
and its slumbering volcano. Besides
his charge of nitroglyeerine, he has
some tin cans, an anchor" reel and
a "go-devil." The go-devil' is aptly
named. Its junction is that of explod-
ing the nitroglycerine after it has been
deposited In the bottom OF the well. 1t
is a cast-iron weight. Gaining speed
as it descends. 1t strikes the detona-
ting cap of illuminate of mercury placed
on top of the pile Of cans of nitro
gIycerine and exnlodes the charge.
Carefully unloading his parapher-
MALTA the shooter inquiries of the drill
err as to the depth of the well. Having
aseertained this, he attaches the cord
+ used in lowering TIE explosive to the
hosting machinery and pays the loose
end into the tubing. He watches it
! closely as it descends. This is sort of
dress rehearsal There must be no
hitch when /. Is paid out with can
of nitroglycerine at Its end. Even the
sudden untwisting OF kink in the line
might explode the can in the wrong
place and destrc:' the well as well as
the shooter" -.
| The line having been found to work
! well the anchors" small tin supports
for the cans of nitroglycerine, are
lowered to the bottom Now the cans
which are to contain the explosive are
got ready. One is swung over the
mouth of the shaIt, Carefully the
'nitro-glycerine is poured into It. Care
fully it is lowered to the anchors
Another can is filled in the same way
and lowered until Ii rests on top Of the
first. After lowering a hundred or
more quarts of the condensed volcanic
force, enough to sweep a small city
from its foundations, the last shell,
which is fitted with a pointed top, Is
put into the shaft. On the top Is
placed cap of Illuminate of mercury.
All is now ready for exploding the
charge lying thousand or more feet
below the surface of the earth By
this time, like Casabianca, the shoot
! err has the deck to himself, He lifts
! the "go-devil," poises 1t in his hands
| over the mouth OF the well and then
| drops 1t. Promptly he runs q hundred
yards or more from the we'll. For the
=, next few seconds the silence Is Inn
/ pressive, Then, the weight having
4 reached the bottom of the shaft, the
ground trembles slightly. The air
1 rushes up from the bottom of the well
4 with roar. Then a cloud of gravel
and small stones flies hundreds OF feet
into the air from the.mouth of the well.
They drop back in shower that pelts
the earth for hundreds of yards around
and causes the spectators to dodge be
/ hind the most convenient trees. A
great roar accompanies it, and then a
column of water and dirt spouts above
the derrick. After this, IL oil has been
struck, comes the oil itself. 1t wells
up out of the pipe In solid fountain,
glistening with green and yellow tints
Rising higher and higher, until 1t is
above the top OF the derrick. II
sprays the whole structure. If the well
proves to be ''gusher" thousands OF
barrels may be lost before cap can
be placed on ton of the tube.
The interior Of a we'll which had beer
shot was once photographed. The
camera was lowered and fiashlight
when developed showed the hole made
powder exploded. The photograph by
the explosion to be nearly spherical =
4 New York Tribune. =. III. ~.