Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-01-23
WAKES RICH ON THE WASTE.
soavenser Of tho Oil Field Not Prous
of His Title.

Nutllolsy iNol.' S'''. ''N s'Nt'''
enger of an oil field is u man OF high
degree in his business. He even dis
likes to be called u scavenger and re-
fers to himself as 'thc waste man.
He Is far above the average rag pick
err of the cities as IL man cum be above
another and pretend the same calling
For your waste man of the oil field
makes money. good money. sometimes
more than the producer In the course
of the year. He does not worry him
self gray about the percentage OF dry
holes in n district. In fact, whether
the hole is dry or an oil well. the scav-
enger gets in his percentage just the
same.
Drill cables cost from $500 to SiOO
They average a thousand feet IN LENGTH
They wear in the drilling of three or
four wells. Sometimes they do not last
so long. Then they go to the waste
pile, and the first scayenger who comes
along gets the pieces, which are really
worth from $40 to $50 each in the open
market. A pair of tongs Is broken.
They are worthless from the standpoint
OF the driller and useful only as scrap
iron. So to the scrap pile they go and
the scavengcr man gets $40 ia Sl5 for
the broken pieces.
Every Scrap Worth Money.
A joint OF pipe Is cut in half or IN
two pieces for some special purpose.
and only q part of 1t Is used. The 9TH
err part lies around the rig awhile and
then is pitched out on the ground and
the first fellow along gets another con-
tribution of SIS or Sc to help him look
A.. roll In fn ~
at the end Of the month. Then there
are the rig timbers to be looked efter,
and every time q brace or set of keys
or crown block plays out 1t is sent
to the pile for the waste man.
Last summer there was a cleaning
out OF the odds and ends and there
were four full car loads to be disposed
Of when they came to ship the rem
nants away. This was the second
cleaning out in the development Of he
field, the first one showing more than
five carloads. The waste was valued
at more than $500 to the car. Then
the work OF building up another pile
began again and now the third pile is
almost as big as were the other two.
This is not altogether the WORK of
one man. 1t Is the work of several
men operating around in this district
and whenever they get wagon load
they bring it in and sell 1t. One man
In Chanute buys all the castoff mater
ial for this district and in the other
districts turnout the field the same
office Is performed by a single person,
who fixes the price.
Ready Sale for Everything.
Every one of the pieces is useful. The
frayed ends OF the cable or the short
pieces Of a cable can be sent buck to
the factory and be used again ii, the
manufacture. of other cables. Those
parts which are of iron and steel al
ways find ready sale in any iron Or steel
market as scraps. The lumber also
finds ready sale here or in any town
or city in the field.
Thus the waste man takes no chan
ces. 1t does not require much capital
to be a successful waste man.
team and wagon constitutes the great
est outlay. The rest is a question of
diligence and time. These scavengers
are up early and they turn the horses
heads homeward only when 1t is too
dark for them to distinguish between
stick and an ak handle.
All day they are nosing around the
rigs, walking in the grass looking; care
fully over every foot of territory for
something which has been found use
less. They can see a man throw away
an empty can farther than most men
can see the man. They are experts.
in a way, on the parts of a rig and they
know the value of the fragments to a
cent