The San Francisco call., 1910-06-22
COST OF CHECKING
GUSHER SlSl,OOO
Poorer Concern Than the Lake.
Yew Might Have Been Bank
rupted by Prosperity

None but a wealthy company can af-
ford gushers. That fact has been
amply demonstrated in the case of the
Lakesiew. While the news reports
heretofore have dealt exclusively with
the great riches that the geyser poured
forth, it is now possible to give the
other side Of the story. Up to the first
OF June it had cost the owners of the
well the sum Of sIS1. 600 10 control the
flow Of the big producer. That is q
big sum Of money and the expenditure
had TO be made before returns of any
dimensions had begun to come in from
the marketing Of the oil 1t would
have sent a smaller concern into bank
ruptcy--a paradoxicaI situation if there
ever was one.
There was once a case of a farmer
who had such a big crop that he went
broke on the harvesting expense. In
loillty 70 finance the unusual situation
presented by the sudden appearance of
the gusher might have brought about
pa arallel. AS a matter OF fact the Lake
view had run close TO the financial
shoals when ii passed under the pro-
tectirg arm Of the Union oil company.
The strength OF the Union made the
financial problem an UnimpOrtant con-
sideration.
DAMAGE SUIT THREATENED
The great expense in handling the
Eusher came principally through the
necessity OF preventing the flooding of
adjacent property Only q mile or so
away lies Buena Vista lake. the prop
erty Of Miller & Lux Notice was i'm
mediately served upon the owners of
the Lskeview that the moment the oil
stained the waters OF the lake suit
10 hGE~rrr- frr n n ha
sum Of s1.O00.0B0 Accordingly it be-
oame necessary to erect sand barriers
80 turn the flow from the lake. Men
nd teams We're impressed from every
railable section of the fields and were
kept going in dav and night shifts. The
immediate demand for trenches and
big earIhen reservoirs required the
services Of another army of men.
Guards to prevent fire We're employed
by the score. The men working about
the well received double and in some
cases triple wages because of the eX-
ira hazard of the undertaking. In
round figures 1T has cost practically
s. 500 = day TO care for the Lakeview.
But after all is said and done it has
certainly been cheap at almost any
price. The flow Of oil. ranging from
go 600 to-, so 600 barrels a day. has
brought i'm a daily gross income of
from $4,000 to S25 00O- II is apparent
that the company can afford the ex-
pense.
Gushing YET
The. .Lakeview has continued its flow
during the present week with no sign
Of abatement. Tt has passed into its
inety-seventh day Of activity.
While the Union Oil company, as the
holder Of 81 per cent Of the company's
stock. is the chief beneficiary, there
are four men in the southern part of
the state who viii share largely in
|the rich returns They are Julius
|Fried. J. NJ Dunn, Parker Barrett and
l. r. FIodgkinson. AL of Los Angeles.
Fried, Dunn, Barrett and Hodgkinson
own the land on which the Lakeview
well is situated, Fried holding five
lefghths and the others one-ei ghth each.
Rv flye terms Of the lease they receive
= one-siNth royalty on all the oil pro-
|duoed by the Lakeview oil company.
Fried IS well known in san Fran
rf SEQ. where he lived for some time.
.hFesis but 81 years of sc and has. been
the oil business for a number of
ears He was assistant cashier of
L. - dsburg bank for a time, but took
where he became a member of the
stock exchange. From stocks he
|turned 10 oil and organized a number
81 companies. His business Interests
Cs~ried him to Los Angeles, where he
has since lived.
FORMERLY BRIDGE CARPENTER
Hodgkinson has been in California
on!v since 1897 and has been engaged
b. the real estate business in Los An
ge1es Barrett was in the employ of
fhe Southern Pacific as bridge car
penter in Kern county when his at
Ifention was directed to the oil fields.
He located in MaTicopa in 1908 and en-
Ioseed ir various oil enterprises. Dunn.
/ the fourth member of the syndicate,
has been cowboy. mechanic and con
tractor. He was in the contracting
business in San Francisco when ne palo
II --isft to bakersfield and was i'm
Dressed by the Impending developments
There. That was in 1907. He dropped
the contra citing business for oil ana
has prOspered-
spproximately 100000 barrels of OIL
of q commercial value Of some
B ?. 100000