The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1910-04-21

ing houses about were guished.
Everything dripped with oil-was sod
den with it. 1t ran wide streams from
the rig in such volume that the danger
of losing it seemed imminent. The To-
cation of the well, however, CHANGED to
be ideal for such conditions, for most
of the fluid poured into a natural ra-
vine, where it was quickly captured by
a rough DAM
Men were pressed into service at SO
an hour to work about the rig in an
endeavor to control the rushing black
torrent AT the expense of $1,000 a
day corps were set to work digging
stump holes and trenches. Pumps were
installed, and in four days the no. 900
barrel tanks of the Producers trans
portation company were filled. Every
means Of handling the oil were en-
ployed, still the flow continued I'M
abated.
Thick bulkheads of heavy planking
have been erected around the base of
the derrick. Several times sheds have
been thrown over the stream, but the
planking was hurled aside and the
mighty gusher poured on seemingly
from a limitless fountain in the bowels
of the earth.
SPECTACLE AT NIGHT
The spectacle was thus described in
the Bakersfield Oil Journal by one of
its contributors who observed the we'll
in it's early stages:
Tuesday morning the spectators
marveled at the wonder, but the sight
was more than grand at night. The
hot rocks at times caused the gusher
to look like a huge fourth of July
flower pot sending it's bright lines of
fire high into the heavens. BY Wednes-
day night the steady rain of sand and
rocks completely tore the crown block
away and Thursday the great stream
of oil gushed through the derrick with
out obstruction. The flow and roar
seemed to increase all the time The
height to which the oil shot increased
after the crown block was removed and
the solid stream went for days from
three to four times as high as the der
rick The brown spray, when the air
was calm, seemed to go 1000 feet in
the air, but when the wind was blowing
the extremities of the liquid column
were famed, so as to resemble a huge
black willow tree
The gusher is located on section 25-
1924. 1t is the property OF the Lake
view oil company, in which the Union
holds the controlling interest The
company's greatest fear has been of
fire. Every precaution has been taken.
Guards have been stationed in covered
lookouts all about the lease to prevent
auCOmODlleS from approaching closer
than 800 or 400 yards. On either side
of the railroad track. which passes near
by strip of ground has been plowed
to prevent blaze from travelling across
the oil soaked soil to the we'll
A remarkable feature of the petro-
leum geyser is the high gravity of the
oil, which is said to be over 20 Wells
in the country about the gusher are
producing oil of GRANTEES ranging be-
tween IA and 16, but most of them are
pumping from the first sand at a depth
of LOO to 1900 feet.
LAND VALUES RISE
Land in the neighborhood of the
Lakeview has jumped to fabulous
prices The wells in the so called
gusher belt are busy deepening in the
hope that the Lakeview sand will be
reached. There is speculation concern
ing this gusher belt or the land living
in a direct line between the Lakeyiew
and its close second, the Mays. which
created q sensation few months ago
on section 30-3123. In the same ter
ritory is the Standard Noe2, on section
3O-32-24 The Mays produced in the
neighborhood of 10000 barrels a day.
the Standard No. 5000 and the Lake
view, without peer, at times so. 600.
When the well first started to flow
it was exactly 1925 feet deep. with
2.22o feet of rs inch casing, which has
disappeared, being washed away by the
constant wear and friction of the sand