The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-08-07
Hills at LakevieW Gush Like
Desert GeySers.
INDUSTRY GROWS RAPIDLY
Output of state Surpasses in Value
that of Its Gold Mines - Work in
Field Observation-Disclosures Waste from
SpOuting When Vein Is struck.
Many Kinds of Gushers.

ifornia has been invested with great in
terest in the East. To some extent It Is
stil the FL Dorado. and the mind Of the
nation is always prepared for the report
OF big things from that wonderful State
on the Pacific Slope.
The East is about equally interested in
its fruits. its mining operations, its mag
nihcent mountains. its glorious climate,
its race question. and its earthquakes.
And now comes along vivid description
of It's oil fields which is eminently Cali
forniaesque A writer IN the San Fran
cisco Examiner recites the story and the
facts seem to lose nothing in the telling
In part, his story follows:
There are many kinds OF gushers In the
California oil fields. They all perform in
a similar manner. although in different
degrees Of intensity. When the bit pene-
trates the sands in which the compressed
gases and oil have been bnund in a grip
Of thousands Of tons pressure, the gas,
oil. sand, pebbles and bOwilers shoot up
through the hole with dyna annie energy.
For q hundred feet or ..Gore above the
heavily timbered derrick the black gey-
ser spouts. falling in rain. soaking the
desert sands and sagebrush until the sur
rounding FIELDS become as black as ink
Blows out Drills.
The tools weighing many tons are
forced out Of the hole: the derrick shakes
like a ship in a storm; the drillers fee
10 escape the shattered timbers and the
falling debris.
Then ensues a scene Of wild excitement.
The precious oil must be saved Thou
sands Of barrels at 80 cents barrel are
falling In rain and running down the
hollows. sucked in by the dry sand. the
more valuable and volatile portions evap-
Grating.
Horses and sand scrapers and volunteer
workers. who are offered a big price are
I hastily summoned from the surrounding
country. for the cost Of labor is but
/ fyspeck when oil IS being lost al the
rate OF $1,000 10 $500 an hour The scrap
ers 90 10 work scoopiug out big reser-
/ voirs in the sand TO catch the oil.
Men pile up sandbags 10 form dams
/ in the small ravines TO turn them into
I lakes OF black petroleum. Deep bitches
are dug TO carry the valuable fluid INFO
the temporary reservoirs. Pipe line con-
! neetions are made through which the
product IS pumped into steel storage
tanks. and more reservoirs are made to
hold the enormous output
Big Gusher ut Lakeview.
( This Is an extreme case 1t is that OF
/ the Lakeview gusher, in the Maricopa
( field. Kern County. This is the greatest
oil gusher that has ever been recorded
in the history OF the world The oil
sands were reached early last fall. and
the drillers spent half year In attempt
/ ing to force the drilling tools through
/ fifty feet OF sand.
Z The force Of the gas was so strong
that the hole kept filling up with sand
as fast as il could be bailed out. so that
the directors, becoming disheartened. tele-
/ phoned from Los Angeles e pull the
tools out OF the we'll and abandon the
work.
I Reluctantly the head driller gave the
I order AS the engine started to pull the
bailer the workmen noticed that the
steel rope became slack and that some
( subterranean force was pushing to the
( surface the steel bailer. which weighed
/ several tons Then came something Ike
an earthquake
The bailer shot out OF the hole Ike a
shell from a heavy rife. smashing the
crown block and wedging the derrick
/ among the timbers. This was followed
by a roar OF gas. and a volcano Of gas
and oil was In eruption. on the second
day the whole block was torn Up to-
gether with large part OF the derrick.
The superintendent cottage, 80 yards
/ distant was soaked with a rain OF black
petroleum. The windows were smashed,
the furniture ruined. and from that day
to this no man has been allowed to enter
IL. The house was ruined Tor b=oitation.
for 70 strike a match within its walls
would cause an explosion OF gas that
/ would set the saturated ground and the
volcano itself on ERE and destroy millions
of dollars worth OF property.
The sand and pebbles coming up with
the gas and oil tore the hole into a pro-
digious yawn. so that it widened TO a
diameter OF fifteen feet Through this
great gap a huge breaker Of oil vomited
twenty-five feet into the air. raising and
falling every two seconds, and dashing IN
jet pillows against the sandbag rim OF
the 1o0-foot lake that the workmen had
PANIED In. This was drained by six
pipes and a three-foot ditch six feet deep,
and still the sandbags had TO be piled
higher and higher.
Effort to Stop Flow.
For weeks the workmen tried to stop
the flow They rugged up a raft OF six
teen-inoh planks and hoisted II over the
crater. but the volcanic force Of the erup-
ton blew the raft over the side OF the
lake. and they will be compelled to wait
until the force Of the eruption shall have
spent itself.
Recently the writer stood near the edge
Of the gusher. II was shooting a column
OF oil fifteen feet thick and twenty-five
feet high at intervals OF every two Sec
onds. AS the great wave fell into the
pool another took it's place with the
rhythm Of clockwork At that time II
was gushing 5000 barrels Of oil a day al
a conservative estimate. When started II
was eiecting $1,000 barrels.
At this writing 1t is still gushing. II
has produced about 100000 barrels. ano
IS still producing at the rate Of more
than 100000 barrels a month
What wonder that there is fear OF
overproduction? on May % II was pro.
ducing 1000 barrels a day more than tho
total output OF the Coalinga feld. with
It's $50 wells, and 5000 barrels a day more
than the whole output OF the Kern River
field.
Industry Grows Fast.