The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1910-05-14
BROWN GOLD
BY R. s.

e. . tI
Note:( eve wish the reader to know that
Cfide Oil
When Jud Elwood awoke one morning
I'm his cabin, located near Bakersfield in
the. State Of California, and decided to go on
a rabbit hunt, "by his lonely, "the little
dreamed the result Of that decision and the
subsequent trip was toslead tothe discovery
OF one OF the greatest Brown Gold producing
districts In the world; and naturally the
thoughtinever occurred to Jud, because he
had in mind simply hunting for rabbits, not
minerals.Jd ~
To quote Jud, as he gave the account of
his find to the writer, he on that morning
left his cabin accompanied by his gun and
dogs; and Jud, by the way, was always
fond OF dogs and had few that were as
good as any in Kern county; and Jud
knows a good dog, too, and why not? His
old. home; Bakersfield, is the Mecca to
which all really good ones make an an
nual pilgrimage to attend the great Ma
tional Tryout, Well to continue Jud's
story, he started out In direction to the
northwest of his cabin toward the foot
hills, and after securing good-sized bag
of cotton-tails was returning homeward,
when his attention was attracted IN one
direction to the different hues OF the early
morning mist which. rising from the soil,
gave OF color that had the appearance
81 being browncolored haze, or Some
thing2 entirely different from. that notice
able in other directions, with the result
that Elwood was soon convinced OF the
presence OF Brown Gold. and the existence
Of the Kern River District today proves
his deductions to have heen correct,
Jud had hard work at first in his efforts
to-conyince friends and neighbors as to the
Importance of his find. his deductions not
being accepted even by. experts as being at
All reasonable, which brings to mind the
curious story told of the earliest dtscov'
cry Of Brown Gold in this country during
the, days OF Colonel Drake The Wise
Ones at that time smiled at the prospector
being amused at the mere idea OF fnding
Brown Gold in the earth. The son OF one
Old farmer brought home the news Of Col
brakes find. which to the mind OF the old
man was utterly absurd, consequently he
would not believe it. ''If you had told me
that they had found whiskey, I could read
ily understand II, for we know that whts
key is made from corn and It might easily
soak through the roots Of the stalk and
accumulate in the earth, but flowing
Brown Gold, never AS consequence
the adverse opinions and criticisms to
which Jud was subject showed neither
sympathy nor support, which made him
fully realize the old truth that mo man is
prophet in his own country" and the Sc
auence in all probability would have been
that the great body OF mineral wealth
which had been lying there dormant for
many ages would have remained undis'
tiirbed Il it were not for the stranger who,
took advantage Of the opportunity and
backed his judgment with money. This
fact is notorious in the history Of the de.
yelopment OF the great Kern River Dis.
trict. Practically and excepting one old
firm which had pinned Its faith on what
Is now famous as the West Side" the,
district where gushers are making million:
aires nearly every day, the brains and