The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-12-11

Noted Engineer Is lnaugurating
Campaign in the Farm
ington Field.
SECURED GREAT ACREAGE
BORDERING ON THE SHORE OF
THE LAKE.

Within a few hundred yards of the
SPOT where the Guffey-Galey combina-
ton put down it's well prospecting for
oil in the Pennington field, a Pittsburg
crowd of gas operators viii begin at
once prospecting the same ground for
gas. For months past F. L. Epps. a
man rated as being at the head of his
profession, man who has supplied
twenty-seVen towns in Kansas and
sixty i'm Ohio with gas, has been quiet
~ at work acquiring leases and secur-
ing franchises that would permit his
combination to do business in case
productive and permanent field was
found. Mr.. Epps is said TO be an en-
gineer of exceptional ability. and one
of the best gas experts in the United
States. He has acquired more than
$4,000 acres of land bordering the lake
from point north of Pennington clean
around to the smelter town of Gar
field, west of this city. That this val
ley is underlaid with gas he has no
doubt and that he can locate and open
the stratas in which il occurs he is
sanguine.
To Start Drilling.
Plans Of the syndicate has been so
far perfected that Mr.. Epps has just
received Geographic instructions from
Pittsburg TO get a well started with
out a moments delay. To carry out
instructions. Mr.. Epps has now gone
up to Pennington to arrange for the
use of one of the boring rigs that for
merly belonged TO the George L. Driver
combination until such time as ii is
possible to get other machinery on to
the ground 1t is therefore probable
that boring will begin before the end
of the present week.
From what can be learned at the
present time it is evidently the inten-
ton of Mr. Epps' syndicate to prospect
the ground pretty thoroughly all the
way around the margins of the lake
from Pennington to Black Rock. or
Garfield the first test TO be made a
little farther up the incline than the
point selected for the Guffey- Galley oil
well. the well that was abandoned
about two years ago. Others will fol-
low as circumstances dictate.
Some Past History.
II will be remembered that gas was
struck at different points while the
Guffey-Galen we'll was being sunk, and
that the pressure was so great at one
point that the tools were blown out of
the hole. Guffey & Galley, however.
are not gas men and they would not
bother with gas in their prospecting
operations here. Their engineers sim
ply cased it off and continued sinking,
how deep. no one knows precisely, but
evidently To a depth approXimating
1000 feet or more.
When the Guffey-Galey combination
ceased work its engineer stated that
conditions were anything but unfavoT-
able for the striking of oil, and when
he left it was with the expectation
that he would be ordered back in the
following spring. He never came, but
il is an open secret that it was not on
account OF the poor aspect of the field.
As a matter of fact, the men who
rounded up the field for the big opera
tors secured a great many thousands
of acres of land that were not turned
over 10 the Guffey Galley combine. the
idea evidently being that the big OPP
orators might develop their holdings
and thus give a high value to the
ground that had not been turned over,
That is believed TO be the real reason
why Guffey & Galley quit the field.
1t is now probable that the new
crowd will not only get gas but oil, as
we'll AT any rate, there appears tC
he no longer a doubt that il means
business.