Semi-weekly herald. [volume] (Durango, Colo.) 1907-1917, 1910-06-20
A PHENOMENAL OIL eusHER.

Inc largest oil gusher In the his.
tory of California, and perhaps the
most profitable in the worlds history,
is the Lakeview in the Caricopa oil
field. forty miles southeast of Bakers.
field, Cal. The gusher started to spout
on Tuesday morning. March 18th, and
save for n period of eight hours in
which 1t '.sanded up on March 2ist,
when It burst forth OF its own accord
like a volcano of oil, the well flowed
continuously up to March 31st, aver
aging a flow of AZ 900 barrels of oil of
is gravity Beaume each twenty four
hours. as measured In the run-off from
the sump hole through a ditch in
which the oil runs to rapidly built
pipe line. Since that date the flow
has continued at the rate OF from
$4,000 to $1,000 gallons, and up to
May Sd 1t had delivered about 2,000,.
600 barrels of oil
The marvel OF the gusher has been
its sustained productivity. During the
two weeks following March 81. 1910,
more than one-hali million barrels of
high-grade crude petroleum had been
collected from the we'll The stream
rises internationally from ITO to $40
feet above the top of the derrick,
| which, before the crown or top was
carried away by the stream of oil,
was 81 feet in height. The oil sands
were struck at 1900 feet. at which
point tremendous gas pressure was
| encountered, and the drillers were sud.
hurled hundeds of feet in the air
through the eight-inch casing. After
the oil sands were struck, the well
rapidly drilled itself" TO n greater
depth. The well promises to keep
spouting for many months to come
| The well can be heard roaring for
more than mile. Spray from the
gusher has been carried a distance of
two and a half miles. and hundreds OF
automobiles have carried sightseers
from Bakersfield to witness the unique
sight The sage brush for distance
of half mile around the well is coat
ed with oil, and several jack rabbits
| killed by the flow were brought by
small boys into Maricopa. All efforts
to cap the gusher have proved I'M
availing; the force of the oil flow
carried away the crown or top of the
derrick and fifteen feet of it's upper
| most structure; and the tremendous
\ flow created a huge lake of oil ex-
| tending for hundreds of feet on every
side of the derrick.
From money viewpoint the gisher
| is said to be the most valuable in the
worlds history, far exceeding the ia
nous Texas gusher in the Beaumont
field, which caught fire and subse-
| quently ran into salt water; for the
owners OF the Lakeview had netted
by March Dist over 100000 from the
oil. which is now being piped to tide
water from Maricopa In the San Joa-
| quin valley to Port Hartford on the
| Pacific coast, a distance of $50 miles.
u toHtloi lut vi lIOIH INT BuSntI
was in itself no slight achievement
Shortly after the great stream amazed
the drillers, three pumps. with com
bined capacity of $4,000 barrels daily,
were started working at top speed.
pumping oil out OF the sump-holc; and
| the oil SO recovered was the first oil to
enter the huge tanks built by the in.
dependent producers OF California.
The big well, which Is one of the
seven gushers brought in" in the Co
ainga and Midway-Maricopa oil fields
OF California within the past month,
| is due to the persistency of a single
man. A discouraged board OF direc.
tors, three days before the gusher was
| struck, decided to quit drilling The
order was given; but the superlntend.
ent conveniently forgot It, He drilled
| forty-seven feet more against penalty
OF dismissal. and the bit entered the
oil sands
To date all efforts to cap the well
have proved unavailing. and the oil Is
| now rushing heavenward both on the
inside and the outside of the steel
| casing.
II is an interesting fact that lately
the gravity OF the oil has risen from
IL Beaume to 20. This has been taken
to indicate that the oil is now being
drawn from lower strata or pool
Scientific American.