Los Angeles herald., 1910-04-24
RICH OIL STRIKES
IN VARIOUS BIC FIELDS
Personal Visit Shows Pools Are
Tapped by Nine Companies
at Once

The month of March, 1910, will go
down in the history of the California
oil fields as the era of gushers. The
thirty-one days Of the month witnessed
the addition of nine spouters to the
wonderful wells of the state 1t has
given California a collection of pc
troleum geysers that find no parallel
in the annals of mineralology. At the
same time a dozen other gushers have
continued their undiminished flow.
The gusher is the star performer of
the oil elds. It's spectacular perform
ance, its enormous output and its
wealth in dollars and cents supply
those features that swing the industry
from commerce to romance. 1t has its
counterpart only in the big strike in
the land of gold.
Standing alone. the most sensational
performer is, Of course, the Lakeview
gusher. 1t has sent a daily stream of
1000 to 10000 barrels high over the
derrick. It has filled pipe lines, reser-
voirs, bitches and sump holes, and
still it continues. It began Its flow
on March is and has continued without
interruption.
MAYS BREAKS RECORD
The Lakeview was preceded by the
famous Mays gusher, which started
the rush to the North Midway. On
March 4 the Mays broke forth at the
rate of $4,000 barrels a day. 1t was
curbed. however, before many days.
While it did not give forth as much
oil as the Lakeview, it holds the rec
ord for a single days output 1t
brought its owners some 100000 day
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The remarkable exhibition brought
hundreds of spectators to the scene.
The representatives of the Standard
Oil company hurried to the spot, and
while the oil was still spouting, con-
tracted for the oil at 65 cents a bar
rel.
The ownership of the Mays property
is lodged in a syndicate composed OF
r. b. Chaplin of Toronto; S. Frank and
Peeral Meiggs Of New YORK; -. A.
Hayden of Bakersfield; j. d. Leder-
man. ]. NJ. O'Brien, H. P. Coles, A. G.
Wilkes and Thomas Wilkes of san
Francisco.
STANDARDS BIG STRIKE
Not far from the Mays the Pioneer
Midway came in with a tremendous
flow. which at times is said to have
reached 300 900 barrels a day. Near by
the Santa Fe we'll struck oil and tore
loose with a flow that reached the
same proportions. These two wells
have since been brought down to
steady streams and are being handled
successfully.
One of the most productive Of the
new gushers is the Standard OIL com
pany's well, north of the Lakeview
1t was brought under control very
shortly after it broke forth. The oil
was conducted through a small pipe
which spurts a stream several feet into
a reservoir where it is captured
cleared of sand and turned into the big
reservoirs. This well is said to have
come down to a flow that varies from
2OOO to 5000 barrels a day.
Within the last few weeks the Coal
inga Mohawk, the Pacific States and
the Silver Tip have tapped gushers IN
the Coalinga district. The wells were
more easily controlled than those Of
the Midway. After pouring out thou
sands of barrels a day at the begin
ming. they have been held down to
steady production ranging from 800
to 1900 barrels daily.
SANTA MARIA GEYsERS
In the Santa Maria field the Union
and Brookshire have struck the gusher
sand. The Union tapped a big under